Bad Tuggy! No more hulls for you for a while! Besides, this is apparently someones laser-cut kit already. Kinda silly to make a mold/plug off an already marketed kit
Knee replacement x 2 = 12 weeks without work (without pay) = no new hulls for vonTugboat for a while. Fortunately, I've got plenty! Want one?!
Sharp eye Von Tugboat!!. I'm assuming you noticed that the ribs were all solid, therefore wouldn't be much use in a wooden hull. I am Indeed making a plug. I don't see this being a particularly easy build with a wooden hull. It's that double edged sword thing.... If the ribs are wide enough to maintain structural integrity, they are too heavy. A fiberglass hull should also provide more useable internal volume. I have no clue how this will turn out, I am once again in uncharted territory for myself..... It will likely be one of my most triumphant successes, or most spectacular failures. Actually, this is a derivative of webwookies design from a few years ago, that I reworked and had a friend who has his own laser cutter cut out for me. There are no premade kits that I am aware of.
OOOOO..... I've been looking at one of those... This build is a build up to it!!!!!! Have you started it yet??? If so, any pictures??
I found the frames that I glued to 1/16" plywood, while cleaning the shop. I'll take some pics while I'm finishing Evstafi tomorrow. Lil Schnellie is tiny, tiny, tiny. I only started because someone said it was impossible. Got to arrange things and see how large the accumulator can be. Not using a regular valve to fire the spurt gun, and only driving the center prop. 'Cannon' will fire through one of the torpedo tubes.
I ran into a small sang after the first window was filled with balsa. I noticed there was a slight bow in the deck. I decided to go ahead and correct it. I tried sawing through the balsa in the center of the window.... that didn't work. Then I sawed the balsa from the rib at each end. That didn't work either, so I broke the balsa out and started over.
For my next attempt, I removed the keel in the longest window, cut and installed new balsa, and weighed it down to keep the deck flat while the glue dried. Problem solved.
New balsa with the keel removed. I will have to be careful when sanding this area to keep from creating a low spot since I won't have the keel to help guide me in this area.
The balsa install is progressing, albeit slower than I would like. After the glue is dry, I whittle the balsa down to rough it to shape a bit so there isn't as much to sand later. On a side note, Schnellboote is only 9.6" long in 1/144 scale..... That's just over half the length of V108. Getting one of those to float and drive shouldn't be a problem.... getting it to shoot anything would be a real challenge. Sorry for the lousy focus.
I'm kind of irritated at myself for not being more conscious of the bow, I altered the shape of it more than I am willing to accept. I will fix it before I give the entire hull a coat of body filler.
