I am new at the hobby and just finished a scratch built cabin cruiser, which I hope to get on the water this weekend if the weather is nice. I got an early Christmas gift from my wife of a Jenkse USS Baltimore hull kit. I have read the MWC rules and have a question about skinning the hull. Do I plank over the hull with 1/8 sheet and then cover with fiberglass or do I do strait fiberglass? I apologize if this is a repeat posting. Any other info or tips would greatly be appreciated and I will be sure to post pics as I go along. My goal is to attend the IRC nats in June in Oakboro NC as long as the Army doesn’t have other plans. Thanks in advance!
Welcome aboard Wolcott! There are several different approaches to doing the lower hull: 1) Balsa or other wood block between ribs (up to the 1" below waterline that is the bottom of the penetrable windows) sanded to fit, then coated w/ fiberglass 2) Planking hull (again, up to 1" below mark) then fiberglass 3) Tape hull, fill w/ expanding foam, remove tape, fill voids & bubbles, then 'glass Few more I've probably overlooked. Strongly recommend you read through some of the build threads on this site before starting assembly of Baltimore.
Whereabouts in North Carolina are you located? I'm in Greensboro, I could type things about building all day, but actually building with an experienced battler is a much better way to keep your feet dry. Ron Hunt
Hey Ron, I am in Fayetteville. We bought a house this summer on a lake, the HOA doesn't allow gas motors on the lake but electric are allowed. I just re-read the directions again from the site where I got the hull and it makes a little more sense. Just gotta do some research on where the water line is, should and actually be on the Baltimore. Is there a club here in NC where folks meet up? Would be good to have a build day. John
Not a club, but my garage is always open for building whenever anyone can make it by, it is quite a drive from Fayetteville though. Not a lot of active battlers in North Carolina at the moment, but I'm site host for the IRCWCC nats this year at Oakboro, May 21-26, and again at OakBBorofest October 10-12. There is another guy in Greensboro and one south of Charlotte (Jeff Lipp - irnuke above) , to my knowledge. Is the Baltimore you are working on a wood frame hull? Ron Hunt
I have never been to Greensboro but you never know, my wife is from here I'm sure she has. I saw on the Southeast Attack Squadron page that the IRWCC nats is in June, but if you say its in May then I got some work ahead of me. The hull is a laser cut out of laminated plywood that is just shy of 1/4 in. I plan on punching them out and sanding down the punch tabs this weekend. I also have a full 4 x 8 sheet of 5mm that I plan on tracing all the parts onto so that I can and make a form out of. I have built some furniture before and kids toys so I thought this would be a new challenge. John
lol June is right. I keep telling myself May all the time so I don't fall behind. Wood hulls are pretty easy, just have to make sure you seal it well with a couple of thin coats of epoxy. I would do that before doing anything to make the solid bottom, then wrap the hull in duct tape and ballast it to between 12.5 and 13 lbs and float it to figure out where the bottom of the window will need to be. I think most guys use West systems epoxy for waterproofing and say its good (not sure what grade), the devcon stuff tends to get soft and delaminate when it gets wet, which makes me question if it is really epoxy. I haven't used wood on my hulls recently so I am out of any sort of waterproofing stuff here.
