1/10 Scratch Built Thunderboat (Finlay Plans)

[CHUD]

cool jeff

It's looking good jeff do you ever sleep

[monojeff]

Got all the foam sanded down using an orbital sander as well as all the triangle balsa. I also started to mock up the decking with some prints of the plans to see how things are going to line up before I start cutting it and gluing it down in case any adjustments needed to be made.

Everything appears to line up pretty good.
There is a little difference from the plans to how my edges came out but not much as you can see in the pictures where I marked the edge with a marker.

[monojeff]

I also checked to make sure the boat was level and even on the sponsons and transom before I start decking to make sure nothing needed to be tweaked so it will be straight once decked but everything looks good so I will start cutting the deck pieces and gluing them on soon.

[rcboatmanwithkids2880]

Hi Jeff ,

Looking good mate , currently i am building a Dumas .45 which i have just completed the frame work ....

All the best with your hydro ,

Brad

[monojeff]

Hi Jeff ,

Looking good mate , currently i am building a Dumas .45 which i have just completed the frame work ....

All the best with your hydro ,

Brad

Thanks Brad.

[monojeff]

Started working on the decking a few days ago.
First thing I did was seal the bottom of all the pieces with 2 coats.
Then I waited a day for things to dry and light sanded them then put another light coat on them then let that tack up before laying them over the framework.

I also sanded to shape the front and rear hatch/cowl braces.
I installed the front before the decking but left the back one out for now until I figure out where the best place is going to be for the cowling.

I used a very generous amount of epoxy and cabosil mixture over everything then put on the decking and taped and held them in place with cloth pins while I put the other pieces on the same way. I then taped them all together and added weight to hold things in place.

I used a half a roll of tape and a bunch of paint cans and a few misc tools.
After checking and double checking to make sure things would fit nicely they were still a little off where the three pieces come together on the nose. Nothing I cant fix with a bit of sanding.

[JimClark]

Looks great Jeff

[monojeff]

Here is a few more pictures of the decking.

I am also starting to work on the engine, arm rests & steering wheel which I got from bardahlracing. He is also making me a cowl and driver which I will have soon. They are some very nice pieces and I will be painting them and adding some detail soon as I get some time to work on them.

Next step is a LOT of sanding to get the deck sides sanded down to size.
Then I will be cutting out part of bulkhead C & D as well as installing the rear stringers.

[monojeff]

Looks great Jeff

Thanks Jim it came out pretty good for my first time doing something like this.
I am happy with the way everything is turning out, nice to see it taking some shape!

Next time I build a boat like this I will put tape on the inside of the deck bracing which will save a lot of sanding that will need to be done because of the epoxy coming out from under the decking.
You can see in the last photo I uploaded that there is a lot of cleaning/sanding to be done.

[monojeff]

I cut out the sections in bulkheads C & D per the plans.
After I did this I realized that the floor obviously needed some extra strength.
I glassed the entire floor and also the sides of the inside up to the deck seam to add some strength to everything.
Here is a photo & I will be posting more progress up tomorrow as I have a few more spots that need some glass added that I didn't get to last night.

I used 4oz cloth on this.

[monojeff]

I hollowed out some of the pieces of the dummy motor.
Glad I went to the garage to do this as dust gets everywhere.
I was sure to wear goggles and a mask so I didn't get any in my eyes or breath it in.
I used a dremel and a grinding wheel got the job done pretty quickly and worked out well I think.
I slipped a bit on the middle one but should not be a problem I will just fill that spot in with some epoxy prior to assembly.

[monojeff]

Here are some pictures of the rear stringers and glass I added you can see it goes up the sides and over the deck seam to add some xtra strength along the joint.

I also mixed up some epoxy and cabosil to fill the area on the nose that wasn't quit flush. It will still need some more smoothing but I figured I could do it when I start to seal the deck. I wanted to make sure it wouldn't move around or break loose while I was sanding the decking flush with the sides.

[monojeff]

I finished smoothing out the decking on the nose flush with the sides.
Now I just need to finish the back half and I will be ready to seal the deck.

Last picture is of some detail I added to the dummy motor valve covers with my dremel and a few small bits.

[monojeff]

Here is a picture of the rear stringers installed.

All the decking is now sanded even with the hull.
As well as the rounded part behind the sponsons.
Just a little bit more sanding before I seal the decking.

[martno1fan]

Hi Jeff shes looking good m8,will you be adding any ridpads to the sponson bottoms?.
Mart