Your cooking now mate!
Looking real good I must say!
Gonna be fun with a Blata in it for sure!

Thanks Oz.

After getting the profile of the side-to-deck stringers right, the next challenge will be to get the deck itself in good looking shape.
I am considering a "clamshell-deck" (w. a flat angle to each side) instead of just a flat deck. This means that I'll have to glue some balsa-stripes on top af some of the spants too in order to get the profiles right.
But why not? Time and inspiration is on my side (for the moment, that is)

About the Blata: I actually do not have the exact measurements of this motor, but I'm sure it will be a tight package, as it is mostly used in boats of at least 60" and with a wider beam.
I might have to knock it in place with a sledge-hammer

So wish me luck.

Cheers!

Woodie.

You take a sledge ahold of that boat, and me and you gonna have a problem Gotta admit Woodie... That is coming out VERY nice!!! Looks like it is gonna have some really sleek lines!!!! Keep it up and keep us posted>

Hey Woodie... All pickin' aside.. I love the way BOTH of these boats are turning out!!! I think these 2 boats are going to show people just what can be done with a little patience! I am really looking forward to seeing both of them show us what they are capable of doing!!! The first boats I built I kinda just threw together... But the boat that really inspired me was Doug's "Wildthing" (dwr9 user name) And then seeing yours, I said it's time to go off!!! And here we are... Keep up the great work, and we'll see what happens next spring!!! Cheers!!!

Isuzu.

I agree with you. For the moment the building part is the best for me, and I think many more should try building in wood. But I also know how difficult it is to get good drawings for the build. That's why mine is build from scratch and sketch.

Later the engine part will be the most exiting. I have put some money in the cookie can, and should be able to buy the Blata w. exhaust primo december (if it is in stock).

BTW: Did you read my advice in your tread about resin and paint?

Cheers!

Woodie.

(And now off to the workshop. There are balsa-stripes to glue on top of the spants. It will look like Sh** untill cut and sanded into shape. Then follows some stabilizing stringers in the deck before I start glueing on the sides).

Sounds good Woodie... I've already got the resin, and that's probably the route I'm going to go...I've got the bottom completely skinned now, so I'll start on the deck when I get up from here.

Warning!

Do NOT use balsa on your boat, unless you know exactly what you are messing with!
This stuff is so crusty, soft and unstable that it's gonna drive you crazy in few seconds if you expected it to work like normal wood!
I know that now. I put it on top of the front spants to be able to get the clamshell shape on the deck.
And guess what? It worked out so lousy and ugly, that I consider ripping it off and replacing it with some honest and real wood.
Now I am wondering if I should have bought this balsa at all. Remember that I have spent some 100 USD on this @£% stuff!!!
Will it be ok to shape the cockpit housing from a massive block of balsa? I am NOT so sure anymore. Maybe it will turn out to be good with a solid layer of resin and some polished carbon on top, as I intend to. But how can I be sure?

If anyone has some advice about balsa, please come by and tell about it!

This is not a good day.

But anyway and as allways: Cheers!

Woodie.

I'm not sure what ya mean by soft and crusty... I build all my planes out of balsa. One thing about balsa.. you have to engineer strength into it. By itself, it's weak. As far as carving a canopy out it, I think you'd be better off framing it up and covering it with the balsa sheeting. I built a model railroad bridge for my "n" scale train set out of i/16" X 1/16" sticks...19" long and 7" high to get over a river. I tested the bridge by putting it on the floor, and put ALL of my weight on 1 foot right on top of it!!!! DID NOT BREAK!!! BUT IT HAS TO BE ENGINEERED FOR STRENGTH!!! That's how I'm going to do the twin canopy set up on mine... I'll take an extensive amount of pictures and get your email address later and shoot ya a bunch of pics. I'll post a few on my thread, ya let me know if ya want more!!! Don't get disappointed with it, it's really good stuff!!! Just have to find the right method for working it! Hope this helps!!

Hi Isuzu.

The thing about engineering is that if you do it right, you can get a sheet of paper to carry a ton.
In my case it's about 3-5 layers of 1,5 mm balsa glued to the top of the front spants on my boat. It really did'nt came out pretty. Nothing I would present on a pic here.
But maybe I should just let it be and shape it up to support the clamshell deck with a supporting stringer in the middle?
After all it's light, and will not be seen after the deck is mounted.
As for the canopy, I still have my doubts. I have 4 pieces of 30x100x1000 mm balsa, which is meant to glue together into a massive block of approx 240x100x500 mm.
From this block it is my intention to carve out the canopy. Off course by making it hollow on the inside, with a thickness of about 10 mm.
Then covering it with resin inside and outside, before applying some 3-D carbon on the outside.
But what ya think about this?

Cheers!

Woodie.

PS: I'm off for now. Gotta sleep. Tomorrow its the boys night!
My son, my son in law and me will rule this house all alone as the wifey and the girls are gone for the evening.
So as you can imagine it's all about junk-food, beer, and some noisy and violent action movie on the set

I don't see why that wouldn't work. Enjoy your guys night!!!