MiToS re-built/fit- versilcraft Mystery43

[vas]

thank you all for the kind words, sorry for the v.late update, I'll answer the Qs and post an update on work done (but I need to try harder to catch up...)

Mitos is a fantastic looking craft and just standing on the dock and thinking " I did that " must give a great feeling of satisfaction . Well done now time to enjoy .

true especially as I'm coming back from the office and I can see her from the distance from the bow. Pics don't do her justice, only got one half decent (need a tele lens and never seem to carry my Nikon, so all pics are from the phone)

Great pic of you. Are you pissed off, or anxious? There must have been a million thoughts going through your head with what could potentially go wrong.

spot on, I think it was the day of the first launch and yes it was a stressful day for sure.

Wow! I've come late to the party and just caught up. I admire your grit in taking up this challenge and seeing it through. Some of those early photo's... I think I may have given in. Well done!

there was no such option, i've embarked in a few difficult and time consuming projects, as Pete says I'm fairly optimistic on time to complete (and I'm always way off the mark!) but the satisfaction of putting something right and enjoying it is immense.

one more time, many congrats Vas,
this is a big milestone for Mitos, for this thread and for You !

now you can start having periods of fun onboard using her, alternated with periods of working on upgrades and or mods, thats what I'm used at ;-)
...
and not to forget your family, they didn't enjoy much of your presence at home the past 5 years ;-)
I hope from now on, they will often be with you onboard, and have fun time together !

very true Bart, wife was getting close to kicking me out, but all is reversed now. Being silently carrying out a few upgrades, very handy as I can walk from home to the office and steal an hour or so in the morning or early afternoon to do some work

V, Great to see the launch and MiToS floating. A bit of a PITA having a water leak and the fuelling problem & leaks, but after such a massive amount of work those are really minor issues to deal with! Lovely to see hard work pay off. Congratulations.

all sorted now, was annoying, but as you say not much compared to the rebuilt that took place.

I prescribe a season of boating, rest and recuperation now before you start on the next one...

thank you doctor...
BTW, it's interesting to note that whilst I really worked physically v.hard during the summer, other than plain exhaustion I was feeling fine.
ONCE MiToS was in the water for a week and after the first couple of trips and the subsequent confidence building, I started realising that various parts of my body aren't in top condition. Left foot still hurts (haven't got a fcking clue what I've done to it!) and both elbows started hurting, became seriously swollen for over a month, couldn't even touch them, and over the last 3 weeks they are slowing becoming normal (and stopped aching) So yes, stress over, and the various subsystems start complaining and demand attention...
Most important of all the right shoulder that was royally fckd up years ago (on the Fiat Coupe engine tuning...) and a tendon is hurting badly even three months after...

Absolutely +1!
Just curious, V: judging by the trailer length, it looks like they could handle also much longer boats.
Do you have an idea of up to which boat size they launched with it?

Mike and P,

why do you think the launching is hairy? They've been doing it like that for donks, never had a boat drop or fail. Over the 4yrs I was by the slip watching most launches and retrievals other than some funny incidents, haven't seen anything really dodgy.
P., they have pulled a 60ft steel SD boat and a couple of 55 to 65ft GRP planning hulls with no probs. Liftout of such large and heavy vessels means that after the initial balancing and sorting, the massive winch at the end of the boatyard is employed with a thick wirerope and a large pulley. Eases the weight and the poor tractor can get the work done.

Just noticed this thread and scrolled back to the first picture - golly that was four years' ago. I'll bet you've had a few blue moments since then as you looked out across that stone pier, To-Do list in hand!

Anyhow, a truly remarkable achievement and I'm sure she'll repay you in spades for putting her back where she belongs :encouragement:

the point is to be optimistic dom (and I'm not!), persistent and stubborn I am and it does help as well

I think Vas made it through the 4 years as in his mind he was only a month a way from launch!

you are horribly wrong, I was on that mood only after the second year on the hard


Now I still owe you lot a separate thread on the maiden voyage, but I need a few hours to sort pics and do it, so don't hold your breath, but will eventually appear. So this post is the final update with some more work carried out with MiToS on the hard. Next installments will be with MiToS floating.

As I mentioned in a previous post, there was a small (but constant) leak from the spot where PO had installed the genny inlet. Spot was selected so badly that there was JUST enough clearance for the seacock (was obviously stuck open) and an elbow to the hose that went to the pump. No strainer whatsoever (no space for it) so all grit and mess went straight to the pump. Don't know if that's related but ended up rebuilding the pump which was so worn out, bearing and seals gone that couldn't lift water 30cm to get it to the pump...
Anyway, when I did that patch (sometime during August) i'd run out of the creamy epoxy I'd used on jobs like that so I mixed some of the liquid one and added microfibres and some other powder to thicken it. I obviously didn't do a decent job of it as when bolted the scarfed edges of the patch down epoxy wasn't smoothly squashed filling all the gaps. There were a few really minute hairthickness gaps through which water was coming in. These revealed larger gaps in the epoxy as I sanded the patch down trying to figure out what's wrong (once out on the hard the day after)
Took me an awful lot of time to dry the whole area inside, eventually decided not to remove the patch but widen the gaps and squeeze new epoxy in there. Worked a treat, no leaks afterwards. Didn't have time to apply the copper based epoxy as antifoul on the patch so used some conventional one. Will sand again and sort it in spring when she's out for a couple of months.

And since I mentioned antifoul, remember I did some custom copper epoxy and applied 4 coats all around. I'm really puzzled with the results after one day in the water. Feels like some parts are fine and activated and turning greenish even after less than 24h on seawater, and some others hadn't reacted at all. I know, staying throughout the winter in the water will demonstrate what's wrong, but it was rather odd. I feel it's the lack of consistancy with wife and son coming to help, then getting bored/tired and just dropping the rollers and leaving me to finish the last coat running like crazy against time to keep the epoxy workable... Activation was also done in a hurry and whilst exhausted so probably not effective enough.

stbrd side:

and port:

also interesting to note that ss trimtabs with a few coats of strong primer and the right number of coats of epoxy just came off after two 3nm tests around the port... Will try polishing next time

Will do some housekeeping and sorting photos and hopefully post next update within a week or so.

cheers

V.

 

[rafiki_]

Great post Vas, many thanks. I don't know enough about the coppercoat to comment. There is a fellow Azi 39 that was coppercoated last winter, and is out now for a month. Will try to get down there and see what the finish is like after a year in the water.

 

[kashurst]

re copper coated bottom - it does take a while to change colours, at first the underwater section should go dark brown/black as it forms copper oxide. after a year or so it starts going greeny blue and becomes effective. It looks like there is not enough exposed copper on your hull to react or it just hasn't been in the water long enough. A good sanding might do the trick before it goes back in the water. Also the black anti foul you put on the props and P brackets - you probably need to paint the shafts as well. I have found that Copper coat doesn't seem to bond well to the metal bits, it's a bit hit and miss. So I wouldn't try and re-coat the tabs, just use the black stuff you have on the props etc. One of my spring jobs is to clean the remaining bits of CCoat off my shafts and rudders

 

[jfm]

I would hope the copper stuff just evens out after a while. File it under "nothing to worry about"!

Many congratulations again. This was an epic project with an outstanding result. Huge respect to you:encouragement:

 

[vas]

New year and a new update of work carried out with MiToS on the water. Actually still plenty of things to report!

Starting with the portlights. Running out of time, on launch there were only the window frames in place, properly sealed (and finished the night before launching...).
No actual pivot and glass pane were installed.
Tried the first couple with a self adhesive 30X10mm strip of foam I'd bought as a test. Worked for a few days then started peeling off (no wonder...)
Next visit to Athens and I bought some proper seal (originally produced for commercial refrigerator doors) which had the right section for me: A thin gap to wrap around the 3mm thick alloy ring that bolts on the moving part of the portlight, and 8to10mm thickness to gap/seal. Painful job to do, with stuck/rotten ss 4mm taper screws that were holding the two pieces together, carefully matching the holes. Some of the securing "rings" were badly corroded so ordered a few new ones to replace the worst ones. I had the 10 glass pieces tinted by a local co and ofcourse put the tint film inside which meant using the awful black mastic thing on this side to seal the glass on the frame.
Fitting them in place was also slightly messy as I had to use 6mm studs with double nuts on each side and tighten them enough to let the frame and the blanking sheet move not very freely.

Needless to say that it took me a couple of months to finish with all the portlights and only by mid November did MiToS portlights were completed. The 100 or so nm I did were with one up to 4portlights

After the first rain on the season I noticed that the mattress on the bow cabin was rather wet
Lift it up to dry and tried to figure out what's going on. Realised that the water was coming in from the bow portlight facing up. It is a brand new lewmar hatch (iirc), so was rather confused. Tried to fix it one afternoon and started by removing the few screws keeping it down and thinking how I'll manage to lift the thing off. To my amazement once I removed the screws, the portlight frame just moved and was easily lifted. On closer examination there was not a fcking drop of sealant there !!!
Thinking about it the following day, I remembered that I simply bolted it down one evening thinking that I should remove and seal it properly one day (that never came...) So added some sealant and bolted it down.
Next rain, same thing happened!
Decided to remove again, clean and reapply. Turned out that I'd used insufficient amount of silicone to properly seal all around. Same job again, with a thicker cut nozzle on the silicone box. Eventually fixed it, so no more rainwater on the bow cabin.

after the first removal of the portlight:

after the second removal:

There was a fair amount of water leaking from the salon windows either side along the aft where the glass pane slides on the ss frame. The seal where it used to slide had disintegrated, so I'd removed them without remembering to buy new one and fit it As a temp solution I thought I'd clean and seal a SS to SS frame section: the strong thick actual frame vs the thin U shaped section where the glass slides. I had a feeling that there was something wrong as water was also coming in from the top centre of the window and noone could argue that the water was climbing up through the U section to drip in. Used clear silicone (of average quality so that I can remove it easily if it didn't work) and it did work! so now there is only a minute drip on the stbrd side which I'll fix I hope this w/e if the weather is dry.

Whilst sealing, I did the salon door frame to superstructure using grey silicone nicely matching the paint and anodised alloy. Now need to get George to cut some iroko strips to fill the frame around the opening. Finally did the grp section that has the filler cap for diesel (on stbrd side) The port side water one is still not finished as I have to move a lot of carp from inside in order to remove the sofa and get the circlip around the thick water pipe...
Not happy with the sealing job here, will think about it and probably redo it at some point:

On the engines I did find a suitable bronze plug on the compressed air heat exchanger got them to Vangelis to drill and thread and fitted my two VDO turbo gauge senders. Straightforward job, although wiring them up on the dash wasn't that easy. Still only done the port engine wiring

And with this post we've reached November... Next post will be on the f/b dash design which has kept me busy for a few months having sketched, mocked and tested it too many times. Difficult to pick the 20pics for it though as I have over a hundred pics of the process!

cheers

V.

 

[Whitelighter]

Thanks Vas.

I love these updates, especially in the depths of an increasingly cold and wet January here in the uk (my boat was basking in 20 degree sunshine yesterday )

 

[KevB]

Thanks for the update Vas.

 

[MapisM]

Blimey Vas, even your "minor" updates make me feel ashamed for having never put even a tiny fraction of all your efforts in the maintenance of my boat...

Next post will be on the f/b dash design which has kept me busy for a few months having sketched, mocked and tested it too many times.

Looking forward to that! :encouragement:

 

[rbcoomer]

Given the amount that you've done, you can certainly be forgiven the oversight on the sealant! Thankfully you also found it now rather than water slowly encroaching into the timber and doing it's worst over a few years, so no real harm done. How's the gearbox issue coming on?

 

[vas]

Thanks Vas.

I love these updates, especially in the depths of an increasingly cold and wet January here in the uk (my boat was basking in 20 degree sunshine yesterday )

mine was at 18C today, but too bleeding busy to spend more than a few minutes today, planning to do some work tomorrow afternoon though, fingers crossed!

Thanks for the update Vas.

nah, you should really complain as I'm posting about once a month!

Given the amount that you've done, you can certainly be forgiven the oversight on the sealant! Thankfully you also found it now rather than water slowly encroaching into the timber and doing it's worst over a few years, so no real harm done. How's the gearbox issue coming on?

it's actually all the rushed jobs that are kicking me back. When I applied the sealant for the first time, it was getting dark and I really didn't have enough time to do a proper job. So spending X3 the time next time, I eventually got it right...
Gearbox, got the Greek dealer in Piraeus to check prices and availability but since factory was shut in Italy for around a couple of weeks I'm going to send the money on Monday in order to get the part by the end of the month.

Blimey Vas, even your "minor" updates make me feel ashamed for having never put even a tiny fraction of all your efforts in the maintenance of my boat...

don't forget that one of the reasons for posting is to make you feel ashamed so when I ask the next Q you rush to reply to make up for it

Looking forward to that!

your wish is my command!

Right,

So when I MiToS was relaunched, on the f/b I only had the two levers, NOTHING else, not even the tachos... once going up and down the f/b steps to sync engines and check gauges became a bit too much, I decided that I had to hurry and fix the f/b dash. Original plan was NOT to fit the two tachos, just one GMI10 wired to the N2K bus and getting it's data from the NoLand RS11. Indeed on the last couple of outings, I had the RS11 sorted, showing the info on the GPSMAP751 on the lower helm and via wifi shown on my Xperia mobile. Saved a few step climbing, but wasn't really enough and since the simulated el. gauges on the GMI are no match for the real thing, i decided to fit the original VDO tachos after all.

Dash originally looked like the following pics. Wheel was horizontal, PO didn't like it and got two ss brackets (painted white of course!) and turned it 90degrees, DD gauges were flat on, and IVECO ones where on a custom ugly ply pod under the f/b windshield. All was messy, rotting away and overpainted a zillion times:

note a v.useful tool - pry bar in full view. Helped producing image 3...

Not impressed, wiped it all out and eventually turned into this:

honestly I did reuse some of the original stuff for the lower locker namely the curved bits :

(you can follow the process as documented on 50 odd pics back in Nov 2012, heck that's a loooong time ago!)

Plan was to fit a GPSMAP520 (soon to be on sale) flush mounted (also to be on sale...)in the alcove just behind the steering pump and a few toggles/switches around it. The wifi on mobile/tablet/wifes ipad option killed the GPSMAP520 installation and it's place took one of the GMI10s. Plan is to show various engine gauges (temp, oil pressure and turbo boost) plus whatever is on the N2K bus (speed, depth, water temp, etc) Remember that IVECO f/b gauges were a tacho and 3 indicator bulbs, nice...

One of the issues with the proposed design was that I was practically building a watertrap and wasn't particularly happy about it. The plan to have a removable piece on top of the GMI stored on the locker under the wheel was not good enough. Further there were some ideas on creating overhangs protecting the two tachos and shading them to make them sun readable, something like this:

Couldn't get anything decent and builtable out of that (easy to design, difficult to construct without GRP which I'm not keen on adding to MiToS), so had another go simplifying things further.



Decided on cutting a right angle out of the ply pod I'd done to cover up the steering pump and covering the flatish surfaces with thick iroko slab plain oiled. Having decent overhangs and a tiny groove to keep water from seeping back in the box made sense and wasn't bad either.

note that in the process the tachos were fitted, and useful they were too!

Actually my original plan of creating this alcove was going to be a failure as the endgrain of the ply wasn't up to the job and was never going to look perfect unless trimmed with something that reduced the size of the hole drastically.
Trying to keep things simple and easy to maintain, meant I could only cover the cut area in ss sheet with the right holes for the gauge and switches. That was a design exercise by itself, but eventually got there after numerous hours of sketching testing, making mocks out of cardboard and even fitting the toggles, push buttons and thruster control and checking them out on the spot.

Nikos (who did the ss fabrications) was called in and 60 euro later I had the right shape piece wrapping around the pod and drilled properly.

note the fill in to create a proper corner on the fold (was originally a plain sheet, bent on two axes and obviously a bit of metal missing on the junction:

Few days later, all bits were bolted on (nothing wired!) and test fitted. Here we have red/black engine start stop, on port side a push button top row (either horn or something else I have yet to figure out) and a toggle for the windlass. On stbrd side the bow thruster and the horn or something else on the top.
In the middle the round headed toggles are the trim tabs (originally stuck one next to the other, now separated on design grounds

George used some of-cuts from the f/b seat and built the two iroko pieces which I then sanded and oiled to death. Had a wee problem clearing the steering pump, but eventually managed to chisel it out without drilling through the 30mm iroko, just! Cut the compass hole, bolted the ss piece and voila the finished article:

After the pics were taken I managed to wire the engine on-off buttons and that's about it. Need to do the rest but other than windlass and bowthruster I'm not in a great hurry tbh.
Checked after a decent downpour last week and there was not a single drop of water under the three pieces, so definitely happy (at some point wind moved the temp cover and had rainwater running down the new upholstery, no damage done, but not something you want happening often...

Hm, that was a very long post (more than two hours in the making, sorting pics, editing etc, next installment will be on a few small jobs and the progress of ideas on the ss hardtop that will accommodate two solar panels and the Garmin 24HD radar dome.

cheers

V.

 

[rbcoomer]

The end result looks great Vas and much more 'at ease' than the early concepts - great job! :encouragement:

 

[MapisM]

the two iroko pieces which I then sanded and oiled to death.

I can believe that, they look varnished! Amazing job indeed.
if you are now missing some iroko bits to sand and oil, you're welcome to use my boat for as long as you wish.

 

[vas]

long time no progress report (or progress really...)

working on some arduino whatever->NMEA2000 project with the help of some ppl on PBO, but still designing some bits that I have to install fairly soon.
I'm talking about a light hardtop strong enough for 2 1.6X1.0 solar panels and the 24inch Garmin radar dome.
Has taken an eternity to decide on something, and I'm close to being happy with the following sketch. All that will be pending sizing of ss tubing and fastening detailing.

So we have two circa 45mm dia ss tubes coming from the front of the salon/lower helm-galley area going to the rear of the hardtop and a shorter (much sorter on stbrd as it will be on the box by the seat) on each side probably slightly smaller in dia tube going midlength of the HT.
HT will have a ss frame along each side (and possibly across) and selfcontained timber structure for the two panels and the radar. I have a sketch (at home, I'll try to upload later) in plan showing the layout, looks like on the front the HT will only need a small curvature accomodated by a shaped piece of ply, and at the back I'll have an almost 600X2000mm area to cover with ply most likely.
Was also thinking of keeping the rear of the panels area as a series of vertical slates creating a bit of shade but not fully closed, with a solid piece in the middle where the radar fits, but I'm not sure yet.

Was also thinking of making an extra retractable section at the rear to cover the rest of the seating area, extending maybe 1.5m back by the width of the HT (2m approx) but not sure yet either.

I definitely want to add lighting and possibly a couple of speakers in the HT and I definitely need something to cover the back side of the solar panels (which are not particularly exciting tbh...) So possibly talking about a thin ply 4mm? lined with the right material and doublesided on velcro pads on the frame.

Worried on lateral movement of the thing on strong winds. Hence all 4 main 45mm dia tubes following the curvature of the superstructure are slanted inwards. Further the two forward facing ones are slanting the other way (just...)
Cross bracing is not really an option, maybe smartly designed front ss wires to where the windscreen used to be secured, we'll see.

Finally, either painted black matte outside to match the upper helm, or possibly using iroko on the long sides oiled again (will be a bitch to oil though...)

All opinions welcomed as always.

cheers

V.

 

[petem]

You moving it to the UK VAS ?

 

[vas]

You moving it to the UK VAS ?

why, where did you find the sun to run my two panels up North Pete?
You probably cannot comprehend it, but horizontal structures are not only to keep the rain out, they are also to keep the sun out of the way and off my skin. I'm simply trying to postpone skin cancer if you don't mind!

almost all f/b boats down here (owned by locals) have a bimini which apparently frame + cloth is over 2K for my size
I recon it's going to cost me 100euro + painting for the wooden part plus 350 for the panels
The ss tubes, I'm not so sure yet, haven't showed the sketch to Nikos to get a quote, but I'm waiting for the forum approval before going ahead

cheers

V.

 

[jfm]

Vas, I miussed yr January post with flybr dash - super job

Ref HT, I think it's a great idea. I think you can make the skin in GRP using an MDF mould with some (almost) compound curves (ok strictly they would be faceted, but no-one would notice)

In your picture, you have the HT too far forward imho. also, I don't love the way the tubes fasten to the beautiful coachroof sides - better to have them as flat feet made from 6 - 8mm s/s plate. And the tube all needs to be 60mm tube, not 45. This will look better, feel better, be stronger, and make threading cables much easier

Here's an idea - I have only stretched the length of the HT a small bit; most of the aft flybridge coverage is done by moving the whole thing back, not by lengthening it

My version would also make the flybridge much safer for kids etc - the aft 2x tubes would make seriously good hand holds

Ref "Worried on lateral movement of the thing on strong winds. Hence all 4 main 45mm dia tubes following the curvature of the superstructure are slanted inwards. Further the two forward facing ones are slanting the other way (just...)...", as you know merely angling the tubes won't created stiffness. You need triangulation, or heavier construction

 

[BartW]

Vas,

I was about to post a new thread “ hardtop for BA project” which is back on the table now.
But you’re just a few day’s ahead ;-)

Are you sure you want a hardtop, and not a bimini ?
this questions has been asked me soooo many times ;-)

I like your design, all parts slim and not bulky
Is the height correct ? it feels a bit top high
I want mine as low as possible, want the hardtop in same plane as the radar arch, and that is 2.1m above FB floor

I’m interested how you’re going to build this,
Are you going to use a mixture of wood and metals for the top surface ?
No problems with thermal expansion / different materials
In combination with the black / dark finish ?
That’s one of the concerns I have for my project
I was planning to follow “your” suggestion, a construction method like the wings of a miniature / model airplane…. You know what I mean.

Besides speakers and light, I want to incorporate a strip / profile for gliding in plastic windows, on all 4 sides.
This is one of the extra’s I want for winter protection of the FB area, and for having more dry storage in winter time..

 

[jfm]

Besides speakers and light, I want to incorporate a strip / profile for gliding in plastic windows, on all 4 sides.
This is one of the extra’s I want for winter protection of the FB area, and for having more dry storage in winter time..

Looking forward to the thread BartW:encouragement:
I think you will want more than 2.1m
Here's a set of canvas sides slid into luff track. not my boat - I'm having one made that is nearly all windows

 

[vas]

Interesting points, thanks, let me elaborate a bit.

John, true 60 is much better in many ways to 45. Actually I do recall having a 60 or 62 or something in polished SS, I made the 45 myself, not sure it exists
In my mind, I'd like one of the twins in 60something (threading cables et al) the other 40something and the forward facing also around 40. So no great objections there.
Area covered by the HT, bearing in mind that I have no measured side elevation and this is a nice hand drawing from the GRP Mystere again with no dims, I was trying to proof the idea. You are right that it's too far forward, considering a height above f/b floor of 1.9 (Bart for my size f/b I don't think I can go any lower, you probably need more than 2.1m), and two 250W panels of 1.64X0.99m and 21kg each plus the 0.60m dia of the 9kg HD24 I don't need it that long, so the pic that follows has the shortened version of the HT. I also increased the taper making it slimmer on the front.

Not particularly keen on covering the whole f/b with the HT tbh, reasons being:

• need for some sun on the alongside bench which is not even built yet
• access to lift and store a small sailing tub (Snark) on the rear of the f/b
• and the fear of wind ripping apart the whole lot.

Securing the HT on the ply superstructure is a big issue. F/b floor is a 12mm ply with dense approx25X55 iroko beams at approx 200mm intervals. I have laid two heavyish mats with decent amounts of epoxy but I don't consider it too strong (it's obviously fine to take the 50kg of the panels and radar plus the 20odd kilos of the rest of the structure) but not sure on lateral and other odd forces on it.
Hence my idea of going outside and a long run on that and securing on two discreet points on the superstructure as far apart as possible:

• So lower point will be way down and on stbrd side just on the lower helm ready to route the cables in to the plotter and fusebox
• upper point will be on the double thickness freestanding end of the panel taking torsional forces and just helping general stability

Final issue that I have to keep in mind is the aesthetics, with the superstructure slanted A LOT upwards narrowing dangerously. This means if I want to somehow follow the lines looking from the bows or stern AND I put the supports inside and to the f/b floor I do have an issue that wont have enough space to move and on bumpy seas it's likely I'll be hitting back, shoulders or head on the support tubes Even worse on the port side when climbing up the ladder to the f/b you'll easily bump your head on the way up.
All this is alleviated by placing the backwards twin tubes outside. The forward one is inside as it wont matter that much, your head wont be there and further the stbrd one wont even start at f/b floor level as it's on top of the 600X600X220mm box carrying the gas bottles.

So, an alternative is the following pic:

Keeping one of the two tubes "outside" the superstructure routing cables down (that will be 60mm for sure) and shifting the other slightly inwards and securing it on the slanted panel that comes down from the f/b dash to the flooring. May have to do some reinforcement inside to take the forces. This also solves another problem which is that the forward of the twin tubes "blocks" a bit the navlights reducing their angle slightly. Doubt anyone will make a fuss about that but if you can avoid it, why not?

John, your design has the extra problem that has to secure the majority of the weight of the HT on the f/b overhang which isn't particularly strong, the two matts and epoxy have strengthen it, but wouldn't like to force it more that it needs...

Finally, haven't bothered with gutters for the rainwater up there, I assume it will be slanted one way or another and the water will move out of there, no?

cheers

V.

 

[vas]

I’m interested how you’re going to build this,
Are you going to use a mixture of wood and metals for the top surface ?
No problems with thermal expansion / different materials
In combination with the black / dark finish ?
That’s one of the concerns I have for my project
I was planning to follow “your” suggestion, a construction method like the wings of a miniature / model airplane…. You know what I mean.

Besides speakers and light, I want to incorporate a strip / profile for gliding in plastic windows, on all 4 sides.
This is one of the extra’s I want for winter protection of the FB area, and for having more dry storage in winter time..

Bart,

H/T on the previous sketch was a bit higher than it should (at least I think) lowered it in the new drawing I just posted.

Materials,
well, you can built the whole H/T in timber, apply a layer of epoxy and mat, prime and paint, shouldn't have any problems.
You need to find (designwise) the joints between the steel tubes supporting it and the H/T. Therefore I'm thinking of going for two independent SS constructions, one port one stbrd with the three tubes reaching the top and an either cold formed or box section running along the top welded to them. Get these two up there, bolt them and align them, THEN bring the readymade and painted lightweight structure and bolt it on with through bolts or whatever you decide on the horizontal coldformed or box section.

Now having a "ladder" frame with timber and skin it with something light is one option. FWIW, you may skin it with a 4mm ply and add mat and epoxy on top That's the cheap and cheerful solution. Doesn't apply in my case as the two 1.6X1m panels wont need anything underneath just rightly formed (inverted T or L shaped timber for the panels to come and fit in.
The more advanced option is to buy these core material usually prescored in a simple grid and fit it around a timber frame and glass it over. Up to you!
will also depend on the size of H/T you're thinking on. Mine is a mere 2X2.5m, yours could well be 3.5X8 or more as your f/b is massive!

looking fwd to the thread!

cheers

V.