Just a small update. Nearly finished the first layer of planking. I thought this tip maybe of help others when planking. I found that as I nearly completed the the 1st layer of planking I could no longer use bulldog clips to assist in butting the edges of the planks together. Instead I have found using paper clips does this job well in tight confines. I still nail the planks to the bulkheads but between the bulkheads it helps to keep the plank edges tight together. Keeping the plank edges as smooth as possible will no doubt help in cutting down the tedious job of sanding it smooth before applying the mahogany planks! I've added some foam buoyancy in the transom for safety!

Hi Everyone,
Managed to find several hours in my busy timetable (Raising and doing basic training of a Guide Dog Puppy plus doing some fund raising!).
I've finished the 1st layer of the side planking and planked the foredeck. As can be seen from the photo I used my hot plank bender to get the curved deck planks. The deck may look level but as you can see from the plank on the grid there is a fair bend. Unlike the instructions I have decided to plank the stern before gluing the mahogany ends onto the hull. Otherwise trying to fit these as a close fit to the mahogany curved piece would I believe be more difficult. Again I will apply the mahogany planks before fitting these curved ends. I've used a water based filler thinned down over the hull and then sanded to a reasonably smooth finish before starting the job to finish the mahogany planking of the sides and foredeck. I've tried to keep as much dust out of the hull with paper towel! Before starting the sanding I applied automotive masking tape (thicker) along the raw edge of the existing mahogany planking to protect this during sanding.
Following a recommendation by Skydive130 I've painted the metal parts and part of the steering wheel with a chrome pen. The chrome pen is fantastic and far superior to any 'chrome' spray can. Also I tried a few spray cans of car colour for the seat cushions but found the Valero light turquoise was the best colour to use. Because it is water based I've then put a coat of matt varnish over the top to protect it.
I now need to find a lot of time to do the final mahogany planking so my next instalment will probably be quite some weeks away! Thanks for following my blog. Cheers Duncan😊

Eventually managed to get all the mahogany planking applied on top of the lime planking finished. Spent the best part of 1.5 days sanding down the mahogany to a smooth finish. Just applied 3 coats of cellulose sanding sealer. The striped planking needs to be started on the foredeck next. I decided to apply the sanding sealer now before I do the final planking of the foredeck. No matter how careful I was a bit of glue got on the top of the mahogany topsides and it leaves a mark that is impossible to remove. In hind sight I think that it would have been better to have applied sanding sealer to these upper parts BEFORE fitting them! Wise after the event!
Yellow masking tape was applied to the foredeck so that the raw wood I need to glue the striped planking to isn't contaminated with sealer. I think the wood is looking lovely! Very pleased with the results as this is my first attempt at planking. I'll update again when the foredeck is complete.

Just a bit of an update. Finished the deck planking which took quite a long time to complete! I've applied a couple of coats of sanding sealer onto the deck and also applied some sealer to the saxboards before gluing to avoid any glue staining. I found fitting these saxboards quite difficult as they need to bend in two directions. I heated them in boiling water and then applied them to the deck with masking tape and left them to dry for a couple of days to take on the shape of the deck. It was only semi successful. I then glued them on the deck and held them in place using strong car masking tape. I've had to do some filling using aliphatic glue and mahogany dust mix in places as I couldn't get it to follow the contours exactly. Fitting the rear removal hatches was also a bit of a challenge but got there in the end! Will soon be ready to apply the first coat of varnish - followed by several more coats. Weather is turning colder so my 'man cave' at the back of my garage is not very warm to work in. I'm worried about putting the heater on with the cost of electricity these days because it takes a lot of heating up. 'Catch 22'!!

Hi Everyone. Managed to get 4 coats of varnish onto first of all the decks and then onto the hull sides. The bottom had 4 coats earlier in the build. I will need to polish out the dust specks eventually. I tried really hard to avoid any dust by sanding and wiping down outside but still got dust specks! I've started to build the dashboard which I found very fiddly and inevitably got some CA glue on my figures even though I was using reverse tweezers. Unfortunately, the simulated light switches seem to have the glass domes missing from the kit so I've raided my wife's bead box and managed to find some small coloured beads to make the domed fronts of the light switches! I still need to fit the key sockets and keys, plus the gear levers and steering wheel to the dashboard. After a lot of messing about with paints for the seats I have found the Tamiya TS10 French Blue spray paint to be the best match. Having sprayed them I have then sprayed them with a Matt lacquer finish over the top of these seats. I decided to separate the seat sides from the main part of the seat to make the painting job easier as after my first attempt I found some leakage under the masking tape. I've just ordered an Edding white 0.8mm permanent marker to create my waterline mark prior to painting the bottom of the hull white. I couldn't see the pencil maker clearly on the varnish and this marker writes on glass and metal and is waterproof - so it should be OK. Pity in a way I'm going to be covering up the lovely mahogany bottom with white paint but in the end I think it will look better. I bought a 13mm wood drill from the Blackpool Model boat show to create the two holes for the cabin skylights. I drilled these holes with great trepidation! Added a touch of varnish around the inside of the holes afterwards. Just a warning to anyone else building this model - I measured the distance from the dashboard to the centre of the skylight on the full size plan. Unfortunately, this turned out to be right over one of the bulkheads which then involved cutting away a small portion on each side for the skylights. Once the bottom has been painted white, I will be able to get on with the deck fittings. Any suggestions for best glue for chromed brass fittings to be attached to the varnished decks. I wondered about using my Deluxe Cockpit canopy glue - any thoughts?

Thank you for all your suggestions for gluing the fittings onto the decks. I will experiment with your ideas and then choose. Cheers Duncan

DISASTER! I left my yacht varnish to go hard for nearly 3 weeks. I put standard masking tape on in order to form a line of where to sand the bottom up to the waterline. It was difficult when applying this masking tape to cope with the curves leading up to the bow so I decided to order some 12mm Tamiya Masking Tape for Curves. I also ordered an Edding 0.8mm white marker pen because it was difficult trying to mark and see a pencil maker on the varnish.

I made up my own waterline marker with clamps and set square and a box with felt feet which made it easy to slide along the side of the hull. It worked OK.

I then applied the Tamiya Masking tape for curves tape.
It did the job I wanted but then I noticed a slight kink in it on the transom. I therefore lifted the tape off to reposition it and to my horror this tape pulled the varnish off! The other standard masking tape was fine. I therefore decided to take the tape off the rest of the hull and again in one place it has pulled the yacht varnish off! It would not have been so bad if it had just been the transom that I would have to sand and repaint but now it will be the whole hull again!! One step forward and 4 backwards. Depressing.
Any suggestions for masking up again after revarnishing without having the other problem of bleeding!

My build of the Riva has been on hold because of the cold weather making it too cold in my work room but I have now put two coats of undercoat and one coat of Humbrol gloss white onto the bottom. This is on top of the 6 coats of varnish. Once it is thoroughly hardened I will then start to put the blue waterline stripe on and the chrome accessories on the decks etc. I made a rod for my own back though with painted the blue sides on the seats. I've lost count on the number of times I had to redo the paint of white and blue because of seepage through the masking tape! I think it now looks good but a lot of frustration getting there!

This was a duplicate - sorry

Getting towards the final fitting out. Just fitted the R/C. The receiver is in the blue box and the ESC is in the removeable white platform I've constructed from scraps. I've secured this and the battery using elastic bands. Fitted the switch to a piece of scrap ply. On the recommendation of another modeller I got some self adhesive 2mm x 2mm 'D' shaped chrome moulding off Amazon for covering the joint between the deck and the hull. I would personally recommend this rather than having to paint the white strip provided in the kit and then gluing this on without spoiling the beautiful varnish finish! It would have been better without the very thin black foam backing but the backing is hardy noticeable. I attached this strip after polishing with G10 polishing compound. Only done one side so far. So flooring, side upholstery , steering wheel, windscreen, air vents, exhausts and various other chrome fittings need to be attached. Some of these require drilling into the side of the hull. I hope this won't affect the water tightness!! I've also drilled out the back of the rear seat mount in order for some air to get through to the motors. I then covered this with a strip of non slip rubber matting. You can see my model standing on this matting in earlier photos. I sprayed it with some white primer in order for it to match. Not long now hopefully before I can send some finished photos! So far I've spent over 2 years working on it on and off. During the winter not much got done because it was too cold out in the garage workshop!