On the Ways: Bearn CV

I agree! that's one fine looking hull. It's a pity it has to be fiberglassed and painted over, but at least we have pictures to remember it by

 

Step 3: Construction - Bow and Stern

Sometimes you have to use what you have on hand. Originally, the bow and stern areas were going to be hardwood. But since I didn't have any scraps on hand and didn't want to go buy some, the bow and stern were made from stacked 1/4" hard balsa sheet. The Richelieu used balsa blocks but suffered battle damage because I didn't glass them. This ship's bow and stern will get fiberglassed for durability.









I didn't get any good (not fuzzy) photos on the stern during this part, but it'll show up soon in the next set of pictures.

Next: Stuffing Tubes

 

Wow, you are a fast worker and what a great hull you are making. Ever thought of making plugs?

 

Yup! I'm on tap to make a 1/96th scale plug for Tugboat.

 

Of the Bearn or something else?

 

The French cruiser "Suffern" in 1/96th scale using the plans I put up here on RC Naval Combat. I'm planning on having a Suffern for Battlestations.

 

Mike the Bearn looks fantastic, this will definetly help me in the future. Im looking forward to the rest of the build, good luck!

 

Step 3: Construction - Prop Shafts

Before heading into fiberglassing the hull, there is a couple things left to take care of. First off, I needed to permanently set the shafts in place. The measurements and trial fitting of the prop shafts helped get everything lined up close with only a slight amount of adjustment needed. Both props had about a 3/16" gap between the blades and the keel/hull. Perfect! Even better, the props are in their scale location for the scale purists.






Inside the ship, the prop stuffing tubes were cemented in, bobbed, and capped with a drive cup for the inner shafts or a wheel collar for the outer shafts.



While waiting for the filler to dry around the prop tubes in the hull, I decided to start working on the deck cap rail. This involved gluing 1/8" thick by 1/4" wide basswood stripes along the outer edge of the subdeck. To bend the basswood around the curve of the subdeck, I cut a series of kerf cuts on the inside.




I'll finish the deck cap rails after glassing the hull tonight.

 

Step 3: Construction - Glassing the Hull

Not many people build wood hulls for one reason or the other. Even fewer people know how to fiberglass a hull (or airplane for that matter!). Fiberglassing sounds intimidating to someone that has never done it. Before the Richelieu, I had used fiberglass only once about 18 years ago on a model airplane. I had help back then and many of the lessons he taught stuck with me when I did the Richlieu. It's a lot easier than a person may think as long as do some key things.

This post is going to be rather detailed with lots of pictures. I want anyone else trying this to understand how to do a good fiberglass job.

Some basic materials is needed to fiberglass: 1 - 2 ounce glass cloth (not shown below), epoxy resin, brushes, mixing cups, and an old plastic card (atm, credit, etc). I recommend a good resin such as the West Systems two part in the picture for the best adhesion, hardening, and working time. I have heard of people using a polyurethane resin such as used for plaques and puzzle coatings, but haven't tried it myself. It's also possible to fiberglass with thin CA glue. I've used that method for small glass repairs. Oh, do not use wax paper cups for mixing the resin! The resin heats up after mixing and may actually melt the wax.


After giving the hull a final finish sanding, cut the cloth out to shape leaving an extra couple inches bigger than the hull around the edge.


Snip holes in the cloth and slides the prop shafts through. Notice the start of a cut at the stern to help the cloth lay over the keel.


Mix the resin according to the product's instructions. The West Systems pumps automatically measures the correct mix of hardener and resin. Do not mix a lot of resin at one time! The more resin you mix, the hotter the mix will get. The hotter the resin gets, the faster it sets/cures, not to mention that it can literally get to hot too hold on to the mixing cup! While glassing the Richelieu, I mixed enough to glass the entire hull in one shot. That batch got so hot that I couldn't touch the mixing cup and set hard within 10 minutes. Heh. Anyway, mix small batches at a time.

Brush the resin into the cloth. Don't try to stretch or spread the resin into a thin coat. We want a "wet" look. The cloth has to be saturated with resin...no dry spots.




Now for the important glassing step. Using an old credit card or plastic card, scrape across the fiberglass and squeegee the excess resin off. This does a few things: it presses the cloth down on the wood, removes excess resin to promote curing, eliminates excess weight of the extra resin, and gives a smooth finish for priming and painting later on. You can also use the card to help work out any wrinkles in the glass cloth.

Notice the "dry" look behind the card. This is what we want.


Let the excess cloth hang over the edges. It'll get trimmed after the resin hardends.



And here it is! The hull is curing and will be ready to handle in a few hours. I'll

 

Wonderful job and pics. Almost makes me want to try glass again


Mike

 

Mike, there has to be an update on this build? Do you have any new pictures?

 

I have lots of new pictures and will update in the next two days. I'm doing a flurry of building right now, trying to get as much done before the movers come tomorrow to start packing my house. It's to the point that even a few hours matters right now. Heh.

Don't worry, there will be more! Right now the Bearn has most of it's flight deck done, rudders installed, most of the radio system installed. I just finished doping a sheet of silkspan on the sheeting and will put it on the Bearn 30 minutes from now.

 

Im falling in love with that ship maybe at will be my second ship but who knows. What was the stuff you but on the hull and wat does it do? Very nice job

 

That's fiberglass to make the bottom impenetrable. As Mike said, he was too lazy to plank the bottom as some people do, so he put in 1/4" balsa and sanded it to shape. The fiberglass reinforces the hull.

 

Yep, that's fiberglass there. Mike, what thickness of fiberglass do you use, and how well does it hold up?

 

ok thanks that what i thought it was but wasnt sure

 

Welp, got some stuff packed yesterday for our move, and today working like crazy trying to get my car ready for shipping to South Korea. But I did get more work done last night. The flight deck is done. Hopefully tomorrow I'll silkspan the sides and build the superstructure part of the ship. After that, the ship will sit until I reach my dad's house on the 4th of July weekend. Then we'll paint it and do sea trials. I expect the ship to work and float perfectly.

I used 1.5 ounce cloth on the bottom of the ship. A single layer is tough! The Richeliu was constructed the same way and has survived multiple sinks and a few beatings. Other than scratched paint on the hull bottom, the fiberglass is holding up perfectly.

 

Construction - Ballast/Filler

After getting the excess fiberglass trimmed, the high spots sanded and patched, and a light sanding over the fiberglass with 220 grit sandpaper (careful not to sand through the glass weave!), it's time to flip the ship and work inside.

I did something unusual with this ship that probably hasn't been done before with a wood hull. Most wood hulls I've seen either get extra balsa or foam in the bottom of the ship to fill in between the ribs. The last wood ship I built, the Richelieu, got a balsa filler bottom that ended up 5/8" thick. With the Bearn, I used a material that is catching on for fiberglass hulls: self-leveling concrete sealer.

I chose the concrete sealer for a couple reasons. First, it's very simple to use. Just put it in and let it flow out level. The other reason is to add ballast weight low in the ship. You can't get any lower than the bottom of the ship. Heh. Having weight low in the hull makes he ship less tippy while turning. For example, I used concrete sealer in my fiberglass Lutzow hull. Another captain with a fiberglass Lutzow hull used balsa. Even though the hulls were identical, my Lutzow was noticeably way more stable while the other ship leaned excessively while turning.

Ok, for the people that are thinking, "why cover up that beautiful wood hull bottom with some goop?". Welp, I already have one ship with a pretty hull bottom to show off.

Enough talking, lets get to the pictures!












For those interested in how much sealant used for this ship ...

The bare hull with props weighed 1 lb 14 oz before adding the sealant. It took 18 ounces of sealant total. The sealant is 3/8" thick. It took a full day to skin and set enough to move and work on the ship. So, the total weight of the hull after the sealant was 3 lbs even. Pretty light ship so far!

 

Looking nice as usual Mike. Question, where is the pump going to sit, is the channel wide enough for it to fit? Or are you just going to use the smaller pump? The sealer looks great, plus I think it all to the over all rigidity of the hull, since it quite a bit more dense than foam.

 

Ah, the pump. It's a standard sized BC pump. It'll be recessed into the top of the water channel in front of the motor/gearbox. I already have pictures of how it sits...all coming soon.