Actually, the turtle back is a vacuum formed part. Styrene, I think.

The gold really sets of the wood ,Nice job👍

What a very nice boat!
You have done an excellent job on her.
A true craftsmen.
Well done.

Martin555.

Well, I'm finally done and it was fun, sorta. I don't think I will do another as it takes up to much time. I can't be happy dragging things out and sometimes the quality of your work suffers from it. Enjoy the photos, guys and thank everyone for the compliments.

Very skilled piece of work,I've stitched a few motorbike saddles in the past but nothing as small as these seats ,the boat looks great really like the finish.👍

You made a wise choice. I had a problem with the glassing on the deck and had to remove it and I haven't tried it again yet. I wish I had practiced on something other than my Cobra.

Yeah I thought about fiberglass in but with all the hours that I spent on the hall I didn’t wanna take a chance and messed things up with fiberglass in which I know very little about

From what I'm seeing you have done a great job. If I could do a do-over I would not have started using fibber glass material to cover the hull. I think your way is better and easier to do.

No Hand stitching. I cut the material and had a friend that has a sewing machine do the sewing. I was very happy in the way it turned out. As for the gold painting it's the same paint I used on the fin. Both the seat are held in place by screws. I wanted to do the side walls the same way, but there's not enough room. The only thing that's holding up the completion is the glassing of the hull.

Really nice,is it hand stitched?👍

I would love to show you a picture of the modified Cobra seat where I covered it with a leather like material. Attached is a picture showing the back part of the seat and the seat it's self. The base of the back and seat is a piece of pine cut to the same pattern minus about 1/8" smaller than the actual seat that came with the kit. Sorry that I don't have a picture of the seat in the hull. I'm so far behind in finishing the Cobra I'm getting gray hair. I've some problems with glassing of the hull.

Well, I have been lax on my Cobra build but started back a couple days ago. Finally, got the deck finished. I used Verathan satin and brushed on about 4 coats. Its a water based poly and very easy to apply but the best part is the easy cleanup with soapy water. I also sprayed on the boot top in gold. Supposed to be white according to the instruction but since I painted the hull flat black, I'm not going exactly by the build.Today I glued the seat back to the turtle back and also glued in the seat bottom to the floor assembly. Made a simple cradle that supports the hull but the boat is removable for anyone that wants to pick it up. I hope to get the rub rails painted and the windshield installed shortly.

That’s funny, I prefer the look of the three seat cushions which is in keeping with the original upholstery. A photo of your vinyl covered seat would be nice.

Beautiful Martin but imagine the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ !
JB

Hi Jack,
Found a few photos for your reference.
Might help.

Martin555.

Excellent tip Jack👍
Will use it for my Sea Scout seats.
Cheers, Doug 😎

Hi,

What I did for my seats was to make a plug replicate of the seat that was 1/8" smaller so that I could cover the plug using a piece of white vinyl. I just like the plastic seats.

It's surprising what a coat of paint will do.
Nice job well done.

Martin555.

Looking extra smart now!

Sprayed the turtle deck and fin Krylon gold metallic, installed the engine room vents and the anchor light. Also got the rub rails installed and can't decide if I should leave them natural or go black to match the hull. By the way, I had to boil the transom rub rail for about 10 minutes in order for it to fit the curvature of the transom. Well, that's about it for now. Back to more sanding. I hate sanding. It would have been smarter to pay more attention to my fitting early in the build. Lesson learned the hard way.

"I’m building this as a static model so no motors required. "
Shame 🤔
She'd look really great in her element Jack.
😎

Murdered the hull today first coat and cut the shaft log and mounted the rudder block with tube. Also soldered the rudder tube to the blade

Did a little fitting of the side panels today and a lot of sanding.

Also I need a bigger table.

Hi Jack,
You have done a really fantastic job, well done.
A pleasure to see it thanks.

Martin555.

The most difficult part so far. Making the d--- horn rim! lol

I’m building this is a static model so no motors required.

No problem the fin and turtle deck will be removable and not permanently glued in

I will check what the motor spec is and get back to you. I have run it on an out runner as well in the past and that works well.

Thanks for that info, didn’t realise I had put a full stop at the end of the line.

Looking very good Jack👍
"Just finished the planking and currently fitting the fin to the deck. "
I trust that's a "dry fit" Jack.
I would prefer to varnish the deck first.
Saves a lot of masking if you use spray varnish, and makes sanding / flatting much easier without the fin in the way whether you spray or brush.
(If this is "egg sucking" - my apologies😔)
Cheers, Doug 😎

The Cobra is a great model. I would like to know what size brushless motor that you are using? I plan on going brushless my self as that the type of motors I use in my model planes. Are going to use a water cooled motor? What about the cooling of the motor.

Hi Graham,
Link as you had posted it doesn't work😭
Inserted links work best if typed on a separate line
and without any additional characters.
It was the full stop at the end of your link address which stopped it working!
Now fixed.
Cheers, Doug 😎
BTW Very nice boat 👍👍👍

It’s looking very good so far, this is my finished one
https://model-boats.com/harbour/19608
Used to run on a 540 but now it run an inrunner brushless on a 3 cell Lipo 👍.

Your welcome.
Keep the updates coming.

Martin555.

Thanks very much for the encouragement Martin.

Hi,
Really taking shape now.

Well done.

Martin555.

Just finished the planking and currently fitting the fin to the deck.

Nice work, keep it up.

Martin555.

Nothing wrong with that, going to look nice once varnished.

Well, its slow going but I did get half of the forward deck done today. Its not perfect by any means but I am determined to complete it.

Looks good so far.

I have been working on my 1955 Cobra since I retired in 2004. I'm at the point on glassing the hull. The bottom is glassed with 2 coats, but I had a problem with deck. I had to remove the fiber from the deck and start over and that's were I stand.

One thing that I did was cut the shaft hole for the drive line and did the same for rudder hole. This way I wouldn't mess up the fininshed glass work.

Would like to see more as you progress with the build.

Aha! Know what you mean, easy to get a bit carried away🙄
Looking forward to the next instalment👍
BRAVO ZULU! Carry on sailor 😁
😎

So far so good Jack👍
I'd be inclined to replace those two planks where the top layer has frayed though.
Easier now than later, and you'll regret it later (it'll spoil the show) if you don't do it now😉
Very nice subject, only a few originals built in 1955 I believe.
Cheers, Doug 😎
BTW: How about transferring this project to the Build Blog section!?👍

Please don't make me replace those 2 planks, sir. Mahogany planking will hide my bad mistake. I caused this when trying to level the deck out when sanding got carried away. lol

I hear what your saying but the deck is to mahogany planked and this area will be covered.

Looking nice.😀

So far so good Jack👍
I'd be inclined to replace those two planks where the top layer has frayed though.
Easier now than later, and you'll regret it later (it'll spoil the show) if you don't do it now😉
Very nice subject, only a few originals built in 1955 I believe.
Cheers, Doug 😎
BTW: How about transferring this project to the Build Blog section!?👍

I have been working on the deck. Its a little rough but hoping more sanding will improve it.

I will be following this with great interest.

Martin555.

Aha!
Google Chris Craft Cobra RC model and this one of the first to come up-
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?2229991-Chris-Craft-Cobra
Good luck🤞
😎

I had the kit a long time ago and just started working on it I was trying to see if anyone else had built this model.