Blazer Lauterbach Build Thread

[Rich Jones]

So before the dummy engine thread gets too sidetracked I thought I would do an actual build thread now that things are getting underway. The theme is not based on an actual boat that ever raced, but rather in the spirit of my lady’s ‘64 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud III, but in the style of a GP. The boat is for her. Since the wood work inside the car is veneered with burled walnut, I thought I would do the decks that way. The veneer I bought was in two bookmatched pieces. I got it laid out and cut tonight for the most part. Since there was a knot that I did not want in the decks and the pieces were 55” in long, I came up short in the back by 2 in or so. I will splice in some leftover veneer at the very back. Next is gluing the veneer on. Much more to come as I progress.

 

[rhomodel]

Grrrreeeaat, look forward to the progress reprots and good luck with the build Rich.

 

[Chuck Mason]

I am new to the forums and this is the type of Building that peeked my interest back to always wanting my own scale Hydroplane. That is BeaUTIFUL. Looking forward to seeing your progress as well Goodman Builder.

 

[Rich Jones]

Ok, my plan all along was to attach the veneer to the plywood with slow setting epoxy. My test pieces were the rear deck cutouts. At first, I thought this was going to be an issue because after a couple hours I was able to peel back the veneer. But I had used a spreader and the coat was pretty thin. Plus I didn’t want to coat the veneer because in its unbonded state it’s just so brittle. So I put it on heavier and used a rolling pin to go over the top and put some wax paper and weights to work. Then I went back after that dried a few hours and I thinned some epoxy with denatured alcohol and sealed the tops, wiping the excess after 10 min or so. This morning the bond seemed really good. I scraped the parts with a razor front and back and will do one more coat. Now that I have all that figured out, I’ll move forward with the rest of the deck parts. The pic shows them wiped down with Naptha.

 

[Chuck Mason]

Cant wait to see the front nose done.
Please post MANY PICs.
C

 

[Rich Jones]

Will do Chuck!

 

[MarkDanielsSr]

Super cool, very nice.

 

[Rich Jones]

More gluing, waiting, gluing, waiting and so on…

 

[Ray Sametz]

Yup, my workout weights never got used as much as when I started building boats.

 

[rhomodel]

It will all pay out in the end, I'm sure.

 

[Rich Jones]

In today’s episode, we are still laminating veneer to the decks, but are becoming much more sophisticated in doing so. From the Lil Condo Shop of Horrors, I give you “The Veneer Master”. Plans available upon request. To build one you need the following:

- Wax Paper
-1/2 in. Plywood long enough to cover workpiece.
- 1 case RedMax Fuel
- 1 Arbor Press
-1 Combo Sander
- 2-5 lb barbells
- 6 - 5 lb. Plate weights
- 1 Gallon RV Antifreeze.
- LOTS of prayers.

We will see how it works. Seriously though, don’t be jealous. Not everyone can throw together engineering marvels such as this!

 

[Mike Hughes]

A vacuum bag would do nicely for that project. Too bad you dont have one of those laying around. LOL
Mike

 

[Rich Jones]

A vacuum bag would do nicely for that project. Too bad you dont have one of those laying around. LOL
Mike

In all seriousness, you are 100% correct sir! If I ever endeavor to do this again, I am definitely going to give that some thought. My pain level from the amount of money spent this year getting back into RC Boats is about at 8 out of 10 right now. Good thing my enjoyment level is 10/10.

 

[Ray Sametz]

Or trace out the piece on the plywood, drill holes around the perimeter and screw it down. Plate weights in center only.

 

[Rich Jones]

Or trace out the piece on the plywood, drill holes around the perimeter and screw it down. Plate weights in center only.

Great idea Ray!

 

[ChrisHerzog]

Two 1/4” thick pieces of glass, some wax (preferably mold release wax) and a 24 pack of coke works great!

Put a couple coats of wax on the glass completely coat the two touching sides of the wood with your glue. Stick that between the glass and put your pack of Coke on it. The glue run off won’t stick to the waxed glass and you get good even pressure with the glass on both sides of your wood.

 

[Rich Jones]

Another great idea , thanks Chris!

 

[ChrisHerzog]

You can do the same thing with fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin or polyester resin if you need flat fiberglass stock to make stuff out of. Hatch covers, cowls ect ect.

 

[Rich Jones]

Finished up on the deck veneer. Everything turned out well. Now getting started on test fitting the frame parts. I was going to use the building board from my Backlash but it’s only 36 in long and frames 1-6 barely fit on it. So, I’m building one 14 x 48. It doesn’t need to be quite that long but doing it this way saves me a cross cut and the added length doesn’t interfere with anything.

 

[Rich Jones]

New building board, 14x48. MDF top this time. This will work much better! Next up will laminate the transom, motor mount doublers, doubler for bulkhead 4, and give a quick sand to the faces of all the pieces to remove burn marks. I won’t do the edges as those become a visual reference when sanding the frames for the skins.