September 06 2004

Panel fit:

I was disapointed with the panel fit. Some gaps of up to 12mm where present. This should not be possible with a boat designed on a cad system. Also a prototype was built so the full size patterns should have been corrected.

Anyway, It took me only 2 hours to trace and trim the four P2 panels that did not fit. All the frames dont fit very well either but they are easy to trim. In the end, all the curves are very fair, thanks to the stiffness of the foam panels.

 

Attaching frames to shelf with large fillets:

2004_0907Image0008.JPG (47759 bytes)

 

Trying to fit P2 panel... :

2004_0907Image0015.JPG (68940 bytes)

 

The fit is nice after 2 hours of tracing, fitting and trimming. Note how the frames are not level with the top of the side panel. Some frames are level, some are too low and some are too high:

2004_0907Image0031.JPG (63103 bytes)

 

Second float. The exact same trimming was required on this float. At this point, I dont know wich one will be starboard and which one will be port!

2004_0907Image0034.JPG (67694 bytes)

 

Glueing the bow sections. The wood pieces keep everything straight. At this point I can still lift a float by myself, they are very light.:

2004_0907Image0039.JPG (63758 bytes)

 

Nice sweeping curves! The rocker of the floats looks less pronounced in real life than on the drawings:

2004_0907Image0040.JPG (53223 bytes)

Motivation is still good. I am ready to face more panels that dont fit well since I know that it is not a big deal finally... I am glad I did not buy a pre-cut kit!

For the center hull panels I will think about cutting them over-size to allow for (probable) trimming.