Another Aussie Zip!

[laubenthal]

Look at my 1/4 gussets on frame 4 "Jim's Michigan Zip"
They are almost identical to the gussets used in the pre-cut Zip kit.

[Lachlan1]

Look at my 1/4 gussets on frame 4 "Jim's Michigan Zip"
They are almost identical to the gussets used in the pre-cut Zip kit.

Thanks Jim, I think that might be my answer.

[Lachlan1]

Merry Christmas everyone, hope everyone had a great day. Not much has been happening around here among work commitments and then the countless post-lockdown catch-ups/end of year parties. Lately I’ve been fairing the frames and cutting and fitting the plywood, slowly getting ready to start “planking”.

So far I have had a couple hurdles to get over through the fairing process but I’m sure they won’t be my last.
One mistake I won’t be making again is using a belt sander with a 40grit belt to fair the frames. Very quickly took about 3mm too much from frame 4 so I’ve had to glue a piece on a re-fair the frame. Using a No.4 hand plane may seem slow at first but it is much quicker than having to fix something and start fairing again.

Then next problem I had was with the way the chines met at the stem. I did the whole ‘let them lay naturally and don’t force them’ method but it seems I still didn’t get them right. Nothing seemed to be sitting right whilst I was fairing the stem so I decided to glue another piece on the outside of the chines to see if that helped and it certainly did.

A question I had for anyone reading along is what is the consensus on joining plywood sheets with but joints and plywood backers? Should I glue them together first before gluing them to the frames or glue on one sheet and then the other? I was going to do one at a time but the forward sheet has a bit of an outward curve at frame 4 and the rear sheet currently doesn’t have any curve the way it is sitting now and I’m worried if I glue the rear first that they won’t meet smoothly.

Hoping to pick up the pace in the new year so I’ll hopefully be posting my progress a bit more often.
Hope everyone has a safe New Years celebration
Thanks for reading, Lachlan.

[Lachlan1]

So I have another question. I noticed today whilst fitting the plywood that there is a noticeable bump in the plywood at frame 5-1/5. What is the best way to fix this? I’m worried that if I fair much more off the outside of frame 5-1/2 that it will affect the shape of the hull.
Thanks

[vupilot]

Looks like you need to fair a bit more of the frame especially as it gets closer to the sheer.

[Lachlan1]

Looks like you need to fair a bit more of the frame especially as it gets closer to the sheer.

Thanks for the feedback, that seems to have done the trick

[Lachlan1]

Wow its been a slow year. Hope everyone is doing well.

Finally got the hull planking finished today, 12 months to the day from when I started planking. Super satisfying getting that last piece fitting snugly. Once the glue sets I'll finish filling the last of the screw holes and then sand everything ready for epoxy. I'm hoping my hull is fair enough to not need much work before fibreglassing.
My plan is;
-1 layer thinned epoxy,
-1 layer normal epoxy,
-glass fabric w/epoxy,
-1 layer epoxy w/fairing compound
-Automotive paint

First time fibreglassing anything so any thoughts/opinions on this would be appreciated.

Thanks again,
Lachlan

[Lachlan1]

So I glassed the hull last night, certainly something I wouldn’t do on my own again. Spent a couple hours cutting all the pieces out and getting the hull sanded and cleaned, ready for epoxy. Then took me a little over 6 hours to lay the fibreglass and wet it all out. It’s certainly not perfect, I got talked into using peel ply over the fibreglass but that introduced more bubbles than it removed. Would have been better if I had got someone to help me, oh well, lesson learnt. I’ll give the epoxy a week or so to set before I start sanding the rough spots back.
I’m also trying to decide on a paint scheme for the hull. Originally I was thinking dark blue/black sides but I am now rethinking this. I’m not sure I’ll get the hull fair enough for me to be happy with a high gloss black paint accentuating every slight variation in the surface. The other concern is as it will get hot in the summer sun and I’m worried that the epoxy may have issues due to the heat. I am now leaning towards that classic look with beige/white colour scheme.

[Sam's ZIP]

After taking down the worst spots sand the hull with 320 prior to adding another coat of epoxy. Either apply the third coat before the second coat fully sets or after 24 hours and another sanding. You need a good buildup of epoxy before finish sanding to a smooth finish.

Don't worry about how it looks now because you are still quite a ways from the final finish.

[TomB]

I have had good luck using a cabinet/card scraper or paint scraper to removing drips, runs, curtain, bubbles, etc. The scraper takes off the high spot without making an adjacent valley. You will get there.

Tom

[drbryanj2]

I like using card scrapers also. Just wear gloves, because they can get hot.

[Ga-Steve]

Looking good. I,too, will have help if I ever epoxy a hull again. I did my Outrage by myself and it was a job. A scrapper does a good job and is handy. Several coats and plenty of sanding. Then sand some more. Steve

[Lachlan1]

Thanks everyone for the tips. I’ll have a go at it with the scrapers on the weekend.

[Lachlan1]

Couple update pics.

[Lachlan1]

Had the boat flipped so I could get the motor installed, apparently had to be done by the dealer for warranty purposes. I got the Suzuki 30hp short shaft, I love the way the transom looks with the short shaft. It’s off the boat now on its own stand and the zip has been flipped back upside so I can finish fairing and painting it. So far I have one coat of filler over the whole thing, hopefully only need one more skim coat over the sides and bottom. The transom is going to need a couple more as it has ended up with a 5mm twist on 2 opposing corners(top-left and bottom-right). Not sure what caused it, I’m leaning towards the fact I didn’t fit and glue all 4 chines/sheers at the same time. To sand the fairing compound I made a longboard out of some Mdf, some hardware off a cheap plaster sanding board and some handle I made based off a Stanley hand plane. Seems to work really well with 60 grit sandpaper, just a shame I didn’t build in any sort of dust collection as the dust is super fine and gets everywhere. Needless to say I have a respirator on, the air filtration fan running on high and the vacuum on hand to constantly vacuum the dust off the hull. Hoping to get all the sanding done in the next week so I can organise paint. That’s all for now, here are some more pics.