Hi Guys,
This may come as a bit of a shock to you but i am going to do another build log.
It may also be a DOUBLE SHOCK as this boat will be made from WOOD. yes you did read this right WOOD,!! and not my usual Ice cream tubs,Yogurt pots and Margarine tubs.
The last wooden boat i made must of been about 35 to 40 years ago
So this will be fun.
I would imagine there will be a few words spoken that will not be printable LOL!!

As you know i have had big trouble getting motivated with my model making for some time now and that coupled with a few medical and other problems has seen very little modelling activity from me.

I have been approached by a friend to make this model for him.

I know i still have to complete HMS Cottesmore and the Submarine U552 but somehow i just can’t get in to the small detail work at the moment.

So i hope by making something that will not be complicated and not have lots of bits that could brake off will motivate me and take my mined off of all the other things that are happening at the moment.

I am using the ‘Flying Christina II’ kit from HAKits as a base.
The plan is just to make something that is functional and pleasing to the eye.
She will not be modelled on any particular boat so some modifications will be done.
I would like to get a few bits and bobs working but without getting overly complicated.
Hopefully this will also help me to get my MOJO back.

Martin555.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

It arrived in just a few days from ordering wrapped in brown paper and bubble wrap, and there was no signs of any damage.

The kit is just in a polythene bag with a printed card top with an image and the boat name.

On opening the kit it comprises of two sheets of 2mm x 285mm x 825mm ply wood laser cut parts.
And three sheets of 3mm x285mm x 825mm ply wood of laser cut parts that they are all clearly marked with a name or part number.

The quality of the ply wood is not the best but is suitable and fit for the purpose.

Also there are 2 strips of wood approx 6mm x 3mm x 865mm.
And 2 strips of wood approx 3mm x 3mm x 865mm
and 1 small strip of wood approx 3mm x 3mm x 240mm.

There is a thin card sheet with window templates marked on it and plastic window frames attached to the card.
And a thin sheet of clear plastic for the windows.

The wood smells burnt but that could be because i think the kit is laser cut to order.

The Instructions are very simple and easy to understand with numbered assembly sequence and pictorial images.

The construction is of the Ezzee Build system.

The model is 1/16 scale and measures 32 inches long. (Approx 815mm) and designed to take a radio control system.

You can also get the running gear :-
Prop shaft.
Rudder assembly.
Universal Joint Coupling.

From HAKits.

Martin555.

Hi guys.

I will mainly be making this kit as the instruction state.
Altho i may make some changes on the way but i will have to see how it goes.

Firstly you will need room to put the sheets of ply wood so that they stay flat.
Then you need a flat surface to assemble on, and a flat surface to enable you to cut out the parts from the ply wood.

The parts are easy to cut out of the ply wood with a sharp scalpel.

The instructions call for thick and thin cyano glue (Super glue) (C A) to glue the model together.

So here we go.

I used the polythene kit bag on the assembly work area to stop the assembly sticking to the Bench/Table top.

The first thing i found it the instructions say glue B2 to the Hull Base then glue the Bow former place.

I found it a lot easer to glue the Bow former to B2 first then glue it all to the Hull base.

I won’t go in to this assembly in great detail as i am sure you have seen this all before, however i will report anything that i find easer than as described in the kit instructions.

The important thing is you keep the Hull Base flat by adding weight or pinning it to the flat work surface. and you make sure that the frames are square to it.

Stage 1.
It is very important to make sure the Base has the word ‘Base’ facing up because you will not be able to fit the servo tray mount in to its corresponding slot mentioned in stages 4 as the slot is off centre.

I again found it much easer to glue the twoTransom supports to B6, then glue the assembly to the base.
Then with a light sanding i was able to slide in the servo tray and servo mount and glue them in position.

Stage 6.
B6 also has a bit more of a middle cut out to one side it is unclear as to why and also if this should be on the port or starboard side.
Looking ahead to the illustration section 14, it dose look as if it should be on the port side.
See photo.3

I will suggest that the words ‘This way up’ is printed on the Hull Base.

Also i will be making notes as i go along and i will report back to HAKits anything i find.



Stage 9.
Says glue the motor mount supports to the base then fix the mounting plate to the supports. I will skip this as i may make a different motor mount to suit the prop shaft angle.

Stage 10.
Glue and fit the deck, again i will skip this as i don’t like the idea of not gaining access to the rudder servo and rudder linkages.
I will just tape the deck on for the moment as later i will hopefully move the servo and have a hatch above the rudder area.

Martin555.

Hi guys.

This part of the hull went together very well.

A Note to the new model makers be careful when using the thin (CA) Super glue.

As i am using an 8mm O/D prop shaft tube i had to double up on the prop shaft doublers, the same with the rudder shaft tube. ( stage 14)

There is plenty of scrap ply to make them out of.

So far the hardest part of this build has been drilling the hole for the prop shaft.

Stage (15)
After cutting and fitting the bow and keel doublers, i decided to cut a 5mm strip from the long side of a 3mm sheet of the ply (scrap at this stage) and glue a piece each side of the keel to give me a little bit more to attach the bottom sheets to.
I sanded them down to match the profile for the bottom sheets to glue to.

So far it all goes together as per the instruction sheet with the exceptions of what i have already mentioned.

I will now skip to stage (24) the start of the superstructure.

The reason behind the skip is i want to see how and were i can locate the servos, motor, batteries, receiver, etc.

It will be a lot easer to see what room you have with out the sides on.

Martin555.

Hi Guys,

As you will be building on the deck remember to put tape or polythene on the deck to stop the superstructure being glued to it.

I clamped the cabin frame down to the deck as that it will adopt the proper deck shape.


Stage (25)

The instructions say glue C1, C2, C3, C4 to cabin frame.
There is no indication of position as to where they go.
So it was a simple case of dry fitting to find there location.
C1 forward C4 aft.
As the deck has a slight curve to it you will not be able to use a square to make sure they are square to the cabin frame.
so you just have to eye them as vertical as possible.

C4 has a doorway laser cut in but held in by two uncut sections.
I am assuming it is so you have the option of an open or closed door.
So a decision has to be made before this part is glued in place.

If you go for an open door you will have to gut away some of the deck and frame 5.
I have decided to have the closed door.

Stage 26.

To fit the super structure sides you first need to sand down the bottom edge to match the slight deck curve.

Because of the sanding to match the deck it has now altered the front cabin roof.

I had to sand down the deck-head curve on C1 to line up with the superstructure sides.
Also the cabin front support (stage 27) had to be lowered.

To do this i just cut off the locating tap and glued it a little lower down also to line up with the superstructure sides.

The slot on C1 was then filled with a small piece of the scrap ply wood.

NOTE.
The cabin front and front side panels (stage 28, 29) will also have to be cut down to fit.
Remove the wood from bottoms of the panels, and remember to chamfer the edges to ensure a good fit.
Keep dry fitting until you are happy with the fit.
Then glue in position.

As you can see in the photos i did not get my angles right but i am sure that a bit of filler will sort that out.

Martin555.

Hi Guys,

I taped up the aft well deck and fitted it in place just to see what room was available just incase i decided to move the rudder servo.

After some thought i decided to leave it were it was as in the instruction booklet (stage 5, 6.)

The instructions do not tell you when to fit the rudder and rudder servo.
you will have to fit them before the deck is glued on.

Unfortunately when the deck is glued on (stage 10) you will be unable to do any maintaining at a later date should anything go wrong with the rudder/servo/linkage.

So the best answer was to cut a hatch to enable maintenance.
I hope to hide this hatch later.

This was done before fitting the deck.

I then temporally fitted the rudder servo and rudder only using the hatch and the opening inside the hull, so i now know that i can do any maintenance in this area when required.

A screwdriver with a Magnet attached helped when screwing down the servo screws.

Now with the deck glued on i though it best to give it a coat of paint in all the areas that i will not be able to reach when the bottom and side skins are put on.

I will chamfer the hull prior to fitting the skins.

Soaked the bow ends of the bottom skins for a couple of minutes and temporally clamped them to the hull until they are dry as it makes it easer to fit them without having to much strain on them. (I hope).

Martin555.

Hi Guys,

The bottom hull skins went on reasonably well. with little trouble (stage 18, 19)
But i did struggle with the side skins. (Stage 20, 21)
At the bow i had to use 4 wood screws to hold everything in place until the glue dries.
When i remove the screws i will plug the holes with dowels or cocktail sticks sand them back and you will never know.

It is not perfect.
Made a few mistakes as you can see in photos (4, 5 ) but they can easily be sorted out with a bit of filler and then the spray rails.

I think i struggled more than most as i have not done much with wood before, and it will definitely be challenging for a novice model makers.

With the exception of fitting the cabin roof (deck head) Spray rails and rubbing strake that is most of the main building done.

I have not made the engine boxes (stage 36 - 39 ) at the moment as i am not sure if i am going to use them yet.

The rest of the stages (40 - 43 ) are just little detail pieces.


So now i can look forward to the more interesting parts of the build.

I think my next job should be to make a stand for it.
If i can find something to make it out of LOL!!

Then i think fitting the prop shaft and motor mount.

Martin555.

Hi Guys.

The stand is made from some old Draw backs that a neighbour had thrown out.
It is nothing fancy but it will stop the boat falling allover the place whilst i work on it.
Gave it a quick coat of yacht varnish to make it look a little better.

Fitted a strip of black foam to each upright just to stop the hull getting damaged.

Martin555.

Hi Guys,

Glued on the rubbing strake’s and spray rails

Fitted the prop shaft.

Although a motor mount is supplied in three bits of ply in the kit I used some scrap kit ply wood to make a new Motor mount to make sure that the alignment of motor and prop shaft was correct.
I will do the Final tweaking latter.

Also made a removable tray to hold the battery, receiver, ESC and a couple of other little bits.

I wish i had drilled some holes in some of the frame bottoms before i put the skins on then i could of hidden the wires better.

Gave the inside of the hull a quick coat of paint.

Now i will be jumping about on this build as the main assembly has been done.

Martin555.

Hi Guys.

This part of the build is not in the instructions, in fact most of this build now will be me just having a play.

Believe it or not i have got a plan in my head or at least i did have when i started this.

I have seen some fantastic deck work done by other more skilful members on this site so i have decided that it is something that i will have a go at.

Firstly
Two strips of wood was soaked in water for a couple of minuets then clamped to the ply wood former.
I used the sheet of ply wood that the deck came out of to help form the wood strips that go around the edge of the deck.

The wood i am using is odds and ends that i have collected over the years.
I don’t know what the different woods are called so i will call them light wood or dark wood or even lighter wood and darker wood.

Most of the build was put together using CA glue (superglue)

The wooden deck planks (7 mmx 1mm x 320mm) was glued down with white wood glue (PVA), that allowed time to move and align the wood and plastic strips.

Unfortunately i have been getting withdraw symptoms for not building in plastic, LOL!!
So i cut some plastic (1mm x 0.5mm) white strips from a sheet of A4 to go in-between the planks.

The deck was sanded back and given a few coats of Yacht Varnish.

(The photos were taken prior to rubbing down and varnishing)

Martin555.