I knocked out a few small steps over the weekend, there is lots of work to do before I start building the actual boat.
A quick trip to Home Depot for basic supplies - a cheapo sheet of ply that I will use to extend the strong back, which is only 16' from the last boat but will need to be extended 4' to accommodate the Sea Racer. I picked up a half sheet of higher grade plywood (7ply?) to cut the stations out of, its helps to use nice ply because the more layers means a better chance the strips will adhere properly when I finally start stripping the hull, Also less voids within the sheet. The 2x4's and misc glues will come in handy later...
Anybody ever notice a trip to Home Depot ALWAYS costs about a hundred bucks these days??
Finished cutting the paper stations out of the plans, these have to be basically perfect as they ultimately define the hull profile.
To ensure the forms are symmetrical, I folded each station in half along the centerline and cut both layers at once.
Crossing my fingers that the forms would all fit onto my 4'x4' sheet of high grade plywood - and there was room to spare! I'll set aside the leftover piece incase I screw one up and need to replace a station.
Plenty of room!
Next I need to secure the paper to the plywood so there is zero chance of shifting around. To do this I mixed up a solution of 50/50 wood glue and water, and brushed it onto the backs of the paper templates one at a time. I gently placed the soggy sticky paper on the plywood and "ironed" each one out moving from the center towards the edges making sure theres no wrinkles or bubbles. Paper station 18 stretched about a 1/4" from too much pressure, so I had to cut a new one and replace it.
You have to move quick with this step, as the paper turns to mush quickly, and as soon as you set it on the plywood the wood wicks up the moisture and it sticks VERY fast.
I aimed a fan on the forms for about half an hour to dry the glue, and quickly chopped the sheet up with my jig saw into manageable sizes for my 1950's band saw. On the band saw I cut as close as possible to the paper forms, leaving about 1/64th of visible wood.