Hello everyone. MY name is Jeff and this is my 3'rd Model Space build. I started with the McLaren F1 and am almost complete with the Lambo Countach. I was seriously eyeballing the Hayabusa as my next project but somehow ended up ordering the full kit for the SOTS. I've read all the builds and have mined some very helpful information from all that have come before me. My professional background is a machinist ( 30 yrs ) with a emphasis on CNC'S, programming, design, and prototyping. So I may come at this project a little differently. For some reason pics not downloading from phone so stay tuned for updates soon.

OK, here goes. first week was basically building the keel jig and assembling the rib sections. Starting with the base of the jig, milled out the slots for the angle brackets.



Then milled 14 ea. 1/2" wide angle brackets from 1 1/2" aluminum angle stock. The far side brackets are fixed and dialed in within .001" of each other. The near side brackets are slotted and can slide 1/8" of an inch to clamp up against the keel when installed in the jig. Adjustability will be useful if in the future I may make another ship with maybe different thickness keel.



While that was going on I was assembling the rib sections. I would glue the sides in, wrap them in wax paper top and bottom and then press them in between a granite surface plate and a 6" x 12" x 1"thick piece of aluminum tooling plate. Then set a 20 lb weight on the whole thing and let set for about 3 hrs. I could get about three a day.



It would be good to note that I'm doing this build (like the 2 car builds before) at work in my office. I'm a machine shop manager, I work for Edelbrock. Yeah, the "make cars go fast" company. It's a good way to pass lunch time and breaks, and I have an entire machine shop at my disposal when needed.

I also glued together the keel using the same technic as the rib sections and installed in the jig.



I dry fitted the rib sections to the keel just to see how things look. Pretty good so far.





Stay tuned
Jeff

Welcome aboard Jeff and what a great start you look to have made... She's a beautiful ship and I think you'll have a lot of fun putting her together.... I'll be following your progress all the way through so good luck with her....

Regards

Alan

Welcome to the forum Jeff, looks like you are off to a flying start.

Mark

Thanks everyone for the good words. Week 2 seemed a bit slower. A couple of issues came up. The first rib section that forms the nose of the ship was warped pretty good top to bottom. So Sunday I steamed it and pressed it on the surface plate and left it for 2 days. Still warped :( So pressed it out flat again on the surface plate and glued two ribs to the backside and after dried it stayed pretty flat. Problem solved. Then on the stern section the lower horizontal piece ended up not quite square on one side. In hindsight I would have assembled it in a different order than the guide. After looking forward in the build, none of this will be visible and the outside surfaces were all still square, just had to notch one of the slots in the curved vertical support on one side a bit and all was good again. So, getting the front section glued on all straight and square.







While I was making up the supports for the keel jig I made a couple of 1" wide angle pieces to use for squaring up things for assembly. I always cover them with wax paper so I don't glue them to the model :)



Some might have noticed, I radiused the slots and the the leading edge of the bowsprit as these will be visible on the finish product. It's the small details that make the build



This weekend I'll try and get some more ribs on, Need to box them as I go for strength and keeping things nice and straight. I've been ignoring the launch and cannons for now, I'll get to those after I get the hull framed out complete. I'll use the launch as practice for planking before I start the big guy...

Nice start, sounds like you've got things under control now.

Mark

Looking real good. This will be a professional job. No doubt.

Very nice update Jeff and that's a good way of ensuring the ribs stay square and in line with each other, they won't be pulled out of position when it comes to the planking stage..... .. Look forward to your next update...

Regards

Alan

Looks like you're making really nice progress and I look forward to seeing more.... .. As for the nailing of the decks, its belts and braces. The last thing you would want to see when well into the build is any of the deck sections starting to lift, it also helps to ensure the ribs are firmly fixed into position. You'll find on some builds the instructions will say to nail and glue whilst on others it will say glue only. I didn't take any chances and decided to follow the instructions by nailing and gluing the decks in place....

Regards

Alan

So deck one is done. I did go ahead and nail it down.





I have to admit beating on the girl with a hammer did not sit so well with me It was a bit fiddly to start but after a couple nails got a system going. I repurposed a small hammer from my watch repair toolkit, it ended up fitting perfectly in the handle for my razor saw. Holding the nail with the needle nose pliers that came in the toolkit to get it about hallway in and then finish it off nice and easy. Proud to say I didn't bend or boink one off into Neverland never to be found again.

Started to fit the first strip and ran into immediate problems. The strip was just to wide to fit in the rib sections. First I beveled the top and bottom to match the angle that it sits at against the ribs. There were still a couple of ribs that were still too tight so I took an emery board to the ribs and relieved the problem childs, enough for an easy fit. Glued her up and clamped it down and I'll let it sit till tomorrow. That's it for today, Wish all a Happy Labor Day!