The ‘Range Safety Launch’………….
Intro.

I am now the owner of this boat. Wooden, good hull lines and hull paint work but needing to be finished. I am told that it looks like it started life as a kit, but has had considerable modification to at least the above deck layout and detail.

Advice is that it could be a rather simplified Range Safety Launch, but maybe I can use a little ‘artistic licence’ and just make it look interesting and capable.

There are two main reasons for sharing this project.
1. I will undoubtedly need guidance
2. Maybe some of the information will assist others

The hull is 44 inches ( 112cm ) long and 14 inches (36cm ) wide, it has two brushed MFA Torpedo 800 motors………. and weighs in currently at 15 lbs 4ozs (6.91 kgs).

It is large enough for me to be able to work on reasonably comfortably and apart from the cabin/upper deck areas to be ‘improved’, I aim to introduce sound, lighting, active radar sweep, search light, together with maybe a deck hoist and water /fire monitor appliance.

At my age it is difficult to tell the difference between wishful thinking and dementing……

However, the prime aim is to try and achieve at least some of this whilst having the boat usable during the current ‘season’.

There is so much knowledge, good will and help available on this site that even before I touched a thing, information came pouring in.

If anyone feels like making a contribution then please just ‘pile in’.

Have ordered some parts so next time should have something to show.
NPJ.

For those not following the Leaking Boat thread. We have a 'hitch'.

Model took on water whilst in bath trials. See first image.

No obvious point so going to need to do some stripping.

Plan is when visitors leave I will post re the electrics and sound whilst having a go at the sanding, sealing and painting bit!

Upwards and onwards.

NPJ

Well if you have read the “Leaking Boat” thread you will know that my cunning plan to fix the leak failed…………..

Even after drilling holes in the boat (?!?!), pouring in sealer and persuading my ‘assistant’ (I think I am married to her, but it was a long time ago now to be sure) to shake the boat as you would a cocktail shaker to distribute the fluid over the insides (not seen her move like that in thirty years)……………………..Did not do the trick.

Yes I know you told me!

I am now not in a place I wanted to be. No sailing for it this season, facing the prospect of a lot of dust and over-spray and trying to apply skills I do not have.

I am at the edge of my” River of Styx”.

The images show I have reluctantly collected together items I have for stripping paint. The large wire brush I have in my other hand!

So I have had a bit of a go at the ‘red stuff’. Looks like a large area to tackle and then I went to investigate that ‘funny bit’ on the side of the bow.

Well bits of filler flew off in all directions and exposed this crack which I hope you can see to the right of the metal rule.
Could this be the source of the leak?

Well it is two compartments away from where the water collects. On the other hand someone mentioned water passing along the ‘layers?.........

Am I really going to need to strip all the paintwork down to the wood or is there something else I could look for as a clue?

Most of September I will not be able to function much so I will have a good go whilst I can.

It really does seem to suggest I have “bought a pup”.
All the best.
NPJ

It seems that the proper procedure for fixing the leak and then moving on to “the good stuff” is to strip all the paint off and see what we have.

So the heat gun has been obtained ( I already had the fire extinguisher..) as amongst other reasons there would be less dust.

Time for a few tentative steps. Now at this point I am not only well out of my comfort zone, but up to my knees in my “slough of despond”……………………….

After all, I bought a boat to sail this month and so far I have drilled holes in it and am now about to set it alight!

First image shows efforts with lower heat and using the tools supplied and the next two show temperature taken up to 450 degrees c and a ¾ inch chisel used to remove paint. A much better outcome.

Now who suggested that would be the answer I wonder???

45 minutes spent to get this far and although I did remove the plastic props ( being replaced by brass anyway) I wondered if I should remove prop shafts? I have used a bit of a deflector to reduce the heat anyway.

On the final images, I wonder whether I am down far enough to start sanding or to go further.

Now that I have started I hope to complete at least the general stripping tomorrow.

TTFN.
NPJ

Starting to feel a little better about this.

Still many things that can go wrong on me, but for anyone else who has not done this before, try it. if I can do it anyone can!

This second period of scrapping has been much easier. Twice the area covered in half the time taken in the first session.

Yes I have left some of the ‘twiddley bits’ for later and going for the larger areas first.

I am hoping to get away with leaving the deck to a rub down and re-paint.

What has become more obvious as I progress is the need for space and preparation when using a heat gun. Completely invisible, a lot of heat is generated ( mine can produce 600c but I am using it on 450c) and it travels a surprising distance.

I found I did not clear the floor enough or allow a large enough clear area around me.

Others may manage in a very small space, but I was surprised by how much paint/material there was coming off with each push of the tool. This fell to the floor and smoked…………

When pointing the gun away with one hand whilst scrapping with the other it is easy to lose track of where the gun is pointing!

Having somewhere safe to put the gun down when hot is critical, as is having at least a damp cloth if not more to hand to ‘damp down’.

I will not post more on this until the stripping and sanding are finished, but I am surprised as to how satisfying the work is yet it looks so challenging at the outset.

TTFN.

NPJ.

On to Coating and Matting. (as well as sanding!)

Now have at least finished all the stripping.
Then did the ‘bright light in the hull bit’ to look for areas that needed patching.

The major problem area was in the bow and that did not receive the light as it is a totally blanked off compartment. However, it was obvious from the outside anyway so, could I assume it was the only leak?

Decided to put a fine matt over the whole hull, not deck, just to be sure of best chance of success. I can imagine what will be said here if it still leaks after all this!

I had ordered some supplies ready for the next stage and drew up a plan view of the boat to help think through layout of electrics and other items.

Made my usual mistakes about size.

Some fittings purchased too small………However, never too large now that’s interesting.

Some materials purchased too large. Now have a life’s worth of Resin……(when does it ‘go off’ by?) Also have a lounge floors worth of tissue matting!

Also Sandpaper. Now there is a mine field. So now I know a bit more about that and which way the numbers work! When I forgot to put the mask on, I had some of the crispest 'bogies' in years.............. No images posted!

On the plus side, although I never wanted to get into this stripping sanding, filling sanding, sealing sanding, matting sanding, painting sanding, painting, sanding bit…………….

I now feel I started out with someone’s boat I had bought and now it has become “my boat” for real!

I am at the stage now where I have put some filler in and applied the first coat of Eze-Kote from DeLuxe Materials
To use Eze-kote read stuff from RNinMunich on this blog or the’ leaking boat’ thread. Washes out of the brushes very easily.

There is such as this ..... Youtube link - watch?v=yP05qv3QtUk

RNinMunich or Colin H. and the like have bits of extra comment and experience that is always very helpful.

BTW, after that finer sanding before first coat, I did the dust down and vacuuming bit but it still felt a bit ‘chalky’ so I gave it a wipe with Methylated Spirits. Now I realise that has water in it, so if anything goes wrong it could be blamed on that.................

Having left the first coat to dry I started to cut out the light matt to apply after the next sanding.

The matting I have is called Glassfibre Surface Tissue EGlass from FibreGlass Direct. A part of Tricel Composites (NI) Limited. Available internationally in lengths from a metre upwards, it is quite fine in weave so we shall see what happens.

I have left quite a wide margin at the moment but may reduce that when I have tried using it!

This is another first for me so plenty of room for mistakes...............

Will need to cover with the matt in stages as I cannot get around all the boat without changing its position.

Going for the bottom of the vessel and stern board first as I figure they are going to be easier than some of the other bits. Then will leave that to cure before moving the boat.

Really worried about the joins/overlaps and how well I will cope with those, not to mention the curved bit!

Started to look at electrics and layout for a bit of a change.

I will post again when I have had the first battles with the matting!

TTFN.
NPJ

This is the situation as of this week.
I now have a yellow boat!
Now out of communication for ten days ish.........
Shed loads of stuff learned during this part of the project.
EziKote great stuff to use.
Matting easier to apply than imagined.
TTFN.
NPJ

Well had a break of a few weeks, now back on the job.

So now have a Red Oxide boat rather than Yellow one………………

Although these next stages are a bit ‘ samey’, I have learnt a few things as it happens.

For example, I had put three coats of the Halfords filler/primer on a couple of days before I had a break. Now when I left it all looked dry, well covered and ‘solid’. When I came back to it some weeks later the longer drying period had shown up some gaps.

Well not gaps actually but ‘mouths’ where tissue I had overlapped had pulled apart slightly. interesting, easily fixed with some 240 grit sanding, showing that the drying period is longer than it would appear. At least for filler/primer which is a much thicker substance than just spray paint.

With the sanding, I had not appreciated the difference between the grades say from 240 upwards (or is it downwards) as my experience was with doorframes and floorboards. For the stage I am at, 240 and 400 seem very effective and leave a good surface. What I did find was how important dust becomes………………

The sandpaper rides on it (the powdery dust) and so becomes much less effective and I found brushing with a thin 2 inch brush worked well, using the vacuum cleaner to clear up later. I did try blowing it off with the heat gun but that put the dust up in the air too much. it is my intention to try ‘wet and dry’ approach for later coats and looking for a better answer when it comes to finishing coats.

Another interesting discovery was coverage per rattle can.
It may be my ‘beginner’ technique, but it seems to take a lot of paint.

On this size of boat hull, 44inches (112cm) by 14 inches (36 cm), it took a 500ml rattle can of yellow filler/primer for three coats. For two coats of the red primer it took the whole of a 300ml can.

Also discovered, using these ‘rattle cans’ for the first time, that the primer on its own comes out differently to the filler primer. This unsettled me for a minute or so but appreciate may be due to the different density so will be aware next time.

Another issue that became obvious was…………..I must improve my ‘masking off’ !

So that is it so far. Next stage is - going to buy a couple more cans for the finishing coats, do a bath test, mark the white line point, more sanding down and then start applying the finishing coats.

Any helpful comments will be much appreciated.

NPJ