Hi Bob,
Well I’ve finally looked at this thread from start and wow! What a transformation from such a rough start to now and mostly done in a short space of time last year! Given me no excuse for moaning about my second Javelin hull that looks so much better than this.
Also some great pics to help me. Mould, rot, filler. Crumbling ply!
And now looks great.
Thanks Stuw,
It has been a while since I last dragged this "rot bucket" out from my shed as I have been enjoying the comparatively enjoyable (and manageable) Javelin and Rapier restorations along with the new build Swordsman.
I also have an almost completed Remora that stopped some time back when Humbrol decided to stop making the French Blue spray paint that I was using to finish it with, and a new-build Wavemaster 34 that got as far as skinning the hull only!
Sometimes I think all of these "distractions" are purely there to give me some relief from this particular restoration (something that I very much needed) and they have worked well and been very enjoyable, but now I need to do some more work on it......or leave it under the bench for a bit longer!
Some time back (when I was last motivated and had some suitable weather to work outside) I asked a similar question regarding the possibility of cloth covering this large Corvette hull and ChrisF kindly suggested using Z-Poxy. This was the only response I had and it came about the time when I had decided to give this restoration a rest for a while - but I did buy some Z-Poxy and some cloth!
I am still a bit worried about the bond strength that could be achieved between all of these (mostly old) and varied surfaces - and of course I doubt that one pack of Z-Poxy would be enough to cover this size of hull........and these are the excuses that my mind has given me to keep putting this job off!
I have seen Z-Pozy used on nice clean new-builds, but I have not heard of any applications like this on an old hull where it is basically needed to cover-over all the repairs and to toughen-up the old (fragile) balsa wood planking and blend it (constructionally) into the other materials that now make up the hull shape.
The cloth does look rather thin, so maybe this size and weight of hull will need more than one layer to genuinely "armour" it up against all the "day to day" scuffs that a boat like this can expect to suffer if it is to be a regular sailer, and with the time it has taken to get this far I would like to see it on the water as I still think it is a good looking classic powerboat - but I still wish it was slightly smaller at 1/12 scale as it would be a more usable size for me to handle!