Model Forum / Radio Controlled / Water Models / June 2007

Install the transom first. The one in the picturred boat is 1/4"
mahagony ply. Mix your resin with cabisol (or talcum powder in a pinch)
until it is as thick as peanut butter. Coat the transom with 1/8" thick
layer of this mix then press it in place. Stand the boat on the transom
and use a pipe or steel bar for a weight to hold it into the resin. Fill
any gaps around the transom with this putty, a close fit is not needed
since the resin is stronger than the wood anyway. Let this harden.

Next, with the hull horizontal, brace hull so it won't roll with old
shirts or similar. Cut four blocks of wood exactly 5" wide. Draw a line
around them at 2.5 inches. Set the blocks down the middle of the hull
using the lines to verify they are right down the middle and in a
straight line. Set stringers in place against the blocks. I made two
jigs that fit the outside of the stringers and shim them tight with
popsickle sticks on the outside side of the stringers. Glass the
stringers in place by painting the wood with resin then adding peices
of torn fiberglass mat. Add more resin with a stabbing motion until the
glass is wetted out. Don't get it on the alignment blocks or they won't
come out. Let it harden. Remove alignment blocks and repeat above
making sure you cover all the areas that you could not do when the
alignment blocks were in place.

I do all of this while the hull is still in the mold so it holds it
shape better.

[image:
http://www.modelpowerboat.com/gallery/files/6/5/9/stringers1.jpg]