Hi. I’m after advise as no experience with fibre glass hulls. I got a county class cruiser hull from strike models last year which has been stored in the box under the bed. I have noticed that the left side is distorted and if you do try to clamp it to sub deck it distorts the other side. The right side comes up perfect from the bulge the left angles away considerably. Any ideas on what to do to realign?
You could cut out the windows first before installing the deck. With only the ribs remaining on the sides the distortion will be less. Otherwise if you add some fiberglass to the ‘good’ side it will stiffen it up so it won’t distort as much. Another option is to weaken the ribs on the side that is sucked in, then install deck, then reinforce the ribs you weakened as they will now be in the correct shape.
You can trace/cut the correct side to a long piece of plywood 3/4” x 4+” wide, then flip it over and clamp to the dented side. Add a couple layers of glass to the inside and let cure fully before removal of the plywood jig. Should solve this
There was no problem with the original mold, which I made to be used for the bulged counties and the Spanish near copies (Canarias Class). I sold several hulls before the mold was sold to Strike and there were no warps like yours has. Might be due to the hull being on one side during storage. I had the fiberglass deck for my Vanguard hull bow after leaning against the basement wall for a few years; after laying it on the floor under the couch for several months it was straight again. Fiberglass retains a degree of plasticity long after it is made. As Kevin said the hull will be much easier to work with after the windows are cut out.
