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Build Log
1956 Dumas Chris Craft Continental
For over 15 Years i have this Dumas Continental kit in stock and since I'm finally retired i find now time to build this Boat. This year alone i built so far four Dumas Chris Craft boats, some of the builds i posted a build log in RC Groups. Below the link to two of them)
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...w-Version-2021) https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...g#post46947449 When i build a new boat i like to look at build logs other folks made. I think the color pictures are many times a big help to visualize how things go together. My goal is to ad pictures as much as possible which might help others to build that boat. In my last build log i mentioned that i will build the Century Sea Maid next. However when i started to assemble the frame i had to learn that the combination of badly die cut balsa frame and the split frames will not ensure that you end up with a symmetrical Hull. Since I'm not willing to invest in a project that might not turn out perfect i dumped that build and i moved on to something new. Like usual when starting a new boat i separated and numbered all the die cut parts. And as usual the Dumas Quality made this task really easy. Next step was to prepare the building board drawing on it the positions of the different frames. Then it was time to assemble the nose of the boat putting together K1 F1 F2 and F3 which is nicely described in the manual. Next step was to place the two S1 Sheers on to the building board. Here the manual lacked a bit, it is not explained how to align the S1 Sheers to the lines on the building board. The manual does not explain if the frames 3 to 7 are in front or back of the lines drawn on the building board. This might sound like a minor detail but down the road the difference might hunt you back when the floorboards and the sides of the cockpit are to long or short. To keep any trouble to a minimum i decided to place all the frames centered on top of the Lines. Like mentioned before i placed all frames centered to the lines on the building board. Once the frame was complete it was time to ad the two K3 Floor plates. However when the K3 was dry fitted like described in the manual i found that the rear did not line up with K2. The K3 Plates where more then a 1/4 inch short. After triple checking i found no mistake in my build, the frame was built to manual specs. Since i could not explain the short K3 i compensated for it by widening Frame F4 so that there was a surface to cement the F3 to the Frame F4. 10-20-21 Today i ordered some parts from Dumas and since i had them on the phone i confirmed that the frames are placed in the center of the line grid drawn on building board. F2 and F3 are placed on the edge of S1 like shown in the pic below. F8 is also glued on the edge on top of S1 like shown in pic below. Having confirmed with Dumas folks that i built the frame correct made me think again. Working now with the mahogany planks helped me to see what the problem is, finally the light went on. Sorting out all the 36" long mahogany planks i had to learn that most of them where badly deformed. (see pic below) Some of the planks where bowed more then 1/2 Inch. Some had a S shape so badly that i could not use them anymore to build this boat. Looking at the picture with the deformed planks you will see in the center of each plank the rem of a Not. Having a not within the wood changes the direction of the grain which again made things even worse. Storing this kit for 13 Y in a Arizona attic where temperatures go over 150F and that with no moister in the air destroyed some of the wood. Baking this kit for years made the wood shrink in all directions. Longer wood parts like planks and K3 plywood where harder affected then the shorter pieces. As Soon the balsa sub planks where installed i aided two layers of fiberglass and epoxy on the inside of the hull. There are several reasons why i chose to ad two layers of fiberglass. One, the Balsa sub planking is not that tough in particular since the frames are six Inches a part. Pushing slightly on the sidewalls i observed big movements which makes it harder to sand the balsa planks flush or flat. Just one layer of fiberglass will not make the sidewalls stiff enough, therefore i aided right from the get go two layers. After 24 hours the Epoxy was fully hardened and the difference was like day and night. The double layer of fiberglass made the sidewalls stiff, so stiff that the sidewalls did not bend throe while sanding the planks. Two, the boat needs a water tight coating on the inside. Having a large cockpit opening this boat will take on lots of water while running and therefore a good seal on the inside is crucial. Three, at this stage of the built all the spaces between frames are easy to access it is easy to ad this fiberglass. Four, in a later stage i will fill some expanding foam in to the non accessible hidden compartments. I'm not sure if the rather soft balsa sub planking will hold up the pressure which expanding foam creates. Five, If just a layer epoxy is brushed on to the wood it tends to run away piling up on a cross member. Two layers of fiber glass hold the epoxy in place forming a even layer. Cutting fiber glass: In the past i used scissors to cut the Fiberglass squares and they always turned out not square. If you use a straight edge and a X-acto knife they keep the desired shape. With the Balsa planks in place i could ad the Balsa nose blocks. Here i prefer to use large blocks without any glue lines in it. If the block is made from the balsa board supplied you end up with glue lines which make it harder to sand the final shape. Balsa Wood Inc will sell larger cutoffs that can be easily shaped to any size. For just $22 they will sell you a whole box full of different sized blocks. ImagesView all Images in thread
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Last edited by Rigibahn; Nov 18, 2021 at 05:04 PM.
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Mahogany planks on 1956 Dumas Continental
Below 3 Pictures showing the hull covered with Mahogany planks. In the past i built a few Dumas Chris craft boats but this one was quite challenging to cover with planks. To place all mahogany planks with out any gaps i had to place 3 Stealers on each side. To cut in the last plank on the side was quite challenging. Like shown in the pic below it was necessary to sand on fine tips on both ends.
To install the bottom planks i went quite a bit off to what the manual recommended. I started to place the first two planks in the center right over the Keel. This allowed me to dry fit as many times as needed until the first two planks met with out any gap. Unlike described i did not aid the 45deg edge on the second plank. Having to make two 45Deg angles and cement the plank precisely is almost impossible to achieve. Using the method with the two angles calls for trouble most probably there will be a seam with gaps in it.. Therefore i just sanded the second plank flush with the bottom of the boat which is a way easier task. The last plank of the bottom i glued on top of the second plank and then i sanded it flush on the outside. Below a pic that shows how the end result looks. The manual recommends to finish the Bow (Nose ) using a mahogany block. Right from the get go my plan was to have throe going planks from Stern to Bow. It might be a bit more difficult to go this way but the pictures show that it is possible. Aiding this Mahogany blocks to the nose will show on the finished boat, it looks like a foreign object stuck on the nose of the boat. This Chris craft Continental has a wide open Cockpit with a Floor that is not sealed. Any water splashes that enter in to the cockpit end up inside in the hull. To prevent that any water damages bare wood it is highly recommended to seal the boat on the inside. To keep any water out of any inaccessible hallow spaces i fill such spaces with foam. If the Bow of this boat is filled with foam there is no way for water to enter. ImagesView all Images in thread
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Last edited by Rigibahn; Nov 01, 2021 at 08:30 PM.
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CC Continental- Capri
Hi Rigibahn, I have a Continental that I refurbished into a convertible from Continental to a Capri. The original builder had most of it done. I especially liked the way he sorted out the deck planks making a symmetrical pattern with the different shades of planks. Within a couple of minutes, I can switch from Continental to Capri. Thank you, Gary
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Gary, your skill amazes me. If I can turn out stuff half the quality of yours, I would be thrilled.
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switching Continental to CapriQuote:
Gary you show a nicely made boat, thanks for posting the pictures. PJ |
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1956 Continental building up the Deck
Building the deck of this continental is quite different then other Dumas boats. There are way more parts that need to be installed and many times it is hard to see where it is going. Building a Dumas boat i usually do not read the manual i just use the drawings since they are normally good enough and self explaining. Building the Continental boat i had to learn that this time it is different that i need to read the descriptions. At this point i think that the manual and drawings do not show enough cross sections it is sometimes hard to see how things go together. To make it easier, to visualize it i produced a few CAD drawings showing cross sections that i think should be in the documentation.
Like shown in the p[picture below i had to sand down D1 Plywood sub planking. It is crucial that the D1 Sub planking with one layer of mahogany on top is with the same height like the two layers of Trim. It takes all the Mahogany wood installed on the edge to make a nice Radius (like shown in my second CAD drawing. The reason for the mismatch is that the nominal sizes of the wood is different then the actual sizes. To avoid this problem yo might have to sand down the balsa a bit more then shown in (Page22 Dwg31). If you do it like shown in the manual you end up with a step that is 1.8mm high like shown in my CAD drawing. To avoid this problem there should be a maximal step on that balsa that should be not more then 0.5mm. The empty chambers between frames which are later not accessible i always fill with expanding foam. The chambers below the D1 sub planking i could not reach with the wand of the spray foam. I still liked to have foam in this spaces so that no water will enter. To solve this problem i went a new way. I cut Styrofoam pieces that cemented between the arched deck frames. With a 80grit sanding block i sanded the Styrofoam level with the top of the frames. Since the Styrofoam is really soft that worked well not removing any material from the arched frames. The plywood sub planking D2 on the transom or rear of the boat is not wide enough to cement the Mahogany trim on top. I aided 3 pieces of balsa to make this surface wider. next step again was to ad the Styrofoam between the frames and sanding them flush. After the D1 plywood sub planking was installed it was time to cement the two C1 cockpit sidewalls in place. The cockpit walls in my kit where badly deformed since i stored the kit in a bad place. To keep a identical color scheme i had to make new seat backs using the same mahogany wood veneer. To keep things simple i finished the cockpit sidewalls with fiberglass epoxy and the final clear coat. To prevent any damage or messing up the shiny surface i covered the finished sidewalls using a green tape. The PL4 planking of the deck will cover the fascia of the cockpit sidewall, and that is the reason why they have to be installed before you can place any planks on top of the deck. However, before you cement the sidewalls in place ensure that the front seat fits between sidewalls. Remember you still have to ad later a rubber trim that needs some space. Once the sidewalls are sanded flush with D1 it is possible to install the first two PL4 deck planks. ImagesView all Images in thread
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Last edited by Rigibahn; Dec 16, 2021 at 05:18 PM.
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Why dump the Sea Maid? It builds into a beautiful boat. They even offer after market hardware for it that looks nicer than what comes with the kit. To me, the only hurdles you can't overcome with wood is warped and twisted keels, anything else is fixable with a bit of effort.
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You are doing great work on the Continetal PJ, she is coming along nicely. I will tune in to see the finished product.
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1956 Continental Install Motor Ruder Deck planks
Having the mahogany planks installed on the bottom half of the hull allowed me to work on installing the ruder as well as the motor. Usually i build my own reinforced Rudders. The blade of the rudder is Silver brazed in to the 1/4" Shaft. Using silver braze to mount the blade to the shaft gives a way stronger bond then using soft led solder. A way stronger rudder calls for a stronger mounting within the hull. The woodblock which holds the stainless sleeve i made several times larger so that it fits snug between the last two frames.
Using a larger brush less motor in this boat calls for a bigger LIPO, and there is just one place that can accommodate such larger battery. The manual shows one way to place the rudder servo but now i need the same space for my LIPO. This was the reason why i build a platform over the Rudder block. As usual i filled the newly created hidden compartments with foam. Like shown in the picture the servo is now installed on top of this newly created platform away of any water that might enter the boat. The 2400 KV Turnigy brush less motor i used in the past is not available anymore. In the internet i found a replacement motor with similar dimensions. The box in the picture shows all motor data. Since i have no plans to hook up any water cooling I will not push the motor to the limits, after all the continental is not a speed boat. With other words, if you do not run the motor with maximal current and amps they do not crate that excessive heat which demands a active cooling. Limits means 4S 14.8V and 69Amp which should make about 140Watt that converts to 0.19HP. Running this kind of motor with the maximal specified values like Volt and amps is when most heat is generated. Therefore i will use a LIPO that has just 3S 11.1Volt. Enough of all the theoretical values all i care is that the motor brings enough power to get this boat to hydroplane. Like always i fill all the hidden compartments in my boats with expanding foam. In the continental the sidewalls of the cockpit are a typical place to fill with expanding foam. In the two pictures below you can see how the expanded foam quills out. The second picture shows how i trim back and sand flush that foam. The seats of the Continental are a bit thicker and the bigger volume needs more foam inside. Having more expanding foam at play the risk that the seat quills to much is high. Therefore i opened a 1"x1" hole in the back that allows excessive material to escape. Looking at the p[pictures it worked well. Mean while the seats are covered with the first coat of paint. Taking a previously used spray can from the shelve i had to learn that the nozzle is clogged up. Cutting a clogged spray cap in half you will find the reason why they get clogged after using them a few times. Lately the shelf with rattle can paint in the stores are mostly empty and therefore i really like to use up any remaining paint. In E-Bay i found some replacement spray nozzle caps and now i have a few of them in stock. In most cases the newly installed cap solves the problem. The mahogany planks on top of the deck are now also cemented in place, which allowed me to sand on the radius on that trim. There was enough mahogany wood to ad a nice large radius that without creating a shiner of Plywood below. Next step will be to ad a layer of fiberglass and epoxy. At this moment the floorboards are finished ready for a dry fitting. To keep the floorboards at all time straight i covered them with a layer of fiberglass on top as well as in the back. In this Continental boat the floorboards are not cemented to the hull they just float with in the cockpit. To avoid the risk that the floorboard buckles up later i put in some extra work to prevent that. The manual recommends to paint all the floorboards, i like to use wood veneer to give the floor a nicer look. This time i used a grey Dyed curly maple veneer, i think that the grey color will ad some nice contrast to all the Mahogany wood. ImagesView all Images in thread
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Last edited by Rigibahn; Nov 23, 2021 at 07:18 PM.
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Not measuring up
I had the exact same problem with the issues you had about the k3 being to short. You’re way past it now but I slid mine back and filled the front gap with balsa, I’ll have to post a pic of mine. I like your idea of expanding foam to fill the voids, was a concern when I was building so I just used A LOT of clear gorilla glue to seal it. If you don’t know yet, don’t forget to put some ballast under the far rear seat, this assisted mine with a majority of the water splash issues I had. The 3s you’re using will help a lot as well.
For the finish cover sealer, I opted not to use any glass but ended up using clear outdoor poly, took many coats with super fine grit sanding in between |
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My continental
Built pretty much to the plans
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Gremlin in the build 1956 Continental
Welder, first off i would like to say that all the Dumas kits i built in the past where always right on. Building the Continental and running in to the first problem wit the K3 bottom to short, my first thought was what did i do wrong. Usually i question my work first but this time i have to say that Dumas owns the Gremlin in the Continental Kit. In this Continental kit is a Gremlin that hunts you throe out the whole build. The goal of my Build log is not to point fingers au contraire it should help anyone to make the same build easier. so here we go.
The first time you encounter the Gremlin is when you place the K3 bottom plank. The K3 bottom sub plank is to short. I corrected the problem by aiding 1/4 x 1/4 balsa wood at frame #4. If i would build the continental boat again i would correct the short K3 on the rear of the boat (frame #9). The second time you find the same Gremlin is when you place the C1 cockpit side walls. Here again the C1 parts are a bit short. The third time you see the Gremlin is when you try to place the C20 rear seat base. They do not fit like shown in the drawing. The distance between frame #7 and #8 is 90mm. The horizontal portion of the seat is 70mm never covering the distance between frames like shown in the drawing below. To illustrate my statement a picture below. Since i place my Battery in the back I abounded those C20 parts complete. Be aware that all vertical parts of the seats should be installed with the same angle, i think it is 15Deg. If the backrest of the rear seat would be installed with a different angle it would not look right. The fourth time you find the gremlin again is when the PL4 deck planks are placed. In the Continental plans you find details that are not matching in different views. I will ad some pictures of the non matching details within the plan( Red marked mismatch). I made the mistake to shorten PL4 in the back. The deck planks in the rear should not end on frame #8 like shown in one blue print detail. If you cut off planks on Frame #8 like i did your seat will not fit. Make sure that the deck planks end 1/2 Inch past frame #8. Bottom line, the parts do not necessarily match the drawings, and the drawings do not always match the boat you have on your desk. If you know all the problems ahead you can do a better job save time right from the get go. And most important you do not have to as your self what did i do wrong. ImagesView all Images in thread
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Last edited by Rigibahn; Dec 12, 2021 at 07:16 AM.
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The Gremlin
That’s goods to hear about it being only with kit. I have 2 other Dumas kits, the Trojan cruiser and the Runabout. To be built when I find the time which doesn’t seem to be the case these days with ALL my other projects just started it half completed
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1956 Continental Cockpit
With all the gremlins taken care of i finally made some real progress on that hull. The hull i covered with 0.03mm thick fiberglass and two layers of epoxy. Applying the fiberglass i have my own way to do the job. Initially when i place the fiberglass to the hull i use a minimal amount of epoxy. Just enough so the fiberglass cloth is soaked in epoxy but the texture of the fabric is still visible. This ensures that the fabric lays flat and direct on top of the wood. My experience is that the fabric starts to float if to much epoxy is used in the first application. A fabric that is floating somewhere within the epoxy layer might be sanded off when you wet sanded the first time. To have a thick epoxy layer for wet sanding i apply a second coat of epoxy as soon the first one starts to be solid. There are two reasons why i wait for the first coat to be a bit solid. First the fiberglass will not move while applying the second coat. The second reason is to avoid amine blush. Below a link that explains what amine blush is all about.
https://epoxycraft.com/epoxy-basics/...-need-to-know/ Meanwhile the second layer of clear coat is sprayed on and it is easy to see where this is going. The second clear coat turned out well and the boat is now ready to paint the red bottom. Once the red paint is hardened it takes another two layers of clear coat to get the mirror finish I'm looking fore. Sine I'm not using the battery hatch in front like Dumas proposes i had to redesign the whole cockpit floor. Below a picture showing how the original raised front floor should look. Not using the C4 and C3 parts allowed me to simply extend the large floor. Not using the C4 parts forced me to make the seat base. Below a few pictures that show how i produced the new seat bases. The Dumas plans propose to make a small dashboard which does not cover frame #4. I did not like the looks of that and when i found some pictures of a throe going continental dashboard it was clear to me which way to go. Luckily Chris craft never produced just one version, they had always all kind of options available. So i guess having another dashboard in my model I'm still somewhat to scale. From E-Bay i ordered some Oak burl veneer which i laminated to a plywood sheet. The oak burl wood reminds me on dashboards i have seen in old sports cars from the same time period. While waiting for epoxy or clear coat to harden i managed to produce a display stand. ImagesView all Images in thread
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Last edited by Rigibahn; Jan 15, 2022 at 09:32 AM.
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