A long day sealing the bow and stern, strengthening the foredeck, building an ultra light foredeck post, cutting a slot in the hull, measuring and shaping the forward bulkhead, fin case and deck. Lots of pictures below in a slightly random order.
Tomorrow I hope to bond in all the pieces and then the only other major jobs are to fit the plates for the servo and rudder stock which will likely be done on Wednesday. Then a final rub down and drill all the holes for the deck fittings. Finally after that I can wrap the boat in its metallic blue vinyl. Its an experiment but I am sure it will be worth the effort and if it doesn't work I can always paint it.
Have a great day. 28 days to go with luck.
Bulk shaped with radio pot. I have to thank Dave Creed for his magnificent work with the fin, rudder, fin case and radio pot.
Ultra light but very strong foredeck post
Creating the template for the forward bulkhead using card and then I cut out a plate from 2 layers of S Glass with a pair of scissors
You can just see the 2 reinforcement layers of S glass in the fin and mast area
Shaping the fin and fin box takes a long time and is critical to get right if you want a balanced boat
Phot to show where the transom needed sealing
The alternative has a measurement from he bottom of the bow to the leading edge of the fin at the bulb. I used string to check I have the measurement correct. There was a lot of sanding of the bottom of the fin box to get this right.
Dry fit of the fin box. The base of the box is right. Just need to trim the top so I can bond it to the bottom of the deck
The jig is accurately made and marked with centrelines which makes getting the alignment of the fin cut easy as I know the marks will give me an exact centreline. I double check using a piece of string from the centre of the bow to the centre of the stern.
Image showing that the bow is sealed although I will double check with a water test. Most of my epoxy is mixed with microsphere
Fitting the fin in the box.
The bow plate ready for fitting. 2 layers of S cloth again.