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[zooma]

I have cut and fitted all of the deckings and the classic sloping front cabin cover, but I fancied being able to remove a section of this front cabin (it is normally fixed), so I took the razor saw to it and chopped a section out of it and made some 'shelf edges" for the cut-out section to sit on - without it the removed roof section would just fall through!   


My obsession with being able to gain access to all the inside areas of the hull saw me reaching for the razor saw (as I do!!) and chopping out a nice shaped hatch with a front shape that will align with the funny little “wave breaker” that is a very recognisable part of this classic Aerokits design.



Unfortunately after I had cut the section out - it wouldn’t move !!


I had forgotten about my “belts and braces” fitting of the shaped former that sits underneath this roof section -another slight cock-up as I had "boxed myself out”.


My solution was to make yet another cut in the cab roof in line with the centre line to make one half of this roof section left out freely - and it did!


This gave me access to get the razor saw into the open area and to cut the top off of the roof former so I could lift this new hatch out from the hull.


I have now glued the two halves of the roof back together again and fitted some small shelving edges to stop it dropping through into the hull!


I think it will look quite good when it is finished ……..but wonder why I always feel the need to make a nice simple job a lot more involved than it needs to be.

[SteamboatPhil]

Yup been there done that..........doh 
Probably never again though 

[tonyH]

Bob Zooma plays with his saw.......yet again!

[zooma]

Thanks for posting the pictures Tony, they show my new front hatch along with the mix of old and new wood that is being brought together  - hopefully to produce a complete Stilleto (are you reading this Will?) .....Sea Commander sometime in the not too distant future.....

[zooma]

I have not had too much time at home recently, but I have managed to spend some of it  in the workshop (shed) to make and fit the front cabin roof.

The rear cabin roof should have been a lot easier to make than the front roof, but the new 4mm plywood baseplate that I glued the formers onto warped!


I removed the formers and clamped the baseplate onto the solid steel table of my bandsaw and after cleaning the glued surfaces I rebuilt it again.


The next morning I removed the clamps only to discover that it had warped again - but not so much this time.


This was now getting “personal” . The obvious thing to do would be to cut some new wood, but I repeated the process of taking the front and rear roof formers off of the baseplate and cleaned the old glue off (again).


The baseplate was clamped down onto the bandsaw table and again checked to make sure that it was perfectly flat before gluing the two end formers on again, but this time I added a central spline with two half formers spaced equally on each side and added the the small side formers.


When the new assembly was still clamped to the steel table I added some diagonal cross strips between all the formers and left it to dry for the next day.


Fortunately this time the roof baseplate remained absolutely flat and so I was able to fit the plywood skin to cover it.......and leave it on the bandsaw table to dry overnight.


When I am home next, I just need to trim the skin to fit and both cabin tops will be finished making the construction look more like a  Sea Commander 

[tonyH]

From Bob

[zooma]

Both cabin tops are now finished and fitted, and the cockpit windscreens have been made and fitted with a short mast, so the basic construction is now completed and the model has been given its second coat of primer/undercoat and will gain its first coat of spirit based gloss paint very soon.

I still need to add some glass fibre matting in and around the engine bay and motor mounts - just to reinforce (although it looks strong enough already to be honest) and then I can start to paint the interior before re-fitting everything back into the boat.

The prop shaft, motor, coupling, steering servo, ESC and receiver can then be re-fitted.  These were fitted before the side skins were glued on so that the motor and shaft/coupling could be aligned more easily and platforms were made and fitted at this stage for the ESC and receiver to sit on when they were easy to see and fit.

Battery holding compartments were also fitted at this stage so the two LiPo cells can be slotted into position to give quick and easy removal for charging or exchanging for fully charged cells lakeside if required.

The steering servo mounts were also fitted before the side skins were glued-on and the linkages were made and tested at this stage. 

Holes to take the water-cooling tubing and the servo wires were drilled and the installation checked and some small magnets were fixed in the rear compartment to hold some basic tools (Allen keys and a simple stamped steel spanner) "on-board" to allow basic lakeside adjustments to linkages, motor and coupling removal (or adjustment) and propeller replacement.

I will add a screwed stud (I forgot to do this) to hold a spare propeller so I should be able to take care of any minor incidents lakeside without having to carry a toolbox.

[tonyH]

More from Bob.

[ChrisF]

The paint is really tying the old and new together now. Should look really smart.

Chris

[zooma]

Thanks Chris - and Tony for posting the pictures for me 


Once I have made a template for the unique Sea Commander "wave breaker" to fit on the front cabin I will get it cut and fitted to complete my "look-a-like" Sea Commander.


Then comes the job I hate the most - painting........and I have yet to come up with a suitable paint scheme!


I like to finish my new builds and/or restore my classic model power boats with a traditional oil based paint applied by brush - very time consuming - and I have yet to master the technique.........and finding good oil based paints is getting harder all the time - so I am NOT looking forward to the next few days/weeks with a paintbrush 


I will make some basic cockpit detailing etc later, but first I want to get the main boat build finished and painted so I can run it and see how I get on with a non-water cooled ESC (a first for me)!

[tonyH]

I'd suggested to Bob that he'd gone over to the "Dark Side" of ARTR so his conscience pricked him into sending these!

[zooma]

Getting a good choice of traditional oil based paint colours is getting harder all the time as the manufacturers change their production to the more environmentally friendly water base "easy clean" types, so I mixed some of the blue and white paints that I had to give me a pale blue shade to try on the deck.  I think it looks OK so I will stay with it.


Stirring the non-drip paint removes its jelly like composition and it becomes much more like a normal paint and so it was easy to mix the two colours together and it has worked quite well.


The wave-breaker shape has also worked quite well (maybe a little bigger than the kit shape?) but once I have finished sanding it and get some paint on it I will decide if needs re-shaping or not, but for now I am happy with it.


I am using the wave breaker to protect the extra hatch that I fitted into the front cabin roof.  This extra hatch was worth making as it gives access to an area of the Sea Commander that is not possible to get into on the original kit built design.


The cold weather has further delayed the progress on this "copy commander" even further, but I am not in a rush (!) and I am pleased that the two delaminated and incomplete cabin sides that Will gave me by mistake have formed the base that encouraged me to restore them and cut the extra shapes that were needed to make them into the model that can be seen here.