drobinson02199
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Now painting the hull. You can see what the unpainted hull looks like in my posts above. The first picture shows the hull after two coats of spray paint. The poor look is a result of two things: The spray paint doesn't penetrate well into the spaces between the larger planks. I wasn't confident that more coats would do it, and was concerned that if I sprayed too much or too close I'd get runs and drips. Much of the darker parts result from small gaps between the 1x1mm spacer strips and the planks. So to fill those gaps down inside the spaces, I troweled on wood filler across the whole hull, and then opened up the spaces again using spare 1x1mm wood strips as small shaping "trowels" to "re-sculpt" the spaces into the wood filler, followed by wiping down the hull to remove excess filler (and then cleaning up the spaces again). I then put on two coats of brushed-on paint to be sure the spaces were filled. Finally, about 3 more coats of spray paint/sanding plus some spot spray. The result is in the second picture. If I was going to do this again from scratch, I'd first do one coat of spray to reveal the gaps, then wood filler, then 1-2 coats of brushed on paint, then spray. Now I need to give this a full day to dry well, then tape the water line and spray the bottom of the hull blue. Regards, David
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Zappto: Really cool with the lamps. Where did you run the wires down the mast? Regards, David
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I backed my way into an adaptation. I have been nervously watching my supply of deck planking, looking ahead and pre-calculating total needs. I concluded that I would possibly run out just before finishing, and so looked for an option. That came in the form of using some 2x2 mm walnut for the hatch covers on the aft well deck. Now it turns out that of course I had plenty of planking at the end, and could have done the hatch covers in matching planking as shown in the manual -- but I think the walnut provides some interesting contrast. In the pictures below, you may wonder why the planking on the well deck doesn't run all the way to the rear. It doesn't have to, as the unplanked area won't be visible -- but it's another reflection of my "save planking" insecurity manifesting itself. The wood has received its first coat of varnish and isn't quite dry -- hence the uneven shine. Regards, David
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Windows look terrific, Chris. Regards, David
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Chris: Better -- here is the Bob Smith Industries (BSI) website address. http://www.bsi-inc.com/index.html If you click on the Industrial/Hobby link at the top, and then adhesives, look for the purple bottle called "insta cure". I use the 2oz size. It's not watery like their blue bottle (or like many CA glues that are hard to manage), and while the website promotes it as gap filling, I like it because it just stays where you put it and you don't have to join things right away (you have maybe 60 seconds). Usually sets in a minute or so. On the same website, there is a dealer locator with instructions for how to search outside the US, and I tried it and saw two Australia distributors on the first two pages. I get mine through Amazon. Hope this helps. Regards, David
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Chris: Thanks. What you see is all the exterior planking there is. It's just plain white fiberglass above, and blue painted below. Here's a picture from the Grand Banks website of an actual GB 46 for sale, and you can see that it's fiberglass above and below the planking. I used BSI medium CA glue (the gel kind), which is my default glue for everything now. Regards, David
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I have completed the planking on the port side of the hull. See pictures below. The laser cut planks are shaped to fit the hull curve perfectly, and create a really even look to the planking, even for someone as ham-handed as me. They also make for a fairly quick and easy planking. I'm not worried about the glue spots, as all of this is painted white. I have sanded for fit the bow, stern, and lower portion where it meets the hull, but haven't done any pre-painting finish sanding. It doesn't show well in the pictures, but the lighter lines between the planks are 1x1 mm strips, which gives even separation between the planks. Because this is a really rigid fiberglass hull, I didn't have to worry about alternating the planking on both sides. I also wanted to finish one side with the 1x1 mm strips I have left (they are really delicate, and I broke some unwrapping the bundle. More coming next week). So I'm out of 1x1 strips, which means I'm going to have to find something else to work on while I wait for the strips to come. Regards, David
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I have done three hull planking strakes on one side, and the laser cut planks work really well. There is a 2x2 mm wale at the top that follows set measurements from the top of the hull, then a plank, then a 1x1 mm spacer, then a plank, and so forth. There are 10 planks on a side, down to the mid-point of the hull, where the hull line turns under, and then it's smooth from there to the keel. When it's sanded and painted white it should look really nice. While the manual says "birch" for the laser cut planking sheets, there's no way this isn't walnut. It's 1.5 mm thick, so really nice quality. It kills me to paint over it (I love varnished hardwood), but the boat would look terrible if I just varnished it. The manual calls for the planking first, and then the keel, but I wanted good butt-joins between the planks and the keel, so I did the keel first. Regards, David
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Chris: That blue is a bit too light for me, so I'm going to use a royal blue instead. I'm a fan of strong colors. Regards, David
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I haven't finished all of the detail work on the superstructure, but the manual wants me to turn to the hull now. It gets planked and painted. Interestingly, the hull planking is laser cut to fit. See picture below. I think they did this because if you look at the Amati stock photo that follows it, the plank lines are meant to stand out after painting and be smooth and even, so that requires precise plank shapes. So no sideways plank bending!!! Now I just need to not screw it up. Regards, David
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Antony: Hadn't heard from you in a while -- glad to see you back. She is just beautiful. I am totally in awe of you having done this as a scratch build. The detail is amazing. Regards, David
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Chris: Thanks -- I am really enjoying this one. I'm not really close to the end. Still a lot of detail to do: example is the bow railing I just installed on one side -- shown in the picture below. There is also more detail on the boat, the planking of the hull exterior and painting, hull deck planking, and other finish. I'd say I'm somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3 done. Regards, David
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I finished the flying bridge fixtures and details today. Pictures below show the full flying bridge, the controls that duplicate the ones in the main cabin (as they would on the real boat), and the rear steps and railings. The flying bridge is still fully removable to see the main cabin interior. There is a closeup of the corner couch. The shorter seatback cushion was too long in the kit, so I had to undo the upholstery at one end, shorten it, and then re-cut and redo the upholstery. I think it came out well, and now I have another possible vocation in case my day job doesn't work out. Regards, David
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Back from vacation, and I fabricated some interior lighting for the boat (not part of the kit). Pics below show a full shot of the boat without, and then with, the lights on. Then three interiors taken through the windows with the lights on. Finally, the light and battery assembly on the bottom of the removable flying bridge. Regards, David
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Chris: So sorry to hear about your health issues -- here's hoping that all will be figured out and you'll be on the mend quickly. Regards, David
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Chris: Given your focus on riverboats, I thought you'd appreciate this anniversary card my wife gave me. Regards, David
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This will be my last progress report for two weeks as I'm going away with my wife from cold Boston to a sunny place. I have now planked the flying bridge deck. In this picture I also dry-fitted the main railings, although they won't go on permanently until the flying bridge furniture and fixtures are done. Note that the forward railing is missing a stanchion on the starboard side -- I broke it while fitting the railing and will need to glue it back on when the railing is permanently mounted. (This despite a manual warning to be careful as the forward railing is delicate). When drilling the holes for the forward railing, when you hold the railing over the bridge, it looks like the positioning of the first two holes as specified in the manual is a mistake, but it turns out that the angle of the stanchions makes for deceptive positioning. So followed the manual and it worked. Then I have also made and installed the windshield wipers, which I think are very realistic-looking. More building later in February when I return. Regards, David
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Chris: On my riverboat, they put a water trough against one wall -- so you could consider that. Easy to fabricate. Regards, David
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Chris: Those figures, along with the detail you've put into the horse bay, are really great. It's looking terrific. Did the link I sent you help with your search for horses? Regards, David
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I'm about to begin work on the flying bridge, and with the interior cabin finished, I realized that while the flying bridge is removable to view the interior cabin, it might be good to light the interior. I can do that by attaching led's to the bottom of the flying bridge. There is room to make a cavity for the battery and switch, which you can see in the pics below. Would have bee much harder to do this if all of the railings and finish had been applied to the flying bridge. Regards, David
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Finishing off the main cabin interior. First picture shows the curtains up, as well as the magazines and maps. Closeups of those follow -- they are real mag covers and real maps, all reduced to miniature in the kit. A build tip: the instructions call for the curtain cloth to be sized with diluted PVA glue to give them some body, but that didn't do the trick -- after folding they were too floppy. So after folding and tying, I used hair spray to stiffen them. The bow picture shows the moldings covering the join points. The final picture shows the molding reversed to act as a flashing where the sides meet the hull deck. A build point: looking ahead in the instructions, the hull deck is made up of a 1mm frame and 1mm planks, so when installing that flange, I needed to make sure I had 2mm underneath it all the way around. Regards, David
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