Richardsons RC45 and RC35

[C.Ricko]

indeed Jimbo,

I thought I would show you these, they are small jacks which are layed up into the mould to help release it.

I did not photograph part of the setup which is a disc about 2 inches diameter and a half inch thick, these have already been layed up onto the keel of the mould.

when the mould is fully layed up the fiberglass is ground off the top of the disc and the main part of the jack is then bonded onto the keel so that the bolt is over the centre of the disc.

When the mould (or mouldings) are ready to be released the bolts can be given a little turn just to 'crack' off the mould, then we will pump air down the hole drilled in the bolt and hope that the hull pops out.

we need to use the plug a second time and sometimes the air can cause dammage as could the jacking so we will have to hope all goes well.

[jimbo]

What a clever idea So I guess you connect the airline to the pcb's and it pops the mould off ( In theory ) !!

[Dan]

Ahhh.... clever stuff. I assumed you would tip it upside down and tap it out with a hammer or ten!!

Must admit I had little idea about the mould (you'd never guess huh!) until this thread. Good to see it looking smart and near complete... does this mean the superstructure can be knocked together next week?

Dan

[C.Ricko]

last bits for tonight as they are getting less interesting!

Here you can see the next layers going on, it is 4ounces of matt made up of two lots of two ounce, put on with normal resin, after this goes on there will be two layers of 6 ounce making a total of 17 ounces, I wont post any photos of the next layers as they would all look the same,

[C.Ricko]

when you get a 'stick up' then sometimes you do hit it but that puts star crazes in the hull which never come out and show in every hull to come out after that.

another way to get mouldings out is to float it out by putting water in any gaps you can make along the flange.

[goodall_m1]

4 ounces of matt made up of two lots of two ounce, put on with normal resin, after this goes on there will be two layers of 6 ounce making a total of 17 ounces

Clive,

When you mention "two ounce" and "six ounce" matt is that the weight of a specific area of matt?

so what will the final RC45 hull mould weigh (approx)?

What will you use as the basis for the deck & superstructure mould,

do you build it to fit the hull plug or work on a moulded hull?

(I presume that the upperworks are also going to be GRP)

Martin

[C.Ricko]

Hi Martin,

I think it is ounces per square fooot.

the hull mould will weigh perhaps 2 tonnes,

and the superstructure plug will be built from MDF in the same way as the hull but it will be built on a 'ring' or 'sheer moulding' taken from the mould, this is to be sure that the top will fit the bottom.

[Guest DAYTONA-BILL]

Hi Clive, sorry about the repetative questions, but it`s quicker than reading through thirty something pages of thread . I hope i`m not speaking out of turn in saying that this thread is probably the most interresting thread on the forum, and i, like many others i`m sure, will continue to find it so, right up till the day the first of each variant goes out on hire. That includes the fitting out too. I`m sure everybody else as well as myself would like to thank you for all the time you have, and will hopefully keep on, puttting in with postings and photo`s to keep us up to date and informed. Regards, and a happy new year to all.....................Neil

[Springsong]

Here Here (3)

[Guest]

This thread is totally brilliant! I think I must have been living in a box for the past couple of months as I had no idea that Richos were up to this!

Luckily Dan H has lifted me out of the box I was living in by telling me that all this was going on at Stalham - mind you, we've just had a new little baby boy so I suppose I can be excused for not keeping up with what's been going on!! I've just been telling him that he could be a boatbuilder one day though......

This update and photos are superb Clive, thanks very much for posting them and the details for us all - I will now follow the thread carefully.

Just picking up on earlier postings on the thread, regarding bow and stern thrusters. My dad has fitted both to his little Sheerline 740 (once one of your boats Clive - Broadland Mist, ex Brink of Peace) and the results are absolutely amazing! Using the boat up here on the Aire & Calder she has a tendency to be a bit unpredictable in winds on such an exposed and large waterway (also the moorings are often a lot higher and more 'concrete' than Broadland ones), she is just a dream to handle. She can be turned on her own length without using any throttle or rudder and can pull out sideways from moorings.

He fitted the stern thruster straight through the keel and the bow thruster in the traditional location. They are the Vetus kit and work with little paddle controls (duplicated on the back also, as he has put dual hydraulic steering on the boat with a helm at the rear outside to make locking easier single handedly).

,

James.

[C.Ricko]

Good to hear from you James, I remenber your Dad, he drove a sports car with a dog in the passenger footwell!! that was a while ago, please pass on my best regards..

I have a 10 week old baby so that is no excuse!

glad I am not wasting too much time and you are enjoying the thread.

Happy new year to you all

[Dan]

This thread is totally brilliant! I think I must have been living in a box for the past couple of months as I had no idea that Richos were up to this!...... mind you, we've just had a new little baby boy so I suppose I can be excused for not keeping up with what's been going on!!

Certainly not James!

A feeble excuse if ever there was one! Still, well done at being able to type out a reply through your excitement!

Dan

[Guest]

Thanks for the welcome Clive - yup, that sounds like Dad! He also harassed Paul a couple of years ago trying to buy one of your Alphas that wasn't for sale, but has now ended up with two Sheerlines (the 750 and now a 950 centre cockpit from the Thames).

Dan: I can hardly keep in my excitement trust me - the missus has just reminded me that in the middle of all the emotion and drama of my son being born, the first thing I said to him was that I was going to take him on the Broads!!

Oh and if anyone wants to buy a Sheerline 740 (ex Brinks & Richos, Q765) with bow and stern thrusters and brand new quality purpose built road trailer package, do PM me.....

,

James.

[Guest DAYTONA-BILL]

Hi James, i remember reading and putting up a posting on the NBF (the dark side?) regarding your boat. Did you ever find out who made it, and what make and model it really is?. Regards to all........................Neil.

[Guest]

Hi Neil.

Nope still no news - other than a bit of info from the BA about it.....

I've also cross posted it to this forum. See: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7429

Best wishes,

James.

[C.Ricko]

I suppose you all think we have been kicking our heels of late?

well, these photos were taken on Wednesday, you will see the last layer of fiberglass was pigmented this is just to make it look a little bit nicer

Also there have been blocks laminated onto the keel, these are to support the trolley which will be bonded to the mould.

[C.Ricko]

We have bought a trolley which we will make fit the mould, this is not a good picture really but it shows the cross bracing we have added (made from a old play area)

we later welded on some lugs to which we will attach plywood which is then bonded to the hull but with a layer of foam bonded to the hull first.

I know that does not make sense but by the middle of next week I should have more photos

The other photo shows the mould when we pulled it out of the shed It seems much bigger in the open

[Guest DAYTONA-BILL]

B....y hell clive, that`s longer than Stalham high street

[Guest DAYTONA-BILL]

Hi Clive, keep the piccy`s coming please . I did ask you on an earlier posting about how many moulds could you get from the one plug?. I know it`s going to be reduced in length for the 35ftr, but are you going to have just the one set of moulds for each model length, or are you going to make a second or third set, to facilitate quicker production?. I`m asking this again cause you did`nt quite answer this point earlier. And i hope that does`nt sound rude at all, as it`s not meant to be so. Regards, and thanks for the piccy`s...........Neil

[C.Ricko]

Sorry Neil,

I missed the point of the question, we will only have one set of moulds as you could turn out a set of mouldings a week if you needed to, we cant afford to build 100 boats a year (2moulds)

Here are more pictures taken today showing the trolley upside down on the mould.

[Guest DAYTONA-BILL]

Hi Clive, Have you decided on what colours the hulls and superstructures are going to be?. The sketch at the beginning of this thread show them in white cabin tops over blue hulls, which i think looks stunning , any chance of the production boats being in this colour scheme, or is all white more practical?. . Regards to all................Neil.

[C.Ricko]

HI Neil,

Blue hulls look fantastic but show the scratches so are best left for private sales

Here are some more photos, we have fixed foam round the gunwhale and bonded (fiberglassed) over it to add strength to the flange, also where we intend to fix the trolley to the mould the same has been done to minimise the chances of the fixings showing through the mould along the chine and hull. there have also been pads put where braces will be bonded to the gunwhale to the trolley to add a bit more strength.

[C.Ricko]

here you can see the wood frame which holds the trolley in place nearly finished, some of it bonded on, it will be finished tomorrow and the whole lot left over the weekend to cure before we attempt to release the mould on Monday or Tuesday.

[Happy Jax 3]

Keep it coming Clive, this is great stuff.

One question though, why does the last layer have the pigment in it? At a guess I would say so the mould blends in with the surrounding scenery when not in use.

[Guest DAYTONA-BILL]

Hi all, Clive, will you be shortening the plug to make the 35ft hull mould before you start making the plug for the superstructure, and will the superstructure be a one piece moulding?. The reason i ask this, is because when we had the Aston Orion in 1970, the Hull and Superstructure mouldings for the Aston Thames class were sitting in the field behind the offices at their Loddon basin, and the Superstructures came in sections which were laying inside the hulls, so i would imagine they are all glassed together . Regards...............Neil.