RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
[color=#000099][b] Hi specialK,[/b][/color] Cool, when you get this one on the water & get ready to build the next one, surely keep us updated. [b] [color=#000066]Dauntless Captains: [/color][size=3][/size][/b] [color=#0033FF]Yesterday, I was approved by the family archive center to research Dauntless. [/color] [color=#000066]Tomorrow, I have an appointment at the reading room to sit down & examine all the photos taken of Dauntless while she was in LSR’s possession. [/color] [X(] [color=#FF0033]I feel like a child the day before Christmas![/color] [sm=biggrin.gif] -Rich.
Posted on: 11/4/2009 10:08 AM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9227417

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
Hi Mike, Glassing is not so bad when you get the hang of it; it is just a little messy. Since Dauntless, I have done lots of glassing for surfboard repairs. (Surfing is one of my other hobbies.)[sm=shades_smile.gif] Here is a quickie on how I would tackle it: Before glassing, put the dry cloth over the hull, mark with a thin marker, pen or something, then cut the cloth how you want it. There is a good possibility that you might have to cut the cloth on the keel near the bow to get the cloth form correctly in that area. Once the cloth fits, remove it & mix up some resin. Apply a coat of resin over the area to be glassed, evenly. A paint brush is the best way to apply it. Apply the cloth. Use something to comb the cloth to the resin and get any air bubbles out while it soakes up the resin. There might be a plastic squeegee thing included with the resin kit to do it, if not, old credit cards or similar will do the trick. Old credit cards ROCK for this application! Start from the keel and comb or squeegee outward; just make sure that the cloth does not move from its position, but if it does, it is wet & can be adjusted. Make sure that the glass is wetted and there are no dry spots underneath.. After the glass is combed and all air bubbles are gone, and there are no dry areas under the cloth, apply a coat of resin over the cloth. The cloth should really disappear with this coat. Use the paintbrush to even out the resin before it dries. Also, gravity will want to do its thing, so don't put a thick coat on the cloth. This will save you time in excess sanding and an uneven finish later on.[:)] *Tip: Don’t install the spray rails before glassing. It will be a huge pain in the a** to glass over them. Save that step until after all the glassing and sanding is done. After the bottom is done, move onto the sides, just repeat the steps. Although it was advised, I did not glass the cabins. I used epoxy instead. It kind of worked out for me because there was so much shaping involved that I would have gone through the glass anyway. It does take a lot of work to even out the epoxy coates. When you do lots of sanding, sometimes it may seem to be coming out perfect and then you hit a small air pocket which creates flaws (pits) in the finish. Then you have to go back and fill & sand each flaw until they are all gone which is time consuming. This is avoided by glassing. If you are not going to shape the cabins, but build it stock, consider glassing them. Hopefully this will help you a bit. [;)] -Rich.
Posted on: 11/3/2009 2:04 PM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9225003

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
Captains, There is a better way to avoid all of the glassing on Dauntless! Frame it out using Dumas bulkheads & instead of planking the exterior in wood, substitute it with aluminum. Use epoxy resin to fill the gaps and drill small holes where the aluminum plank gets epoxied to the bulkhead frames. The resin will fill the small holes in the aluminum plate and work like rivits. Then, use Epoxy to fill only the seams and sand even. Now, the hull will be ready for paint because the aluminum is already finished. The hull will be the same material as the full sized original and collectible wise, it will be much more valuable than the wood counterpart. This should take a fraction of time needed to glass, sand and even out a wood hull. One of the many things that I have learned during this rebuild is that aluminum and epoxy resin work really well together. One day, one day![:D] -Rich.
Posted on: 11/3/2009 12:05 PM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9225097

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
SpecialK, Very nice! [sm=shades_smile.gif] Tell us more about your Dauntless! Do you have any pictures sailing her? -Rich.
Posted on: 11/3/2009 11:41 AM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9225048

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
Update, Moving right along. The molding is ready for paint which will happen when it is not raining. [:o] I am off to the next segment. I am now taking measurements of all the windows and writing down the measurements and fine tuning each window. Next, is to cut out each window from thin crystal clear plexi, fit in each window & set aside. Then, the frames will be made up and be installed. The frames are going to be made from a thin durable plastic and painted with the cabins. When the window frames are made, the frames for the 7 louvers will also be made up & installed. I am hoping to have it all done within the next week. The "glass" will be installed after the cabins and frames are painted. -Rich.
Posted on: 10/31/2009 4:26 PM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9218059

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
Hi Whitewolf, Unfortunately, I don't have any programs to draw up what I am doing. I still have more to add to the unit. What is shown above is the exterior portion of the unit. There will also be an interior portion installed as well. Once it all comes together, hopefully it will make more sense. [8|] -Rich.
Posted on: 10/26/2009 12:12 AM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9201398

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
[b]Hi Whitewolf,[/b] Here are some additional pictures of the molding. This is to show the detail of the 3 moldings and how they come together. It was hard to photograph them, but hopefully these will work. [b] Hi Mike, Welcome aboard! [/b] To answer your questions: Yes, It is best to glass the deck. It is quicker to get a clean finish on a glassed deck than on an epoxied/resined deck, which may require multiple layers of resin and tons sanding to get it smooth like glass. It may seem longer to cut the glass to fit over the decks initially, but the amount of time saved in sanding later on makes up for it. I also found that following the glassing instructions provided by Dumas was a pretty good way to go. I had never glassed before Dauntless and the instructions helped me get through it without any mishaps. -Rich.
Posted on: 10/25/2009 12:31 PM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9200633

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
Hi Captains, I happened to run across this on youtube. It is not Dauntless, but the Commuter Aphrodite. I knew it would be a matter of time before someone would custom make one in RC. This is a beauty! http://www.youtube.com/user/JimsBoats#p/a -Rich.
Posted on: 10/22/2009 3:22 PM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9193891

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
Oh yeah, right, The above pictures also show off some of the blue finish & the painted boot stripe. Over the weekend I have some touch ups to do to get the boot stripe transition perfectly even on both sides. I have figured out a way on "making it" over the chine so that any angle you look at the transition, the stripe looks correct and flows. Now I know why boat companies don't use external chines anymore: What a P.I.A.![:D] -Rich.
Posted on: 10/22/2009 11:53 AM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9193452

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
Hi Whitewolf and Captains, [b]Here is how the 3 piece molding was implemented on Dauntless.[/b] I will edit this “how to� and add the sizes of the wood strips, and an additional picture or 2 for reference. [b]Molding 1: epoxied to the cabin. Molding 2: epoxied to the hull Molding 3: epoxied to the top side of molding 1 but flush against and resting on molding 2.[/b] There were 3 moldings used, each were a different size. Moldings 2 and 3 can be the same size, but I thought molding 3 looked better being a bit smaller than molding 2, but that is just an opinion. Moldings 2 and 3 should not be taller than molding 1. The moldings I chose for 2 and 3 were the same height as molding 1 when put together. Pictures one & two are of molding 1. This molding was epoxied to the cabin. We will refer to it as molding 1 Pictures 3 & 4 are of the 1/8� wood strip that got epoxied to the hull. (We will call it molding 2). I took molding 2, placed it against molding 1 and traced molding 2 with a pencil onto the hull. Afterwards, I used painters tape to tape off the rest of the deck so that epoxy will not get onto the painted deck. At this point, the only part of the deck exposed was the 1/8� wide area that the molding will be glued to. Next, I mixed up epoxy, dipped the wood strip and my fingers tips in it, and lightly and evenly coated the Molding 2 on all 4 sides. It was important not to glob it on, just enough to lightly coat the strip evenly. This is so that afterwards I can sand the un-adhered sides and have them close to or paint ready. Then I placed the molding onto the deck pushing firmly against the cabin side using cling wrap as a separator. The Cling wrap began inside the cabin and was draped over the cabin sides. Once the wood strip was in place and beginning to bond, I took a spray bottle of rubbing alcohol and sprayed my fingers and wiped with a paper towel. (Rubbing alcohol removes epoxy instantly from skin.) Than I went back and continued to push the hull molding against the cabin side and hull making sure it set in without any gaps. After molding 2 was cured, I carefully tore away the cling wrap and removed the cabin from the hull. Then I removed the rest of the Cling Wrap and lightly sanded any excess epoxy and cling wrap stuck to the molding with 400 grit sandpaper. Once molding 2 was lightly sanded and cleaned, the cabins were put back on and inspected. Next up was molding 3 seen in pictures 5-6. (I will be sure to take more detailed pictures) I used Cling Wrap again, this time it was draped over the deck to keep molding 3 from adhering to molding 2. This molding gets epoxied to molding 1. I mixed up some epoxy, dipped in my finger tips, and lightly coated all four sides of the molding. I pressed molding 3 against the corner of molding 1 and molding 2 and held it there until it adhered to molding 1. Soon after, it was dry. After molding 3 was done, I carefully removed the cling wrap, and carefully lifted off the cabins being sure to not tear away the new molding. Once the cabins were removed, I removed any cling wrap stuck to the molding and lightly sanded the molding smooth and removing small bits of cling wrap and excess epoxy. Then, I carefully placed the cabins onto the hull. The cabins are now perfectly fitted to the hull, but I am not done. I re-taped leaving a small seam between the deck and bottom corner of molding 2. This will stretch the length of the molding. (Fore & aft) both port and starboard. Then, I will mix up another batch of epoxy, using my finger and rub it in the corner of molding 2 going the length of the cabins. I am doing this for 2 reasons. One is, I want to add a little bit more reinforcement to the molding. Two is, I don’t want the molding to look tacked on; I want to remove the sharp corner between the deck and the corner of the molding to give it a bit more of a natural look. Finally, the moldings will be painted grey. Here are the tools used: • 3 wood strips, preferably basswood. • Painters tape • 5 minute epoxy • Glad Cling Wrap **Rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle and paper towels (to clean hands) optional, but good for other build uses. Tip: Wood Strips come in 24� lengths. The forecastle is not perfectly straight, but bends inward toward the bow. To keep the wood strip manageable cut it in half or 12�. This will help you keep it exactly where you want it without relying on an extra set of hands. -Rich.[;)]
Posted on: 10/22/2009 11:13 AM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9193350

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
Hi Whitewolf & Captains, Here are the pictures of the molding assembly. I will take some more so that you can see the double molding on the cabin & how it fits to the hull molding. -Rich.
Posted on: 10/22/2009 9:09 AM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9192179

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
Hi Whitewolf, The deck was designed to be walked on and the deck hand/crew would use it to go fore and aft so it had to be level. If it were sloped, it would be dangerous. It may seem narrow in some areas but it was a valid walkway. The top of the cabins had the nice stain moldings that doubled as a railing so the deck hand would hold on and not slip. Walking into the main cabin to go fore especially when the owner was present was out of the question. -Rich.
Posted on: 10/21/2009 11:46 AM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9190756

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
Hi Whitewolf, I agree, a bunch of months ago, I was about to tear my deck apart to make it level, but the re work would be insane so I left it. Consider it a blessing in disguise![;)] Sleep tight! -Rich.
Posted on: 10/21/2009 11:33 AM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9190723

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
Hi Whitewolf, Personally, I wouldn’t bother adding the slope because it was not on the original yacht. I don’t think it is worth all the extra re work. If you decide to implement the 3 part molding, water entering the hull should not be an issue. Another thing that may be beneficial is filling in the gap between the hull and the cabin. Once the hull is built you will see what I mean. There are places where there is a gap between the cabins and the hull. I used wood coffee stirrers to fill those gaps. On some places, I had to go 2-3 stirrers deep to fill it. I also used some mighty putty to further fill some seams as well. That, along with the 1/8� interlocking molding should keep out water. I documented the hull/cabin gap filling on the earlier pages of the rebuild. (See post 316 on page 13, 16th post down) on this forum for pictures. Tonight, I will empty my camera here so you will see what I mean. This should give you good visuals on the process. This will also work on AE and many other builds that feature removable cabins. I am not totally done with mine yet. The process took a few days to do so far. Patience is key because it is important to have the hull molding tightly fitted to the cabin moldings to get it to look like a single piece and work. The slightest gap between moldings can potentially let water in, so take your time and get it tight. [;)] The results will be worth it. -Rich.
Posted on: 10/21/2009 10:28 AM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9190585

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
Hey Whitewolf, If you are able to get the shims in, surely do it, if you can’t, then don’t. Below I may have an easy solution just implemented on my boat over the last few days that may help. When I originally built the yacht, I have made similar mistakes building the hull that in some cases it would be too much work even for me to fix. I made the mistake of not using the 1/20 shims, but 1/8� instead. I contemplated shaving it all level, but I decided to leave it, giving the boat a little extra water runoff. [sm=confused_smile.gif] Now that I am attempting to make a replica, (who whoudda thunk) I have thought of revisiting it a couple of times during the rebuild, but it would be way too much of a hassle to fix, reverberating the importance of following Dumas’s instructions. This may inspire me to build a new hull in the future, but I would substitute the wood exterior planks for aluminum and transfer everything from this hull to that one.. I will call it: Dauntless overhaul X treme, the final chapter. [:)] Busy season at work is over so I resumed on the boat. The water line is done, but still needs minor touch ups on the red and the blue at the waterline. Then I will show it off here. In the meantime, I have been working on a way to keep water from entering the inside of the yacht via the seam between the cabin and hull. This will be of interest to you Whitewolf, and all others for that matter. I mentioned earlier that Dauntless had a single molding or shim resting on the cabin lower corner and the hull. It would be considered a one piece molding. Dumas instructs us to use 1/8� strips in that area. I think the strips I used ended up being something like 1/20� there, hmm I wonder where those came from…[:)] Anyway, after those were installed, I epoxied 1/8� wood strips right against it, but to the hull, not the cabin. I used very thin cling wrap seperating them to keep the glue from adhering to the cabin. After that was done, I used a smaller wood strip. I have to find out the size, but it is really thin basswood that now rests ON TOP of the 1/8� strip, but is actually epoxied to the 1/20� strip on the cabin side. So, I put clingwrap on the 1/8" molding to keep glue from adhering to it. This is a 3 piece molding that is perfectly tapered and looks like a single piece when the cabins are on the hull. All I have to do now is paint it grey, except for the small top part of the cabin molding which will be painted white. This molding system should do a good job at keeping water out of the hull and still look good. This unit is a little wider that Dumas's suggestion, and extends out a bit further than the one on the full sized Dauntless, but it has a special job to do: To keep water out of the hull. [sm=stupid.gif] I am also going to create something on the other side of the sill as a plan B, but I have a feeling that the out side molding should be suffice. -Rich.
Posted on: 10/20/2009 5:35 PM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9188889

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
Hi Whitewolf, When it comes to frame and hull assembly, follow Dumas’s plans EXACTLY the way they describe them. Read the instructions for each part a couple of times to let it sink in real good and go for it. D-1 and D-2 should be put on before the hull sides as Dumas’s suggestion Also, do everything you can to make sure all planks are secured to each frame. If you are soaking Dumas’s mahogany ply, up to 24 hrs should be more than plenty of time to have it bend ready.. If you soak it overnight, try to lightly bend it the next morning and see if it is ready. If not, let it soak longer. The Dumas mahogany ply will not delaminate after you soak it. I haven’t used Balsa anywhere on my boat so I’m not sure how long it would take to soak it. For Balsa, treat it the same way as other wood, soak it overnight and check it in the morning & soak as necessary until it bends. Basswood is a good wood for soaking & bending! So, cutting off the cross members wasn’t the best idea this early in the game, but could you carefully go on without them? As long as you are careful not to break the frames they should be ok. This is of coarse assuming that you are using the supplied mahogany and not balsa replacements. If not, The only thing I can think of is, as you mentioned is re bracing them. There should be plenty of Dumas mahogany scrap to pull this off. Try to cut off ¼� strip by X amount of inches long to cover the length of the frame. Then epoxy the cross member back to the frame and cut them off after the hull is built. You might be able to use the original cross members, just epoxy them back with a little piece of mahogany scrap bridging the cross member to the frame. 2 pieces of scrap on each side should do the trick. Well, I hope that helps a bit! Werdon: Congrats on your Tow Truck, I checked it out today, great job! -Rich. [;)]
Posted on: 10/18/2009 10:34 PM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9184044

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
Hi Chuck, Cool job on the radar drive! Show us more! Chuck & all... Today I was able to work on Dauntless for the first time this week. I spent the day playing around with the boot stripe. Between pinstriping, fussing with the chine transition, taping the top and botton of the stripe and prepping the entire yacht for paint, it took all day. I didn't take too many pictures with each step, but my wife took some pictures of me painting it this evening. And here is a picture of the Lettering and a little of the grey deck! More to come soon![;)] Enjoy! -Rich.
Posted on: 10/11/2009 8:05 PM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9164806

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
Hi Whitewolf, That is an interesting story! I like that sort of stuff. For the Canopy Support, I don’t think it went to the middle of the deck. It was more likely fixed to the transom, but for the model it would make sense to have it somewhere on the deck so that there is no disassembling each time the cabins are removed. Perhaps on the deck against the transom wall would be a better place for it. The doors & hatches will be a nice addition, even if they are static. On the model and even in the dumas blue prints there are hints. There is an indication on the wall where the hatch and door was placed going into the owner’s cabin. The sliding hatch was on the roof. Dumas has you put 2 wood strips going parallel, the length of the owner’s cabin which was an indicator of the sliding hatch track. I think they also instruct you to cut wood scrap and glue for the static sliding hatches. I believe they actually got the measurements right on those. The door going into the owner’s cabin from the bridge deck were double swung louvered doors. They swung out toward the bridge deck. The door on the cockpit aft was a single door that swung inwards. Both can be made static. As far as the radar mast goes, I have some ideas. This is not on the Dumas instruction, but there was a detail at the base of the mast which could give you a place to hide the motor. Check out the Dauntless side profile from the write up I sent you and posted here a few weeks ago and look at the mast. At the foot of the mast there was what looks like a small cruise ship funnel thingy at the base of the mast. It actually was used to draw air into the engine room. It was not round, but more horse-collar shaped. That could be a good place to house the motor if you want to go the extra mile. If you don’t want to do that, “Pusar� had a working radar on his Dauntless in the early pages here. His suggestion seems practical. Here is his Radar detail. [link]http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_4688536/mpage_7/key_/tm.htm[/link] Edit: I like editing![:)] -Rich.
Posted on: 10/10/2009 3:41 PM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9161800

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
For your reading edification, This is property where Dauntless’s owner Laurance was raised and lived when Dauntless was built. This property stretches 3400 acres from Pocantico hills, Sleepy Hollow and into Tarrytown. When Dauntless was built, Laurance lived in a resident mansion on the Tarrytown side of the property, hence her port of call. It is also likely that Dauntless was docked on part of the property near or on the Hudson. The property is still owned by the Rockefeller family today & this place is simply amazing. It is called KYKUIT, if you want to look into it some more. The best pictures are posted on Flikr. [link]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kykuit[/link] -Rich.
Posted on: 10/9/2009 11:49 AM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9159088

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
Hi Captains, I spoke to the gentleman at Bedlam. He keeps a copy of the specs of all the decals he makes up for customers. If you decide to order the lettering, just refer to the decal made up for Richard's yacht Dauntless, that says: "Dauntless of Tarrytown." They charge a one time set up fee on all new orders, but because the lettering is now existing, the set up fee will be waived, saving you some money! If you decide to change up the lettering, then a set up fee will be applied, which is like $5.00 or something like that. The general sizing of the lettering & text was based on the full sized Dauntless's lettering. If you want, you can keep the sizing, but change the port of call to your own home town if you want to personalize it. Also, the text can be changed as well to script, calligraphy, or anything you want. Personally, I think gold calligraphy would look beautiful across the stern. Also, the color combination can be anything you want, I had them duplicate the exact gold color found on the Commuter Aphrodite because it looked so darned good, and because gold lettering was commonly used on commuters. The sky is the limit as far as modifying it goes, so have fun with it, the back of your yacht will look awesome! There are a few of you building Dauntless's, so the first captain to get his/her boat launch ready will get a decal from me for free. All I ask is that you update us with your progresses, post a picture of your build from time to time, and post pictures and updates of the yacht being sailed thereafter. But, if you decide to customize your own lettering for Dauntless, by all means, go for it. -Rich.
Posted on: 10/9/2009 10:28 AM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9158954

RE: dumas chris craft leak
Hi Berniejorn, Run a small test first. First, remove the cabin, etc so that you can get a good visual inside the hull. Inspect it for obvious hull damage, etc. If the hull looks ok, then fill up a bathtub with water and place the hull in the tub. Push down on the hull just so that the boats waterline is submerged, then start looking for leaks. Usually, the main culprits are usually the prop shaft or the rudder shaft. Once the pressure is applied, it won't take long to find out where it is coming from. Let me know how it goes.[;)] Good luck. -Rich.
Posted on: 10/8/2009 9:45 PM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Boats General Discussion"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9157814

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
Update, A bunch of things were recently done behind the scenes. The blue was done over, again and finally. After that mishap with the custom blue and the Krylon primer, my world was turned upside down. I have never had problems with automotive paint adhering to Krylon primer. Besides, that is how the hull was originally painted. It was Krylon primer and Cadillac Champagne pearl paint. It looked great and lasted 10 years,when I decided to change the color to the “Dauntless� blue color scheme. Special thanks to Krylon for changing their formula and not indicating it on the can!! The guy in the paint store was spot on that the rustoleum paint would fix the mishap. But, the boat looked like a piece of shiny blue glass. Gorgeous for a racing boat, but did not cut it for a scale boat. Sanding it & using a compatible clear coat was a pain in the arse and I did not like the way it looked. There were too many inconsistencies. Finally, after wanting to strangle the paint guy, I happened to find Krylon Fusion Satin Navy Blue in another store. I went back to the store with the “paint specialist� and he agreed that it would work over the Ruso paint. I went back to the other store, bought the Satin blue and a can of Krylon Satin clear coat as well. The clear coat is only for covering the transom only after the decal was applied. Again, I made sure it was compatible before buying. I went home, removed the white pinstripe, taped the hull and painted it Satin Navy Blue. It is gorgeous compared to the other Rustoleum job seen above. That night, after it was dry, (it dries 15 minutes or less) I gave it a few hours, I removed the tape, re-taped and sprayed on the Satin grey. Now things were getting interesting. What a difference the grey makes, I couldn't have picked a better grey!, especially with the rub rail is also painted grey contrasting the blue. The boat now looks like a million bucks! I am too much of a perfectionist to leave it the other way, so I felt I had to do it and am glad I did. I applied the lettering 2 days ago. I let it set 24 hrs and applied the clear coat as directed over the lettering. It too came out perfect. I am going to lightly sand the transom with 1000 grit sandpaper and give it another coat or 2 followed by compound & wax. This is just to make it mirror perfect. I was thinking about the pinstripe boot stripe. I have come too far to just pinstripe it. Rather, I will pinstripe again, but only as a guide. I will use painters tape to tape above and below the pinstripe, remove the pinstripe, lightly sand, clean and shoot it with white paint, remove tape. Then the boot stripe will really be done. Last night I worked on 2 things. 1) I began replacing the molding between the hull and the cabin side. I did not think the 1/8X1/8 looked natural and after seeing an old picture of Dauntless I found that there was a molding there as previously mentioned. I though it was stained, but after digging further, I found it was painted after all. Once I saw the wood size and thickness used on the original yacht, it dawned on me that I have that same type of wood in my endless stockpile of wood strips. It is something like 1/16� wide X 2/16� tall or 2/16 X 3/16�, something like that. I fit it on the side of the boat, compared it to the picture and I had a match. Then, I placed Cling wrap down on the hull, put the cabins on, and then epoxied the wood strips in place. So far I did 3 out of 4 wood strips. I had to correct a small flaw found near one of the the galley windows, so the epoxy had to set & dry. That will be where the 4th strip will go. Next I will lightly coat the outer wood with epoxy and sand smooth. The top part of the wood strip will be painted white, the sides, which is the bulk of it will be painted grey to match the hull. The wood strip on the full sized Dauntless was actually a two part piece. Mentioned above is the first part. Then there was a smaller strip that was tapered against it. I decided not to epoxy this strip to the main strip, but rather the hull. Then it will be lightly coated with epoxy, sanded & painted grey. Then, it will match her big sister. For the model, this will also make it more difficult for water to seep in. 2)The second thing I did last night was begin making the sliding unit for over the owner’s cabin. This will be for the sliding hatches. I will go more into detail with that at a later time. Well, that is all for now, but lots more to come.[;)] BTW: Edit: I changed a word with a better one...[:)] -Rich.
Posted on: 10/8/2009 10:38 AM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9154048

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
Hi Whitewolf, The amonia solution doesn't need to be something to salvage afterwards, just pour it down the drain when you are done. If you fill your tub with it, your whole place will stink to high hell. Just use some aluminum foil to make up a makeshift holder for the wood. Curve up the foil so that it does not spill out. You don't need much, just a small puddle or enough to soak the wood. Then wrap it up in the foil and leave overnight. Then the wood should be ready for bending. I hope this helps. -Rich.
Posted on: 10/7/2009 4:42 PM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9154452

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
Hi Whitewolf and captains, I would rather not accept cash, but would rather give away the remaining lettering for free![sm=idea.gif] Hold on! Don’t PM me yet guys! Before anyone goes ahead and order lettering on your own, let me put together a little something that will be fair to give each of you a chance to obtain the ones that I don't use on my sheet. I am still putting together the details so hopefully it will be fun & inspire you to finish your Dauntless...hint hint. There won’t be enough for everyone, but at least each of you will have a fair shot on getting it for free. Once I finish putting together the info, I will post it here.[sm=shades_smile.gif] **Also, I don't have any issues with anyone ordering the lettering from Bedlam. I will send them an e-mail letting them know to save the specs for possible future orders. Whitewolf, On another note, On the mahogany ply, to bend it, I boiled water on my stove, took a hot sponge with a set of BBQ tongs and wet the wood as it sat across the pot. the idea was to moisten the wood and steam it. It bent a lot easier that way. That is how I got that bottom planking to conform to the bow. If you have one, you can also use an electric steam activated wallpaper remover. And last but not least, if you don't want to get burned, soak the wood overnight in ammonia or windex with ammonia. It is easy enough to wet it real good in amonia and wrap it shut in aluminum foil, just to dampen the nasty smell a bit & leave it overnight. The Mahogany ply will then bend easy. (Possibly the best and safest bet) -Rich.
Posted on: 10/5/2009 6:02 PM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9149167

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
Greetings Captains, For the most part, the paint came out good but on certain edges where it was taped there were some flaws. This was my fault because the razor I used was dull and the tape was on longer than it should have been, so I will have to make corrections, no biggie. When I go home tonight, I am going to give the hull a good compound. Afterwards, touch up the blue/red where needed, re compound those areas; wax & she should be ready for the next color. To speed things up and cheat a bit, I decided not to paint the boot stripe in place. This is going to require hours of additional work. Instead, I am going to use white automotive pinstripe and clear coat over it. This way, it is quick, neat and I can focus my energy toward getting the cabins ready. With that said, I am also trying to get the cabins ready as well, so hopefully if I don’t get stuck working late this week or weekend, they should be ready for a coat of paint as well by the weekend. If I am done fine tuning the cabins, I am going to make up all the windows from Plexiglas and fit them in place. Then I will remove the plexi, and begin making all the frames. Once the frames are done, louver fames included, they will be glued in place, painted white, then the cabins can get ready to be painted satin white & grey. Also here is a picture of the floor protected with polyurethane. This was done just before I wrapped the hull for painting so I did not get to show you all. Here are those pictures. Enjoy! -Rich.
Posted on: 10/4/2009 10:35 PM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9112936

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
Hi Whitewolf, You have a really good point, there could have been a portable ladder aboard, perhaps a boarding ladder! It would make sense to have one due to her size. I don't have any information pointing to one on Dauntless, but that does not mean it was not there. Perhaps it will reveal itself later as new info slowly trickles in. I agree, the details such as radar mast, life raft and all that good stuff can be started at any time, so go for it!! There was the dinghy and the life raft, I read up on the life raft a while ago. It looks like the same one used on the deck of the PT boats. Then I studied how the real ones were made during WWII. Believe it or not, those military life rafts were made of balsa, then covered in canvas. Talk about simple. I have to check if the Life raft was grey or orange. If it was orange, I have a cool idea for it. I found an orange life vest on the beach a while back in good condition, I stripped it down for the fabric. I might make up the raft in balsa & wrap it in the orange canvas material using a waterproof glue. The life rings on the side of Dauntless were actually bigger than the castings provided with the kit, so I was thinking of scratch building them and make them removable. -Rich.
Posted on: 10/4/2009 10:34 PM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9104219

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
Dauntless captains, On another note, the top of the hull & rub rails were painted grey, and sometime this week, the lettering will be applied.[;)] -Rich.
Posted on: 10/4/2009 10:23 PM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9146977

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
Thanx Don & Butch! Butch, I knew that if I could do a great job at really messing something up, it would be trying to tackle the lettering on my own. Being that I am no artist, it was better off to let the pro’s do it. Every detail in the lettering was done EXACTLY to my specifications so they were "on the money" on getting it right. The lettering was pricey @ $40.00 USD for the sheet. Was it worth 40 bucks?, well soon see. I have 4 try's to get it right, so hopefully it will be done right on the first shot![;)] Dauntless’s lettering was done here: [link]http://www.bedlamcreations.com[/link] Good luck on obtaining the patent! It is cool that you are bringing your boat to that level. Let me know how it goes! -Rich.
Posted on: 10/4/2009 7:53 PM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9146544

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
Hi Captains, I just put the boot stripe on Dauntless. Next, I will spray the blue paint & boot stripe with a layer of clear coat. Once the clear coat is applied on this coat, the paint will no longer look dull. Once that is dry, the lettering goes on. Then, one light coat over the lettering. Finally, the gray paint gets applied. -Rich.
Posted on: 10/1/2009 11:07 PM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9140230

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
Hi WhiteWolf, [b]Quote: Ah well... now if only they would make channel upgrades like Robbe has done for years much more easy to do, and more economical. Also the control stick alterations. Saw a dual-throttle control stick for a Robbe on eBay, and they guy wanted $100 for it (thats the twin-stick pot-assembly alone, nothing else)[/b] It is an expensive unit. I am surprised that other companies did not make it for less. Robbe has something of a monopoly with the twin stick gig. The radio cost $300.00 and all you get is a standard radio with the twin stick. They also sell all the bells & whistles for it but expect to pay. Just for the optional switches, it can run you from 100-300+ dollars depending on which options you want. They make it simple to install onto the radio and look natural. It is pretty cool, but the price to play is crazy. -Rich.
Posted on: 9/30/2009 2:18 PM by Author "Rich404" in the forum "RC Scale Boating"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9136181