Got to the bottom sheeting stage but found I was out of 2.5mmx100mm sheets, so had to go to the local mega hardware store, where luckily they had some in stock. Lined the sheets up and doweled them for position, pushed the rudder tubes from the inside to mark the holes, drilled them, removed them, slopped lashings of balsa glue on, re-applied the sheets and pins, and Bob was your aunty.😊 Outside bits remaining wont take long.

Decided to part sheet the tightest curve at the front,- more for ease of application than anything, and ran the grain at 90deg to ease it round the curve. Just a small triangle left to fit to the front. Shaft hole positions have been pre measured and will be cut once the sheeting is finished. After that, probably glassing, although the weather is a bit cold, and it may need a winter hardener to get it going. Might have to wait for a warm day.

Bottom sheeting almost done, trimming and sanding started. you can never have too many pins😁 Don't mind the small patches,- I don't waste balsa, not at the prices these days! The longer prop shafts arrived today from Ali Expr,- lucky I don't need them as they were the wrong diam. I ordered 4mm shafts and got 3mm. Very well packed and complete with props, Nyloc nuts, tapered racing nuts and brass connectors (which were as usual useless, due to people using a tape measure to measure them on the lathe,) but of no use for this model. They can't seem to get the idea, that a 4mm shaft needs a 4mm connector, -not 4.1mm😠

Finished the sheeting on the bow and did a bit of fairing in a few low places with an NZ made wood filler (PAL) which can be bought in a number of colours to match wood (I just bought 'pine', as it doesn't matter for glassing over. It dries quickly and is very easy to sand. Once that was done, it was down to the marine shop to pick up some 3oz cloth. There was a bit of sun in between the stormy weather we've been having this last week, so I thought it was a good time to glass the hull,

I used West epoxy with a rapid hardener, due to the cooler temps,- I would have done it in polyester but you can't use epoxy on it if you need to fair it again later with an epoxy based filler . I use West epoxy and filler powders usually for a fairing material (eg micro balloons) which is easy to file or sand. You can't mix fillers with Polyester, as it's mainly for sheathing or laminating. Still have another coat to go after a good thrashing with the sander, (maybe tomorrow).

Second coat of resin on yesterday arvo, out with the 'Armstrong' sander tomorrow, then holes drilled/re-drilled for shafts and rudder tubes. Good stage to get to as it's closer to getting all the innards installed. Painting will be left till later to avoid damage.

Hull f/g has now been flatted off and I had a crack at veneering the transom. First did it with Walnut, but it looked like c--p and had a hollow on one side. I had some thicker Mahogany sheets, so I laid that on top of the Walnut. It consists of 7 separate pieces and was a pain to apply, due to a tight curve where it joins the sides, and the need to lay them on an angle to make the curve on the transom. Had a few slight gaps at those points, which were filled using West epoxy resin mixed with Mahogany sanding dust. Turned out reasonably well I think, considering.

Before fitting the larger veneer pieces they were dipped in boiling water and quickly wrapped around a large tin, in the same orientation as they would be on the boat, and taped in place for a few hours, then dried with a hair dryer.

Shaft tube slots were cut and a jig made to finally position them for epoxying when ready. Still have the oiler tubes to solder in. Did a bit more woodwork (doublers) around the rear hatches and cockpit side rails as well to give a better gluing surface.

Battery and ESC 'pockets' made, and will be sponge lined later and ESCs held with Velcro, which allows air to circulate under the ESC. Battery 'pockets' are made wider to accept 3s 2200mAh batteries which are shorter and wider. Batteries shown are 3s 3000mAh. Just trying things for fit.

Soldered on the oiler tubes and thought I would have to remove the already aligned motor mounts to slide the shaft tubes in. But more by good luck than good management, I found I could slide the shafts in vertically, then push them forward up to the motors, Now epoxied in, using West epoxy and adhesive filler powder, which can be mixed to the desired consistency to stop it running out the bottom of the tube guides.

Tubes were roughed up with sand paper, glue dropped into the guides, and tubes rotated backwards and forwards in the glue to get a good coverage. The locating jig was quickly put under the shafts and the hull flipped back over. Once dry, it will be flipped back over, and more epoxy inserted round the tubes where they exit.

Before painting, thin preservative sealer epoxy will be poured around the shaft tubes from inside, which will seal any minor spaces which may be left, preventing any possible leaks, (also shows if you've missed a spot😀).

Shafts and rudder tubes are in, transom has first coat of mahogany stain, having a play with upholstery/ carpets. Sill have a lot to fit inside before decking over, (water pickup, air, & water pumps, smoke, sound (engine and stereo) ESCs (with switches on dash) rudder servo, lights etc.

I spent a bit of time the last couple of days, setting up the electrical bits. I've made a board for the motor compartment which handles the 6v (adjustable) air pump start and the 3v (adjustable) smoke start. The smoke and air are set to start sequentially,- ie you switch the smoke system on, (modified E Cig), it heats for about 5 seconds, then the timer switches on the air pump which gives a puff of smoke out the exhausts (still to make and fit) on 'start-up'. The power for the smoke and air system comes from a 2s 1800mAh LiPo, which glips in under the front seat.

This is then followed by the 12v water pump starting. Everything can be adjusted (the small V-regs) for voltage and timing, to suit the different motor voltages and smoke element. The start switching is done with a micro switch attached to a micro servo (was going to use a remote sw, but the last 3 I bought were duds, and they are getting too dear now,- used to be $6,-now 12-$15)

The module in the rear compartment is a power distribution board to make it a bit easier to plug things in due to the increasing volume of 'spaghetti'. The batteries plug into the board and are linked to the ESC plugs. There is a double JST PTO on one side of the board (from 1 batt,- for the sound module and aux/light power) and a PTO from the other batt for the water pump/Vreg, (spreads the minimal drain between the batteries). 12v Pump has a micro switch, micro servo, V-reg combination for speed adjustment. A bit ugly, but reliable and cheap, (and adjustable) and using up some of the bits in the collection.

All seems to work how it should, so I will seal everything up to prevent shorts (I use hot melt glue on most of my plugs and connections,- if anything melts, you know something's overloading) It's also easy to remove if necessary with a knife and pliers. Never had a problem yet,- boats or planes.

Made up the exhaust pipes for the smoke/water system and temporarily fitted them. Now need to attack the plumbing, then that part should be good to go. I've tested the electrics and everything works, -amazingly enough, (although I did blow a chip on one of the small VRs in half after having brain-fade at 3am and feeding 12v the wrong way) 80c - what a catastrophe!😁 (that's why I keep a few extras) the hazards of using twin grey speaker wire (one with the neg black stripe) in confined hard to see positions, (local electronics is out of the small pretty coloured twin wire.)☹️

Still have the stereo and lights to find a home for yet. Also - put another coat of mahogany stain on the transom. Should be a couple of passengers on the way as well,- hopefully they are reasonably scale for the boat, (if they haven't been washed away in the floods)

Went down to the electronics store today and picked up a couple of speakers for the boat stereo, plus a couple of 3.5mm stereo plugs for the BT player (needed 1 for an aerial wire for the radio,- plugs into the earphone socket) They didn't have any small double wire (the size of servo lead wire) for the speakers and power in line from the 1s battery, but I spotted some multi wire Dupont computer cable which was ideal for the job, (just strip off what you need,- multi coloured as well👍) The 1s battery for the board will sit in the rear compartment. Front speaker will be clamped over the bulkhead hole, as it gives good bass there, other speaker will sit to one side.

Hooked up the speakers and power wire to the BT board, put a battery in the remote, paired the BT board to my BT player, and it was away. Tried the flash drive as well, which worked fine. You can use BT,-(radio, music etc)- Micro SD card or flash drive with the board.

Had a surprise in the mailbox today,- and not what I was expecting at all! There was another BT board and remote which had been delivered, and as I found out,-only took 228 days to get here!(ordered Nov 15 2020) I had received a refund from an Ali Ex seller when it didn't arrive on time, which he got his knickers in a bit of a twist over. I then ordered another one (same guy) and received it in reasonable time. I told him if the other one ever turns up, I'll try and pay him (trying to be fair). He got a bit snakey with me for some reason and demanded I pay him (don't have to according to Ali Ex as I hadn't even received it) then when I tried to order another one, he cancelled the order after I paid (had apparently been shipped according to the info?? ) strange! how did he manage that?

His reasoning was, if I couldn't guarantee that I would receive a package, I shouldn't order from him,-WOT??? funny way of doing business! Thought -"stuff you pal" and put in another dispute which I won again. That would have made him froth, hope he choked on his rice.😁 Anyhoo, My BT board has been apparently lounging about on holiday in sunny Uzbekistan, (yes, Uzbekistan !) for 200+ days and has now decided to visit NZ! I now have a free BT board and remote, - Thankyou Mr Chen👍👍