Scratch built ribs and outboards

Neptune ribs in Ireland
Realised there's no straps to hold on to even though I had given it a lot of thought as to how to make them. Think I will make a jig so all four look the same. I had a practice at making one, needs to be a little wider, but works well.

 

Neptune ribs in Ireland
Got an hour in the workshop so made up four hand grips . I can get them glued on tomorrow.

 

Neptune ribs in Ireland
I cut out a template from the same Dacron and used it to get the glue in the right place. Then pulling tight I lowered the grips the into place, only one chance to get it right.

 

I forgot to add these even though I had given a lot of thought on how I could make them. So its short strips of telephone wire trapped inside the dacron. Pushed into a cardboard jig quite fidley to do.

 

      

Neptune ribs in Ireland

Out on the water yesterday having fun, video to follow soon. Need to go to stage 2 regarding water getting in, guess it wasn't the engine mount. I can add some screws to the rear panel it needs to be water tight. Plenty of pictures because I am trying out my new tablet so seeing how many it can handle in one go, 8 no problem.

 

Neptune ribs in Irela nd

at on board shots taken from the latest video which I will be putting on U tube soon. I thought it was good but Paul said there a lot of issues with zooming in to see the skier. I can make provision for the camera to mount on the rear bench seat and I used to have a short tow rope made specially for filming if I can find it. Now the skies are getting brighter over England we should be able to increase the colour intensity, so future films should start to look better too. Alina can get her monoski dusted off from the winter break and have her first tow behind the new rib.

 

I have finally plucked up the courage to change these joints, why didn't I do them like this in the first place. Reason is this vinyl is not flexible which is why I've left some green sticky tape on overnight .Its a long job getting all the old stuff off its well stuck.

 

Neptune ribs in Ireland

I too have been away, walking holiday in the Yorkshire dales with my son and his wife. They rescued this dog 3 weeks ago when she could hardly walk, now she's doing 3 miles. Amazing recovery and such a friendly dog too. Photo, it wouldn't be Yorkshire without fish and chips and a pint after a long walk
Back to boating, I have printed two sides and glued them to the rear panel to make it waterproof. Then I filled in the holes either side with plastic filler, to be painted. Then I masked off the arch support to add white ct1. Which I first squeezed into a syringe to get a small outlet. So I was able to add a very thin bead.
This was another possible source of water getting in, but I had been reluctant to seal it because one false move and the covering would be ruined.

 

Lovely dog! So good you saved him!

 

Neptune ribs in Ireland

Recovering more joints, but I did have to redo 2 because the glue hadn't dried properly. Maybe it was just too cold so this time I have brought it indoors next to a radiator, hope this helps. It needs to be ready to take to Harrogate show tomorrow, its a 2 day show Friday and Saturday, but we have to set it up early

I did seal the other side of the arch to the tubes and made a better job of it than the other one. I found a tin of enamel in my collection that was pretty close so I used it for the flat area from filling.

 

Neptune ribs. No show got snowed in. So spent some time waterproofing the rear area.

 

2nd vc jet underway, stainless Steel shaft packed with grease

 

Sweet!
It is such a simple type of drive.
Making it work reliable though is a challenge, especially with the amount of power you are using!

 

Jet outboard
Here she is assembled, my third jet outboard. All I need to do is get the Yamaha lettering on the cowl . So I should be able to get it on the speed boat and give it a run tomorrow. (Prototype then number 2, now number 3)

 

Looks great!
What is the reason for a new cowl?

 

It's the prototype 's cowl...finish not brilliant...so I warmed up the lettering and peeled it off. Then a rub down, filled, and another rub down, much better.

 

Amazing how the relative slim outboard support can handle the sheer water jet-power of 2.0 kW!

 

It has stress cracks in it, how did you know I need to make a thicker one.

 

I see spray coming out of the volute at among other 3:40 minutes in the video.
Slow motion is a great tool for discovering these issues in detail. When you are controlling your model I never notice these kind of details! Too busy not to collide in anything
Every leak is a loss of overall propulsion efficiency. You are still progressing with this design! Keep up the good work!