Thread: Another OZ MK2 PDRacer build in Sydney "Wood Duck"

Heh ;). I'll stick to the mixing tubs from BoatCraft Pacific, and the paper towels from the local supermarket ;).

Cheer,
Alex.

Well, that's another day o' nuffin'... It's very frustrating to look out at the blue sky and know that some really nice painting weather is slipping through my fingers. There's a change forecast for Thursday evening with temps slipping a bit for a few days following - just around the time when I will be functioning better. I've got a quite a bit of careful wet-sanding to do before the next lot of paint, so temps may be up again by then.

I've been a bit better today, and might even be up and about for a bit tomorrow. I can only hope...

Alex,

I've been lurking in this forum quite awhile. I'd just like to say that I think you've made an very important contribution to neophytes like myself, and masters alike, through your tireless efforts. Yours is nothing short of an odyssey, a Holy Grail quest, and it's remarkable.

Just to temper things, I get a great deal from those are just having a go at it, unencumbered by pathological fastidiousness. As I see it, there's room for both the perfectionist's passion and the putterer's pastime and everything in-between.

Anyhoo, just a note of appreciation for the clarity of your diary, the tons of instructive photos, and your good natured, self-effacing countenance. I shouldn't be surprised to travel to the Smithsonian Institute one day to see your Oz Racer, perched and gleaming in a slowly rotating museum mounting, the passers-by all agape with dazzle! Ha!

I picked up Michael S's Oz Racer plans, although I haven't decided on it yet. Still window-shopping.

Good luck on the crowning finishing touches of your Oz Racer! Can't wait to see where and how you'll mount the rubies, emeralds, diamonds and gold!

Bob

Hi Bob,

Welcome to the forum and this thread :). Thank you for your kind words on this tortuous path I've made for myself. With the exception of a certain hardware outlet, it has been all my own fault - or invention, as the White King says in "Alice".

Having spent so much on this boat already, I'm too poor to "bling" it ;). By the time I've finished with the paint job, I'll consider it to be blinged enough anyway! With the cost of paint at the moment too, it might actually have been cheaper to have covered it in gold leaf, but I've spent the money already, and gold leaf wouldn't be very durable - especially with the competence of my sailing/handling ;).

Cheers,
Alex.

I'm considering putting up the electric Tiggie photos, if not in this post, then in one of the next ones, having captioned them all - and then revised the captions to remove errors and outright lies. I still haven't quite decided yet, although the only thing really holding me back is my poor attention sp the next thing to do is start sanding the boat when I've recovered a bit more - er, as you can see, the attention span is terrible ;).

I am feeling much more out-of-the-woods today, and am hoping that I'll be fit enough to get stuck into the sanding tomorrow.

Judging from the genuine candor of your thought processes throughout this build, it looks like you've learned as much about yourself as about boats. I wonder in what ways you may approach the GIS project differently, not just technically, but in your philosophy too.

IMHO you need change nothing. I don't think a bigger boat necessarily transforms a quirk of perfectionism into a full blown obsessive-compulsive pathology. You just don't appear to have those symptoms, rather coming across as well-balanced and affable. Frankly, I see your dedication as reminiscent of the lifelong labours of artisan guilds of the Renaissance. A general malaise of modern times is laziness, always looking for the quick fix, the instant answer. By contrast, you've taken a simple project and sought its soul...and your own.

As such I've read your journey as much as a piece of literature as a technical diary. It's drama is compelling.

Keep up the great work, Tolstoy!

bob

REmoving the lies Alex!?!

That sounds like a truly retrograde step.

We love them!

MIK

I'll respond to you guys soon, but I've got to go out and pick up some paint - if I can stand the Sydney traffic in my current recuperative condition. If I can't, I'll be replying sooner ;).

Cheers,
Alex.

Originally Posted by BobAshley

Judging from the genuine candor of your thought processes throughout this build, it looks like you've learned as much about yourself as about boats. I wonder in what ways you may approach the GIS project differently, not just technically, but in your philosophy too.

<snip...>

bob

Hi Bob,

If I've learnt anything over the course of the project - about the way I work at least - it's that the (mental) problems that have beset me particularly are impatience, lack of conecentation, and inability to act on advice. Realising that's the easy bit - the hard part is going to be doing something about them - or even just one of 'em...

As to how my approach to the Goat might differ as a result - well, a tidy workshop, clear working area, tools where I can find them and get at them, etc., etc., come loosely under the "impatience" bit, as does not starting a project until the above are sorted ;). Concentration is rather more tricky: in part the impatience contributes to it, but so do many other factors (including other habits that impatient behaviours). As to taking other people's advice, that also comes under the heading of impatience anyway - at least to some degree (sheer stubborness plays a part ;).

Apart from them, the actual experience of building the 'Duck will inform how I approach the Goat from a technical point of view, as was always intended. So perhaps in the sense that I put off the Goat while I built the "training exercise" 'Duck might suggest glimmerings of the arising of patience. It has to become much more concious though. I've been looking though the boxes containing the parts for seven or eight model aircraft while doinmg some workshop sorting recently, and they really show the pitfalls of rushing into things - especially since not one of them is anywhere complete. At least the 'Duck is almost there, and I just have to "keep on keeping on", as they say in the Classics. Well, I think they do ;).

Cheers,
Alex.

Cheers,
Alex.

Originally Posted by Boatmik

REmoving the lies Alex!?!

That sounds like a truly retrograde step.

We love them!

MIK

Howdy MIK,

Ha ha ;). Note that the operative word was outright :). there are probably many implicit or hidden ones that you can enjoy fossicking out, since they will all still be there :).

Cheers,
Alex.

Thinking a bit more about impatience, lack of planning is part and parcel of that - and I'm an expert at lack of planning ;).

Judging by the fact that I've replied to Bob and MIK later rather than sooner, it may be deduced that I braved the Sydney traffic and went and got my new 1 L tin of Prekote underkote. That deduction would also be correct :). Actually, the traffic around the middle of the day nearly as bad as peak times, and as it was a nice (albeit highly windy) sunny day, I quite enjoyed the little outing after being cooped up for a week or so. The friendly Scottish chap at Whitworth's Crows Nest cheerfully handed me the tin and I was home again in just over an hour. That was all I had time for on the boat today as I had a late start after overdoing things yesterday (the impatience thingy again), and the rest of the afternoon was spent on some domestic duties.

The intention is to start sanding the by-now nicely hard paint surface tomorrow. As I said earlier, I'm going to sand right back to the grey primer and flatten out the mess that I know is there, followed by re-undercoating and re-topcoating (no more primer coats). Two coats of Prekote and two of Brightside should do it, I think, depending on what sort of finish I can get out of the new rollers. After that I'll leave the paint a week to set up before turning the hull over and starting on the final expoying of the centrecase topcleats, and the topsides varnishing - which at this stage I'm looking forward to, especially after the hoopla with the yellow paint, etc. I'll be using a good quality (read very expensive - we'll see about the quality ;) badger-hair brush and a nice new tine of Inter Gold Spar. While I'm waiting for the paint to harden, I may either get on with epoxy-coating the spars and foils and tiller/rudderbox assembly, or start attacking the sail with the sewing again.

It must be Spring - I smelt freeesias in the air the other day and today :).

Alex, do you feel that steady participation in the forum--sharing your experiences--has helped overcome any of the personal shortcomings you label yourself with? Might the duck be like those unfinished planes in boxes without the effects of the social milieu of the forum?

bob

Hi Bob,

I think the forum has kept me on the straight and narrow - my own vanity aside, the help has kept me on-task, as well as wanting to find out what the next bit does. The dialogues have helped ensure that I've remained on-task and moving forward, although the rates have been variable, and in a couple of instances have even been negative as I've undone what I considered to be sub-standard work. And, of course, the actual help, ideas, and general support :))))). And I've made a number of new friends into the bargain.

Interestingly, size and robustness of materials have also been an important factors: a lot of my frustration with models (wooden and plastic) - and oboe reeds - has been due to the fiddly nature of the work and the fragile nature of the materials. Being somewhat clumsy (the haste thing again ;) I have a tendency to break and/or lose small parts; the latter is not so much a problem with the reeds, it's the scraping - but I'm not the only oboe player who has banged their head (repeatedly) on that particular brick wall by a long shot! Getting back to the boat, I have found it far easier to work the materials being used, the scale of the pieces helping here a lot.

Actually, that reminds me of the question MIK once asked me about whether the work on the boat might help the aeromodelling. At the time I gave him a rather evasive answer, not being sure about it.

To give you a straighter answer, MIK: I can actually state now that it will have helped a lot! Not least with the use of epoxy - although I'd used it (in far too large a quantity most often) on glueing things up, I hadn't got to applying it as a surface sealer, most of the models up til now having been tissue and dope (both mono- and biplanes) or shrink-film covered. In fact, with my experiences with the 'Duck, I should state that my glassing of various structures will be a lot lighter as a result - or I'll be tissue -and (non-shrinking) dope over wooden surfaces (some people use tissue of brown paper and PVA glue, the latter suitably watered down). The latter materials have the potential to be a lot lighter that glass/resin unless you're really careful with the resin quantities. In fact, I've read on more than one occasion on one of the scale forums recently of an initial almost-dry tacking coat of resin - to keep the (0.5 or 0.75 oz) glass stuck down - being followed by a single coat (two at the most) of lightweight filler, sanding sealer or dope/talc - or even the primer coat(s) to fill the weave. This is obviously right out for boats <snigger>, but for planes (with the probable exception of flying boats (e.g., Catalinas), floatplanes, etc.) it seems like a good idea.

I've ended up rabbiting on a lot longer than intended (as usual ;).

Cheers,
Alex.

Does this sound familiar Alex?

By his own admission, [Paul] Bieker has some things to learn. He "tends to mull things over too much," spending inordinate time on some details. Then there's the experience factor. While his fresh approach can result in innovation, the 55-footer, for instance, is running over budget, in part because of misunderstandings that, with more experience, he may have avoided.

Take comfort. You're not alone. This article cites Paul Bieker as an up-and-coming force on the world-wide yacht design scene.

48&#176; North - Paul Bieker Interview