FS18 Build- "Insufficient Funds"

[gyarbs]

Couple of college boys from Austin, Texas with no money and a dream. Building an FS18 with rounded chine and sheer deck to fish down on the Texas coast, mainly Port Aransas/Port O'Connor area.
Picked up our CNC kit about a week ago and have been working with it for about the last 4-5 days. Our progress so far; strongback built and level, molds in place, stringers glued and in place, currently gluing together our side panels and transom.

Originally made the strongback too high at about 3 feet, after cutting out the CNC pieces and noticing it would be too high we dropped it about 10" and added some casters for mobility which was a huge advantage.

IMG_5978.JPG (131.92 KiB) Viewed 452 times

Molds in place.

IMG_5974.JPG (152.23 KiB) Viewed 452 times

Our first go round with any epoxy/glue on the stringers

Stringers sanded and in place

transom and side panels setting up. Talked with Reid on the phone before gluing our side panels together as we coulded get them to fit together at first and he suggested a 1/16" to 1/8" gap in between fittings on panels so we got after it with a dremel which worked out well. We did get confused a little when lining up the 3 transom pieces to glue as the middle piece was larger on all sides than the other two so we ended up just gluing together the inside and middle pieces and making the bottom flush.

Any comments, suggestions, tips more than welcome, would love the help!

[OrangeQuest]

You guys need to get one of these.
https://www.harborfreight.com/power-too ... 63113.html

It is known as the SOB tool. It would have been very helpful to open the slots up. Get it with sanding pads and different cutting attachments. You can get it with the 25% off coupon.

Post more often on the forum and keep the pictures coming. When you get stumped ask a question on here, there have been a lot of the FS18 boats built by many great builders. So far your build is looking good.

Good luck and tight lines,
OQ

[Browndog]

Looks like you guys are off to a great start. Keep it up!

[cape man]

Good use of the beer. I would now drink it and buy new ones for when you glue the deck down.

Great project, and if funds are truly insufficient, keep her light and Spartan. Porch paint...

[Jeff]

Guys, glad to see you have joined the Builders Forum!! As you can see, you will receive excellent help & support here!! Keep posting on your progress!! Jeff

[Jaysen]

Good use of the beer.

I don't know... seems like beer abuse to me.
1. Not being kept cold
2. Being used in a "non-drinking" context that is less than worshipful reverence
3. No scantily clad females indicating how wonderful we are for our possession of beer.

But maybe I'm being naive.

I think the most expensive part of my build was the finish. By "finish" I mean everything that follow "holy hell! i built something that looks like a BOAT!" In your case it will the the things for to run electronics, electronics, motor, paint, and hardware. Cape man's advice will do you well. minimize what you change and add, but make sure you plan ahead (larger/extra chase tubes, don't skimp on safety, skimp on easy repairs like paint). And I'm sure you know all about the used market for hardware like fish finders and the like.

Good luck. And keep that beer cold.

[gyarbs]

Thanks all for the tips this far, checked on the splices on our half bottoms and sides this morning and noticed a decent amount of air bubbles in a few of them;

Is this something we would need to take care of now? i.e. take a dremel and remove bubbles and refill? or is it something that would be taken care of later being covered with fiberglass/faring?
Aside from that,

1. Not being kept cold
2. Being used in a "non-drinking" context that is less than worshipful reverence
3. No scantily clad females indicating how wonderful we are for our possession of beer.

, not to worry, we keep the good stuff cold and i'm sure these scantily clad women you speak of will appear once we have something that resembles a boat to the average eye AND some beer.
For all those with the advice to keep it clean and simple, we hear ya, planning on making this thing as bare bones as possible; pull start jet drive (25-30 hp), no electronics, no battery... the goal is skinny and skinny is what she'll be.

[cape man]

You can dremel and fill but that's not enough air to be structural in my mind.

[BB Sig]

the goal is skinny and skinny is what she'll be.

The scantily clad women or the boat? Let’s go with both!

[Jaysen]

the goal is skinny and skinny is what she'll be.

The scantily clad women or the boat? Let’s go with both!

You don’t want too skinny! A little cushion, some soft curves, ain’t nothing wrong with them.

Same goes for the ladies.