"John Fisher" is building Star 45's. He has provided a series of photographs taken as he builds the model from scratch.
These are posted to the blog along with his notes to help builders assemble the Star 45.
In the following posts you will find comments, notes. and his photographs
Photo's showing the building board and the first couple of steps for putting the frames together.
Building board is 3" wide 3/4" MDF that is glued/screwed together.
The notched balsa template is glued to the building board using a straight edge
to make sure it stays straight.
The vertical part is installed once the stern section is assembled. These parts keep the shadows sq and vertical.
Photo showing adding of the stringers, rails and chine.
For the single chine version, there is only one pc of material for the chine instead of 2 as shown in the photo's.
Photo showing the 1/8X3/8 spruce for the chain plates. This needs to be installed before the rails go in.
Photo showing the two keel pcs going in these are 3/8 by 1/8. He used balsa, but could be done with spruce instead.
Photo showing adding the rails. Notice that the rails are made of two pcs. 1/4X1/8 for the first one and then 3/8X1/8 for the second. You need to start both at the transom. Start at the transom with the rails and stringers. Start one side and go forward to station 9 or 10, then do the same on the other side. Then go all the way to the front with one side. Starting both sides at the same time keep the transom from twisting.
Photo showing the bottom stringers. 1/8X1/8.
Photo showing all the rails and stringers installed, ready for planking.
Photo showing adding the side planking and sanding to get ready for bottom planking.
He used 1/16" balsa for my hulls since he will be covering it with glass.
It probably will work the same if you are using harder woods, but you will probably want to trace the outline onto the wood and cut close to shape before gluing it on.
Photo showing side plank after being glued on. John used thin ca and glued the 4" wide plank on.
Make sure it is located correctly before starting gluing.
Note the small patch on the bow of the back boat. John did not have the plank far enough forward.
Photo showing the planks after being trimmed close to the stringers.
John used a # 11 Exacto to trim the balsa planks.
Go slow and take multiple passes here. You don't want to remove too much material or you will get a gap when the bottom is planked. Also trim the rails close at this point.
The rails/side joint will be finished once the hull is taken off the board.
Photo showing the close stringer sanded to fit the side and the back stringer still need to be sanded.
John used a sanding block and sand the sides to match the bottom curve. Balsa sands really easy so this is pretty quick. He used 220 grit paper
Photo showing both hulls with sides matching the bottom curve and ready for planking.
Photo showing the bow sections after sanding and ready for bottom planking.
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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Star45/ for discussions with other Star 45 sailors.
Star 45
