Boat Build Plans: Where?

Hello guys,

I need some help, please !!

I have a new bare 27ft fiberglass hull (deep v - sportfisher)
I have mostly constructed a composite (foam panel & glass) pilot house on a male mold frame jig.

The boat will be set up with a single diesel in a v-drive configuration.

I feel I am getting in over my head trying to build without a set of build plans, I thought I could figure it out as I go but realize this is a bad idea.
So I was wondering if there is a source for a generic set of plans that would cover the hull internals and cabin lay out.

Thanks so much
Mark

 

Each hull design is going to have its own demands for the interior layout. If you are just looking for a rough idea you could look at the websites for comperable boats and steal their ideas about how to lay out the interior. You might also want to see if the hull you have has been finished before, allowing you to more directly copy someone elses ideas. Once you have an idea of what you want the interior to look like build in the floor and supports for it and lay out in tape what you think the interior will look like. This will give you a visual aproximation of what the finished product will look like.


Once you get the tape layed out the way you want it go buy a lot of large cardboard boxes. The plan here is to do a full scale mock up of everything that will be in the boat (cabinates, shelves, couches, chairs, chart table, ect). The goal here is to work in a cheap light easy to manuver material that allowes changes very quickly and at a low cost. Remember to check access to the bildge, engine compartment, storrage, ect before moving on to the next step.


Now you can take the cardboard and use it as a template for MDF sheets and do a final test fit, this should be a full sized, screwed in place, nothing is moving, type of test. This ensures that everything really is in the right place, and you are really happy with things like cabinate height, ergonomic layout, have enough room over the bunk to lay in it, ect. Once the test is over make careful notes of where every piece is, where it goes, and how it is going to attach to the rest of it all. Take lots of reference pictures, and mark the pieces large enough that you can see the marks in the pictures. This will make it a LOT easier to install the finished product.

Finally start working in Marine ply or whatever for the finished product. By doing all of this prep work you should be able to just take the MDF and use it on a router table for the finished goods. This should actually be the fastest part of the job since all you are doing is cutting to a template, and while good wood working practices are always in order, most of the thinking is already done.

Take the time to test fit everything loosely (you did leave the structual members in place from the MDF right?) and if everything looks right take it all out of the boat again. Take the time now to epoxy coat non-visible edges and sides, and do the cosmetic farnishing and finished. Then go put them all back in place and do the final install.

Yes this is a bit time consuming and may sound like it is overkill for a one off boat, but by doing a lot of prep work and spending the time and effort to make a full sized model you really reduce the time needed for the finished install and save money when including the cost of ruined expensive materials because it didn't fit right and has to be recut.

 

Thanks for the reply

Yes that is a lot of work, but of course you are right on the end results and not wasting time and material. I do have some pictures of the same hull that is layed out in a conventional inline drive configuration, that kinda help.

thanks
Mark

 

Not a problem. Just remember as you progress from tape to cardboard to MDF to finish each step should take progressively less time (except the tape-->cardboard one). And since the bulk of the layup is done with cheap materials the end price likely is within a close range of what would happen if you tried to do the finish product first by the time you pay for the extra waste. The other advantage is since you have the cardboard templates, you can play around trying different cutting patterns to maximize your use of each sheet. Further reducing the end price.

Of course most of this work could be done with a CAD program and a 3D walk-through. But that is a whole different design process.

 

Now that sound like exactly what I need, a Cad program and CNC cut panels.
This thing is kicking my but, way more work than my previous restoration projects.

Thanks for the advise, it is the same a the hull builders at least the card board boxes for general layout. I have defintely found that extra work in the planning save on the ooph's. I have had a couple

mark

 

The problem with doing a one off CAD layout for a one off boat is that the amount of work spent inputting the compound curves of the hull into the program is likely a lot more time consuming than doing a layup in cardboard. Plus you will still want to make MDF templates for the final product anyway since you will still want to see it real life before making it in the finished form.

At least to me it seems that the CAD data entry is just more work than an afternoon playing with an exacto knife, tape, and boxes.

 

Yeah, I was just saying
That stuff is beyond the scope of my knowledge and finances.
It is what it is just a lot of work.
Building the one off pilot house it what has really turned into a chore, I did not think it could take as many labor hours as it has, I am half way through the layup and still will have to fair and paint, But for the hours spent allready per my estimations it should be done.

Thanks
mark

 

Old rule of boat repair. Double the estimate and tripple the time. If everything goes well that is where you will be.