256 #23

[Don Silsbe]

Exquisite work!

[Stareed]

Sorry boys been working on "real" work alot lately. Finally got the High Build shot on the hull in preparation for the Awlfair. I messed with a couple things trying to get around the fact I dont have a 80 gallon shop compressor, only a big jobside one which just cant put out enough air for most automotive guns. I ended up getting the purple Harbor Freight gun and drilling the cap out to 2mm.

 

Worked really well with my lower cfm compressor ( 7.5 @ 90) . Now to sand it and start with the fairing compound 

[Stareed]

Well, a long busy hot summer ensued...... worked on the worst part of the build in the worst part of the year. Faired out the topsides, bottom, fixed an issue with the centerline on the stem, vacuumed the lifting strakes on the hull, attended the IBEX show in Tampa, any way here you go;

Awlfair LW on the topsides

 

First coat of Awlfair sanded port side, stbd side second coat of Highbuild 

 

Second coat of Awlfair on the topsides 

Second coat sanded

Good shot of the "layers" 1- fiberglass,2-1st highbuild, 3-Awlfair, 4-highbuild, 5-Awlfair, which gets a final layer 6 final highbuild- then on to epoxy primer

After final highbuild primer on the topsides

Magic Marker and alcohol wipe down for final blocking 

 

Bottom faired 

Lifting Strakes mocked up

lifting strakes installed, vacuumed on after grinding back to glass, faired the bottom first and left the area under the strake untouched so the strake would lay fair when glued up, also gives fair areas allround to work to.

[Stareed]

Some more pictures;

attaching the strakes 

Mounted wheels ( pneumatic 10" casters)  under the strongback so we can pull it out to paint- will replace the casters with two trailer axels, one front one back, first time out of the narrow ass shop! wow! its always so much bigger when you can step back and look at it from more than 5 feet away.

Topsides are ready for epoxy primer

Bottom needs to have the strakes faired in and high build sprayed

Spray Pettit epoxy primer

Apply Pettit Black Widow bottom paint

Flip it and move on

My real job keeps slowing me down- and it was brutally hot this summer 

[Stareed]

lifting strakes faired and bottom sprayed with high build 

Sanded again.....

Laser level used for waterline, I added a inch to give me a little wiggle room

Ready for Pettit epoxy primer 

two coats of grey, fill last few pinholes, one coat of white

Four coats of Pettit Black widow bottom paint in Navy, Sprayed with 3m accuspray gun and 1.8 tip thinned per instructions,

white primer ready for bootstrip 

built a cradle for the hull and a frame from the stations to the cradle, pulled it over with a truck winch and a rope round turned to a tree to act as a brake once it passed the tipping point, payed it out like surging a line on a bollard 

Blocked it up and got it on a borrowd trailer to get it back into the shop

laying out the 12" 1708 tabbing, all stingers and stations were glassed before going into the jig 

aft fuel tank compartment glassed up and vacuumed, 

[Stareed]

Aft fuel tank compartment after the bag and peel ply was pulled off- not a single bubble, more glass than the plans, but I have a 100' roll of 12" 1708 and should have a better epoxy to glass ratio than handlaid ( trying to justify the extra weight) about 28 sqft in there 

[Steve W]

This has been fun to watch. I'm currently having a new house built and when it's done, it's powerboat time. Not sure which design, but I'm anxious to get building. Seeing other folks progress is inspiring.  

[Stareed]

Thank you, always gotta be planning the next one.........36' Walkaround express is my next one in my head right now, I would also like to build a Coquina to sail around in 

[Stareed]

Moving on to the Stbd side outer compartments covering the chine. 10oz cloth from the underside of the deck beam down the the fillet on the chine log, 2 layers of 12” 1708 staggered on top of the chine, 1708 in corners and across the stations. 

aft compartment was a single test, we made a “box” out of the vacuum bag material to be able to vacuum these spaces, instead of making large pleats in the corners, worked out much better. Had a spot where we had some “bridging” a place where the bag doesn’t sit tight in the inside corner but doesn’t affect the cure  
did the following three at once. Pulled the collective down to 17 bar. 5 out of the 16 compartments done in the main deck area. 

[Stareed]

[Jknight611]

You boat is beautiful, really going to be a treat to use it.  
 

Vacuum bagging sure gives a great finish, good resin ratio, everything!  Wish I had bagged some of the more intricate areas of my current build.