Rampage update 2019 - Final year?!

[Milhouse]

Congratulations! I am sure that getting it into the water is a huge relief! That looks like a huge task to move it and I am glad it worked out! She looks good in the light, sleek and nice lines!

Did you pull it out on a trailer at the launch after it was moved across the lake?

[Denon Osterman]

Thanks everyone! Once I get this damn clear-coat figured out I'll be pretty excited. All that's left is the clear-coat, the metal trim in various places, and the engine (and wiring and rigging and everything else that comes with it). So close!

The curved coaming does seem pretty darn unique, though it was included as an option in the plans. That being said, ripping members that thin (with bookmatched ends no less) was no simple task...so I can understand why it's as rare as it is.

Yeah, she's resting on a trailer now - has been for almost a month. Unfortunately I lose the trailer at the end of this week (it's a long story but I borrowed it from the local snowmobiling community and they need it back), so I'm on a crunch to at least get the hull finished by Sunday (the engine can get dropped in later at my marina).

Thanks all!

-Denon

[Denon Osterman]

Well, a lot of progress since the last update - both because I had the boat in the city and could actually work on it during the week, and because it's been two weeks!

The first thing I did was fix the clear coat. I ended up switching brands which is something I should have just done from the start, but at some point I promise I will make a dedicated thread on my experiences with all of that. I didn't have access to a spray booth anymore so I had to roll it on, but it came on really nice and should flatten out a bit more with some cutting and buffing - what I care most about is the shine and reflection, which is jaw droppingly amazing, and made it clear to the original vendor why I wasn't happy with their product.

Ignore the water dropplets on the first two pictures - I'd just given the whole hull a wash - but you can see how, depending on how you focus, you either get the stained mahagony or a high gloss reflection:

I was able to catch a beautiful sunset shot as well as I got towed back over to my cabin (I lost access to the garage / trailer in the city so I have to finish the rest of the work in the water, other than dropping / rigging the engine) - again ignore the water spray near the front left and down the middle, but it's a beautiful finish. I didn't even use a filter, though I'm pretty sure my phone camera does that automatically now...oh well.

[Denon Osterman]

The "shiny stuff" looks great too - the deck hardware all looks beautiful and I'm glad that the "outside" of the hull is now completely finished, including the jet pump (boy, is that some hardware hanging off the back!), which I'm very happy I painted black to match the hull.

All of the deck hardware that experiences any load (including exhaust, cleats, etc) was backed with 1" fender washers on all screws. It was all bedded in 3M 4200 "black" as well. The steps were just drilled right into epoxy mounts (every hole was overdrilled, filled with epoxy, and re drilled so that no water can get in) as there's never any load "pulling" them - stainless hardware was used for everything. The cutwater and rubrail were screwed straight into the wood - no epoxy overdrilling, but bedded in 4200 - but this fall I'll be removing every screw one by one, drilling out the hole, filling with epoxy, then putting the screw back in for protection.

Finally and most recently, I got the pump and all of it's accessories mounted - nothings connected on the inside, but other than the flagpole hardware and nav lights (and some "do it later" stuff like buffing the deck, plugging the rubrail holes with epoxy, etc), the boat is completely finished on the outside now! As mentioned earlier the pump adds quite a bit of hardware to the back. I suspect some may find it less than attractive but I kinda like it...very mechanical looking. I am quite concerned with how high up it's mounted and I'm actually worried that even with the engine and everything else in the boat, the pump won't quite be low enough to push enough water...the impeller is currently *completely* out of the water so I'm going to have to sink a good 5 inches to even get it halfway in the water... That being said both the hull and pump are "standard" so i can't imagine it being an issue once all is said and done, it just looks weird now.

This weekend I'm going to try and finish mounting all of the "inside" hardware, as well as finish casting the backrest mounts (which didn't come out as well as I would have liked last time for a few reasons), so that by the long weekend the only thing left to do will be to install the engine. Unfortunately I'm *still* waiting to get it back from the machinist over a month later so at this point I'll be launching in September at the earliest...ah well.

Cheers,

-Denon

[kens]

Sweet !!!

[footer]

Looks great. Nice finish. I'd bet it will sit lower in the back once you drop that engine in it.

[Milhouse]

Looks great!

[DrBryanJ]

Denon: She looks really nice. Your finish is amazing. I hope you post how you achieved it and what you didn't like using.

[JimmY]

The finish looks great, I'm glad you were able to sort it out. The pump is very cool hanging off the back with fresh paint and all the cables. Nice clean installation.

Looking forward to you firing up that beast.

[BayouBengal]

Wow, Wow, and WOW!

Great job Denon. Fantastic job fairing your deck to begin with, and then color sanding and buffing to the mirror finish.

[hoodman]

Looks amazing!

[mrintense]

What can I say that hasn't already been conveyed. Superb job Denon. Really cool looking installation on the back end.

[Gayle Brantuk]

Stunning Denon!