Back to the build! Just hate it when real life takes too much time. Summer is here, water turned liquid... and I am glassing during next weekend it seems. Time to buy some 1oz cloth and a new batch of epoxy
Status Update, The Bismarck is Glassed!!! But before doing that job for the first time, I needed practice. About 10 minute of woodworking created the "Unsinkeable", aka Glass Test Ship 01 Learned a lot in the process, but I dare anyone to try to sink that baby!! More picture of the actual Bismarck tomorow!
Just computing the amount of dead weight, carefully inserted with a BB, make me wonder! How many bullet would you think is needed to bring it under. (And did anyone has so many to waste?)
Was promising some picture of the glassing... Here they come And now I am trying to get rid of the resin drops... small ugly thing that I try to get rid with a blade before sanding... Will move to waterproof the inside now and then make the stuffing tube. Still so much to learn!
A scraper will take off the resin drips and runs. As long as you don't get in a hurry, you can remove all the high points and never touch the glass.
Been sanding for the past few day now. I do not like the end result yet (aiming for near perfect surface). The resin drip, even when sanded leaves lots of "valley" on the glass surface. Sanding more will bring me into the cloth(which I would like to avoid). Question: is using Bondo filler usually a good idea for those kind of ship? If so I am thinking of applying a to layer then sans again to try to get rid of those valley.
Imagine two drip of resin close together. The valley being right between them. Even if I sand down the drip, the space between them stay glossy and a little bit lower (which lead me to think of them a valley and hills...) Option 1: add more resin and sand again Potion 2: add a filler glossy material and sand again Option 3: just paint several layer of primer and sand a lots each time...
I've used Bondo, or epoxy with a sandable filler, to smooth out the washboard effect you get from sanding the balsa and plywood on the bottom. Even though I would work very hard to get a smooth, fair hull for the first layer of fiberglass, I never have been able to achieve it. So I generally get the hull close and then put on the first layer of fiberglass. Next I use the Bondo to fill in all the valleys and sand it smooth. Finally, I add a second layer of fiberglass to form the outer layer of the hull. By putting fiberglass over the Bondo you don't have to worry about it being damaged (because it is softer) by BBs or rough handling. It's a little extra work, but can get a very nice hull.
I have been putting smoothing the hull as RCENGR mentioned, (I used easier to sand filler, since as RCENGR said, durability isn't as important under the fiberglass), then put on the fiberglass and sand it as flat as I can without sanding into the fiberglass mat itself. Then I add another coat of epoxy and sand again. I do the second coat of epoxy so that I have a consistent surface of only one type of material to sand flat without having a softer material in places that may sand out easier, causing undercuts. It also creates a solid, durable surface without much soft filler on top of the fiberglass that will damage easier, and is also waterproof. Then I prime and block the primer, fill any remaining small defects with glazing putty (don't use too much, its soft and also shrinks), then reprime and final sand. The results on Uritski were Pretty decent:
If you want my advice: the result on the Uritski is MORE than pretty decent! It just rock. Last night I applied some new resin to the low spot. Now waiting for that to cure and more sanding to come.
I am preparing to do the main deck. Task: make-up some plank, Install hold-Down, Water Seal. But, what is the best way??? So I did several try on some scrap pieces. I now know what I will do, but I'll keep the suspense up to the end of this post! Try 1: Birch wood, No Dye, Wood length shaped with razor saw, end plank shaped with x-acto, HB pen used in the crack. Epoxy resin finish Result: I do not like aligned plank. x-acto can extend easily over multiple plank. HB pen in en grain is more visible then on the length. Try 2: Birch wood, No Dye, Wood length shaped with razor saw, end plank shaped precision screwdriver (and hammer), HB pen used in the crack. Spar Varnish finish. Result: Non-aligned plank look better (to me). Using the screwdriver "crushed" the end grain and the HB pen do not stick properly. Try 3: Birch wood, No Dye, Wood length shaped with razor saw, end plank shaped with x-acto, HB pen used in the crack. Spar Varnish finish. Result: end-plank does not look good when sighted length-wise, with light coming from above... Try 4: Birch wood, No Dye, Wood length shaped with x-acto, end plank shaped with x-acto, HB pen used in the crack. Epxoy finish. Result: x-acto along grain is not visible enough to my taste Try 5: Birch wood, Golden Maple Dye (1-layer), Wood length shaped with razor saw, end plank shaped with x-acto, HB pen used in the crack. Epxoy finish. Result: Like the overall result, but too much "pink" in the color to look like teak, and not dark enough. Try 6: Birch wood, Multi dye color, Wood length shaped with razor saw, end plank shaped with x-acto, DYE only to fill the cracks. Epxoy finish. Result: One of them is my final choice! From left to Right: 2 Layer Cedar 1 Layer Cedar 2 Layer Golden Maple Then of course, tried some Magnet insertion test: First, on the deck 1/8" thickness The tool I use to make the magnet cavity leaves a pilot hole, that need to be filed before finishing the deck. Seen from the top (magnet hidded side). Left wodden putty Tight wood filler Result: wooden putty does not allow dye when sealing birch. Dy directly on putty got a strange spotty appearance. fuzzy circle around holes Wood Filler allow proper dye both on birch and filler itself. BUT once the epoxy was set on top, the dye on the filler was cleared, and a dark circle is created around. (Perhaps the filler was not cured enough, will have to re-test) Second try, I also tested on the 1/4" thick part, just in case. Very glad I did this test!!! in fact I had to immediately redo it, and add a second magnet to conclude the test... That was a newby error, I forgot to ensure that the pole matched on the deck and deck rim... instead of a deck hold-down, that would have created a deck suspension system!!! Used CA glue to fix the magnet in place, epoxy added on top to seal wood and add a protective layer over magnet. Then what was my decision? On try 6, the dual layer of Cedar dye look good to me.
Wow, time went fast, last post was in 2014 already... I'm planning on resuming this build in a little while. But like with all project hastily abandoned, I did not record were I was and what was the next series of steps. First activity will be to draft a new plan, see which part I already have in hand, and how to move from this stage...
Look like before I last stopped, I had some component prepared. turn out they are not so bad, and can probably be used quickly. I have not only a full set of rudders, but an old collection of pictures I took while building them last year. From shaft shaping to rudder glassing! woot
