Sat Mar 12, 2005
I put a new pulley on the thrust prop. I started building the controls as per plan. After building these stock controls I realize I don't like them. I don't like them because I am going to need to run wires on the deck. This is something I hoped to avoid... I am not sure what I am going to do now... sigh...
Sat Mar 12, 2005
Got frustrated working on the controls so I started the front end. I cut two 65"x24" pieces of 1/8 ply. I wrapped it around the bottom cockpit formers and clamped in place. I then had a 6.5'x1/2x1/2 stringer to hold at 20" at the dash end down to the nose. I pushed the piece against the ply so it curved naturally. I had my wife trace above the stringer with a sharpie while I held it in place. I used a jigsaw to cut it out then traced one for use on the other side. I think I'll glue it in place at the bottom and maybe use a few brad to hold it in place. The top of the craft will be 1" foam.
I epoxied the front sides to the craft. I am not sure that this is the right way to do it because the top rails aren't in place yet...I mixed up a batch of some A-B polyurethane foam I had from when I attached the thrust duct to the hull. It seams ok. I am thinking of making some chambers and pouring the 2lb foam into them to form the lift duct inlet.
1st Picture - Unsuspecting duct being prepped for foam
2nd Picture - I used polystyrene (pink foam) to block off the duct creating a wall to contain the foam. I used duct tape to hold it in place. I used some thin counter top material with plastic vapor barrier wrap on both sides. I had this left over from insulating the garage. I duct tape the bottom of the counter top material to the inside duct wall.
3rd Picture - oh my...what a mess...starting to get nervous...this is the 2nd of 2 batches of two part a-b foam. What did I learn? Second batch way too big, You can see the pink foam wall I taped in at the nose of the craft after the first batch. I was worried I didn't have enough foam to fill it...not a problem. It should be noted that I propped the craft up on a couple of saw horses to try and get the top of the hull as level as I could get it. It's hard to tell this from the pictures.
4th and 5th Pictures - I am trimming away the excess foam as it pours over the top. Be careful this is stick stuff!
6th and 7th Pictures - I used a wood hand saw to start removing the excess foam. My goal is to bring it within one inch level of the top of the craft.
8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th Pictures - I have it close to 1" from the top of the craft. I haven't yet decided the method I will use to bring it flush with the top. This two part foam is very easy to shape. It sure is messy. It breaks up into very tiny particles. I was worried that the foam might deform the duct... it didn't prop runs inside the duct just like before. I had the prop under the osb former that I was able to prop inside the duct. I couldn't get it in all the way because the counter top material and plastic made the duct smaller.
I fitted and cut a left and right duct bottom former for the back of the lift duct. It was tricky getting the shape and took quite a few cuts with the jigsaw. I made the left side then flipped it over to check if it fit the right side. It did so I traced it and cut a matching piece. I made a few cuts to get each piece flush with the idler top cover I put on earlier. I used two piece of 1/2x1/2x6" strip on each side at the top outside of each former against the hull sides. I used an epoxy and wood dust slurry to bond the pieces and fill the gaps. Once this dries I am going to fiberglass the wood around the duct to seal it. I will add two or three foam walls at the edge of the ply to contain the foam I plan to pour in the cavity to form the rear of the thrust duct.
Note: I cut the pink foam out at the top of the duct and about 6" down leaving a ledge for the ply to sit on. I removed the pink foam so the poured two part foam would bond to itself. I am thinking it will be easier to form a duct shape with consistent foam material to sand. I used a portable power center as weight to help bond the ply left and right pieces to the top of the idler cover.
The dash is proving to be trickier. I have seen rounded and indented dashes on other 13P's but I am not aware of the best way or any way to do it. I'll sleep on it...
I am going to put the choke and key switch into the flat console below the dash.
I bought a Makita trim router and a flush trim bit. I used this to cut the 1/8ply flush to the 1/2x/12 strips. I also cut the 1/8" ply on the seat with it. Wow it took me less than 5 minutes to do this and did a perfect job. I wished I would have had this tool when I did the skirt attach strips. I am going to use it to cut the 1/4" ply seat flush to the sides.
