Upside down deck
So if you've read earlier posts you may remember that I made my own laminated deck instead of using the standard ply deck that came with the kit.
The question I had to decide was whether or not to cut it down to the standard size and mount it "inside" the hull as the instructions say, or if I should mount it on top of the hull instead.
I opted for on top. It may give me a bit more room to mount the servos, but it may also make my boat more top-heavy. I'm not really worried.
So then the question is how do I mount the deck. After talking with some guys who have made some pretty clean boats I decided to try an idea of theirs. The idea is to carefully line up the deck on the hull and mark with pen the outside perimeter of the hull. Then take the deck off and have it upside down on your table.
I glued down some backer plates where the shroud eye-bolts may go later. Because my deck is soft fir and not ply I felt I needed some reinforcement. Yes, it will add weight but it will be negligible. I then added strips of balsa around the perimeter but tucked far enough inside so that the hull will be able to fit around them. I super-glued them down and double-checked the fit. It lined up perfectly!
I then gave the under-side of the deck a clear-coat of epoxy. At the same time I clear coated the inside of the hull around the top edges where I had not clear coated yet. So at this point all surfaces on the inside of the hull have been clear coated.
Mixed up a large batch of thickened epoxy with some phenolic powder in it and carefully spread that on the outside of the balsa strips in a thick run. Used a tongue depressor to evenly spread it out. See picture below.
Note that in the picture you can also see my attachment point for the main and jib sheets. The instructions say to mount it inside the hull and they give some suggestions. The back corner seemed like the best place because I can get to it much easier than if it was deeper inside the boat.
Then it was a simple matter of turning the hull upside down and lining it up on the glued deck. Weighted it down with some bricks and let it dry.
Next day I sanded down the edges and voilà!
Next step will be to put a layer of 1.4 oz. fiberglass down on the deck and wet it out.
So if you've read earlier posts you may remember that I made my own laminated deck instead of using the standard ply deck that came with the kit.
The question I had to decide was whether or not to cut it down to the standard size and mount it "inside" the hull as the instructions say, or if I should mount it on top of the hull instead.
I opted for on top. It may give me a bit more room to mount the servos, but it may also make my boat more top-heavy. I'm not really worried.
So then the question is how do I mount the deck. After talking with some guys who have made some pretty clean boats I decided to try an idea of theirs. The idea is to carefully line up the deck on the hull and mark with pen the outside perimeter of the hull. Then take the deck off and have it upside down on your table.
I glued down some backer plates where the shroud eye-bolts may go later. Because my deck is soft fir and not ply I felt I needed some reinforcement. Yes, it will add weight but it will be negligible. I then added strips of balsa around the perimeter but tucked far enough inside so that the hull will be able to fit around them. I super-glued them down and double-checked the fit. It lined up perfectly!
I then gave the under-side of the deck a clear-coat of epoxy. At the same time I clear coated the inside of the hull around the top edges where I had not clear coated yet. So at this point all surfaces on the inside of the hull have been clear coated.
Mixed up a large batch of thickened epoxy with some phenolic powder in it and carefully spread that on the outside of the balsa strips in a thick run. Used a tongue depressor to evenly spread it out. See picture below.
Note that in the picture you can also see my attachment point for the main and jib sheets. The instructions say to mount it inside the hull and they give some suggestions. The back corner seemed like the best place because I can get to it much easier than if it was deeper inside the boat.
Then it was a simple matter of turning the hull upside down and lining it up on the glued deck. Weighted it down with some bricks and let it dry.
Next day I sanded down the edges and voilà!
Next step will be to put a layer of 1.4 oz. fiberglass down on the deck and wet it out.
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