In the week since finishing the side plywood I have completed 75% of the bottom plywood panels. I may miss my self imposed target of completing all the bottom ply this week due to an unexpected commitment but I am happy with the progress.
75% of the Didi 40 Cr bottom ply is complete. This view shows the shelves in the quarter berth already installed.
The weather has warmed up and that makes gluing in the middle of the day impractical. One sheet before 10 am and one sheet after 5 pm is about the best I can manage. Also working in the sun on top of the hull in the middle of the day is not that enjoyable so today I took off in the air conditioned comfort of the car and purchased my potable tank lining epoxy paint. I want to apply as much as possible from the outside and just leave the hull inside to complete after the moulded ply round section of the hull is finished. I have chosen Interplus 1180 and the left over will be ideal for interior areas I wish to finish in white such as the engine bay. Between purchasing the potable tank lining epoxy and fixing the second sheet to the bottom I spent some time preparing the tank interior for the paint. I have lined the plywood with 225 gram woven cloth which I have overlapped at the corners over the interior triangular cleats so the surface has minimal tight corners and should be relatively easy to clean when required.
Didi 40 Cr water tanks being prepared for the potable water tank lining.
I am waiting for the glue on the last panel to cure before pulling the tarps over for the night so I took some photos for the record. The first one shows some detail of my fibreglass reinforced joins where I have 850 grams per m2 of glass on both sides where I am looking for every millimeter of space for the stainless steel diesel fuel tank.
Epoxy glass corners have been used where I need a square finish for the stainless steel diesel fuel tank. The corner in the background also has a 25 mm triangular timber cleat on the other side. I have made this double secure because the wider cockpit of my wide stern version is cantilevered from the other side of the join.
The last photo shows the chainplate frame already installed, stabilized by the 6mm ply shelves and with the hull ply sheeting already glued and screwed to the frames. The frame has still to be glassed to the hull and I am saving a lot of these jobs until I have the ply bottom finished and can tidy up the garage. I don’t use it as a timber workshop and a glass workshop at the same time for fear of contaminating the rolls of glass. Also these will be ideal wet weather jobs once the radius chine is completed.
Didi 40 Cr chainplate frame already installed and secured with 6mm ply shelves.