Still much to do especially with sorting the Traxxas drivetrain and electronics, but getting there. I foolishly just started the big Brooklyn Tug too, so lost in the shop these days. Too many projects, but love keeping the brain working!
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Good morning Folks!
Had to reinforce the transom with a plywood overlay and a strip of steel as I don't have too much faith in the stock transom be able to handle they drivetrain I've applied. Or am I just being paranoid?
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Be that as it may...I have wandered into a rabbit hole of too much work going on at the same time. In addition to sorting the mechanicals on this hydro, I have to do the final touches on the K-7 (decals on the way) and rig the Pacific Trader!!!

Then this...
I now have a suddenly growing stash of kits due to the "discovery" of a wheeler-dealer rc boat collector (just 60 miles from me) who also liquidates estates and recently came upon a dusty old mansion in New Jersey that had over 40 ancient models in it including an immense paddle wheeler with over 300 lights in it!
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So, as a result of the discovery of this "wheeler-dealer" I now have a large 40" Nordic trawler and a bucket-list 40" Dumas Brooklyn Tug on the bench. The abs hulled tug, my first ever tug, has leap-frogged the plank on frame trawler and my two Chris Crafts. More on "one" of those Chris Crafts (a Graupner) later! I even got DW involved. Thanks Dave!
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Of course, my wife thinks I'm nuts! Well, I can't argue with that! My shop looks like Frankenstein's laboratory!!!!!

G'day Mates:
Exhaust stacks and blower trial fit. But mostly I've been fiddling with linkages and drive line stuff. The large Spartan in the background of the photo (that I got in a trade) is the test-bed for both the Bluebird K-7 and this Pay n' Pak. What have I gotten myself into?!

Truth be told, I have dreaming of an easy tug build in my future to slow things down! Have my eye on an old Robbe Neptun! But, the old Nordic SVEA trawler is on its way.

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Hello Friends!
Just a quick update.

I managed upper and lower painting on the Pay n Pak hydro on our first warm dry day of the winter.
Rustoleum "Low Odor" rattle can Gloss White: a shockingly great paint. And a heavy coat of exterior Rustoleum Aluminum brush paint on the undersides, which happily proved (in a few tests that I did), that it actually dried level without brush marks. Will wonders never cease?!!!!

I also managed to install a Traxxas Spartan chassis and stuffing box that I pulled from another wreck that I got from my buddy Dave in a trade. Of course this involved using the Traxxas transom and creating a "V" extension to account for the flex shaft. Also with the wreck, I managed to score a sea worthy red Spartan (in the background of the second picture) just to go a bit crazy once the lake house is opened next month.

With these speed demons and my Bluebird K-7, I will stumble away from the terrors of speed and go with something a bit more manageable, like a nice cruising Chris Craft Corvette or the ancient Graupner Chris Craft Holiday runabout I managed to stumble upon. More on the those later!
As per usual... More to follow!

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Smoother and sealed a bit more with scale driver, wing, and cockpit trial fitted. As you all can imagine...so much to do, but these days it's fits and starts. Picked up two Traxxas Spartans in a trade, one a runner the other for parts. Hope to fit the "parts boat" chassis and drive train into this Pay 'n Pak. We'll see!
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Good Day Gang!
Here she is in white primer and as you know this is when all our mistakes jump out at us. When I was a kid and working for my Grandfather's painting company, he'd only tacitly approve of a man's work once spackling was done. He would then say, "Don't pat yourself on the back until you put up your primer and go back and fix what you can't see. It'll all become clear as day."

Dammit, he's still right!

So more invisible cracks and sanding are forthcoming.
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Hey gang! As you may already know I have the Bluebird K-7 on the shelf for final detailing, the C-2 cargo ship Matson "Pacific Trader" awaiting rigging, and 22 inches of snow on the ground. So I wanted a challenge and grabbed an ancient Dumas Pay n' Pak Hydroplane kit to keep myself from going nuts. This may or may have not been a mistake!

And...you may already know that I've already labeled this build as my "3 day running knife fight" as a boat made of 100% warped plywood is not a walk in the park. Here are some pix starting from frame up to a primer. And yes, to fight this beauty from becoming a warped "banana boat" those are bricks and carpenter's clamps helping me keep her straight! The The bottom is glassed and the rest resin covered. The primer is meant to assist in showing all my mistakes and assist in final sanding prior to a finish coat.
Tough build, but it does look like something out of "Star Wars!"
More to follow.
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