1949 Chris-Craft 19' Racing Runabout by gjdale - FINISHED -Dumas - 1:8 Scale - RADIO

[Canute]

Ditto for me Grant. The flooring looks excellent and I really dig the dash and lights. Makes it "pop".

[popeye the sailor]

never thought of that for flooring........consider that one  'filed'!     the dash looks great.......very nicely lit.    very nice progress indeed!

[Gerhardvienna]

Hi Grant

 

She`s catching eyes! The illuminated instruments top it all again!

 

Regards

Gerhard

[trashboat]

Interior detail looks great ill have to incorporate them into my next build. Awesome job.

[John Allen]

^Grant,

 

^{Did not realize you were an engineer, and electrician believe you could work in a shipyard after you complete this. The dash and gauges right on.}

 

^{Looking good my friend.}

[gjdale]

Once again, many thanks for all the kind words and to those who hit the 'like' button.  Progress has been slow lately due to other commitments, so only a mini-update this week. 

 

Installing the sub-decking was straight forward:

 

 

 Took the opportunity to fill some of the dings in the hull using a two-part Epoxy putty (Milliput Terracotta) and she is finally ready for planking.

 

 

The instructions would have you just lay complete planks the length of the hull, from the chine up to the sheer. I tried that on one side and wasn’t happy, so ripped it all off again. Then I lined-off the hull using tick-strips in an attempt to do better by tapering planks fore and aft and having the same number of strakes throughout. Here is the lined-off hull:

 

 

So far, the tapering seems to be working quite well. I've been using a miniature plane to taper the planks and have to say, it beats the pants off sanding! Much easier and far less mess. The supplied planks are not wide enough to spile, so I will likely use some shorter plank lengths in addition to tapering, to cope with the bow curvature. I got as far as laying three strakes the second time around before I ran out of CA kicker – a real must for this process. So, it’s back on hold until I can pick up some more supplies.

 

More pics once substantial progress has been made with the planking.

 

 

[mobbsie]

Hi Grant,

 

Slow but good progress mate, glad you didn't get any damage when removing the planks you put on.

 

Looking forward to seeing more progress my friend.

 

I believe my Laptop is now fixed so I will be posting very soon.

 

Gotta catch up mate.

 

Be Good

 

mobbsie

[gjdale]

Thanks for looking in Lawrence,

 

To answer your question, a brass rod links the horn of the servo to the rudder arm on the rudder post. It's a very simple affair. I'll try to remember to take some pictures of it next time I connect it all up.

[gjdale]

Planking

 

Planking the hull turned out to be a little trickier than anticipated, and included a “near disaster”. Planking the first side, I followed as closely as I could the lining out marks, having first tapered the planks to fit against these. The problem was in the lateral bending of the planks. Ideally, they should have been spiled. However, the planks provided are not sufficiently wide enough to spile (and I didn’t have any sheet stock that I could substitute). The kit planks are also wide enough that edge bending is very difficult, if not impossible. The result was a less than even surface. On the second side, I decided to adjust the lining out marks to allow the first (chine) plank to fall naturally – which took it exactly one strake higher on the lining out marks at the bow. This meant that I had to insert a wedge shaped piece below this plank, but the remaining planks on that side went on somewhat more easily than the first side. The result also meant that I managed to maintain alignment of planks on either side at the bow.

 

The near disaster came when I went to give the hull an initial sanding to even out the surface. Following the lead of others who have gone before me, I broke out the powered mouse sander and set to. I must have been a little too aggressive in one place because I suddenly noticed that I had sanded through the entire thickness of the planking and could see the white plastic showing through. Oops…..  I also discovered that on the other side, one plank had developed a hole – not sure how, but the timber is very dry and brittle. Hmmmm, two repairs to make!

 

My first thought on repairing these was to use epoxy putty, but one of them was quite a large area and was going to look dreadful. After sleeping on it for a couple of nights, I decided that I would remove a section of the planking and patch it with new planks. Another few days to consider exactly how to achieve this, and I finally gave it a crack yesterday. I used a mini circular saw blade held in the Proxxon rotary tool and gently made some “stop” cuts at the extremities of the section I wanted to remove. I was then able to insert the blade of a No.11 Exacto knife and prise the damaged planking free. A quick clean up with the drum sander in the Proxxon to remove the residual glue and it was ready for the new timber. I took my time in shaping in the “patch” parts, and even managed to spile some thinner sections to get a very close fit. I also used some epoxy putty (Milliput) to blend the area at the bow where the timber transitions to the plastic sheeting of the hull bottom. After a careful HAND sanding, I was quite pleased with the results. Here are a couple of views of the completed repair job (forgot to take pictures of the “before”).

 

 

 

 

And here is a close up of the bow, showing the alignment of the planking. The stem is not perfect, but as it will be covererd later by the cutwater, I’m happy with it as is.

 

 

Then, at last, it was time to start on the deck planking. The process starts with the attachment of the edge or margin boards. These are die cut parts, slightly oversized, and are relatively easy to fit. Once in place, the outer edges are sanded back flush with the sides, and a strip of white “caulking” (.04” x .08” styrene) is applied to the inboard edge. The next step is to place the centre plank on the forward deck. This requires that a length of caulking be sandwiched between two planks (3/8” wide mahogany), then shaped to fit the bow and fixed in place down the centreline. Compared to the hull side planking, this was dead easy!

 

 

 

The remainder of the deck planking will follow a similar pattern, with a plank being glued to a strip of “caulking” before being shaped and affixed as a pair.  I’ll be back when the deck planking is complete.

[Moonbug]

Great work Grant. Admittedly I'd have liked to see the before. But I know with myself, when I botch something then have to repair it, the last thing on my mind is taking photos...

 

-Bug

[popeye the sailor]

sweet looking hull job Grant......very well done  

[Rustyj]

Very nice work Grant. The hull planking was a real bugger. As you said the deck is much easier the hatch behind the cockpit was also a little difficult for me to get those seams to line up with the deck seams. Keep up the good work!

[gjdale]

Thanks very much Bug, Popeye, Lawrence, Rusty and all the "Likes".

 

A minor update this week....

 

Deck Planking

 

Planking the deck has presented no particular problem thus far. The instructions direct you to alternate a caulking strip with a plank, but I found it easier to laminate one of each together and then shape and fit as a single unit. The only tricky part of shaping was the last plank on either side around the side of the cockpit, which just took a little time and patience to ensure a good fit. The ends of the planks were trimmed close to the forward end of the cockpit and then taken closer still with a sanding drum in the rotary tool, before finishing by hand.  Once all the planking is complete, the surface will be sanded level such that all caulking strips will be level with the planks (at the moment they stand just a little proud). Not bad for a day’s work! There will be a brief hiatus for a couple of weeks as I’ll be travelling with work.

 

 

 

[captainbob]

Nice work on the deck.  It will be beautiful when finished.

 

Bob

[TBlack]

Grant,

Nice work on the deck planking and the hull. If you're going to put the boat in the water, do you have to fiberglass the hull?

Tom

[gjdale]

Thanks Bob and Tom.

 

Tom - yes, the hull will be fibre glassed. This will be a first for me, so stay tuned!

[TBlack]

Grant,

I just finished my first fiber glassing on a model, and the advice I got from the "pros" was to use thin glass and keep the epoxy really thin. I'm wondering if that magnificent planking job will show up through the glass? You might seek out some advice about using just the epoxy over the mahogany after you've varnished. I've got to admit I'm a little at sea on this; I've only done it once and I had a painted hull.

Tom

Edited August 22, 2016 by TBlack

[gjdale]

Thanks Tom,

 

I've been avidly reading through a bunch of logs and "how-to"s over on the RC Groups site. Plenty of good advice there, as well as some great examples. Even though I've never done it before, I'm pretty confident that I'll be able to make a reasonable job of it. Worst case - sand it all back to bare wood again and go the epoxy resin route instead.

[popeye the sailor]

planking is coming along really great!    have a smooth trip  

[mobbsie]

Hi Grant,

 

Having seen the damage to the hull after your first repair mate you can heartily slap yourself on the back, a first class repair job my friend, well worth going the extra mile.

 

That decking is really going to look stunning when sanded an polished up.

 

Altogether mate a bloody good job all round, well done.

 

Stay safe at work mate.

 

Be Good

 

mobbsie

[gjdale]

Thanks again for the kind remarks and all the "likes".

 

After a few weeks of absence from the shipyard due to work and other commitments, planking is at last complete! The remainder of the deck was completed in much the same way as the fore deck, with the hatch being left in place and planked together with the rear deck. The hatch was cut free on completion, the hatch openings and rear cockpit opening cleaned up, and the transom was then planked in much the same way as the sides of the hull. The transom was trimmed flush with the deck, sides and bottom of the boat, and then the decks were given an initial sanding with 80 grit sandpaper. The aim of the initial sanding is to bring the white caulking strips down level with the deck planks. While it was not difficult to do, it did require a little more elbow grease than I’d anticipated. Anyway, here she is as she sits today. The “spare” hatch is in the foreground (in case my two-part hatch doesn’t work out). There’s still quite a bit more sanding to be done before she will be ready for staining and fibre-glassing.

 

 

 

[donrobinson]

She looks great, looking to seeing a finish on her. Are going to go for a gloss finish?

[gjdale]

Thanks Don,

 

Yes, definitely a gloss finish - fibreglass/resin, two more coats of resin, then several clear coats of high gloss varnish, and then polished as shiny as I can make her! The bottom will be a gloss copper paint.

[donrobinson]

That will look awesome, I love the looks of these boats with their super shiny hulls and decks. I have never worked with fibreglass/resin, I am really interested in seeing how it is done

Edited September 11, 2016 by donrobinson

[captainbob]

What a fine planking and cleanup job you've done.  She'll look great with a high gloss coat.

 

Bob

[gjdale]

Thanks Don and Bob, and also to all of the "likes".

 

Just a little more progress this week. The hull has finally been prepared for fibre-glassing. Rather than continue with progressive grits of sandpaper, and the all of the dust that that entails, after the initial rough sanding, I used some cabinet scrapers to smooth the deck and remove any residual glue stains. I had been apprehensive about using the scrapers but after watching a couple of YouTube videos on how to prepare and sharpen (burnish) a scraper properly, I felt confident to give it a try. I have to say, it is a lot easier than I’d anticipated. It is also a lot quicker than sanding, and the major bonus is that there is not a lot of dust – just some very fine shavings. It also ensures that the plastic “caulking” strips have a smooth finish.  Once the scraping had been completed, I brushed on the mahogany stain provided in the kit, as per the kit directions. It is a water-based stain and was very easy to apply. The caulking strips were simply wiped over with a piece of paper towel to remove the stain from them and prevent any discolouring.  Here is where she is at today:

 

 

And a close up of the fore-deck:

 

 

I intend to delay fibre-glassing for a couple of weeks for two reasons. Firstly, we are going away for a few days next weekend, and secondly, I’d like to wait for the weather to warm up a little before tackling this as from what I’ve read the process is somewhat easier to get right with a little heat in the air.

[Canute]

Nicely done, Grant. Smooth finish and the stain looks great. I did a cherry blank with a scraper and really liked how smooth it made the wood.

[Rustyj]

Hi Grant,

 

That is a first rate job on the deck and hatch planking. Well done.

[src]

Grant,

getting caught up here. Wow, stellar job! First rate. You really cant beat a scraper for smoothing a wood surface. Am I understanding correctly, you will apply a layer of glass over the hull? What weight cloth are you planning to cover it with? Assuming your wetting out with epoxy, what brand? I have never done that with a finish under the glass, really interested to see how that works. Your not planning on vacuum bagging it I hope? That would most likely crush your hull.

Sam

[mtdoramike]

What a real beauty, you got to love that mahogany look.

 

 

mike