Scratchbuilt hull material

[des]

More progress - I've got the upper bow cladding on.

The hull is sheathed with 1.5 mm styrene sheet, but I thought that I might have a problem bending this material to get the tight bend at the bottom of the piece.  Nevertheless I thought I'd have a try.  The result is as I thought - a total disaster.  So instead I layered it up using 3 layers of 0.5 mm sheet;  this has given an acceptable result, although I will need to fill teeth marks from clamps used while the cement was setting.

Des

[des]

One thing I've found with using styrene as a building material, and using sheet-on-frame construction, is that you can be as rough as guts in the construction of the framework, but the cladding will still take on smooth lines.

Also, you can be fairly rough with the cladding as well, with cleanup using a dremel sanding drum or a mini file;  or by using filler where the sheeting doesn't match up properly.

The photo below shows how I got my original Lines Plan wrong.  I didn't recognise the error on the Plan, nor when I assembled the framework, nor even when I added the cladding to the sides, undersides and transom.  It wasn't until I added the chine cladding that the error became apparent.  But - filler to the rescue.

Des.

[sea monkey]

That's every tidy. You're making the styrene bit look easy. Nice work.

[des]

The basic hull is now mostly complete - still no decks or running gear, and still to have anchor pockets cut in.  But the hull itself is done.  So, yes, it is feasible to build a hull using styrene with a frame and sheathing method.

The hull is quite rigid, and surprisingly strong, despite weighing in at only 910 grams - about 2 lbs.  So I am still on target for the hull with decks to be around 1 kg, and for the completed model (with battery, but without ballast) to be less than the calculated 4.7 kg total displacement.

Did I get the chines right for a Burness Corlett hull?  Not quite - but if I build another one I now know where to make the changes needed to get closer to that target.

[des]

More photos.

The hull has been sprayed with several coats of high-build automotive primer / putty to fill minor imperfections, and to highlight any that needed attention - and there were several.

The slots at the bow are simply locators so I can cut out the openings for the anchor pockets in the right places relative to the internal frames.