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1930 Chris Craft mahogany Runabout by mtdoramike - Dumas


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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.  

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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 

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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

 

Edited by mtdoramike
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By "barrel back" I assume you mean  this one.   I think this was the second wooden model I completed, quite a few years ago, long before MSW.   It is just a static model and not used for RC.  It is also 40+ inches long.  I remember debating between this one and the Typhoon but ended up with this one.

 

Ok, sorry for the minor hijack....I'll follow along with interest.

 

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- Gary

 

Current Build: Artesania Latina Sopwith Camel

Completed Builds: Blue Jacket America 1/48th  Annapolis Wherry

 

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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 

Edited by mtdoramike
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  • 5 weeks later...

OK, I'm just getting started on the 1930 Chris Craft, I had to finish up a tug I was working on. I took some fiberglass resin, thinned it down a bit and thoroughly coated the inside of the hull with it to repel any water that might get in there. I'm going to be working on the front deck and at least get the false deck down before I start planking the hull with the finished mahogany strips. I'm not quite sure how old this kit is, but I'm thinking it's an 80's or early 90's kit. A lot of the wood is quite brittle. I may wind up having to cut new pieces depending on how it goes. I'm trying to moisten the wood a bit with a damp cloth that I place on the wood for an hour or so just to try and moisten the wood a bit until I can get it into place. I'm curious as to how the planking strips will be.

 

I'm now on the hunt for a 800-850 sized brushed motor for this hog. It's a single prop, so I want to make sure it has enough power to get on plane. I hope I don't have to order the motor from Cornwall models in England, like I did the last time I needed two 850 brushed motors, but finding them stateside is like hunting for a Unicorn.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've made a little more progress on the 1930. I cut out the engine and stern covers and got them mounted I covered the front deck with the bottom layer of planking. I ordered an FMA 850 brushed motor from Cornwall models in England for it. That motor should get this beast up on plane. I ordered the stern name of Ratlin ' Rita.   

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I finally got the beast of a motor in from Cornwall's in England. It took a bit over two weeks and cost about $38.00 US. Which isn't too bad considering you can't find a brushed motor in the US of this size or caliber. To give you an idea of the size of this motor, I put my fist up next to it. I also comes with the motor mount, which makes it a lot easier when it comes to mounting it.

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I purchased this lambskin leather remnant, which is a really light cream color that I intend to use for the flooring and side panels of the 1930. I intend to paint the seat a turquoise blue color. The bottom of the hull will be painted gold up to the waterline area. But it's still a bit early in the build yet, I could change my mind between now and then. 

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Edited by mtdoramike
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I always thought these were sharp looking subjects.  Your upgrades are going to make it even better.  I'm in for this one!

 

Do you make the decals yourself or do you outsource them?  I'm a bit stuck on what to do for decals on my Charles Morgan.  Part of the problem is that the stern lettering is white, and white letters require special printers.  I'm using ebony so not sure I want to print using white paper with the background surrounding the letters blackened from the ink.

Edited by Landlubber Mike

Mike

 

Current Wooden builds:  Amati/Victory Pegasus  MS Charles W. Morgan  Euromodel La Renommèe  

 

Plastic builds:    SB2U-1 Vindicator 1/48  Five Star Yaeyama 1/700  Pit Road Asashio and Akashi 1/700 diorama  Walrus 1/48 and Albatross 1/700  Special Hobby Buffalo 1/32  Eduard Sikorsky JRS-1 1/72  IJN Notoro 1/700  Akitsu Maru 1/700

 

Completed builds :  Caldercraft Brig Badger   Amati Hannah - Ship in Bottle  Pit Road Hatsuzakura 1/700   Hasegawa Shimakaze 1:350

F4B-4 and P-6E 1/72  Accurate Miniatures F3F-1/F3F-2 1/48  Tamiya F4F-4 Wildcat built as FM-1 1/48  Special Hobby Buffalo 1/48

Citroen 2CV 1/24 - Airfix and Tamiya  Entex Morgan 3-wheeler 1/16

 

Terminated build:  HMS Lyme (based on Corel Unicorn)  

 

On the shelf:  Euromodel Friedrich Wilhelm zu Pferde; Caldercraft Victory; too many plastic ship, plane and car kits

 

Future potential scratch builds:  HMS Lyme (from NMM plans); Le Gros Ventre (from Ancre monographs), Dutch ship from Ab Hoving book, HMS Sussex from McCardle book, Philadelphia gunboat (Smithsonian plans)

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Thanks CD, I figure for $15.00 it's quite inexpensive to add this little bit of class to the model. Thanks Mike, no, I don't print the decals, I purchased these from a fellow over on RC Groups.com who does the printing for them. I got like four of them for $11.00 shipped. Now to fix your stern lettering problem, Cornwall models in England sells sheets of vinyl lettering from small as in minute to like one to two inches tall or millimeters in their Country. That is where I get mine from, the price isn't bad at less than $10.00 US and the shipping is just a few dollars more. They are peel and stick, I usually use an xacto knife to position them onto the stern. They also have waterline numbering graphics that I usually order at the same time if I don't already have some. The shipping takes about 3 weeks, which isn't bad either for regular postal mail.         

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Mike   When I finish the case for the Rattlesnake my next  build is the Dumas 1:30 PT boat. My first time doing a hull like this so I might be asking for a few pointers, not real sure about this upside down, glue to a working board idea the plans calls for.

 I have also used  Cornwall models for years, great place to get your timber MOG

Current Build:   Not a ship 

           

 

Completed Builds:   Mississippi River Boat OcCre 1:80

                                Bluenose, Model Shipways 1:48

                                Rattlesnake, Model Shipways 1:64

                                     Dumas # 1233  PT Boat,  Wood, 1:30 

                                 1914-1918 US Army Mule drawn Ambulance 1:16 

 

 

 

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Hi MOG,

 

The upside down keel build is really very easy and in my opinion one of the best ways to keep the whole build square. Once the framing is completed, you just cut the building tabs off and you have your frame ready to plank. The PT 109 is on my to do list one of these days or if someone is looking for one and ask me to build it:)  

 

If I lived in the UK and within driving distance to Cornwall with a day or three, I would be there so often, they would probably lock me out especially when my credit card hit it's max limit.  

Edited by mtdoramike
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Yeah CD, I almost got into two accidents today going to rehab. All I was hoping is that the airbag wouldn't inflate because I'm not sure after getting gutted like a fish, the steering wheel might have felt better than the airbag. But they were just close calls. No place around here has any gas or water. I stood in line yesterday just to get 15 gallon of gas for the generator. My wife wants to board up, but I told her that ain't happening, I can't hold up sheets of plywood yet nor my Craftsman drill to screw them into place. So I'm just dropping and securing the aluminum awning and secure the windows. 

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Hi All,

Take care, hope that things give you Chaps a miss....

 

We are seeing on CNN at present. (Even in New Zealand.)

 

Take care.

 

Cheers....HOF.

 

Completed Builds:

 

A/L Bluenose II

A/L Mare Nostrum

Sergal/Mantua Cutty Sark

A/L Pen Duick

A/L Fulgaro

Amati/Partworks 1/200 Bismarck

A/L Sanson

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It always leaves me feeling a little "empty" hoping these storms will miss me and go somewhere else, knowing full well wherever it goes (sans playing out in the ocean) will cause poor souls misery.

But alas, it now looks like we will be spared a direct hit in Florida.

I've lived to see the devastation these things leave behind in my lifetime, and it gets a little more intense each year as population density increases.

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