First, I'd like to say awesome! Second, I'm secretly stealing some of your building ideas for my shop when needed. Third, the second rib from the bow might need to be hollowed out a little more. The only reason I mention this is because the MWC recently had a very heated argument over this issue, and it's easier to do this kinda work now when you can get to it. Fourth, I can't wait to see more!
I agree with everything that the two gentlemen above posted, with the exception that Wilhelm will always be my Kaiser I seriously have to quit reading this thread or I'll wind up with a 2/3 done Malaya on the shelf and a Bismarck building on the table! Very very nice work *That second rib, yeah, I'd make it nice and open in the middle, better to leave no room for anyone to grief you. That's my basis for building in general, leave no doubt that everything is as legal as can be and anyone that pulls out their calipers near your boat looks like an idiot. Mercifully there are few individuals like that in the hobby (rivet-counters, that is). Not that being legal isn't important. If I did something sneaky, it would taint my victory and thus I would be denied entrance to Valhalla when my battling days are over. Be denies a chance to battle boats all day and party all night with Valkyries? Hell no!
Thank you all, I will have a look at that second rib, and see how I can modify it without making it too flimsy! Today, still more fitting with the subdeck this time, and learning how to bend woodinch:... I mean, without bending the keel at the same time. By luck, the amount of bending is minimal, so with some water, it may go without too much trouble.
I think what they're talking about is water flow through the second rib. From what I can see, the gap doesn't come all the way down to the keel, which stops water flow, which in turn, violates the rules. At least, that's what I think everybody's talking about....... @Daniel, I hope you weren't using water to help bend anything, because when it dries it will be worse than before. Ask me how I know. Bismark is looking great! Keep showing me more! Beaver
If you keep it clamped until the water evaporates, it might not bow. I'm not an expert, and I'm not sure if what I said will work. Maybe somebody else on here can give you some suggestions as well. Beaver
Keep it clamped for several days and it'll be fine, hopefully For the 2nd rib, you want to have an opening to let water flow from holes in the hull forward of the rib. How wide a hole? I don't know. How wide is your rib down in the skinny part?
Thanks for the advice. For the time being, the deck stay clamped, and the shipyard is on strike lain: For that second rib, at that point, the bismarck is wider at the bottom of the rib than at mid level (That rib is of course wider again at the top), this is due to the bulbous prow present on that ship. in the skinny part, the rib is already down to 1/2 inch wide. If I open the slot down to the keel, there will be an area less than 1/4 high, 1/2 wide that will support the whole rib, and with the height of that one, that act directly as a lever... Im scared of that part splitting if I remove any more matter. I guess while the ship dry out, I will have time to think a solution (and wait for an awesome advice again!) I also have aquestion for you all. I read all your threads, and found that there is some different preference on which glue to use for the ribs/keels/subdeck bonding. I have CA, titebond and epoxy on stock already, and can choose anyone. I fear that the CA will be too quich for me to align the ribs properly with the keel and subdeck. On the other hand, the Epoxy would take a loonnng time to set. And I am not sure about the water stability of the titebond. I am guessing I will just have to be carefull and practice some more with the CA?
Ive used titebond 3 with good results. Also, concerning using water to bend the sub-deck, I wrapped soaked paper towels around mine and left it for a couple of days and it worked fine.
Titebond 3 is more than up for building a ship. But any of those would work just fine. As to the rib strength, just drill a 1/4" hole. It will be plenty strong once you are done adding fiberglass.
I built a 1:1 scale sailboat with Titebond 3 and have spent a few hours in it in the middle of a lake with the wind blowing and Bill Byrnes being embarrassingly faster in his similar sailboat (also built with TB3). I didn't sink, didn't even leak. so it's capable. I do use West System (or similar Maas System) for most of my hobby boat work. It's 100% waterproof, which most of the epoxy sold at Home Despot is NOT. CA is okay for quick repairs, but I would not use it on the frame as it can be sensitive to jarring (very brittle join, it is!). So if your choices are CA, Home Despot epoxy, or Titebond 3, TB3 all the way.
Technically TB3 is not totally waterproof. If you talk to the manufacturer they will grudgingly admit that the 100% waterproof claim is for splashing water and quick dunks but not continuous submersion. Similar to polyester resin, it does slowly allow water to pass through which causes all sorts of interesting issues. That said they have (and still do) build real boats out of the polyester stuff. I would not recommend either for below the waterline on a real boat that will spend most of its time in the water but they are plenty waterproof for our purposes. Real fiberglass boats tend to blister when layed up with polyester resin which is why they don't use it for hull layups much anymore. But they are sitting continuously in the water something you model boat shouldn't be doing. Above the waterline polyester resin is still used extensively. Is West System a better resin? Sure (and a lot less stinky), but after it cures I don't think it really performs much better than polyester resin for our purpose. Strength comes from the glass and wooden structure not the resin. EDIT: Because I am an idiot and said vinyl when I meant polyester. Lowes/HD resin is polyester resin. West Sytem is not vinylester resin.
I've used vinyl resins in the past without strength or water issues, but at this point, I don't need the fumes adding to my medical maladies list
The Glueing: The Results: on th egood side, this is a slick ship! straight as an arrow, and light as a feather! Love the choice of Birch From the Prow: From the Stern: Rigidity evaluation: And the bad. Ribs 10 glued out of shape a tiny bit. Will have to shave it to shape again... Your advice: Should I now do the caprail and deck first? or should I jump straight to blocking? Im feeling ready for blocking but I do not know if I should expect surprise if Im not doing the deck first... Daniel
Caprail and deck first. The caprail helps the subdeck hold the proper shape and prevent any flexing while putting in the blocks. The hull is looking GREAT!! Amazing job thus far.
^^1+ This build is amazing! I did my blocking first, but mostly because I didn't have the plywood to do the deck at the time. Beaver
