I use the West System epoxy for all the building of the hull. Fiberglass hull to subdeck and such. I then give the wood a good coat or two of the same. Seems to hold up for years.
To clarify the rib reinforcing process in my brain, I could by 1/4" and 1/8", CA glue them together, or 3/8" plywood. Cut it to the desired pieces and use WEST SYSTEMS epoxy to adhere them to the hull and to waterproof them? Or should I be looking to buy marine epoxy? I just want a thorough and clear process in my head for the present and future builds. Thanks guys!
West System is marine epoxy. You can use it for anything and everything that needs to be epoxied in our boats if you so desire.
This is the product I was talking about. http://www.loctiteproducts.com/products/detail.asp%3fcatid=11&subid=49&plid=473 It mixes very thick spread clamp and leave in place. It's got a long pot life so you can mix a whole tube for a whole sub deck and put it all together at one time. I don't use West Systems, but if it's like the stuff I do use it's pretty runny. It would not stay inplace as good as this stuff.
The West Marine epoxy is fairly runny, but there are thickenes I can add. The other option I guess would be to do 1 side at a time, lying the side I am epoxying on it's back so gravity keeps the epoxy where it should be. Also for the 3/8" rib support, how long should they be? Should I run them only the vertical length of the window or should I do all the way to the buttom of the hull? Thanks
I picked up a piece of 3/8 inch standard plywood. Tomorrow I will be cutting the plywood down to size for each rib. Back to the topic of the stuffing tubes/rudders, any Iowa buildings have any detailed suggestions for how to mark/cut the holes, length of tubes, all materials etc? Thanks
What will you be using the 3/8 plywood for? If it's for the subdeck that may be the incorrect thickness. I know that in Treaty and Fast Gun the total for the subdeck and deck can only be 3/8". I use 1/4 by 1/2 spruce for the subdeck and top it all off with 1/8 birch aircraft plywood.
Oh, ok. The Iowa hull I had gotten from Strike Models was thick enough not to need rib-backers. Nice and thick.
Indeed, my Baden hull from Strike needs no reinforcing. I appreciate all that Swampy has done for the hobby, but I am very happy with the 'glass shop that Keri and Stephen have doing the hulls. I will give up my old Swampy-vintage I-boat when they pry it from my cold dead Axis hands
Hahahaha! Lil' Scharnie will shoot at you, then circle and wait for your pump to fail And anyway you weak sissypants allied captains would still have to pry it free as rigor mortis fights to thwart you! I will refit the I-boat someday, I will use the old decks as templates for new ones, and reinstall the old PPB guns. But there are still too many Allied captains in Region 3 for me to leave the Dark Side.
Bob that is a good point. My West Systems runs all over the place and is good for sealing but I almost need a gel in someplaces to keep it from making a big mess. I think I will try some of that out for attaching and use West Systems for sealing.
Tug, do you have any detailed pics of your Baden hull? As I am looking at a new subdeck I am considering getting a new baden hull and fixing some of the things I cant fix in Abrasion Baden V2.5 I would love to see these ribs that can stand on their own! On their site they only have a distant picture and I want DETAIL DETAIL DETAIL before I make a decision. Thanks
I'm at the in-laws' house atm, I'll go out to the shop when I get home this afternoon (gotta work on DD Othar Tryggvassen!) and take some pics of the Baden hull.
The base West systems is good for sealing. But if you want to use it to hold things together, add in some West Systems 403 or 406 (or a mix of the two) and it becomes quite manageable and can be thickened to a to the point where it is almost a putty. It's what I use when I'm doing structural repairs. They've got a good chart on which products to use for different jobs: http://www.westsystem.com/ss/product-selection-chart/ For our purposes, you can get away with just using the 403 and 410 products (one for strength the other for lightweight fill)
