Ah, but wrapping the boat in plywood takes away the pleasure and fine finish of a planked boat. I'm thinking 1/8" or 3/32" by 3/8" strips of something. I still need to talk with the recipients of the other hulls, to decide what wood to use. I DO know that I will run a 1/4" square length of walnut from stem to stern as a super-strengthening "rub strip" keel. It will stick out a little from the rest of the hull, but provide something solid for anything beneath the boat to rub up against, like rocks, sand, mud, 65 mph freeway, etc. Not that I plan to TEST it on a 65-mph freeway, but some people do have open-back trucks and things don't always stay in...
Actually, do you guys mind if I hold off on posting the photos? I did take a few on Saturday, but I'm working a temp job through monday that takes up most of my time. I'll also hopefully be able to glue the frames, keels, and subdecks together and take even MORE pictures! Then, if you watch closely, you may discover my ultra-classified top secret method for cutting out ribs, that makes them look extra pretty and easier to resheet.
After much bugging, asking, and nagging from the friendly denizens of this domain, I have finally posted more photos on the progress of the PUMAs. A lot has been happening the past month or so, with a blowout Campaign Battle, Last Man Standing, and political warfare unending, but I have been making progress on the ships. cutting out the insides of the ribs, using a spindle sander. I first did a rough cut on the bandsaw, then sanded each rib to perfection. Looks better now that it's hollow inside, right? I still have not glued the hull together yet, though I'm almost to that step. Another view of a test-assembly. Possibly more interesting than the transport is the wood-and-foam test target in the upper left corner, to be used for warm-ups before an event. Make sure you're putting holes where it counts, right? I attached solid wood to the stern of each ship for its impenetrable area. I still needed to get the rudder controls in, so I milled a carefully-sized slot to fit in all that gear. Here's me cutting the slot for the first boat on the mill. A closeup on the milling for the 4th one. I had to carefully size the cut so as not to break out through the bottom of the boat in the back. I think I made it, but I won't know for sure until I do final shaping on the impenetrable. The results! Not quite precise to a thousandth of an inch, but within 15 thousandths, which is plenty enough for my purposes. And one other view. Please note that I am STILL using entirely scrap wood and spare parts found lying around the shop, for a total cost of $0. Unfortunately I'll need to get electronics soon, and I don't have enough spares sitting around.
I have been flowing Carl and the bilding of his tramp steamer (looks good too) but I wanted to try it on my own and what I have read and learned on the forums. A little more work and she will be ready for 08. Thanks to all http://www.rcnavalcombat.com/FileManager/Storage/633294145459272524.png
WOW that looks nice. It looks almost like the ones I'm building, but with a slightly squarer stern. For appearances sake you might want to add the masts and a little bit of rigging. I've found that that masts and rigging (even if it's just a little bit) go a long way to improving the appearance of a ship. What club is it for?
Thanks guys will work on the masts and the rigging next, your wright Carl she will look better. And lifeboats got to have lifeboats. Tryed her out yesterday and wow she turns on a dime. big gun Mid-Atlantic club in Va.
Hey, Carl, I have a cad file converter that can convert solid edge files to autocad. Can you email me those mehoshi maru files?
Donanton, the files you're asking for are more than 100 mb worth of stuff. My email doesn't allow me to send more than 20 mb at a time, so it'd take me a while to mail it to you. Do you know any better methods for transferring large files?
Quick update: I spent this afternoon making planks. First I stopped by the local hobby shop, and saw that 1/4" x 1/8" x 2' wooden planks were selling for $1 apiece. I needed 120 of those planks, and I didn't want to pay $1 per plank for it. So instead, I bought a bunch of 1/4" thick mahogany floor planking from a local lumber company. $10 for 30 planks, 1/4" x 1.5" x 6'. I then took three of those planks, and cut them into 1/4" x 1/8" x 6' planks for use on the transports. Those three big planks were turned into more than enough planks for all four ships, and I will trim them down further once I start putting them on. And even better, I still have 27 more planks left over for future projects! Now that's awesome.
More news! (sorry, no photos yet) Today I assembled all the various parts I've been making (ribs, keels, subdeck, etc) into a recognizable hull. I've only assembled hull #4 so far, but I don't have class tomorrow so I will assemble them then. I'll take photos, too
Here are the promised pictures! Lots of wooden planks. Approximately 1/4"x1/8"x6' and a whole bunch of them. This created as much sawdust as all previous woodcutting combined. Just another view of the pile"O"planks. Here's assembled hull number two, awaiting planking. That first plank along the bottom acts as the keel, but once the ship is planked it will be just another board on the bottom. Another view of hull number two. You can see the keel plank better in this view. And the underside! Before planking, I will partially saw through each of the ribs, 1/2" off center on both sides. Then I'll plank the boats, then I'll finish the cuts from the top. That makes it much easier to rip out the parts I don't want, so I can easily install quality water channeling. That's all for now! I'll post more news as soon as I have it.
Hey i am new to this but i am a mechanic by trade with wood working, metal working and electrical background. I have been into various hobbies from air land and sea. I am from south jersey and i am looking to built a boat or two and try if possible to start some kind of leauge. My only problem is i need some kind of plans or drawings to go by. Please help
I am currently planking the boats. Progress is slow due to finals, other projects, and a few days of flu, but I'm about 1/3 of the way through planking. I'll put up some photos when I'm a bit further along.
Hey folks! A quick update on the PUMAs: I am currently 94.23% done with planking. I also took some wonderful photos demonstrating how to plank a wooden-hulled ship using sturdy enough planks to NOT need fiberglass reinforcing. Unfortunately I am currently gallivanting around in Southern California and I forgot to bring the photos with me, so you all will have to wait until next year to see them. In other news, I have officially decided on names for the ships. They shall be called: 1) Flounder 2) Bottom Dweller 3) Halibut 4) Scuttlefish These names were carefully chosen to conceal the ships' design intent of actually surviving a battle. I also figured that people would be too busy laughing at the names to shoot straight and sink 'em.
