This beauty turns heads!

Radio Control Boat Modeler, Jun 2004 by Tritle, Pat

MISS CHLOE

EVER SINCE A FRIEND OF MINE built a beautiful, 60-inch live-steam launch, I just had to design one, even though I prefer much smaller hulls and electric power. I sat down and drew up Miss Chloe's basic hull design and then added the deck works and cabin during construction by trial and error until I liked the way it looked. From there, it was simply a matter of trim work.

wanted a simple, sturdy, all-wood boat that would be quick to build and would run well. The beauty of this design is that it lends itself well to many different color schemes or wood finishes. You could even plank the balsa hull with mahogany to create a beautiful, all-wood finish! If you decide to modify the basic design, be sure to plan well to avoid surprises during construction.

Miss Chloe uses very conventional construction techniques, so even less experienced modelers should find it easy to build. The basic hull structure is primarily of lite-ply and planked with balsa. The deck is balsa planked with hardwood. To keep it even simpler, you could lay a basswood sheet deck and draw the planks on with a drafting pencil.

Framing the hull. Construction begins by cutting the keel, deck and hull frames out of the appropriate-size wood (or you could use the Teccut hull short kit). Assemble the keel, using a piece of 5/32-inch-o.d. brass tube to align K-2 and K-3, and glue to K-4. Cut an 1/8-inch notch in K-3 for the rudder shaft-bearing tube, and then glue the other K-4 in place on the keel. Fit and glue frames H-1 through H-7 into place on the keel. Glue the 1/8-inch-square balsa inner deck supports in place from formers H-2 to H-6, and then glue the chine and shears into place using three laminations of 1/16x3/16-inch balsa. Sand the finished hull assembly to shape.

Now, assemble the 3/32-inch balsa subdeck out of parts D-1, D-2 and D-3. Glue the subdeck assembly in place on top of the hull and sand it to shape.

To plank the hull, pin the basic assembly upside-down to your building board, using shims to keep the hull frame nice and straight. You'll plank the hull with 3/3x ½-inch balsa strips that run lengthwise. Start at the centerline, working from side to side until the bottom is complete. Start planking the sides at the chine, gluing the first three planks to both sides while the hull is still pinned down.

Now that the hull assembly is rigid enough, you can pull it up and add the rest of the side planks. When the hull planking is completed, sand the entire surface to a smooth contour. Fill any remaining gaps with wood filler or spackling paste, and finish-sand the hull.

Working from the inside of the hull, open up the holes for the prop and rudder-shaft tubes. Align and glue the 1/8-inch-o.d. rudder-shaft tube into place. Build the prop-shaft tube out of 5/32-inch-o.d. brass tube with 1/8-inch-o.d., ½-inch-long brass-tube bushings soldered into each end. Align and glue the tube assembly into the hull. Glue F-8 into place, and fair the tubes into the hull with epoxy and microballoons.

Sealing the hull. There are three basic ways to make the hull watertight: silkspan and dope or water-based polyurethane varnish; fiberglass; or several coats of Varathane varnish. Whichever method you choose, prep the hull and prime it. Repair any surface flaws and reprime the hull before you apply paint. Last, add the 1/16-inch mahogany planks to the transom.

Planking the deck. The prototype uses mahogany center planks; the rest of the deck is planked with a light wood. Use your imagination and come up with your own system, or use the notes on the plans as a guide. Add the 1/8x¼-inch balsa aft hatch supports and fit the hatch. When all the planking is in place, mask the deck and paint the hull to suit your taste.

Use the subassembly drawings on the plans to build up the cabin and floor assemblies. Plank the major assemblies and fit them into the hull. When you're satisfied that everything fits well, glue the main cabin assembly into place. You'll be able to remove the cabin floor assemblies for easy access to the motor and wiring. Now, seal all of the wood surfaces with several coats of varnish.

Radio and power systems. Use the patterns and detail drawings on the plans to cut out and build the battery tray and motor mount. Glue both into place as shown. Fit the 3/32-inch-diameter steel prop shaft and motor, and glue the motor into place with silicone. Roughen both ends of the prop shaft and epoxy the prop into place. Install the prop shaft in the stuffing box, and secure it to the motor as shown on the plan.

Build up the rudder tiller using a 3/32-inch wheel collar and a 1/32-inch-thick plywood arm. Roughen the top of the wheel collar with coarse sandpaper, and epoxy the arm into place. Cut the rudder out of 0.025-inch-thick brass, and solder it to the 3/32-inch-diameter brass shaft. Install the rudder servo and rudder, and make the pushrod out of 1/32-inch music wire.

Solder the ESC to the motor, and run the wiring through the battery and receiver connections through the hull. Mount the receiver in the aft compartment on the hull side with Velcro.