Question; does cold weather affect a fiberglass hull? Going to try to sand down sub-deck/deck to fit hull.
just don't get it above 170F it will start to sag. or below about -17F then the epoxy begins to shatter
I don't think there is much concern about him working beyond or even near those temperatures where he lives.
just a handy rule of thumb for anyone else who might read this thread as well. also if you live/battle in the south and you paint your hull black and leaving it in the sun all day can warp it. north as well but more issue in the south.
Rubberized CA and goop are wonderful for attaching and sealing a sub deck joint and using flexible adhesive helps keep it together during rams as well. Ron Hunt
Ron, are you talking about using Goop to hold the subdeck to the hull? I've used it to hold stuffing tubes in the hull before but hadn't thought to try that...
Yes I use goop to hold in the subdeck Tugboat. And I get T-Boned by Yamatos and Bismarks regularly. But I also use 1/16 inch thick G10 for the subdeck and deck and rivet small blocks to the fiberglass hull to support it from underneath. This is a view of the underside of my main deck, a typical riveted block (yellow) supporting the subdeck (black) is in the bottom right of the photo. The subdeck is glued to the block with rubberized CA. After I cut the windows in the hull I went back and applied a fillet of GOOP around the edges. It has held up for 5 NATS and 2 regionals so far without separating. Ron Hunt
So you glue the blocks to the fiberglass hull, then drill them and pop-rivet them, and then glue the subdeck to the blocks, and Goop the gaps? Interesting. I'm using G10 board in SMS Gneisenau, I'll have to consider this.
Yes that is exactly how I did it. Prior to Nagato I used a full thickness G10 subdeck in my Iboat (5/16 inch) and the weight was excessive (and Expensive). G10 is very heavy compared to plywood but a lot stronger, I don't see any need to go thicker than 1/16" for G10 decks and subdecks. If I was doing subdecks with wood again I think GOOP is still the way to go, especially if you can get a close fit between the wood and fiberglass hull, just be sure to waterproof the wood before installing the subdeck into the hull. Thin layers of GOOP are a very strong adhesive. I always had problems with wood subdecks breaking loose from the fiberglass hull when using regular CA or an epoxy to secure them.
Yeah, I looked at pricing and strength, and the narrow beam of SMS Gneisenau, and decided that 1/16" was strong enough
I stored my ships in the shed this past winter and summer and they held up just fine. I built the North Carolina in a cold garage then in the shed during the winter. Half that time I was wearing my snowsuit and boots .
