mtdoramike

I'll be watching with interest as well. I like your progress so far and love the motor mounts, looks very clean. mike

While I applaud your ambition, I question your choice of model that you chose. The model you have chosen is not a beginner kit by any stretch, secondly I NEVER recommend buying a model kit off of ebay except for the experienced modeler, which would have the ability to overcome some of the pitfalls of buying old outdated kits that usually have issues like missing parts, brittle wood and lack of instructional material, which most of us have experienced dealing on ebay a time or three. I'm not saying you can't build this model, with the help of all the good folks on this forum, you could build anything with the right attitude, which you seem to have. But you have started off with the deck stacked against you. I'm not trying to be a buzz kill here, but your decision just gave you more of a mountain to climb than you could have had if starting with a more suitable beginner kit.

Rudder Servo installed, then I got some of the cabin structure built. This section will be removable in order to gain access to the mechanicals in the hull. I have not secured the deck as yet, waiting on the motor to arrive, I will then install the motor, drive shaft and coupler. Even though you would have access to do this with the cabin removed, it just makes it a little easier to get to and install everything especially if you have big hands.

Hi Gary, I did a bit of research and stand corrected, what you have there is if not mistaken, a Dumas 1938 Chris Craft triple Barrel back 1/8th scale, 40 1/2" in length #1241 and what a real beauty she is too, you did a fine job on her for sure. mike

Hi Gary, no that is not a Barrel Back, it's actually the same model I'm building now, which is a Dumas Chris Craft 1930 24' Runabout 1/8th scale 36" in length. This is a 1940 Dumas Chris Craft barrel back mahogany runabout 28" in length. mike

Yes CD, you have a base or bottom layer usually of either balsa wood strips or a thin layer of plywood like the hull of the 1930 is above. Then after you lay the first layer of what I call sacrificial wood, get it as smooth as possible (OK to use putty or bondo here) but not on the finished layer of mahogany. Then you start laying down the mahogany strips insuring the best fit possible so little to no putty is used. If I have a small gap, I will keep as much of the saw dust from sanding the hull as I can, mix it with a little clear glue and fill in the gap by rubbing the saw dust in the crack then sand it smooth. Once you lay the fiber glass cloth and resin to the finished hull, any regular putty will show up. I have found that on these runabout hulls that use thin plywood underlayment really don't need the fiberglass cloth, 4-5 coats of resin seals the hull and you could drop it off a bridge and it would still float. Oooooo, the old Typhoon, she is a real looker and in my opinion one of the best if not the best runabout Dumas makes my only other favorite is the barrel back. The Typhoon is a big EXPENSIVE kit, your lucky to have one. Be aware if you start building the Typhoon, measure twice and cut once, I say this because one of the last builds I did, the planking wasn't real bad, but not up to my standards, so I had to remove it and tried to save most of the mahogany strips, but still had to order a batch from Cornwall models in England because I couldn't find any in the size I needed in the States. Even Dumas didn't have any. mike

I've been going through the contents of the 1930 Chris Craft runabout box to make sure that it is all there and it seems to be pretty complete, which is kind of a catcher catch can with these estate sale items. The original owner was pretty meticulous when it came to keep the contents together, even keeping build notes on his progress. I'm not quite that meticulous with any of my builds as far as keeping everything together. I hope to have this boat completed by Christmas or January, so if there is any interest in purchasing her when she is done, send me a PM. I will hold off on having a name decal made up for her in case someone is interested then they can name her. Mainly what I charge is for materials. That includes it being receiver ready to run, all you will have to add will be a transmitter, battery and transmitter receiver. I figure the cost would be between $350.00 and $400.00. The kit only retails for like $360.00 new. But I didn't have to pay that much for the kit since it was an estate sale. I plan on this being my last Chris Craft Mahogany run about that I will build. mike

Got a little work done on the 74'

Thanks CD, I saw your listing on Ebay, I also checked out YouTube and saw where a few of these have been motorized for RC operation and man does it look majestic running around in the lake, I would imagine a few extra servos with a 4-5 channel transmitter you could make those guns actually spin around. But yes, I can see where you may want to be a little picky about what brass adornments you would want to apply if going R/.C.

WOW, what a deal, this is a beautiful model. I wish I had the extra cash, I would grab it, build it, turn it into an R/C boat and have a blast. I'll bet heads would turn down at the local lake. Hey CD, what is the Dims of the finished model? mike

This boat will be 36 inches long when finished and is one of the if not the biggest mahogany runabout that Dumas makes. It's a 1/8th scale I believe.

I was able to pick this 1930 Mahogany runabout 24' up as a future project. It had been started by a previous owner, who did meticulous work from what I can tell just looking at the hull structure. He even kept a binder with the instructions in it and building notes that he was keeping. It came from an estate so I assume the previous owner had passed away before finishing the model. Well I'm going to take care of that for him and intend on finishing it unless I kick off before the job is done. You can tell that this kit is a good 30 years old, there were plastic drop cloth that was in the kit box I guess he put on the floor when building, but the plastic sheet totally fell apart when I pulled it out of the box. The plans are quite yellowed and not white like they should be.

Thanks for the kind words CD, it definitely requires constant work and attention for sure at least that is what my wife says about me hahahaha. I hope they have a blow out of a time too.

That's a good question, I'm assuming so, but I can't say for certain. Upon researching, I found this information, so I believe it was steel. http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/smallships/armytugs.htm

Yep she is, CD, actually today is our 45 wedding anniversary.

I installed the drive shaft tubing/stuffing box and got it glued and mounted. I noticed the rudder was a piece of white plastic, I couldn't hold with that, so I scrounged around my work shop and found a piece of brass plate that was about the same thickness and cut out a new BRASS rudder. I like it way better than the plastic one.

I took a nap the other day and when I woke up, I found that my wife had moved me and my work shop into her office lock stock and barrel. She even hung the plans on the wall. What a gal.

Oooooo, I do like pink and maybe even purple accents.

Thanks for the reply Salty, I can understand that, I too tend to stray outside the box from time to time.

Hey Salty, I'm going to ask this stupid question, why after spending the kind of money on this particular kit, not to mention the hours upon hours of building time that you would deviate from the original colors of the real ship if you are being a representation of the Hood. Although your painting and the colors are absolutely beautiful, I'm just curious why those colors instead of the traditional colors. mike

I got a little progress made on the 74 yesterday after cardio rehab. I've got the kit setup on my wife's desk in her office. She doesn't want me working in my work shop yet and wants to keep an eye on me for a while yet. But this is starting to get old, my work shop is calling my name. At least I can spread everything out in my shop and not have to worry about having to move this or that so she can get to her desk at times.

Oooooooo boy, this is going to be exciting, can't wait for further installments.

Also, you can check ebay for those kit values. You will be surprised at how different the actual price they achieve is compared to the retail value.

I do dislike the plastic hull a bit, but it does make the building a bit quicker for sure.

I purchased this kit from an on line retailer for about $95.00 with the intentions of building it for my grandson for either a birthday or Christmas present. But then life stepped in and then I wound up in the hospital for a triple bypass. So now that I'm back home and on the mend, I hope to make some head way on the Army Tug.