Ok so hear we go with part two. The tops of the rails had a final sand and the decks where fitted, they had to be scribed to the edge of the hull so as to fit in the rebate and finish level with the inside of the rails.and level with the top of the Fibreglass

I gave the underside a coat of epoxy and then coated the tops and clamped them very messy job, just the clean up and then start the fitting of the superstructure sides, I may fit motors first as I think I may have a problem as one of the shafts may have moved. its OK on the underside but a little high when it lines up with the motor I may have to make another mount.

OK a bit more of the superstructure completed I decided to remove the brace near the front and replace with blocks on ether side of the hull,( it broke off this lite ply is not very strong) they give a bit more support to the top that is a bit flimsy at present.
I have got the mid deck in, I left it a bit longer to strengthen the mid section, also the rear tow hook mount and bulkhead has been glued in, I shortened the cabin sides a bit to lighten it, and help them fit in the hull as the deeper they are the wider they are. I also got the eyebrows on the windows finished.
I am going to put the rear of the front cockpit bulkhead in next to stiffen the front, then concentrate on the rear well deck.

Happy new year sorry for the break, but tooth ache put me off working for a day or two.

Anyway the top picture shows a view of the full size 93 boat, note NO fire hydrant connector behind the bridge and also on the 93 boat they had individual eye brows over side windows, But the reason I put it on was to show the sliding perspex windows at the rear of the bridge, from what I can gather they where just rebated timber with perspex panels so they could slide and the helmsman could talk to the people operating the hoses.
I did not have any small angle but had some black "T" section that I could cut down. The black stuff is horrible and is very difficult to glue I had to use super glue.
I have it fixed now and also a brace in front I have left the ply up stand as it can act as a breakwater. I have connected the rear and put a floor in. The next thing is to bend the front of the sides in, and start building the bridge or helmsman position or whatever it's called.

Right so I have started to glue plastic. The sides have been trimmed to fit I have half lapped them to fit over the bulkheads. I have still not decided weather to have the whole top removable or just the lids, as my hands are not very flexible I may stick to the lot removable but that gives a small problem in that with the sides being tapered (narrower at cabin roof) the widest part is below deck, I don't want to trim to much of the bottom as it is giving it a bit of strength, and it will weaken the window frames
anyway I have fitted the eyebrows to one side of the windows, they just need a clean up while I'm just getting going with the glue I have a small rubber/neoprene block on the end of my brush, it's light but will hold the paint brush that I use for the glue(top picture). if the brush is left on any plastic it makes a mess and up to now it's been handy, but this is only the second time I have used plasticard so its still a learning curve. The picture below is of my 34" boat and the type of detail I am going to try for, but I am not going to use any wood as I have put the boat on a diet weather it likes it or not as it was starting to creep up a bit. (I'll call it it's new year resolution).

I started at the rear tonight and finished the tanks at ether side of the well deck. I was not able to get the deck as low as I wanted but a lot lower than on the plan from the hull manufacturer.the tanks where just 0.5mm plasticard I then removed all excess weight from behind the tanks, I have still not decided on the roof material, but am leaning towards Fibreglass as it will not sag and is lighter than the 0.5mm I am using for most of the build.

To the front:

I bent the sides in by a saw cut in the back part on the bend line part way through, then warming the joint and I had a template so both sides where the same.
I have put a plate between them and took as much out as I could. The reason it goes so far back was to bridge the bend as it is not as strong as the rest of the sides and I find some plasticard a bit brittle. There is now a good base for the rest of the front to hang on to.

I have now started to think about fittings I have the hand rails and life belt's, the windows are just staying plain on the sides and I may make some ally frames for the front depending on how thin they will be. I am looking about for some vents and the mushroom vents can be turned from plastic I will prob make the cleats out of brass, same goes the rear flag pole and the mast will prob be brass and plastic. The crane, I have not decided but getting an idea's at this time gives you time to think about their construction. One thing I am after is some very small grating? for on top of the tanks.

Not much today I'll prob add to it and make a bumper issue. Anyway the hardest part is now done (Yea) just needs some sanding to lower the front corners and a bit of fitting on the underside to deck, I thought I was doing it but the glue was allowing it to move a bit so I gave up the two bearers running from where the windscreen will fit need to have a slight round as well then I'll cover it all in three pieces not forgetting to leave an overhang and drill for the port hole.

The marks on the deck look bad but because I dampened it and put it in a gig to bend (three G cramps and a bit weight) and its a compound bend the wood had to go somewhere and when you put a straight edge on it it's nice and flat, this was one of the reasons I went for a thicker deck so it could be sanded to the shape I wanted.

Ok tonight just a bit more of the bridge the front deck supports were sanded and the three pieces of deck fitted, the roof supports are now in with a bit of extra support so the mast has something to attach to. One thing I have learnt about using this stuff is that it needs 24/48 hours to properly dry probably because I put to much glue on, then wipe the joint again, (I like to see a bit of melted material when I push them together) I'm not shore if that makes it brittle but it's hard to get apart when dry, I'll try and get a better picture of the front tomorrow to show the overhang and there is one at the sides of the screens as well. When it's all about finished I'll give it a rub down with some wet and dry sand paper.

Last note is that the roof supports above the centre window at the front needs to be sanded to give the roof a bit of shape.

Gosh part 27 already. The front windows where cut out and sanded, but still need finial finishing off and shaping, I cheat and cut them out on my minI mill it saves a bit of time and my hands wont allow me to cut out small holes these days and as I set up the mill for the sides it's just as easy to do this, the same can be done on a pillar drill and a cheap cross slide, anyway I have only the roof panels to do and the main structure is furnished and then its down to finish the decks off.
The lower picture gives an idea of the small gussets and ribs and angle I have used to hold the parts together and keep it stiff.
I need to put a couple of stiffeners in the roof where the hydrant's will go as they may be a bit flimsy.
On the full size boat there is a bead that goes down the edge of the superstructure this will hide any gaps that are there on the last boat I gave all the plastic a sanding with 1500 then 2000 wet and dry sandpaper, finishing with it wet but you still need to keep it on a block most of the time. Another handy thing to do is take templates of the windows on a bit of thin card so when you come to glaze them they "should" fit.

If you have any comments or feedback can you put it on the message board below, or questions even.

Well we are getting to the end of the superstructure. I have cut and shaped the roof panels after I got the sheet of Fiberglas out it was a no brainier, it is 0.042mm bit thicker than paper but so strong and about a 1/4 of the weight of 0.50 mm plasticard and is a lot more rigid and will not be effected by the droop you can get with sun on card, there is also no etching when glued.
You do have to use superglue though and wash your hands every so often or it gets a bit spiky it is a product used on model aircraft for skinning wings, I have been using it for deck covering for that they recommend one of the polyurethane foaming glues that you HAVE to wear gloves for or be removing for at least a month. (been there got the tea shirt and the messy hands) never again, but it is even waterproof and is very quick drying. 5 min but must be kept under pressure for that time of the foam effect expands and gives a lumpy Finnish, but you will see that when I do the decks, anyway it called pro skin and I will ask Stephen if I can add the site I get it from, I was going to try and build the complete superstructure from it when I was going to use a single motor but decided on this format.
the front hatch only need a stiffener for the hydrant and the cabin hatchway. The rear requires the service lids and then the hatchways as well, under the edge of all front/rear of the main hatches there is a stiffener on the under side of the full size, I have put one on the back of the bridge, or whatever its called you may be able to see it. One final point when working with some sheet materials, especially the ones with hard surface is if you are doing a cut out as I had to on the rear cab drill a half a mill hole on the corners it provides a stop for your knife and also helps stop any tears or cracking in the future as well as enables you to score accurately from both sides.

Not a lot tonight, superglue takes time to dry with fibreglass and I got a bit fed up de-bonding myself from the boat. The only thing is the hatches on the lids, and a small pair of doors, I have put some of the doublers under the hatch ends.the lower picture is of the glue used for plasticard.

Well the decks have had there top coat, I think I'll use 5m epoxy next time as polyurethane glue is messy and not the nicest to use you have to wear gloves, I started with the front deck, one of the problems is you have to cut it oversize as it moves (slides) if you are not careful and it did, but it will not cause a problem as I had left enough in case, it will also not bend in compound curves and I thought I had sanded them out, but there must have been one part that did still have as it was very difficult to get flat, I mask before I start and as its gong off put a bead of supper glue around the edge to wick in.

The weight of this product is only 33gm a square foot so the decks weigh in at less than that including the glue and the grain will never lift and it takes paint well.

The deck is now all trimmed and is not bad, I have done better but it will be ok I have a picture to post as soon as I find it if not Ill take another.