Cobra Tool Kit #2

Cobra Tool Kit #1

I wanted to put together a tool kit for my Cobra (actually a Factory Five Roadster replica of a 1965 AC Cobra).  Real kits are rare, expensive, and not very useful.  I decided on a few tools I might need including a breaker bar, 13/16" socket (for both spark plugs and lug nuts), vice grips, slotted and phillips screw drivers, adjustable wrench, and box wrenches of 3/8", 7/16", 1/2", and 9/16".  A separate project will be to have a case with an extra belt, tape, duct tape, a jack, and a flat repair can.  

I had an old military surplus case laying around that I sacrificed to get the heavy canvas and binding from.  

I am using my Brother Exedra E-40 Industrial machine to build this.  The thread is V-92 green thread.  

Initial layout of the tools

First pocket for the breaker bar

Next set of pockets for an adjustable wrench, and the 9/16" and 1/2" box wrenches.

Tippecanoe T27 RC Sailboat Build #11

I purchased the wall hanger from Tippecanoe and was very happy with how this looks hanging on the wall.  It is up for display for all to see as they come to my home :-)

It looks like I painted only half the keel and rudder red but that is just a shadow - the bottom, keel and rudder are red, and the hull is navy blue.  The deck is varnished wood.  

Note the masthead streamer - I made this myself out of 3/4 oz. spinnaker cloth (use it for a lot of projects on my big sailboats).  

Tippecanoe T27 RC Sailboat Build #10

Final assembly - transom lettering

I wanted to enhance the mahogany transom by putting on a high-quality gold lettering.  I found a place online called www.doityourselflettering.com that allows you to design your lettering, choose fonts and effects, size it, and you get your lettering in the mail a few days later.  This ended up costing less than $10 (they sent me 3 of them in case I screwed it up!).  I was originally going to try and hand paint them but this obviously looks a lot better.

For those who care where the name came from, watch the movie "Caddyshack" some time and you'll see :-)

The lettering came with clear directions.  This is exactly how I installed the lettering on my real boat :-)

"I christen thee 'The Flying Wasp'"

Very classy looking in dark blue with a red bottom.  

Stern view

Bow view

Close up of keel, rigging, cockpit cover.

Tippecanoe T27 RC Sailboat Build #9

Final paint of bottom and above the water line.

I started by carefully masking the top off leaving about an 1/8" down on each side.  This will be left as varnished wood.  I put gold automotive vinyl pin striping below this gunwale line later on.

I then used a red oxide automotive primer to do the whole hull.

I masked off the sides and painted the bottom a burgundy matte (to simulate red oxide bottom paint).  In hindsight, I should have just left it primed with the primer.  

Once dry, the bottom and top were masked off and the sides were painted dark navy blue.

I finished up with using the blue pin striping that came with the kit as a water line boot top, and gold 1/8" automotive pin stripes for just below the gunwale.  

Tippecanoe T27 RC Sailboat Build #8

Finishing the deck, installation of rudder, radio equipment, final fitting of mast and rigging.

These photos show the final layout of the finished deck (4 coats of Epifanes!).  The directions provided by Tippecanoe were pretty straightforward here.  The only thing I am not happy with is the mast tends to rotate when sheeting the sails.  I may try and engineer in a key to stop that from happening.  Had I known this would be an issue, I would have built it into the mast step.  But, solving these types of problems is part of the fun of building one of these.

Part of me wanted to leave the whole boat as varnished wood and just paint the bottom.  But as you can see in the next post, I ended up painting above the waterline blue, and below the waterline red.  I'm happy with the way it came out.  

Tippecanoe T27 RC Sailboat Build #7

Coating the hull

This step was not covered in the directions that came with the boat.  I have some West System 105 laying around and decided to seal the entire hull and deck with it.  I applied a coat with a brush, let it set for 24 hours, and wet-sanded it smooth.  This was repeated for 3 coats on the bottom (just one coat on the deck since it would be varnished).  

I believe the epoxy that Tippecanoe provided is also West System.  This is high quality epoxy and is very easy to work with.  It does dry rock hard so sanding is a pain.  Wet sanding with 220 then 400 for the final coat is recommended.  

Later on, the deck received 4 coats of Epifanes Marine Varnish - another high quality product that I highly recommend.  It flows nicely and I wet-sanded with 400 grit between each coat (24 drying time between each coat).  The last coat was not wet sanded.  

Tippecanoe T27 RC Sailboat Build #6

Final attachment of the deck.

This was a very tedious step, but it went a lot smoother than I thought.  You have to apply thickened epoxy to the inside of the deck, hold it in place, and invert the boat so the epoxy "flows" into a fillet in the underside of the deck.  

Tippecanoe T27 RC Sailboat Build #5

Installation of the mast step, mast, radio platform

For the mast step, rather than follow their directions and wrap the bottom of the mast in Saran Wrap and let it set in a "glob" of thickened epoxy, I made a 1"x1.5" mast step out of a piece of Starboard.  Frankly, a piece of hardwood would do the trick too.  I drilled a 5/6" hole in it to allow the mast to set into it, then glued it down and held the mast in the position I wanted it in with clamps per the photos below.

You can see the white block sort of in the photos in front of the foremost RC servo.  

You will also note my screw up - I glued the radio platform down backwards!  So, I fashioned a new label, and a new battery box side and glued/epoxied them down.  Problem solved!  

Tippecanoe T27 RC Sailboat Build #4

Installation of the keel.  Each strut was carefully sanded for fit.  I hung the keel to assure that it was at 90 degrees to the bottom of the boat.  

Tippecanoe T27 RC Sailboat Build #3

Assembling the Keel and Rudder.  Each is composed of two pieces cut out of 1/16" plywood epoxied together.  The Rudder also has a stainless steel / brass rod that is bent and placed in the pre-cut channel and epoxied in place.  The Keel will have two zinc bulbs that are bolted to it with machine screws.  Both are then faired with epoxy and sanded smooth.

Epoxying the two fin halves together (both keel and rudder).

Added lines to sand up to for proper fairing.

Fitting the keel bulb with its respective machine screws.  Screws and bulb halves were included with the kit.  

I painted the keel bulb with epoxy.  This was a mistake as it was a real pain to sand it all off again.  I should have just covered over the bolt holes and sanded those afterwards.  

Tippecanoe T27 RC Sailboat Build #2

Assembling the hull.  This involves pinning and taping the sections together to hold them in alignment, while applying a fillet of epoxy mixed with filler.  

Waiting for the epoxy to set up.  

Using blue painter's tape to align the hull.  Buy a fresh 1" role of this stuff - you will need it.  

Adding push pins to hold it together during epoxy setup

Tippecanoe T27 RC Sailboat Build #1

Unpacking the contents.  Nice die-cut 1/16" plywood pieces.  Their packaging is excellent - everything clearly labelled.  Directions are also excellent - I would prefer if it were more of an enumerated list of tasks like a cookbook, but still very well thought out and wirebound for ease of use.

Die-cut 1/16" plywood sections.  Each piece has to be carefully cut out with a sharp razor blade, and the edges sanded.  Get used to sanding - there will be a lot of it in this project.  

Plywood pieces after cutting out.  The hull pieces came as they appear.  

Cutting the tabs out for attaching the back.  The pattern is in the directions.  I then sanded each piece to fit.

I used a protractor to get the exact alignment of each tab piece.  The measurements are clearly laid out in the directions.  

Cross-pieces

Drilling out the holes where the shrouds and sheet brass pieces will be mounted later.  They provided the drill bit, which really comes in handy.  After you paint and varnish, you will need this to clean up the holes.