More questions from me...
I've started a general tidy up of the hull, both inside and out, and she now has a cradle all varnished and looking a hell of a lot more shiny and smooth than she does!
Here are a few areas that I'm keen to get people's views on:
1) I've already started the process of cleaning up the existing varnish / sealant inside the hull. I can't tell what it was, but it was pretty cracked and flaky.
So far, I've focussed on removing any loose material, as I'm wary of taking it completely back to bare wood.
I plan to reseal the interior with resin, and am considering using this over the existing remains of whatever has been used to seal the interior of the hull.
Good plan, or idiotic?! If the latter, then would you recommend a complete stripping back to wood with nitromors?
2) I had a recommendation to use 1mm ply for the base layer of deck. I've measured the gap between the deck 'ribs' and the underside of the flanges that top the mast and rudder tubes. This gives me a gap of c.4 - 5mm, so I was considering using a slightly thicker ply to avoid an unsightly gap between the final planking and these flanges. (I'm working on the assumption that the 6mm Lime planking I've seen is only 0.5mm)
- Will this work, or should I consider two layers of ply, then the planking to help me cope with the various gentle curves of the deck?
- Or, should I stick to 1mm ply, then the planking, and then simply make up something out of wood to look nice around these flanges?
- Would you recommend another type of wood other than lime for the planking?
- I may be being overly ambitious, but I aim to use a darker wood for a central king plank, and around the outside of the deck. Does mahogany make sense for this job?
I'll probably regret it, but I plan to joggle and shape carefully to make her deck a real focus.
3) The exterior of the hull is currently bare wood, and is in reasonable shape. Whatever has been used to seal between the planking from the outside is now quite loose and crumbling in places. My plan was to use a suitably resilient filler, after removing anything that is already loose, then a weak PVA mixture to seal before priming.
Does this make sense?
4) As the boat was originally built for use with Braine gear (I think), the rudder post goes right through the hull, with the opening above deck.
To ensure that she retains as much authenticity as possible, I was planning on buying a nice brass Braine quadrant to be attached to the top of the rudder post.
- Can I link to the Braine quadrant from the rudder servo above decks? i.e. does the quadrant move with the rudder?
5) Hatches - I have yet to completely decide on what the hatch cover(s) will look like, but I plan to make them as discrete as possible.
- Do you have a favourite way of making your hatches watertight?
6) Bespoke brass fittings.
The aforementioned flanges topping the mast tubes look to be brazed in place. The flange for the main mast is missing, so I'll need to either find an equivalent or have one made. Alternatively, I could always just replace them for both the front and main mast.
- For fitting a through-deck mast, are these readily available? I haven't seen anything in my browsing of the usual model shops or sites.
I could go on with dozens more questions, but I am really very conscious of abusing people's generosity, so I'll ask more as and when things come to mind.