I laid down a coating of resin in her bilge. Also put her stb and port sides on. I had to cut some small cuts in the foredeck where it starts to angle down to the step off to the aft deck at the cabin sides. That way I could bend the deck down without snapping it. Filled the cuts with famowood and sanded. I then used 1/8 X 2" balsa to build the nest section fwd toward the bow. Today I am putting in the balsa blocks to form her bow. Starting to take shape.

Mack propulsion gear came in...so I was able to mark her alignment. I used the center of the engine boxes in the template underneath as my guide. Both measure just under 2.5" from the keel. I have a collection of props already, so tested with a three blade (1.5") and fit perfectly.

I built the stuffing box frames and built the shaft tubes right in. I know some might wonder why. I believe I can glass her hull later with them in place without a problem. Just have to be very careful.

I put on her bottom sheets and filled in with a bit of famowood. For the bow I am trying to get as close to the rise of the chine to the bow as possible. I will use some famowood to contour her fwd planing hull to fine tune it later. Next I will turn her over and add wood glue to her seams for extra strength. Then built up the stern bilge area with another layer (as Tim did) to for a stronger mount for her struts.

These are the photos and specs from her 1954 Chris Craft catalogue

Using 1/8 basswood on her stern. I will be using 1/8 Balsa on her hull. She looks pretty straight. Waiting for propulsion gear from MACK products in NJ. Let the glue dry and clean her up a bit tomorrow. I will remount the frame to my board then and sister some of the frames in prep for when I plank her.

Did not like the way the bow at the chine made such a hard turn on the 3rd frame. Fixed that.

I made little block where each frame goes, then placed them all on a dry run. Even though they are cut to the Dumas plans, they needed a lot of attention. I also am in the process of reinforcing all her chines etc. This is where I left her off today.

Just an idea of what I am doing to build the 35 Chris Craft. Plans laid out on flat board. Trace and cut out patterns on paper. trace them onto 1/8 Basswood with felt pen. Then cut those out on the Dremel scroll saw. Lots of measurements and rechecking and rechecking. Note the block under the rear deck frame. Measured from plans with calipers to match the slope exactly.

Well...here goes. I will be building this model. This Chris raft was only offered one year(1954). I have some scant parts from a 60 year old kit. I will be making many parts from Basswood and balsa. Thanks to a couple of generous friends I have the plans and templates. The built model is a stolen picture from Tim's beautiful build of the same model in 2013. Hope you don't mind Tim. You have set the bar high. I can only hope to do as well. This one will take time. I will post updates as I go.