Jeff Porteous's Repair Yard

[jefftytoo]

Re: Jeff Porteous's Repair Yard

Assuming Harder is done and a wolfpack is indeed called (and I can somehow swing the extra vacation time and hotel expense to accommodate all those additional road travel days!), you can COUNT ON both Seaview and Harder being in attendance! Heck, I've transported coffee tables inside that magnificent coupe before. It's her unique door configuration and fold-down back seats which make it all possible! I've test fit 66" Nautilus in there before too: like a glove!)

JeffP

[PaulC]

Re: Jeff Porteous's Repair Yard

Sweet!

[jefftytoo]

Re: Jeff Porteous's Repair Yard

Thanks, Paul.

No Seaview progress to report today—a near total bust, in fact...though I spent the whole day trying. Things simply wouldn't work, or they broke, or I found out the new lighting I thought was done was not properly waterproofed and I ruined it and had to order more, etc. Most of the afternoon was spent simply mixing colors trying to exactly match Steve Neill's custom "Seaview grey." I'm now almost there, but still not quite—a disappointment since today's goal was to get the stern primered and painted and I'm not even close. Did manage some joint sanding though—then a weather front moved through and I had to bring all the outside work back inside (no painting in the house, hubby!). SO, I moved onto a different task, broke that, and will be starting over. Finally gave in and wrote this day off. I HATE days like this.

JeffP

[PaulC]

Re: Jeff Porteous's Repair Yard

Yes, I hear you. I've had them too. It is odd how it goes sometimes. More often than not it's either the Midas touch or the bony finger of death.

[jefftytoo]

Re: Jeff Porteous's Repair Yard

Things went a little smoother today. Still couldn't match the hull color exactly, but came very close after spending a LOT more time on it. Finally came to the conclusion that I'd just have to repaint the whole hull for a consistent look (superstructure excepted; if it's a quarter shade off it shouldn't matter because the light hits is so differently anyway). So I started by priming the reworked aft joint areas, then repainted the entire keel (same white primer) using up nearly the last of the last primer bottle I had, which was the LAST bottle in stock at the hobby shop where I'd bought it yesterday. Made it in just under the wire for once. Then I masked off the keel and started applying coats of my imitation Steve Neill Seaview grey. This overall keel and hull painting project consumed the ENTIRE DAY, starting at something like eight a.m. and ending when tossing on the last coat of grey sometime after dusk—illuminated by an LED headlamp! After she'd dried a while in the dark tonight, I brought her in and discovered an ugly paint run. I've already started sanding it, but now this means I'm not done painting the hull yet, which had been my goal for today. Next problem]trying[/i] to fix—these annoying imperfections as I run across them...at a dead run, I might add. But they're staying just out of reach and I'm realizing this boat is just never again gonna look as good as she did when first coming out of Steve Neill's paint shop. I've also now realized that despite my best efforts, my new seam-repaired aft joint didn't turn out anywhere near as nice as originally hoped and planned. What's to do now but continually repeat my new mantra: "The Fox miniatures were NOT perfect. The Fox miniatures were NOT perfect."

JeffP

[jefftytoo]

Re: Jeff Porteous's Repair Yard

More progress, but very slow after additional setbacks all weekend. No time for pix. Still way behind where I should be. Already crossing some stuff off the work list as hopeless; I now know I won't get to it all. Some tasks I may revisit after the SanFran patrol is history. We'll see. The Gato wolfpack enticingly beckons...

JeffP

[jefftytoo]

Re: Jeff Porteous's Repair Yard

More Seaview work today. Getting closer. I may even have the sailplanes finally functioning again—if not, at least I'm getting closer with them too. Goal's still to have the boat running, trimmed and looking reasonably good for the West Coast Fun Run in SanFran in a few weeks.

JeffP

[jefftytoo]

Re: Jeff Porteous's Repair Yard

Obviously I've been away from this thread a long time and am way overdue to post. Seaview did indeed have a successful run in San Francisco last fall, and those interested in pics and/or details can catch up via the SubCommittee Report's December, 2012 issue. Videos of same have also been posted on YouTube; below's the link to just one of the seven or so you'll find I put up there]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8TFvpZiKuY[/url]

Meanwhile, a number of tweaks, fixes and assorted adjustments are now required, post-run, to get Seaview fully back in fighting trim. All will eventually be covered here, but for now, just one of those required projects is to improve my method for transporting her in the car. My thrown-together padding system surrounding the boat while she slid around in her styrofoam stand just wasn't cutting it, I found, during the long trip to SanFran from L.A., and something had to be done about this. Cut to a couple of weekends ago, when I was inspired by the sight of the wonderfully robust PVC pipe rig Will Oudmayer had engineered for road-tripping with his big, heavy boats (observed during a visit to his magical garage workshop to discuss eventual further work on my 66" Disney Nautilus—another story for another time). Here's a shot of Will's nice travel cradle, sent to me to help with the design and build of my own customized version for Seaview]

For whatever reason, today I decided to forgo planned work on my Harder/Gato wolfpack build in order to tackle this satisfying, simple project instead. (It's ALL gotta be done sometime; order of tasks doesn't always matter yet inspiration surely does!) Here's a shot of the raw materials needed for starting the cradle, including a box of useless, long-forgotten old sprinkler parts found by accident in the garage last week when rummaging around for something else, plus a pile of the balance of loose required parts acquired yesterday at the local big box home improvement store. Her Royal Highness, of course, can be seen lounging in all her glory in the chair in the background.

Now the build begins...

And the build progresses to completion, all in a single afternoon and evening]http://i1143.photobucket.com/albums/n637/jefftytoo/IMG_4779.jpg[/img]

And here's the boat all snug as a bug in a rug.]http://i1143.photobucket.com/albums/n637/jefftytoo/IMG_4781.jpg[/img]

Topside]http://i1143.photobucket.com/albums/n637/jefftytoo/IMG_4786.jpg[/img]

Starboard bow]http://i1143.photobucket.com/albums/n637/jefftytoo/IMG_4784.jpg[/img]

Closeups, fore and aft]Seaview's delicate searchlight cage with twin foam rollers at the front of the cradle. Really happy with how that turned out.

All that's required to finish the project is to permanently glue the joints not intended to be flexible; oh, and the foam half-rollers need to be glued down as well. Couldn't do any of that today because that special PVC glue is far too nasty to use inside the house. Hope to complete things next weekend, then I'm back on my Harder build.

Thanks for reading!
JeffP

[scott t]

Re: Jeff Porteous's Repair Yard

Looks good Jeff. But you better get a plumbing inspector to certify it.

[mar7ck]

Re: Jeff Porteous's Repair Yard

Hey Jeff,

Did you send your spys over to the Jones boat yard???

[salmon]

Re: Jeff Porteous's Repair Yard

Mark, that can't be real....you are the small sub guy. A shoe box is too big for you! LOL.
Seriously, you guys have shared some really good ideas.
Thank you.
Peace,
Tom

[jefftytoo]

Re: Jeff Porteous's Repair Yard

Thanks, Salmon. And Mar7ck, yes, my spies are everywhere...Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

[Rick Teskey]

Re: Jeff Porteous's Repair Yard

The only thing too improve on this would be Blue Tooth and lasers
Everything is better with blue tooth!
Dr. Evil

[jefftytoo]

Re: Jeff Porteous's Repair Yard

Some of you know that despite the fact I'm supposed to be working on my USS Harder Revell conversion for our "Ghosts' Glory" wolfpack, surprisingly my long-neglected 66" Custom Replicas Disney Nautilus has jumped back to the shipyard forefront! This is because Will Oudmayer and Neil Schmidt are once again excited about tackling the engineering aspects of the build, and who am I to throw water on those guys? E-mails are flying and all manner of electronic parts are suddenly being ordered from Germany, England, even Malaysia… There'll be much more to report on all this in the weeks and months to come. But for now I thought I'd share that when transporting the hull (such as it is) to Will's a few weeks back so he could take some critical measurements, she nearly tipped over in the car because she sits so high in the Robart styrofoam boat stand I use to haul her around. Disaster was thankfully averted, but I realized then I was due to cut down said stand to substantially lower the duo's center of gravity and thus avoid any future tipping incidents. Before any more time could pass, I elected to take on this minor project this weekend. Here's how I handled it]http://i1143.photobucket.com/albums/n637/jefftytoo/IMG_4858.jpg[/img]
Using the template, you can see how easy it was for me to now draw the boat's hull contour on the stand for removal.

This one's for the contour about 2/3rd's aft.

And this one with the skinnier protrusion is to fit the lower rakers forward.

The cutting and filing and sanding begins. (Yes, a vacuum cleaner was later involved!)

And here's the finished product.

Voila! A snug fit low in the stand. But not so low it'll threaten to split apart under the strain. (This is going to be one heavy boat.)

Yup, she's a purty beast even at this early stage of development.

Can't wait till she's farther along!


More later,
JeffP

[jefftytoo]

Re: Jeff Porteous's Repair Yard

Oh, yeah: I also started in on re-wiring Blueback's sail.

Again.

*sigh*

(What a hassle.)



JeffP