![emot-4.jpg](https://modelboatblog.tedatum.com/wp-content/gallery/jmotors/emot-4.jpg "The shaft is a rather small 1/8\\" diameter. There are splines to help hold whatever is installed on the shaft.")
Hull
Blog articles concerning only the construction of the Dauntless hull.
A Little Progress – Dec 2011
I did some work on the hull this weekend. Not much as all I did was get the keel glued to all the bulkheads (frames). I tried to form the chine stringer at the chine line to conform to the bow curved section but the spruce wood is too hard and stiff to bend properly. One of the hazards of kit wood.
Each chine strip is actually two pieces of 1/4 x 1/4 square spruce, angle spliced to make it long enough.
I actually broke the splice joint when I tried to see if the short end (after the splice) would bend more than the longer end. That put a lot of tension on the splice and it failed. Mostly a glue failure but some wood. That means the splice wasn’t all that good anyway. I never would have found it and it wouldn’t have been a critical joint near the mid section anyway, but now I get to do a “do over”. I probably squeezed too much epoxy out of the original joint.
Basic Hull Glue-up
The hull formation has begun. The last post was a dry fit. This one has the epoxy doing its thing. I had an idea to keep the chine flat to the board. I used an office stapler in the open position and actually stapled the chines down to the work board. Just enough penetration to give a good flat hold without any pins in the way.
I was also using some weights from time to time. You can see them in the pictures. The round silvery ones are 303 stainless steel blanks I use to machine locomotive wheels (2 per blank). Nice heavy hold down weights.
FYI epoxy glue doesn’t require tight holding to do a proper job. In fact light or no pressure is preferable. I little fillet is good practice. These fillets are a little large but they will be hidden under the deck so I was a bit generous. Epoxy is designed to be a gap filler too and the Dumas slots need a lot of filling. The slots are a bit oversize from the die crunching.
The keel isn’t glued in yet and that will be the next step.
Dauntless Build Started
The very first step of the Dauntless construction is shown. I used some 5 minute epoxy to splice glue the keel pieces and the sheers.
The flat building board is finished with three coats of polyurethane. The door looks almost too good to build upon.
The keel hasn’t been laminated yet and I have ordered some 30 minute epoxy with which I will do the lamination. I also ordered some System3 T- 88 epoxy that I will use when I need a slow setting epoxy. I am always fixing things with epoxy and this stuff has been around for along time, originally designed for boat builders.
I discovered the System3 T- 88 is recomended to only be used as an adheasive. because of its thickness it is not recomended for sealing wood or laminating fiberglass. For surface coating System3 recomends several other lower viscosity clear finish products in the end use chart. I will consider those coatings that can also be used when I cover the hull and other surfaces with 2 oz fiberglass.
I laid the keel haves side by side to illustrate the curve of the hull. Epoxy will be applied on the top surfaces seen here and then joined together to make a thicker keel.