Finally got both servos operating the steering and bucket. Took a lot of hole drilling, filing, filling, cutting and cursing to find the angles required,-(bucket operation needed lots of movement and to be as compact as possible, hence the gearing). Will have the bucket on either a rotary or 2 way sw on the TX. Now have to disassemble it all and glue the transom in, - make pushrod cover plates, finish and glass hull etc, the reassemble it all😐. Looks the part, but will it work ??😀😐😀

Now that the jet unit has been fitted up and removed, I've got on with the the framing again. Added some more stringers and separators, and fitted the inwales which will carry the waterproofing coamings which will locate the cabin. I've also replaced all of the PK/servo type screws which the jet unit was assembled with, and replaced them with 3mm bolts, with the nuts superglued and epoxied in place for ease of reassembly.

Have now started sheeting the hull sides up to the forward section where planking is necessary for the flare etc.

Finally got round to a bit of 'planking' on the sides with 2.5mm balsa. Started with a sheet on the rear section and ran it forward till it started stressing. I then changed to 20mm strips, then down to 15mm as they became stressed. I will be doing a similar thing to the bottom sheeting. Flare is not quite as much as I would have liked, but that's the 'joy' of building from pictures. What I am thinking of doing, is running a 4x4mm strip round the gunwale at the flare area, and tapering it off as the hull straightens aft. I can use this as a guide to mould some filler to create a better flare.

I've been out today for a 30km return drive to the marine shop (Auckland's back to level 2 today, and we have been good kiddies and are allowed out) and bought some West 410 microlite fairing/filleting powder to mix with the West resin (was $15 about a year ago, now $25,- all prices have gone up for most things during the Chinflu,-food,-everything) so after a good thrashing with the sander I'll start plastering.

Finished the side planking both sides, just need small adjustments to flares but is not looking too ugly. Starting to look like a boat. Bottom sheets cut and ready to go on, bit more strip planking in front of those and she'll be closed in and almost ready for glassing.

Bottom sheets laid tonight after soaking the tips to be bent in boiling water the previous night, and leaving them bent with weights overnight (see sheet on right, 1st pic) Being slightly wider than the 4"sheets I had, I needed to add about 25mm to cover the frame. Used the method described below,-

EG - If anyone has not butt joined balsa sheets, (grain lengthwise) this method may help, 1. Apply masking tape on a flat surface to one sheet edge, with half the tape overlapping, 2. turn the sheet over and on the flat surface, position the other sheet and butt it up to the taped sheet tightly, and push it down onto the exposed tape,- 3. Turn sheets over and rub masking tape down firmly, 4. Lift sheets up and bend back using tape as a hinge and apply PVA glue evenly along the V created, - 5. Lay sheets on the flat surface (glue side up) and using a damp sponge, wipe off any excess, 6. wipe dry with a paper towel and lay a piece of masking tape over this join and weight down. 7. leave over-night to set, and when gluing down on model, remove the tape on the side to be glued only so the join doesn't pull (really only necessary if bending required near the glue line)

Will probably have to soak the front sections/planks as well as using some thin planks, as it's quite a tight bend.

Finished the bottom sheeting and did a small amount of fairing in a couple of hollow points. Managed to get the bow lower section done with a bit of fiddling, looks a bit ugly but can't be helped as it's a very tight bend. Doesn't really matter as it's only a form for the f/glass and as long as its faired reasonably it will be ok once the glass is on. Bow shape is not quite how I'd like it (felt like taking a saw to the frame) but as I previously mentioned, when building from pics with no measurements, you don't know how it will look till the hull is covered, and by then it's too late😁

I know what needs changing now next time, - a bigger V and a few frame changes in the bow area. Just have to fair the hull all over now and it's ready to glass. I needed a bit more flare in the bow so have added some fairing guides to the top edge. I've made a curved balsa tool which will run around the guide (hooks under the guides) to hopefully create an even filler flare shape.

Managed to improve the flare slightly using the guide strips and flare tool,(actually worked quite well) getting another 3mm at the top. Faired the hull using West epoxy and West 410 fairing powder mixed fairly thick to try and prevent any sagging. Shape is looking better now but still not happy with area round frame/bulkhead 2 as it is a bit fat. Also could have angled the sides from the gunwale to the chine slightly also as it looks a little slab sided. Next time, this ones a learner hull😁. Apart from tapering the intake area sheeting, it's about ready to glass.😊

All glassed now with 2 coats of resin, sanded and primed initially with plastic/f/glass primer. Will give everything a day or so to harden and start priming and painting the hull. Will coat the inside with Norski timber preservative resin before fitting the deck, as I want to try the jet unit to see if it works satisfactorily before carrying on. May need a few adjustments yet.

Inside of the hull has now been sealed with Norski timber preservative (very thin 2 part resin with anti-mould properties, -similar to Epiglass Everdure) I have also fitted the deck. This was cut with a 2mm overlap and located with 3 x 3mm dowels, pre drilled and cyano'd into the frame. These were to give the deck a positive location and avoid any movement when clamping.

Deck was glued using 5min epoxy. Fore-deck was done first, then side decks fitted with a 45deg joint at the front end for a nicer fit. When dry, the overlap was sanded flush inside and out. The rear deck will be fitted later after making sure there is access to all the screws/servos etc. A coaming will be added to the inwale to prevent water ingress and locate the cabin. All the temporary frame tops and center spine up to the fore-deck will be removed (flush with the inwales) as they are no longer required, now the hull has been glassed and has set.

Fitted the spray rails and keel strip last night, so almost ready for painting, (just waiting for glue to set hard as solvent based paint will attack any soft balsa glue etc. Strips were attached with Loctite superglue gel universal which I have found is the best for this type of work (joins porous surfaces and sets fast). I just put spots of gel at 1" intervals on the hull, working in 6"sections at a time, making sure things are straight before holding strips down firmly for 10 secs before proceeding to the next section (I just bend the strip aside and apply gel as previously and repeat.

Once finished I just run thin cyno down each side and once that's set, run a bead of UHU / balsa glue etc down each side to seal it. When painting, good thick coats of undercoat and topcoat usually makes a nice smooth join. I also run thin cyno over the strips (especially balsa) to toughen them, and get a better finish for painting once sanded. Strips were soaked in boiling water and bent round a simple jig using screws in a board. They were then heated (really hot) with a hair dryer to dry them (you can wait for them to dry naturally but this works the same and is quicker, (you can repeat for tighter bends).

Stem rail was laminated from slit Chinese iceblock/hobby sticks (big packet from $2 shop) which are about 2mm thick and very flexible. They were also soaked and heated as the curve was quite tight.