Building Your Boat

Pick your ship. The  Queen's Own recommends starting out in 1/72nd scale , with a Destroyer. Two or three guns is typical for new members.

Once you pick your Nation, and which boat you think you want to sail then its time to hunt up some plans. The club maintains a good library of popular and well rounded ships. Check with the membership before running out to purchase a plan set. Your choice may already be cataloged in the club archives.

With the plans in hand, the first thing you want to do is copy off the frame plans. One copy for each frame. typically 15-20 copies.  Each copy will be numbered for the frame you plan on cutting.  That frame line should be highlighted, and then the copy should be folded in half down the ship centerline. Use a pair of scissors to cut out that highlted frame line and then set it aside. Repeat this for each frame in the ship.

  Each paper frame is then unfolded, and pasted to a sheet of plywood. The thickness varies, so consult the rule book. Super77 spray cement makes quick work of pasting the paper patterns onto the plywood. Don't go too crazy on a lrge plywood sheet, as it has to fit through your bandsay or jigsaw

After you have cut the frames, they then need to be marked for the inside cut. If you glue a 3/8" or 1/2" thick piece of wood to a pencil, and then glue a long stick to that, you can use the stick to follow the outside of the frame while the pencil marks your inside cut line and frame thickness. DO NOT forget to leave some frame to go over the keel. If there is no thickness at the center line you could easily cut the frame in half when you notch it for the keel.

Here the ship frames are positioned on the keel in preperation for gluing. As you glue each one down make sure it is straight and level. It is easy to get a "twisted" hull if one or more of the frames start to drop to one side.   

Here you can see the battleship keel on a "builder board". In this case a fairly straight 2"x 2" marked with a very straight line. The Keel is drilled and then doweled onto the line. The dowels are not glued so the boat can easily be removed from the "builder board" later.

The fiberglass matte should be cut and fit prior to starting. This makes it a little easier to get a smooth layer on the first pass.

It may take a up to three coats of resin adequetly cover the glass fiber, or built up the thickness you want. Once you have the desired thickness and strength,  the hull can then be sanded and low spots can be filled to get the smooth finish.

Then the hull can be  primed, and readied for fittings and finish....