30" Scratch Built Cat

[Jesse J]

Yay, lookin good! I am really glad you stuck with it! I do think you might want to cross grain your sponsons with a layer of thin ply at this point. Even if you are going to glass it, a nice layer of 1/32" ply won't add much weight but will add lots of rigidity. Use some good contact cement and align the cross grain parallel with step.

whatcha gonna do fer a lid?

[lomdel]

Thanx Jesse. That (cross-grain the sponsons) is just what I am going to do next. Shouldn't it be parallel with the transom though? The decklid would be a simple ply sheeting on curved balsa beams resting on supports I glued to the inside of where the opening is going to be, but the cockpit will be glassfibre over foam shaped by hand. Still need to find a suitable foam though...
I received my stingers (Etti 4mm) and my rudder recently as well! Will post some mock-up pics soon. What is the rule of thumb for rudder behind prop distance? My rudder will be about 4cm behind the props. (Couldn't find a long enough short-standoff rudder...)

[OldMann]

Here's a few pics of the sheeting up till now...

Nice work. I give you some advice. Before you mount the top to hit with a lake for waterproofing. In this way, the lake will protect the wood and will not appear strains.

[Jesse J]

Nice work. I give you some advice. Before you mount the top to hit with a lake for waterproofing. In this way, the lake will protect the wood and will not appear strains.

Hi OldMann, could you clarify what you mean please? not sure what you are trying to say, thanks.

Lomdel, you can cross grain it however you wish. I was following the plans from Shockerman (the ones Norman used) and there it says to parallel the steps - and thinking about it, this way you have a nice edge at the back of your step and the curved part of the step is perpendicular to the grains, better deal, given your steps are slanted like yours are. Otherwise you could have potential for warping of the hull.

[lomdel]

Nice work. I give you some advice. Before you mount the top to hit with a lake for waterproofing. In this way, the lake will protect the wood and will not appear strains.

I also don't understand what you mean Oldmann .
Parallel to the steps it will be...

[OldMann]

I also don't understand what you mean Oldmann .
Parallel to the steps it will be...

Please excuse me if my expression is not correct. I live in Romania and do not speak English all the time

I said that before they mount the upper deck is better to waterproof the wood in order not to distort. Deformation occurs when the wood could be saturated with water. It may happen that in certain circumstances to enter the water in the boat, if not waterproof interior wood absorbs water.
Thanks for understanding

[Jesse J]

Ah, yes good point, waterproofing is a MUST I agree.

I have also noticed that the very act of waterproofing can distort the balsa. I had a nicely shaped hatch and went to polyurethane it and it went flat on me. lost all curvature and became rigid. So, yes waterproof before, but be ware that you might lose some curvature if you had it built in.

[lomdel]

I covered the whole interior of the boat with a coat of thinned fibreglass resin. The tunnel floor on the inside was covered with fibreglass clotch and regular fibreglass resin to provide a strng backbone for the hull. I will now cross-grain the exterior and apply a second coat of resin to the interior to make sure... Only then will I start the polyurethane sealer, sand, primer, sand, final coat and clear coat(?)...

[Norman2]

30" scratch Built cat

Hi Jesse an lomodel.
Some photos of some progress. Will now finish the canopy and post more photos.
Regards, Norman
Sorry will post photos again

[Norman2]

30" scratch built cat

Trying to upload photos. Will try again tommorow

[Norman2]

30" scrath built cat

Hoping the photos will upload. Wil finish canopy shortly.
Norman

[Jesse J]

that turned out real fine, good idea! can't wait to see her wet...

[lomdel]

That SV27 cockpit is a perfect fit! What are the length and width dimensions of the cockpit?

[Norman2]

30" scratch built cat

That SV27 cockpit is a perfect fit! What are the length and width dimensions of the cockpit?

Hi lomodel. Your project is doing just fine and you are doing all the correct things
to make a strong durable hull. I will measure the cockpit today as soon as the
fiberglass resin dries. Don't give up. Regards
Norman

[lomdel]

Some pics of the cross-grain applied to the bottom of the sponsons. The sides will be vertically grained next. I also did a loose fit of the stingers and the rudder to see what it would look like. They were just put in place and nothing is set or fixed yet, obviously...
From a previous post you would recall that I applied a coat of thinned resin to the entire inside of the hull to seal and watertight. To make sure I will do another coat before adding flotation (pool-noodle) and sheeting the deck.