| Jan 13-Feb 7 2003. Joe and one of my neighbors
came over and helped me flip the craft. It is heaver than it looks. I
would guess 150 lbs at this point. These are two pictures of the
bottom of the hull with the Kevlar felt attach strips. |
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| Here are two pictures of the top now. The boards in
the back are for engine mounting and need to be recessed into the hull and
glassed over like I did on the bottom. I will try to cut the slots for
them this weekend. I have a fair amount of surface work to do to fill
in the odd bumps and gaps. After discussion with a number of folks, I
decided not to paint the bottom as it is likely as water proof as it will
get and the marine bottom paint would just mostly add weight. It is
heavy enough already. |
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| Feb7 2003. I cut the slots for the boards
tonight. The slot cutter was modified so I could cut up close to the
bolts. It left a small section by the bolts that I cut off with a hack
saw blade. Worked well. Now I have to figure out how to cut the
bolts to length. |
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| Feb 8 2003. I now need to drill the holes in
the boards for the engine mount. But, I have misplaced the plans I was
using for this. Bummer! Presently in search.... |
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| March 25, 2003. Chris came over and
helped me foam in the last of the engine mount boards last night. We
are getting better at using the foam. |
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| Now to smooth out the area and cut the lift
duct. Then glass the top, then make the cockpit, then the duct, then
the rudders.... |
 |
| April 20, 2003. Cut the bolts
holding the engine mount boards. Still need to grind them flat.
Also smoothed out the odd dimple and other indents. |
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| May 9-10, 2003. Chris and Joe came
over on the 9th an helped me move the hull outside so I could round over the
sides. the FG will not follow a 90 deg bend. I used a round over
bit on my router to round off the edges. Man, what a mess it made.
Foam and FG bits were all over the drive way. |
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| I also cut off the stubs from the engine mount
bolts. That was a mess also. I used a wet rag around the bolts
when I was using the cut off wheel to keep the sparks from doing something
embarrassing to the foam (like setting it on fire). Joe and his brothers
Paul and Bob & my wife and son helped me move the hull back into the garage.
Thanks everyone! |
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