Happy Thanksgiving!

Okay, I'm a little late and progress has been a bit slow over the holiday. Unfortunately, the progress brought me one step back and not forward. The front of the boat was looking off and so I had to completely reshape it. Also, the putty I had used cracked and need to be replaced. It was something that I wasn't able to see until I sprayed a coat of primer on it. After replacing the offending piece with 1/32" plywood I coated it with red glazing putty and sanded that to shape.

I was then able to add some small details to the hull that I noticed looking at my reference photos. I'm not sure what their purpose may be but they add to the "reality".

Primer/Filler/Sand - Repeat!

I had to go out of town for a week so it's been awhile since my last update. There's been a bit of progress as far as the hull goes. After the planks were all in place and roughly sanded I coated the outside of the hull with "Aero Gloss - Sanding Sealer". The fumes from this stuff can take down an elephant so ALWAYS wear a mask and use good ventilation. I apply it liberaly and then leave it to dry which is only a few minutes. I then go at it with 120grit sandpaper and then another coat of sanding sealer. I wound up with about four coats of sealer on it which really helps strengthen the balsa wood. If you take your time sanding you can make the finish as smooth as glass.

Now it was time for some primer. I like to spray the surface with primer at this point which really brings out all the flaws.

Sometimes you can fix them with a little more sanding but the areas that need more work call for some filler. I like to use Red Auto Body Glazing Putty. You can buy a huge tube of this stuff and it lasts forever.

After you sand down the primer be sure to go over it with a fine wet/dry paper like 400grit and wet sand it. You can get a really nice finish wet sanding the auto body filler.

Walk to Plank!

After all the ribs where in place it was time to cover the hull. I picked up a few sheets of 1/8" balsa wood and ripped them into 3/4" strips on the table saw. It takes time to keep everything straight and even, but it saves you time in the end. When all the planks were in place I went at it with sand paper. I started with a heavy paper, I think it was 60 grit in order to rough out the shape. Using 1/8" think balsa allows some room to smooth the surface even if the planks are a little uneven.

What in the world is a "Transom"?

...or a "chine" or a "keel"???? I had no idea when I first started this project. And after a long trial and error period I now know what they all mean.

I blame this whole project on a friend of mine that innocently mentioned to me that he'd never seen a model of the Orca. We talked about it for a bit and after ten minutes he said "so you're going to build it aren't you"? He knows me too well, there was no way I was going to walk away from the idea of building the infamous Orca.

Like I mentioned before my knowledge of boat building was next to nothing and having never tried it I was a little hesitant. I made some calculations off of the limited number of pictures, the movie and searching the Internet and drew up some crude plans. I decided to move forward and try forming the hull. I completed a hull which wasn't bad from a construction view, but it wasn't the Orca.

I then happened upon a website that was selling a set of plans that someone created for an R/C version of the boat. The plans are by a guy named, Pat Tritle and he did a decent job of capturing the feel of the Orca. I went ahead and ordered the plans and went back to the beginning. I abandoned the original hull I built which wasn't a waste but a great learning experience. After looking over the plans I decided to start by cutting out the main parts of the hull from poster board and test fit everything together. This may have been overkill since I was working off a set of plans, but not having done this before it helped me see the process clearer.