Building the Tunnel Mite
Work is progessing nicely on the bottom. Had to have two
hands laying in the tunnel runner and the tunnel sides. Made
templates for the sheer and chine (along with the tunnel
sides). I found that I have more than enough time to work
with the Poxy-Grip, no problem there. It's starting to
get cold here in Baltimore, so I'm having to use the
garage heater (can't wait to see that electic bill). Oh
well... I have found that for me it is better to over-cut
everything by a quarter inch, fit and then resize. My rolling
jig is working fine and really helps out when I am working by
myself, which is most of the time. For any sanding or cutting
I can roll it outside and then blow all the dust away with
the leaf blower. Better to keep the work area clean.
Moving along... Bending the chines and sheers demanded a
little more attention to get it right, but after a little
time and a little ingenuity with clamps, it came together.
Again spacing of the fasteners is important. After fitting
and sanding and filling in countersinks, inperfections and
goof-ups, is was time to primer. I used the System-Three from
Glen-L. Three coats later, it was finaly starting to look
like something that would actually float.
I decided to completely finish the bottom before attaching
the top. I attached the spray-rail. I am trying to decide on
a color scheme, I researched vintage hydros on the Internet,
and have come down to using Blue, Yellow and Red. I'm
thinking of leaving the cowling natural... will decide that
later. Anyway, after 3 coats of paint, using the same method
I used for the primer, I applied the blue to the bottom,
painted the spray-rail red and will add some yellow striping
later.
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