Chris-Craft Runabout by English Rebel - FINISHED - Dumas - Scale ⅛ - First wooden ship build for 55 years

[English Rebel]

This kit was on sale at Garrett Wade so I snapped it up. But first, a few shots of my now almost bare woodworking shop. It used to be filled with a table saw, bandsaw, planer, jointer all connected to a central dust collection system. Up until seven or eight years ago, I used to build furniture and clocks and other projects, but as I got older I decided to hang up my apron. Now I'm back where I was when I was a kid—building model boats.

Enjoy

Alan

 

This is the first thing I built—a much needed workbench.

I setup a caddy to house all of my clamps and glue and tools. BTW those clamps are junk. The plastic tips keep coming off.

 

Here's the Chris Craft with all the frames and keel glued up. It was tricky to get everything aligned properly. I don't much care for the material the frames are made from (balsa ply?).

 

The instructions said to just glue the frames to the underside of the deck, but I found additional bracing was required.

 

 

Another kit awaiting my attention. I didn't realize that this was designed by Chris Watton. I haven't decided whether to build this one after the Chris Craft, or Zulu, 'Lady Isabella' any thoughts??

 

[Nirvana]

Alan, I don't know if I welcomed you to our "World".
Well I am impressed, if you know Norm Abram and has built furniture for a long time, this will be easy for you.
Having a workshop like yours must be a dream. 

[English Rebel]

14 hours ago, Nirvana said:

Alan, I don't know if I welcomed you to our "World".
Well I am impressed, if you know Norm Abram and has built furniture for a long time, this will be easy for you.
Having a workshop like yours must be a dream. 

Thanks. The workshop looks a little empty now. 

Alan

[VTHokiEE]

17 hours ago, English Rebel said:

I haven't decided whether to build this one after the Chris Craft, or Zulu, 'Lady Isabella' any thoughts??

Purely for selfish reasons, I’d love to see a log of the Amati Fifie. I’ve long looked at the kit and considered it as a future build. Beautiful workshop by the way.

[English Rebel]

1 minute ago, VTHokiEE said:

Purely for selfish reasons, I’d love to see a log of the Amati Fifie. I’ve long looked at the kit and considered it as a future build. Beautiful workshop by the way.

Thanks. I was asking to see which one would be easier to build seeing as though the Chris Craft is the first boat I will build that has hull planking.

Alan

[VTHokiEE]

2 minutes ago, English Rebel said:

which one would be easier to build

Ah, pardon my mistake, I believe Chris designed the Zulu specifically targeting a novice so I would suggest the Zulu with that in mind. There is also at least one build log for the Zulu:

I don't think there are any for the Amati Fifie; it helps me to see what someone did in a log as well as the instructions (reinforcing the Zulu suggestion).

[English Rebel]

1 minute ago, VTHokiEE said:

Ah, pardon my mistake, I believe Chris designed the Zulu specifically targeting a novice so I would suggest the Zulu with that in mind. There is also at least one build log for the Zulu:

I don't think there are any for the Amati Fifie; it helps me to see what someone did in a log as well as the instructions (reinforcing the Zulu suggestion).

Okay, got it. I think Chris was the one who built the first one so he could compile the instructions and provide a finished model for the photo on the box. If his instructions are anything like the ones for the Fifie, it will be an easy build. One of the reasons why I purchased it, is because of the review that was posted on this website.
Alan

[English Rebel]

After much glueing of the plastic substrate, I finally got the bottom of the hull finished. Now on to the deck and the sitting compartments.

Alan

 

 

 I had to run out to O'Reillys for some Bondo to fill in the bow and the small joints between the pieces of plastic. Need a tad more filler; I wish I had picked up a tube of body putty while I was there as it fills all the small 'pores' and sanding scratches. I think I'll head back and pick up a tube. More sanding with finer grit paper as the hull below the chine is painted. The area above gets mahogany planking.

The transom

 

[English Rebel]

I have completed the hull and deck planking. As I don't intend to put a motor in this build, I decided to plank over the removable hatch cover and either saw cut or mark the shut lines. Now it's sanding and sanding and sanding.

Alan

[Vladimir_Wairoa]

On 6/14/2020 at 10:44 PM, English Rebel said:

I have completed the hull and deck planking. As I don't intend to put a motor in this build, I decided to plank over the removable hatch cover and either saw cut or mark the shut lines. Now it's sanding and sanding and sanding.

Alan

perfect work English rebel. i envy. vlad 

[Nirvana]

I truly like the white deck caulking. Makes it looks so crisp and clean.

What caulking did you use?

You have to be extreme careful when it comes to the varnish of the deck so it doesn't dissolve the caulking.

 

[English Rebel]

Thanks guys. Nirvana, the caulking came with the kit and is strips of plastic. They are a pain to glue in as you have to stand them on edge and then sand them flush with the strips of mahogany.

Alan

[English Rebel]

Okay, it's finished although not up to my standards. First attempt at hull planking was interested to say the least. The rubber tube in the kit that has to be split for the cockpit coaming was a RPITA. My next build is going to be the Altsu Mendi Basque tugboat as its hull is painted so my next attempt at planing, if not very good, can be covered with paint. For the seats, I use airplane dope (not sure of the correct name these days) and tissue paper that ended up looking like wrinkled leather. I was quite pleased with that.

Alan