mtdoramike

I remade the plastic seats out of balsa and covered them with white leather, which I will also use on the flooring and side panels

Here is my latest project, a Dumas 1955 Cobra kit that was "yes" an orphaned kit that a friend sent to me. But I will not be building this to kit specs. It will be moderate to heavily modified. The original 18' Cobra as with the 21' Cobra was notorious for poor handling, especially in turns and the stern or transome sat so low in the water that there had to be a cut water edge added to the rear sides and transome to keep the boat from being swamped. The kit is no exception. Now, the first modification probably won't help with the mechanics of operation, but will mainly be cosmetic because it is my kit and I can do what I want to it, which will be stretching the front section of the boat 3" from the cockpit forward. This will give it more of a front deck and look more proportional than the original which was 27" in length. But now it will be 30" in length. 
 
Next, I will try and address the stern section by building it up by 1/4" to 3/8" to give it a better profile in the water and hopefully help with the swamping issues. Lastly, I will address a glaring issue from the kit to the actual Cobra boat, which is the design of the transome (see picture). Hopfully this all goes well because with every action there is a reaction, so I will have to see which problems are caused by each modification.
 
You can see the corrected version of frame 9. In the photo of the two Cobra's, you can see the corrected transome on the Cobra to the right. These were compliments of Gary, a friend of mine. 
Wish me luck!  

I should have mentioned that like all orphaned kits that I adopt usually show up with missing parts, in a total mess and this orphan didn't disappoint hahaha. I have begun the transformation by stretching her out 3", adding another number 4 frame as well as another number 5 frame. You can see the additions with the lighter colored wood. 

I tried to capture the look with my camera, but it is like trying to catch lightening in a bottle hahahaha. But it will give you an idea of what I'm shooting for.

If you like the seat, you will love the turtle deck (the fin one the back) I laid a base layer of shiney gold paint down, put a light coat of resin over the paint and once it had tacked up I sprinkled .004 gold metal flake all over the turtle deck and then lightly sprinkled .015 gold metal flake over the turtle deck as well. Then I gave it two more coats of resin. In the shade, it gives a little sparkle, but boy when the light comes on or the sun is out, it looks like the mirror disco globes from the 70's.
 
I was going for a really heavy flake, but my wife and friend talked me out of it, now I wish they hadn't. I was going for the look of some of the Hydroplane racing boats that used to race in Lake Dora back in the 60's and 70's. They had one there that I couldn't take my eyes off of as a young man back then. The Gold Flake was huge flake and boy when the sun hit it, it was really something to behold.     

I remade the plastic seats out of balsa and covered them with white leather, which I will also use on the flooring and side panels

I remade the plastic seats out of balsa and covered them with white leather, which I will also use on the flooring and side panels

When doing plank on frame I usually glue the plank edge as well as the frame, which helps give a more solid hull. But if it's intended to be R/C and the hull painted, I use Bondo auto body filler, which is water proof to fill any cracks as well as any holes or divits in the hull. I also use Famowood whidch is a wood filler (you can see small splotches of it in the hull which is redish brown (mahogany shade) it's also water proof. Now if you see the fiberglass cloth showing through the resin, this happens with a heavier weight cloth. This is the reason I maily use 1 1/2oz to 2oz cloth especially if it will not be painted. But if I'm painting the hull, I will use up to a 4oz cloth.      

It's bondo filler. I lay down a coat of resin on the hull before I lay down the cloth to insure that it is "wetted" properly. This is after I smooth and fare out the hull. I then sand the hull with 80 grit sand paper to give the hull a bit of tooth for the cloth and resin. Then I sand between each coat with 180 grit sand paper and normally apply three coats of resin. When finished you could almost drop this hull off a two story building.  

Yeah, I found them at Model Expo for another $100.00. But after spending $200.00 on these after market fittings package, I will leave that up to the new owner whether or not they want to up grade. But it wouldn't be financially feasable for me to do it because I'm basically a flipper and I have to look at the bottom line as to what I can get for the finished product.

She has been glassed up with the first of many coats of resin. This is what the old girl actually looks like under all that soon to be rouge, lip stick and eye liner and all the rest of that war paint to really purdify her up. I love this stage of the build because it's like what the hell have I done to such a nice hull. 

Color me shocked! I received the Billings Fittings package for the Nordkap this afternoon, that was roughly a week to receive it from England. Here is what $200.00 worth of boat fittings looks like. But if it saves me time, it saves me money because to me, time is money. 

I order from Cornwall all the time. They are great, but expect 2-3 (probably 3) week shipping time. Is the family intending to keep the model? If so I'm sure they would be happy to spend the $157.00 for the part especially when you explain to them that the minimum appraisal for a nicely built SOS is $10.000.00 and better. 15 to 20 years ago, I could have built and sold 3-4 SOS models for $5000-$6000,
It wasn't the money issue it was the time involved, none of them wanted to wait 2 years for the build to be complete, which is a hobby schedule, not a business schedule. This was back when you could buy the kit for $600.-$800.00. 

When doing plank on frame I usually glue the plank edge as well as the frame, which helps give a more solid hull. But if it's intended to be R/C and the hull painted, I use Bondo auto body filler, which is water proof to fill any cracks as well as any holes or divits in the hull. I also use Famowood whidch is a wood filler (you can see small splotches of it in the hull which is redish brown (mahogany shade) it's also water proof. Now if you see the fiberglass cloth showing through the resin, this happens with a heavier weight cloth. This is the reason I maily use 1 1/2oz to 2oz cloth especially if it will not be painted. But if I'm painting the hull, I will use up to a 4oz cloth.      

When doing plank on frame I usually glue the plank edge as well as the frame, which helps give a more solid hull. But if it's intended to be R/C and the hull painted, I use Bondo auto body filler, which is water proof to fill any cracks as well as any holes or divits in the hull. I also use Famowood whidch is a wood filler (you can see small splotches of it in the hull which is redish brown (mahogany shade) it's also water proof. Now if you see the fiberglass cloth showing through the resin, this happens with a heavier weight cloth. This is the reason I maily use 1 1/2oz to 2oz cloth especially if it will not be painted. But if I'm painting the hull, I will use up to a 4oz cloth.      

I order from Cornwall all the time. They are great, but expect 2-3 (probably 3) week shipping time. Is the family intending to keep the model? If so I'm sure they would be happy to spend the $157.00 for the part especially when you explain to them that the minimum appraisal for a nicely built SOS is $10.000.00 and better. 15 to 20 years ago, I could have built and sold 3-4 SOS models for $5000-$6000,
It wasn't the money issue it was the time involved, none of them wanted to wait 2 years for the build to be complete, which is a hobby schedule, not a business schedule. This was back when you could buy the kit for $600.-$800.00. 

I order from Cornwall all the time. They are great, but expect 2-3 (probably 3) week shipping time. Is the family intending to keep the model? If so I'm sure they would be happy to spend the $157.00 for the part especially when you explain to them that the minimum appraisal for a nicely built SOS is $10.000.00 and better. 15 to 20 years ago, I could have built and sold 3-4 SOS models for $5000-$6000,
It wasn't the money issue it was the time involved, none of them wanted to wait 2 years for the build to be complete, which is a hobby schedule, not a business schedule. This was back when you could buy the kit for $600.-$800.00. 

A Billings Nordkap R/C finishing boat. A ladies husband recently passed away while working on this kit. I was asked if I would accept it and finish it, which I humbly agreed to do. I was not only humbled, but honored that I would be asked to do so. I will strive to make his vision for this model a reality and make her all se can be.
I have several projects going, but couldn't say no, nor did I want to.  
 

When doing plank on frame I usually glue the plank edge as well as the frame, which helps give a more solid hull. But if it's intended to be R/C and the hull painted, I use Bondo auto body filler, which is water proof to fill any cracks as well as any holes or divits in the hull. I also use Famowood whidch is a wood filler (you can see small splotches of it in the hull which is redish brown (mahogany shade) it's also water proof. Now if you see the fiberglass cloth showing through the resin, this happens with a heavier weight cloth. This is the reason I maily use 1 1/2oz to 2oz cloth especially if it will not be painted. But if I'm painting the hull, I will use up to a 4oz cloth.      

It's bondo filler. I lay down a coat of resin on the hull before I lay down the cloth to insure that it is "wetted" properly. This is after I smooth and fare out the hull. I then sand the hull with 80 grit sand paper to give the hull a bit of tooth for the cloth and resin. Then I sand between each coat with 180 grit sand paper and normally apply three coats of resin. When finished you could almost drop this hull off a two story building.  

Popeye, I tried Ages of Sail and although they do carry the fittings kit for the Kap, they were out and had been for some time and not sure when they would get any in. This model really needs to be converted to R/C operation, I saw one in action some years ago and it looked magnificent puttering around a local lake. I will PM you, I would love to see the blog.

Yeah, I found them at Model Expo for another $100.00. But after spending $200.00 on these after market fittings package, I will leave that up to the new owner whether or not they want to up grade. But it wouldn't be financially feasable for me to do it because I'm basically a flipper and I have to look at the bottom line as to what I can get for the finished product.

Thanks for the tip Glenn, I'm going to get me some of it and try it out.

Thanks for the tip Glenn, I'm going to get me some of it and try it out.

Fiber glass cloth and epoxy resin. This is not a requirement for static, BUT if you are building the model primarily from balsa, you will need to re-enforce the wood due to the softness of balsa. You could just give the balsa a couple of coats of epoxy resin, but you will still be able to dent the wood with your finger nail quite easily. Why is carbon fiber or other woods even mentioned in this thread, the op asked about wood hardening. He's talking about a model, I think carbon fiber is a tad over kill.