These two ribs were cut from my new (and as yet unfinished) historically accurate rib plan set that I am still working on, there are 68 ribs in the full set and when finished they will ONLY be available as laser cut rib and keel sets (so please don't ask me for the drawings). The new super model 2 hull will include all the original Deck I beams and hull battens so it will not be a model for the novice. And I may do a cut away view version to show the innards.

The Original Model Hull 1 Construction

The original 4 feet long, 1/20th scale, model hull performs very well against the full flow of the 4.5 HP swim spa jet, looks as though it will handle high speed operation and choppy water.

Hull 1 was constructed from ribs of 3mm (1/8") marine ply, each individually detailed on the plan page, which were transferred onto the timber by printing onto the wrong type of overhead projection film or celophane on an A3 bubblejet printer, this results in an ink image that NEVER dries and is easily transferred to the ply by turning ink side down and rubbing over with a damp sponge (note that the image is reversed). The Keel was marked out the same way on to a length of 8mm (5/16") Balsa wood but in overlapping sections.

Once the frame skeleton is complete we start applying the inch wide planking which is two layers of 1.6mm (1/16") Balsa, with the first layer running lengthways and the second running at about 45 degrees over the lightly sanded first layer. This gives a two ply finish which is very strong.

Then I covered the hull with two layers of good quality tissue and dope.

You can build this, it's not difficult to do, it just takes a little time!

The Hull 1 rib drawings are available for $5.00 and are .gif files for you to download. 

Copyright (C) 1998 - 2019  John Drain