Now the motors are sorted, we hope, return to the prop end or screws, making shaft supports.
Simply by holding a piece of 5mm ply up close to the shaft whilst resting the ply against the bottom of the hull, mark off the triangular shape. Cut out this shape and try it against the shaft tube for a good fit. If its OK, and making it a good fit, scallop out the surface that sits against the shaft, several ways of doing this, one which i generally use it to use a half round file and run it up the tube edge, you don't want a deep groove just a curved shape to help the glue to sit. My favourite way is to set the saw blade to about 1/16" deep cut, then run the shaft edge along the saw fence, moving the fence sideways about the blades width either side of centre. Then a quick sand with the paper held at an angle to the saw cuts this will give a bit of roundness to match the profile of the shaft. It makes the support ply a nice snug fit, the other thing is to shape the shaft support ply at the prop end, the theory here is to make the whole skeg into a good " Air-flow" or should i say water-flow. All the motor and shaft work to date has been dry fitted and not yet glued in situ. The next job will be cleaning up the bottom skins at the chine, and then fitting the side skins, It would prove to be a bit of a nightmare trying to fit shafts and motor alignment with the side skins in place.
Muddy ..

Once all the furniture ( motors and shafts etc😊 have been located and positioned, now make a start on the side skins. I tend to use vertically grained plywood about 1.5mm or 1/16", you can form around a milk bottle without breaking into a half nelson and a double arm lock. Temporarily dry fit the skin marking out around the edges, then recut to approx size. But i wish i could practice what i preeched, not realy mu fault, gotta blame someone, the phone rang and with one of these walkabout phones tucked under ear between my collar bone i continued on, bad mistake. Glue applied and pins applyed with the help of some clamps, when it was tacked down and glue ousing out from joints realised there were parts of the skin that had not been trimmed off prior to fittment, Ohh dear I murmered, not realy, i canna print the comment, but now there is going to be a load of awkward trimming and cutting..
Keep smiling and stay safe.. Muddy ..

Both side skins now fitted and trimmed, I,m very glad i used the vertical grained plywood ( 1.5mm ). Just using clips to stop the " Barrelling " between formers.
Keep safe Muddy ..

Bringing the Palm Sander into action, cleaning up the edges at the Chine and Deck's level's.
Trying to think ahead, about Motor fuel, and what type of fuel cells will be used, I,m hoping the collection of Nimh and Ni-cads will do the job, as the motor drain is supposed to be low, but if its going to be heavy current drain then it could be Gel Cells/Sealed lead Acid Type, which are heavy, with this in mind , was looking about the hull interior, and found a cavity in front of the drive motors, thinking about the Tarpon, there was a very nice radio self fitted in her, so i worked along these lines, and started to manufacture a battery/fuel shelf, which will be removable, after the fixings have been attented to from under the front hatch cover, The drawing does not know about this little side step yet, so better keep it quiet ! The idea is for this battery tray to slide in over the top of the motors and side on on Bulkheads 2 and 3 , i think..
As with everything in building a model boat, its all work in progress.. lol..
Stay Safe Muddy ..

Continuing on with the forward battery tray/load compartment, and then a dry fit with the motor's, the possibility of anchoring down a battery pack with eleastic bands or cable ties ment that some sort of anchorage had to be supplyed, for the battery retaining straps/bands/cable ties.
Then thoughts turned to the bow and the bow blocks, the original thought for the timber was Obechi, but thinking again, its a big boat and according some blurb/info i have she weigh's in at 45 lb ( urghhh, instant hernia jobber ).. And 45lb hitting a bank or pond side will make a dent and about 90% of it will be to the vessell. Found a bit of Pine, and not wanting any knots in it, cut it up to be knot free, there was an awfull lotta knots on the shed floor after this escapade. The bow blocks were built up and fitted, willy nilly order and plenty of glue soaked joints.
Muddy ..

The Pointy Bit, or Bow, but first the forward hold/battery bay, i could see a problem arrising with this Hold area, as to being able to access it, decided to cut a hatchway into the deck, bigger than shown on the plan, making access easier for batty removal etc: . Cut some new beams and made them knotchable' hoping to keep the deck strength. The side deck,s were fitted with skins, and the rear planking on the transom looked a bit ucky, this was covered with some 1.5mm ply. Made a start on shaping the bow blocks, should have stuck to the original idea of using Obechi, it would have been a lot easier. Inbetween the puffing and panting with a full size chippy's saw, started to mark out the upperworks, this is a complete revamp from the drawing, as the drawing is a very elaborate thing regarding the cabin's..
Can only presume it was because of the stae of play when the radio gear / motors were a bit more dated ! ! ! .. Plus the fact i,m now thinking of trying to lighten up the the upperworks, i aint as strong as I once was, and three Weetabix dunna ackle for me anymore ! lol..
Stay Safe Muddy ..

With some .8mm ply for the foredeck, this was cut out roughly to shape, then placed and tacked, as to mark the Hatch from inside, the hatchway marked and cut out. Time to clean up the Bow, or Bumper Bar, Araldited and pinned a piece of Mahogony down the Stem, this was yesterday, so this morning it was all fixed and solid, ready for shaping, using a Stanley type Knife and a Small Carpenters Plane. Some P38 added along the way to hide the mistakes. On completion of the Bumper Bar, the for deck was ready for glueing and pinning, had to plan this out carefully as the pin situation was getting close to NON Existant, But with one pin left over, a spare if you like we wait for tomorrow and start up the Palm Sander..
Stay safe Muddy ..

Didnt like the idea of a painted deck, so out came the planks, and some kind person did some shopping for me, so now armed with a fistfull of .7mm x 10mm Brass Pins, flat headed and some new planks 5mm x 3mm Lime, with some .25mm Mahogony for the caulking, anger management here we come.
Keep Safe Muddy ..

Continueing on with the Fore Deck planking, nearly ready for sanding.
Attempts to gain access to the bow and front end of the hull, were not adequate with just the Opening in the fore deck, and was proving difficult trying to access from the motor bay, not enough room between the mounting and the deck former. Started to remove the bulkhead by pin drilling acrosss the width of the beam, then with a small drum sander clean up the raged edges and finally some sandpaper when more accessible.
Stay Safe Muddy ..

The one thing that i forgot to mention is the fact that 5mm x 2mm Lime planks do not like to be pinned down with .7mm x 100 brass pins, the timber splits every time, usually with the bradawl, and it is a fine one. Answer, was simple to pin drill each pin hole, I wont dwell on this to long as i can feel the steam rising as i speak, it was a very laborous task. Then started to have a clean up of all surfaces hull sides , bottom skins and foredeck, ready for a thinned coat of dope. 25% thinners to 75% dope.. All surfaces were covered except the stepped deck, hoping to seal the timber whilst the model is being manipulated around on the bench. Also placed with a cyno type glue a small vertical veneer on the upright seperating the two decks, ready for a quick rub down and another coat of dope/thinners..
Stay Safe Muddy ..