Politics are generally not kosher, no good comes of those threads, hobbies are fine unless your hobby is politics
yeah, that's a good way to be. That's part of why I love living in an enclave north of the Wall--everybody's too busy hunting, fishing, hiking, skiing, and whatnot to waste their time with such endeavors. Anyways, back to the Texas. So I'm skinning the hull right now, and seem to be having trouble getting the contour around the foundation of the upper casemate deck. The lower casemates are pretty easy, and I have been having no troubles with the armor belt stringer at all. <---this guy So, due to this, I am thinking of using balsa for the straight outer portion, and leaving the curves open. then once I come back with the silkspan, just use that to form the contours where it requires too much flex for balsa. Has anyone skinned a Texas before? I'd appreciate any tips on the techniques used in that section. Moving on, I installed the polycarbonate armor last night. worked out incredibly well, and it'll be nice having the armor easily removable for maintenance, etc. And I gave the bottom a coat of paint. having that as the sacrificial layer has been helping me to keep my sanding on the balsa pretty light, and keeps me mindful of any sanding on the hull itself. Other than that, not much else happening. The Forest should be sending me my official job offer soon, and then it'll be a flurry of activity. I really hope that they're going to give me a reasonable report date, and not force me to drive down the Alcan. I don't feel like dealing with -50 and packs of wolves if breakdowns occur, especially when there can be a hundred miles between spots of humanity.
Fortunately the Texas has plenty of source material out there. You definitely want balsa over all of the penetrable area. Looking at the trouble area, you might need to use a few pieces of balsa. Ideally you would have tiny ribs for the side edges, but you can probably get by without. I would use one piece for the long section, but run the grain parallel to the deck so it can curve under. Then have two small pieces for the ends. Looking at your pictures, generally you want to run the full pieces of balsa all the way up the sides where you can, not just to the stringer. Did you use CA to attach the sides? That method is very 2005, now a days we use contact cement, way quicker, much better seal. You’d put a couple coats on the hull, less one to two for the contact surfaces on the balsa, let dry completely, then attach. Hope this all makes sense and is useful for you
"Hope", lol Kevin you're being extremely helpful. No Hope about it. I've got a few pre-05 tendencies since my only other foray into the hobby was with MWC in 2002-2003. I'll swing over by Lowes tonight on my way home and grab some contact cement then. With the way the stringer sits, it's forcing me to have to do it in multiple segments--it's the top step of the armor belt. the casemate stringer is another such feature. I think there are two frames on either side where I can do it in one panel. If I had the non-bulged Texas, it'd be a lot easier, but I like the tumbledown hull design, and have *LITERALLY NOTHING TO DO OTHER THAN WORK ON THIS BOAT* lol at least until I get my report date from USFS in Canada's cheesy Mexico.
I remember 2005. My Tin Lizzie was still shiny new from the dealer and we were only a year away from an indoor water closet! Seems just like yesterday...
lol so I finished sheeting the starboard side last night. got a technique dialed in for the upper casemate foundation. I'll make sure to post it up. I also figured out that forward of the upper casemates, I can do the hull with a single sheet over the stringer, as the stringer doesn't bulge out until after the casemates. The contact cement was useful for the large segments, but any spot where there was a lot of bend gave me trouble, so those parts were addressed with CA. looks like a noob did it, but I imagine that the port side will go a lot more smoothly.
sheeted the port side balsa, letting it dry before throwing it on tonight. Gotta run to the hobby shop later today and get more, since I used the last of it on that inner coat today.
and the report date for Park Falls is 16 April. so..... I may have enough time to pound out everything except for the CO2 lines before I leave. then I'll just become PPB's problem child.
supplies are the issue, not time. Seeing as how weird some things are to get in AK, I'll hold off until I get down South of The Wall. I just called the hobby shop, and *surprise* there's no silkspan left. takes three weeks to get more. so I'm going to just say "meh" and roll out some tissue on the balsa. If it doesn't work, I'll use it until there is a catastrophic failure.
It will be fine. You can sheet the outside with silkspan after its on the ship. No problem. Not sure on the tissue. Or if it is legal even. Lol.
I feel you on hard times getting supplies. I live in the way backwoods of Oklahoma on the Ar line. I have to buy ca at walmart or mail order it or drive an hour and a half one way to the lhs to overpay for 1/2 oz bottles.
