Hi Everyone,
The last of the projects are coming together. Yesterday, the ship's wheel was attached to the forward wall of the rudder box and the deck hardware was installed.

Today, the backing brackets for the navigation lights were made, the LEDs were wired, the keel molds were made, and the keel shape templates were attached to the keel to mark where the lead weights would go, once they were cast.

Tomorrow, I will weigh out the lead for the keel and if the weather permits, get them cast.

Take care and be safe,
Bob SF

Hi Everyone,
Before the rains came through, the keel halves were cast with 2.5 pounds of lead on each side. They came out pretty good and they are getting some filler on the outside to seal off the lead and to smoothen it out. These halves will be through bolted to the keel for sea trials (whenever that may be). Once the final weight is determined, the halves will be bolted and molded to the keel.

The Navigation Light Brackets got one coat of primer and three coats of gloss white and were dry this morning. The brackets were glued to the boat and the LEDs were installed. If you want to learn more about using LEDs, please check out my build of the City of Lakeport (post 143). In the build, I get some flickering LEDs out of some tea lights and turn them into Nav Lights.

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...akeport/page10

More keel work comes tomorrow. Take care and be safe,
Bob SF

Hi Everyone,
The keel weights were bolted to the wooden keel. My gut feel, is that it looks about right, so I faired in the edges of the keel weight to the keel. On the chance that more weight might need to be added, the bolts were left accessible (the threads were covered in grease) and the ends are not molded into the keel. I really don't think I will need anymore weight (just a guess, but if I do, there are options). I can also go lighter, if need be.

The keel was sanded and primed (a couple of times). A coat of white gloss went on the keel this morning. The air temperature is in the high 50's here, so paint will take a long time to dry. I used a box fan to blow on the keel, right after the paint was applied. This will keep the Rustoleum Gloss White from sagging or running. The surface skins over pretty quickly and pulls tight. I think the down side to forcing the skin over is that it might take a little longer for the paint to actually get hard.

Captain Carl helped me get hold of a brass fairlead for the main sheet. I had a mysterious letter arrive in the mail with the part enclosed. Thank you, Carl, for your help. Once the keel paint is dry, I will install the fairlead and continue work on the mast. That will be our adventure in the next build session.

Take care and be safe.
Bob SF

nice...and yer right...catboats are like that....almost bought one once, but chickened out.....actually, it looks beautiful.....

The lights look Great !

Hi Yancovitch and Tim, glad you like the boat. This has been a fun project, glad you came along for the adventure.

Hi Everyone,
This build is quickly coming to the finish line. Here is what has happened since last update.

The fairlead has been installed in the cabin door. I wanted to keep the roof clear of all entanglements, so it would come off easily and be out of the way when working in the cabin.

The mast was installed using poplar wedges to hold it in place. The mast is raked back about three degrees. The wedges are cut off at the deck level and the joint between mast and deck is sealed with clear adhesive caulk. The mast boot was installed using the same caulk. The leatherette boot was laced on the mast.

The decorative mast hoops were made from some 16 gauge soft brass wire. The wire was wrapped around a small paint bottle to get the curve. My wife makes jewelry and she had some really cool sections of brass tube that are used for securing wire used in beading. This little swedge happens to fit the brass wire really well. The mast hoop is fed through the grommet in the sail, around the mast, and the swedge is used to cover the ends of the wire that make up the mast hoop. Some flux is placed on the ends of the hoop and the swedge is carefully soldered in place. Some masking tape protects the mast from the soldering gun.

Cleats, bowsies, and 1mm braided line were used to finish the running rigging on the boat.

A clear plastic report cover separates the running rigging (in the cabin) from the drive motor, fan, and all the electronics that will make this boat go.

The self-stick vinyl graphics (boat name, number, and port of call) have been ordered from Callie Graphics. She does really nice work and has supported the model world with her quality work. Here is a link to her webpage.

https://callie-graphics.com/

Only four more things to do on this boat.

1. Install the graphics when they arrive.
2. Build a pad under the keel to keep the weight off the boat while she is on her stand.
3. Build and install a control panel in the cockpit (throttle/shift lever, key fob, and a couple of gauges).
4. Look for a suitable sailor....so the boat doesn't look like she broke away from the dock. This is always the most difficult part of the build.

More to come.

Bob SF

Beauty ! this picture Really shows how big this model is, Wow !

Hi Tim, Yep....she's big at home. As soon as I take her in the car to the lake, she is going to magically shrink. She's 30 inches long and 15 inches wide.

Hi Everyone,
Down to two more things to do on her before she is done. The control panel for the cockpit has been built, complete with a pair of gauges, key fob, shift and throttle control. The keel pad was laminated out of some scrap 1x2s and cut to match the shape of the bottom of the keel. Some indoor/outdoor carpet was glued to the pad to protect the boat from scratches.

Callie Graphics should be sending the graphics out this Friday, so next week, the catboat will be done. I probably won't find some crew for the boat before her maiden voyage, but I live in hope.

Take care and be safe,
Bob SF

Those seats came out Great !

looks like i can just go and plunk myself down on there .........

She looks great Bob, can't wait to see her sail.

Cheers
Bill

Hi Tim, the red (faux) leather is oil cloth from Walmart....bought a yard many years ago. That yard goes a long way when you are making model boat upholstery.

Hi Yancovitch, I would really want to go for a sail in this boat as well. There is something about catboats that I really like.

Hi Tigman, me too! It is going to have to wait for two vaccines and a safe lake to go to. I'm going to keep myself busy with a tugboat rebuild, as waiting for the vaccines to come out would drive me nuts.... if I didn't have something to keep me busy.

A lot of people have helped with this build. I'd like to thank Captains Ken, Dave, Carl....my wife (for teaching me how to sew), and Harbor Models (lots of supplies to get this done). Also, I'd like to thank all of you for following this thread and the support that you have expressed all during this build. It takes a village to build a catboat. Thank you!

There will probably be two more posts to this thread...next week for the application of the graphics, and the final update from her launch (whenever that will be).

I'll catch up with you next week. Take care and be safe.
Bob SF

Hi Everyone,
The graphics arrived in the mail this morning. Callie did a fabulous job...as usual. If you need Graphics, please be sure to contact her (the link is in Post #126 above).

I like to draw a grid (with a pencil) on the outer layer of the covering paper on the graphics. This way, I can put some masking tape on the boat in front and back of where the decal will go. I will mark the height of the decal on the masking tape and use those marks to align the decal when it is placed on the boat. The decals went on easily (you place them dry).

She is officially done. Assuming anyone else is interested in making a catboat someday, here are her specifics.

Fully ready-to-go, she weighs in at 21.6 pounds.
She is 62 inches tall (tip of gaff to bottom of keel).
She is 35 inches long (bow to end of rudder).
Her keel extends 10 inches below the bottom of the hull.
Her rudder extends 5 inches beyond the transom.
Her mast is made from a 1 inch Poplar Dowell. The mast is 36 3/4 inches above the deck.
Her gaff is located 22 inches up from the deck.
The gaff is 27 inches long (includes gooseneck/gaff jaws).
The boom is 31 1/4 inches long (includes gooseneck).

I will be keeping her on the hard until I can get the vaccines and have a safe lake to go to. I will be sure to update this thread once she has had her sea trials. Until then....I sure hope she works!...be safe, and thanks for following this thread.

Bob SF

Hi Everyone,
The crew arrives next week. Finding crew members is always the toughest part of the build for me. He will need a little modification, but I think he will work out. More on this next week.

At this point in the build, I need to get the cockpit ready for my new crew member. The boat needs to look lived in. This was an area of model building that my first boats really fell short on...they did not tell a story. So, what story am I going to tell?

I would like Tamber to tell the story of someone enjoying the day out on their boat. The family dog has made herself comfortable, making a dog bed out of the sail bag. She has made herself comfortable out of the elements, below one of the bench seats. The skies are blue and the sea is calm. A gentle, but stable wind, is blowing out of the Northwest 10-20 mph. A perfect sailing day.

All I have to do now is to make some soft elements to pull off the storyline.

Today's adventure involved some sewing. I needed a sail bag dog bed and a couple of pillows for the bench seats. The dog would come out of my stash of dog figures. My collection of boat interior/sail material would supply the fabric. A few tiny pieces of sponge rubber would transform my flat sewing projects to 3D.

When I would be sailing my full-scale boat, our family dog, Daisy, would get into the cabin and find the sail bag. She would pull it down from the rope hammock where items were stored. She would stomp on the sail bag and do a few circles before settling in for a nap on the boat. This was her routine for as long as there were no ducks around that needed to be barked at. It is fun to draw from real life experiences to help your model tell a story. Not only can I relate to it, but every dog owner that sees my boat will know exactly what led up to the scene that is played out in the cockpit.

Most everyone likes puppies, so I picked a big puppy from my stash and figured out how big of a sail bag I would need to make the impromptu dog bed. A pattern was cut out of the leftover muslin fabric from the sails. I would be sewing a bag and then inverting it with a spoon to put all of the sewn edges inside the bag. A drawstring would also be needed, so that was the first part of the job. I used Wonder Tape (double stick sewing tape) to help keep the seems straight prior to sewing. Once sewn, my wife labeled the sail bag, BobCat 30 - Main (her handwriting is much neater than mine). This would give a reason for the bag being on the boat....and for the dog to make it into a dog bed. I wanted the dog to look like she had some weight to her, so a couple of small pieces of foam rubber were stuffed in the bag to make the bag puff around her. The foam was glued in place with adhesive caulk. The reason, the dog is under the bench seat, is that the main sheet would strangle the dog if she was sitting on the bench. I need to keep as many entanglements away from the mainsheet as possible. Our crew will also be seated far aft, so that the main sheet will clear him...and besides, he has to be back by the ship's wheel anyway.

To soften up the look of the cockpit, two pillows were made. These come in handy when you want to lean back on the hard wooden seatbacks of the benches. The pillows were made out of four squares of blue fabric. Each pillow consists of two pieces of fabric - sewn on three sides. The handle of a spoon is used to invert the pillow, leaving the stiches inside. A small square of foam rubber is stuffed inside the fabric tube. If you want the edges of the pillow more tapered, you can cut a chamfer in the edges of the foam. The handle of the spoon came in handy again, stuffing the foam rubber in the pillow. A short piece of Wonder Tape helped to hold the fabric folded over on the open side of the pillow. This creates a seam on the bottom of the pillow that you will hand sew with an overhand stich. The pillows are glued to the seat benches. The crew member will also be glued to the seat bench with clear adhesive caulk. This way, he (and the pillows) can be removed from the boat when the bench seats are pulled out. The crews legs will not be attached to the floor, so that the cockpit hatch can be removed to check the bilge for water.

Crew modifications start next week. When my son was little, I made sure that he didn't see me working on the doll figures. Sanding a doll's head or making his/her legs longer, or bending an elbow.....just looked too creepy for young ones.

Take care and be safe.
Bob SF

Dang thats a Cool lookin' model ...