Hello William, Good suggestion but if I decide to stitch then that will have to wait until after my surgery this Thursday. Which would be four to six weeks before I could handle the small components such as the thread, needle, drill bit etc. Well worth considering though.

Greg 👍

Could maybe try stitch and glue? Punch, or drill a line of sixteenth holes around the perimeter, sew the panels together, then glue, and clean the outside off once it's set?

I am very pleased I decided to building this little sailboat and then I am not. Perhaps because of the Arthritis in my hands I am really struggling to simply fit and glue the hull bottom, sides and transom together. I tried on and off most of yesterday without success. I tried to use masking tape as the instructions suggested. That failed because of the tension of the bending of the parts and although the tape stayed stuck I could not get the hull to stay in the correct shape to then apply the adhesive around the inner joints. I twice tried clamping the bottom to my building so I had both my hands free and instead of tape I tried to spot CA glue every inch/inch and a half along the butt joints just to hold the parts together so I could then apply a bead of Aliphatic glue on the inside. That partially worked but I still could not get the shape of the hull correct because of the tension of the thin ply and whilst trying to handle the hull the spot glue separated on both occasions. So rather than open the backdoor and throw the lot up the garden (trying to miss the dog) I decided to stop and think about it tomorrow which of course is today!

If anyone can come up with some wonderful way of assembling the hull without me giving up and ceremoniously burning it as a Viking burial boat in my pond I would be very grateful.

Greg 👍

Hello Julio, I pleased that my post has revived your interest in finishing your models At my age sometimes I need reviving as well.😁

Greg 👍

Hi firefighter:
I am going to follow your post about this Footy with great interest and I must tell you that you have revived an old project of four... yes, FOUR footys (Papaya model).
Let's see if I finish them this year... they're for me and three friends, to whom I'm going to give them as a gift. They will only have to put the electronics...

Hello William,

Thanks for that. To be honest, I did think the same as you when looking at the parts. I'm in stupid mode today. I temporarily fixed one side of the hull to the bottom part ready for gluing and was pleased with what I had achieved until I realised that I'd fixed the side part the wrong way round.🙄

Oh well, start again!!!

Greg 👍

Hi,
The ply was so thin it was hardly worth chamfering for most of it. I just chamfered the verticalish bow joint.
When putting the deck on, I ran a thin strip of wood around the gunnels, then flattened the top of that off with sandpaper on a stick drawn across the gunnels which did make a chamfer and increased the gluing area.

Hello William,

A question. It says on the plan when constructing the hull that the edges of the two sides and the bottom should have the edges chamfered where they join. Did you do that when you built your Bob or did you just butt the edges together and then glue? I don't have a problem with bevelling the edges. I can do it either way. I just thought I would ask.

Greg 👍

Hello John,

Thank you for the encouraging comments. I hope to have some of the building done before this Thursday. I have two other projects to start. One is the Wee Nip and the other is Aeronaut's Bella. So I'm looking forward to some partial recover went I can start some of the more simple construction jobs needed.

One aspect of this hobby and also RC aircraft is the satisfaction of building and finishing the model. I know you can buy ready to run models off the shelf but who wants to do that!!!

Thank you again.

Greg 👍

Hi Greg,

Footy yachts are really great for beginners as they are quick and economic projects which really deVelop both your building and sailing skills. Easy storage and transport are real bonuses while a self-designed boat has every chance of winning an exciting race within a small pool.

William's post and pictures will certainly help you with the Bob-A-Bout project. It seems a good little kit but as with their other kits I agree the instructions could be better.

Best wishes for the operation - and as you say the weather should be far better when you are recovered. In the meantime, please beg or borrow any old Model Boats or Marine Modelling International magazines for a wealth of knowledge, tips and inspiration.

Model Boat building and sailing is really challenging but particularly in club gives constant enjoyment and satisfaction. You really have made the right choice!!

Dr John F Leeds and Bradford MB C. 😀😀😀

Thank you. I must agree now that CA gluing might give me more problems than just using masking tape. The only reason I originally ask was because I had seen a video where the model builder did exactly that when positioning the hull parts. So out will come the tape and a spare pair of hands. Namely, my wife's.

Greg 👍

The chances that you will not need to reposition hull sections are about nil. CA tends to be permanent.
If you feel you want to use glue, use something removable.

Hello William,

Sorry, forgot to say that the photographs are very helpful.

Greg 👍

Hello William,

Thank you very much for your help and any further help I may need. That is really apricated. Okay, I'll assemble the hull tomorrow. I want to get some of it done before the surgery next Thursday because that will be me out of action for a few weeks. Having said that, as part of my post operative therapy they like you to use the hand a little so I might be able to pick up where I left off sooner than later. If all goes well I should be A1 fit to take the boat out for a spin around the pond in the warmer weather. I don't intend going earlier and breaking any ice to see if my boat floats or sinks.

Greg 👍

You ain't stupid! We all started somewhere. Just happens for me that I started whilst still at school.
For what it's worth, I'd get the Hull sides, bottom and stern glued up before you start cutting the servo plate to length. That way you'll get a better idea of the size it should be. I've tried to post a photo of the internal layout, which might help. If you need any parts identifying, just post them on here, and I'll try to help. Or with anything else for that matter. Just enjoy the project, and if in doubt, ask.

Hello William,

as I said, as a beginner I'm finding what for all intents and purposes are probably easy to understand instructions are confusing me. The parts are not numbered and there is no parts list to say what is what. The plans have a copyright of 2002 some 20 years old so have not been updated for stupid people like me. Some of the parts are obvious what they are and some I haven't a clue where they go so as the drawing is to scale I thought I would cut the parts out and lay them on the plan. I fell at the first held. Two of the five parts which I am sure are to make the receiver and battery box are too long when put on the plan. So I don't know now whether to leave them long so that they stick out a bit or cut them down. Another problem I have with the instructions is that a lot of sailing boat terms are used to describe certain parts which leave me clueless. It certainly keeping the old grey matter well exercised albeit frustrating.

Greg 👍

Didn't know SLEC did one! If I did, I'd probably have bought it.
Mine's at the finished hull stage.It differs a bit, in that the rudder'r further forward, as in the original plan, and I've built a small cabin on top of the hatch.
Will post a photo later, when I figure out how to!
To answer your question, though, I first tacked the panels together with cyano, then taped it up well, particularly round the seams, so that the epoxy or whatever couldn't leak out.
Pity you're at the other end of the country. We could have had some good races. And craic.

As I've been gluing things together my whole life I'd say using a lot of masking tape to secure the parts in CORRECT place is crucial for any type of project. Listen to John, he's a wise fella

Hello John,

Thanks for the information. I see what you mean about lining everything up and holding with tape before running the glue round the joints. I just thought that by spotting with super glue would remove the need for the tape. Having said that I did use tape to hold the hull together before gluing when building the Diva cabin cruiser. The reason I asked was it occurred to me that the tension from having to curve the the bottom part when taping to the sides might pull the tape off before I could get gluing.

This is where I sound like a beginner. The instructions that came with the kit have confused me quite a bit. If you don't mind could I PM you and ask some questions about the parts and building?

Greg 👍

Hi Greg,

I have made my own Footy class yacht to a similar design as well as hard chine power boats in wood and sheet plastic (styrene).

In all such cases I have softened the wood or plastic using a hair dryer and most importantly used copious quantities of masking take.

This is really important as you need to check carefully that all is square by removing and replacing tape as required. You will wish you had four hands to do this!

As the instructions say, only then run glue down all the internal joints and leave to set fully. Remove the tape and fill any teaming gaps.

Use any super glue only to tack the skins together every couple of inches. Remember that this sets almost instantly and bring very thin will simply run through any tiny gaps. A slow set epoxy or a thick PVA white glue ( for wood only) would be far better as your main adhesive.

Good luck and best wishes Dr John F Leeds and Bradford MBC 😁😁😁