Stern and deck progress. The ribbed decking lifts out to provide access to motors/controls etc and is held in place by self adhesive magnetic strips that hopefully will provide a water tight seal should the deck become wet

Bow detail finished in Halfords Red Primer with paper clip Bow steps

 

.....a bit of work on the deck

Decided to make a jig and router out the freeing ports rather than chain drilling and filing.

The plywood fence was screw clamped to the deckside from underneath with some double sided tape between the ply and deck to prevent any movement when routering.

 

  Sylvie enjoying diving off the new den entrance

Bow thruster fitted and bonded in place with 24hr epoxy cement. 

Having looked at photographs of original vessels in this class in dry dock I located the bow thruster lower in the hull than recommended in the models plans, this had the additional advantage of accommodating the standard length side tubes supplied by Raboeso.

The bow thruster is mounted at 45 degrees to the hull leaning back towards the stern in order to facilitate easy access to the fixing screws and removal for servicing when the deck is in place.

View: looking down from the models bow, note the holes for the anchor ports.

Tip: Warm up the epoxy cement in both tubes on a radiator before squeezing a quantity out and mixing, it will then run easily into any gap/areas before setting