A few more basics had to be done with some assistance before we can go any further with the skins. The power unit is easiest fitted without the bottom and side skins. As this is a twin screw boat it’s most important that the prop shafts are perfectly parallel this most important when we consider the drive mechanism.

We all have bits under the bench that we over bought at some time so I decided to make use of some of them.
The motor is the first adaptation, it was bought for a much bigger boat but my idea was that it could be used to drive both props at once this is to be done with miniature timing belts hence the need for the shafts and pulleys to be perfectly in line to avoid any tendency for the belts to wander off the pulleys. You may notice that the shafts are different lengths; this is so the pulleys are supported to the maximum effect. I also had to put extra supports in place near the motor again to give extra support.
It will also be seen that an extra support is temporally in place at the stern end to ensure the dimensions between the shafts is maintained until the skins are in place and additional strengthening is placed where the shafts emerge and where a skeg can be fitted along with two water take ups and two rudders.

The first structural pieces to be fitted are the two carlings which are pieces of timber laid fore and aft under the deck and form the edges of the main opening in the deck; it’s important to make sure that the bulkheads are firmly set at 90 degrees in both the horizontal and vertical planes as they serve as the foundation for the whole body of the boat.
The next structural components are the stringers which are the part of the boats construction that gives it further strength and confirms its symmetry and rigidity, so it’s important to make sure that the bulkheads are still firmly set at 90 degrees in both the horizontal and vertical planes before the stringers are glued in place. The stringers in the plan call for balsa wood but again I’m going to change this to obeche to give more strength. They also suggest that the stringers are applied laminated to ease the bending however I’m not sure this is necessary if using balsa but with obeche it may ease the process so applying them in two strips is the way we applied.
The stringers now have to be planed and sanded to the form of the bulkheads, after initial planning I used a long piece of flat ply (19 mm thick 75mm wide and 300mm long) with abrasive paper bonded to it. This makes sure there are no low spots by removing the excess in the right places and forming them to the profile of the bulkhead sides.
A lot of help is required for this stage as my Grandson is learning on the job, he does as much as he can and I stand back and just direct and supervise.

Week two and it’s time to start assembling the components, the keel is clamped to the base board to ensure that it stays straight during the assembly. Each of the bulkheads has to be clamped whilst it’s glued to the keel and this is done using some 90 degree brackets, each bulkhead is prepared with epoxy (30 minute) and placed in position making sure they are butted up against the angle brackets and duly clamped in position. 30 minutes it says on the pack but we prefer to leave overnight when it’s properly cured and easily planed and sanded. At this point the two carlings are just dry fitted to give some alignment to the upper deck area of the bulkheads.
That’s it for today.

As did another member on the site succumb to the charm of a grandson, I too have fallen for it, again. The first one was a cabin cruiser but apparently it really doesn’t go fast enough despite an engine transplant and a bigger prop and larger capacity battery. So “what would you like” –“a Motor Torpedo Boat please grandad”
Enter the Vosper MTB379. My grandson trawled the plans service web sites and eventually settled on a 23”Vosper MTB, the plans were purchased and duly arrived a couple of days later, 3 sheets in all giving enough detail to build a nice example of the type.
My grandson was keen to be involved in all aspects of the build but as always with an 8 year old he expected things to happen somewhat faster than a human being could manage. The first job was to prepare a building board with appropriate brackets and 90 degree supports to ensure a symmetrical build.
Next comes the transfer the bulkhead patterns onto the wood I find the easiest way to do this is to scan the bulkhead parts onto A4 sheets single sticky labels, these are easily applied to the wood and very easy to remove after cutting out the shape of each part.
The plans call for a number of the construction parts to be in balsa, however I’m not really keen on working in balsa so I decided to use “light ply” instead and using some thinner sections to compensate for any weight difference.
We worked on cutting out the paper plans together and placing them on the ply. Then next comes the "constant supervision" part – using the scroll saw, he has used it before and became quite good, keeping a straight line in the most part, the saw has a protective guard around the blade and a pressure foot so is really quite easy to use although any lack of concentration can lead to an interesting profile. The novelty doesn’t last long and it’s time for him to go home until next week leaving me to complete the task ready for next weeks instalment. However its really important to get youngsters interested in the hobby and so far he has proved to be interested and quite good at it.