thibaultron

Ron:
You might consider an extension of the booth's base out from the front of the box.  The photo is the Badger booth before I added the light.  I do all the actual spraying on the base area outside the enclosure.  The filter to front of enclosure is 5" and the enclosure to outer edge of the base is 8".  The airflow is higher the closer you get to the filter, so moving out from the filter will decrease the airflow so your blower might be just fine.  Spray water from the brush to observe the airflow at different distances.
Kurt

Part 2 – Research
 
The HAER documentation contains 8 pages of drawings showing various views of Kathryn, including many details of the interior construction.  Since I plan to build the model as a true plank-on-frame with all (or most) interior fittings, these drawings are an excellent resource.  Besides depicting the construction details these drawings also contain descriptions and measurements of many of the details.  However, I found during the drafting work that these drawings have a few errors – I’ll cover that in a later post.
 
The HAER documentation also includes the detailed description of Kathryn that was submitted for the National Historic Landmark nomination, and this description is a very valuable supplement to the HAER drawings.
 
The HAER drawings are available as TIFF files (much better details than JPG), which were loaded into my CAD program and then scaled to actual dimensions.  Each drawing contained a scale that made this easy to do.  Where the documentation did not contain measurements for a component, it was usually easy to determine the measurements based on the scaled drawings.
 
I collected the measurements in a separate document for easy reference.  That document is attached.
 
            Kathryn Specifications and Dimensions.pdf
 
In addition to the HAER documentation the article by Ben Lankford, found in the Nautical Research Journal published in June 1983, contains many useful descriptions and also a table comparing the sizes of different components from various sized Skipjacks.  Kathryn is a large Skipjack, and in some cases it was possible to estimate the size of a component by comparing it to the size of the same component in the various smaller Skipjacks.  Attached is a PDF of the comparison table.
 
            Skipjack Size Comparisons.pdf
 
Photos of the recent reconstruction efforts are available online, and these were invaluable for determining the configuration of several components.  Photos can be found at SavingWhatMatters.com, and at the Washington University web site at www.washcoll.edu/live/galleries/2508-restoring-skipjack-kathryn
 
There is also an interesting video on YouTube showing the Kathryn dredging for oysters (the video was taken before the recent rebuild).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FAkIEcLZtA
 
In addition to the above resources, the following books contributed needed information:
            American Small Sailing Craft, by Howard Chapelle
            Notes on Chesapeake Bay Skipjacks, by Howard Chapelle
            Chesapeake Bay Sailing Craft, by Robert H. Burgess
            Working Skipjacks of Deal Island, by Brice N. Stump
 
I also have a couple of good friends who live in the Chesapeake Bay area, are very knowledgeable about bay craft in general, and who are excellent modelers who focus on the boats of the Bay area.  Through these good friends I have been able to go aboard Kathryn after her recent rebuild and have also been introduced to individuals who were instrumental in the rebuild efforts.
 
 

Good to see you join, Elijah.

Never mind, I failed to read the title 1/32nd scale.

Never mind, I failed to read the title 1/32nd scale.

What scale are you going to build her in?

Count me in no this one, Frank! 

Thanks Gary, Bob, and Ken.  I'm glad you're interested.
 
No problem Ron!

Never mind, I failed to read the title 1/32nd scale.

What scale are you going to build her in?

I'll be following this!!

Good thing they found someone as skilled as yourself to restore it.Careless display should never occur again that is for sure!

Nice, Frank. I'll slide into the second row and follow your excellent work.

Hello Frank,
 
What a great subject.  I really enjoy working boats - and what a bonus that she is also beautiful in line.  I wish you enjoyment on this build.  I'll be following along and learning.
 
Gary

Thanks Patrick.  Glad to have you aboard.
 
 
Ron, I'll be building at 1:32.  

What scale are you going to build her in?

I'll be following this!!

What scale are you going to build her in?

I'll be following this!!

I “finished” construction on the spray booth today!!. The finished is in quotes, because it is still in the experimental stage.

 
I temporarily used closed cell weather stripping to seal the blower wall, that is why it is sticking so far out from the rear edges of the booth.
 

 
Here is a shot of the filter in place.
 

 
The filter is 10” X 20”. The top filter frame piece is screwed in from the back.

 
I’ll paint it after I test paint a model, and see how it works. Just feeling the airflow by hand, indicates that the blower may, indeed, be too strong for this size booth.

 
It may be a week or so before I can paint something, as family and work needs may interfere.

I caulked the booth today, and re-cut the top to make the light opening larger. I also used the Dremel to cut off the tips of the screws that protruded into the interior.

 
I limited the caulking to the filter mounts, and the blower chamber. Any air that may leak in around the joints of the spray area will not have much of any effect on the performance.

 
I had planned to make the cover of the blower chamber removable, but decided that it should be permanently attached. I can access the whole thing from the blower end, as the blower wall is removable.
 

 
I caulked as much of the chamber as I could get to. I caulked both joints each glue strip made with the inside, and along the outside of the chamber cover.
 

 
With everything glued, the caulk may not have been necessary, but it won’t hurt.

 
I installed strips to hold the filter in place. I cut them so that the filter is a light press fit. If needed in the future, I will add some kind of tabs to hold it.

 
I caulked around the outside edges of the filter wall, and the outside of the filter strips.
 

 
The joint at the top of the filter wall, blower chamber cover, and sloped back, got special treatment. I filled the joint from the top, then added more along the top of the filter wall. Next I added an angled strip to fill the gap at the cover / sloped back joint. This was not glued, but set in a bed of caulk.
 

 

 
I then turned my attention to the booth top piece. I decided that I needed to make the light “hole” larger. I trimmed it so that the back and sides were 1 ½” wide, and the front 1”.
 

 
This piece will be hinged  to the sloped back using a piano hinge. The top is ¾” plywood and the sloped back 3/8” ply. I needed to cut a rabbet in the back of the piece, so that the hinge will sit properly. This is shown to the bottom of the picture, above.

 
I attached another piece of the angled glue strip along the booth top / sloped back joint. It provided stiffening to the plywood edge of the back, a seat for the top, until I install the hinge, and a slightly better seal to the joint.
 

 
The plywood used for the booth was warped, and the tips at the top front turned in. So that the top would fit correctly I added a removable brace to the front. The top is hinged so that I can get better access to the top of a model, and a permanent brace would interfere with this. I simply screwed a couple of short pieces of glue strip to the front of the booth, and the brace sits in the gap between these and the strips along the top of the side walls.
 

 
It pushes the tips apart about an inch, as can be seen when I just sit the brace on top, without forcing it in place.

 

 
This is a photo of the top and brace in place.

 

 
With just the overhead shop light shining through the top, you can see that the interior is well lit.
 

Kurtvd19;
Thanks for the cleaning formula!! I be stopping by the store tomorrow!
 
Where do you give your workshops?

What scale are you going to build her in?

What scale are you going to build her in?

I'll be following this!!