I am in the process of "knocking-up" a basic (very basic) stand to put the Sprite Plus on, because when I am working on it (now that it has the bottom skins fitted) - I cannot hold the hull by its keel in the vice any longer!

My "boat stands" look just like the little wooden orange boxes that used to be seen in the green grocers years ago (anyone remember them?) - except those were probably made out of better wood than I use !

I always use scrap wood to make my boat stands from, which may seem a little bit strange to those that spend hours designing and crafting beautifully elegant stands to sit and display their model boats on (some can be works of art in themselves).

My boat basic boat stands are more likely to get a gravel rash from the car park than to be used to display an elegant model boat - but they are very practical and work well enough in the workshop(shed) or beside the lake when they can also be handy for carrying some basic oddments in that may be needed.

Anyway, I am splitting a length of rough-cut square timber to make a pair of sides for the stand, and some plywood has been gained from our r/c model truck club when the garage unit that had been used to practice reversing manoeuvres in etc became surplus to requirements!

Once the stand is put together I can start to make the parts for a good solid engine mount and get a motor and coupling fitted.

Bob.

Hi Chris - regarding the oilers. They are available in 5 (?) different diameters to fit a variety of prop shaft tube sizes.

The sizes are colour coded (anodised in different colours depending on the diameter of the tube it has to fit).

I even found one to fit the small 4mm stainless steel propshafts from J.Perkins that I have used on my Remora.

These are quite skinny prop-shafts so I was surprised to find that a collar had been made to fit them as I have not seen any others as thin as them.

They are not expensive so I have one of each size to check-fit against any tube I have before fitting it.

Bob.

Excellent!

I haven't seen those oilers before, they look really good.

Chris

Hi Chris,

Here are a few pictures I snapped on my way out this morning to show the trimmed bottom skins with the 5mm Maxishaft fitted and the large rudder post in place too.

I have fitted one of those excellent alloy prop-shaft lubricators. This had to be removed again to slide the tube into the transom and re-fitted once the tube was partly inside the hull before it could be inserted through Former 5 (the engine room firewall).

There was just enough “wiggle room” to twist and slide the shaft tube in the keel after it was smothered in 24hr Araldite to give it a good even coating - and to make sure that the oil-nipple was pointing upwards before the epoxy resin was left to set!

An old S50 propeller was fitted just to check the clearance as this would be the biggest size of propeller that could be used, although an S45 is more likely to be the biggest type that would employed with the out-runner that I have in mind.


The 24 hour Araldite has dried to a sticky feel (cold workshop/shed) but should be hard enough to be cleaned-up when I get back next week and start to make-up the engine bed for the adjustable water cooled alloy mount (exactly as drawn on your plan!).

Bob.

Thanks Bob.

Even though I'm experienced on the drawing board it is so much better producing drawings (not CAD in my case) on the computer using a drawing program as you can line things up very accurately and zoom in if required. And of course for frames and other symmetrical parts you only have to draw half and then copy and flip to produce a perfectly symmetrical shape.

And ensuring that things fit together is why I always draw everything even if it is only the frames are required as was the case with the original Stiletto drawing. Mix and matching between a paper drawing (which might be distorted due to folding and age etc. and a new drawing for the frames invariably leads to issues, though as you say they can be corrected during the build - but it is best to try and get it as right as you can from the start.

For some parts though, like the vee shaped front cabin windows, it's best to just make them rather than spend a lot of time drawing them as it is very easy to get them wrong because of all the angles at connections. This was the case with my Faun build where the cabin sides aren't parallel and being in mahogany I didn't want to use any filler! If I ever did any full drawings I think I'd make some parts first and measure them for the drawing! 🤔

Its all thanks to your good drawings Chris 👍

I have not had to change, modify, or recut any parts as everything fitted correctly and aligned nicely.

The acid test for me is when the stringers are being fitted and the lines can be given the "Mark1 eyeball test" (not so easy when wearing vari-focal lens!).

All the lines flow nicely with no lumps or bumps that needed correcting, and this is not always the case - even with some of the better known model boat kits!

Take a good look at any old Sea Commander or Sea Queen the next time you see one (there are plenty of them about). Many have deck lines that do not flow, but resemble the rise and fall of a big dipper (yes I exaggerate - but you get the point!).

Some are much worse than others and some of the kit builders have taken the time to make "corrections" before the stringers are fitted to make sure that the deck lines "flow" nicely - your drawings produce parts that needed no corrections to "fit and flow" nicely.

I have rushed through this build a little (I am usually a slow fussy builder) as I have not had so much time at home this year, so when I am home there are a lot of other things that need "catching-up" with (home and garden) that can build up when you are away, so this build has had to be squeezed in-between everything else.

With everything fitting so well, it has been a very enjoyable and easy build that I have enjoyed working on, and when I get back again I look forward to making some more progress.

Bob.

That's good to hear. As Will says you're making great progress.

Hi Chris,

The bottom skins were probably the easiest that I have ever fitted, so no problems as they almost fell-on and fitted themselves with very little effort.

Using the cereal packet card as the template gives a very similar "wrap" to that of the plywood skins and so I was able to cut them much closer to the final shape than I would usually do.

I marked the "slot" position where the shaft will pass though and filed away a little in that area to make it easy to find and open up after the adhesive on the skins had dried - likewise the square cut-out for the rudder post.

The small amount of excess bottom skin that I had left was cut away this morning with the Tamiya razor saw and sanded back with a 280mm long Wedge PermaGrit ready to take the side skins.

The slot for the prop-shaft was opened out fully where the skin had partially covered it and the square cut-out for the rudder shaft was drilled with an 8mm drill.

A "large" size rudder was fitted and the 5mm Maxishaft (with an S50 propeller fitted) was inserted to check the angle against the plan and the clearance to the underside of the hull.

The prop shaft the was roughed-up with a corse round file where it passed through the hull and an alloy oiling clamp was fitted before using 24hour Araldite to bond the prop shaft in place.

The hull has been left to dry overnight with an elastic band (technical clamp!) wrapped around it and the hull to hold the shaft firmly in position while the slow drying adhesive sets - could be even longer than usual in my cold workshop(shed).

Bob.

I thought they'd be some difficulty with the skins at the bow as they curve up and also transition from the angle of the second frame to the flat of the first frame but it appears there was no problem with that then.

I thought I had a lot of clamps! 😁

Fair play Bob, you're making great progress and flying through this build 😀👍

As Chris says, you'll have your Sprite on the water in no time.

Will