Scarab 16 beams part 3

I painted the beams to match the rest of the boat using 2 pack epoxy primer and Jotun Imperite (Home Yellow).

The aluminium folding struts were cut by a local business using a water jet cutter. Then they were painted using etch primer and Jotun Imperite.

Scarab 16 beams part 2

Layers of glass was added making sure the moulding was not allowed to get too hot.

The beam mould has the pivot holes marked on the outside. Before the moulding is removed small holes were drilled and the edges of the beam was trimmed. The holes were later drilled to 16mm.

Scarab 16 beams part 1

The beams are similar to The Scarab 18 only smaller. The beams are attached to the beam support which anchored in the main hull. The beam support pictured is the Scarab 18.

I made a plug for the beam. The plug was painted and waxed several times to allow the mould to separate easily from the plug.

Then a mould was made using tooling gel. Most of our boats have female moulds made from plywood or form ply. But I always have my eye on the next boat and tooling gel is very tough. It will last through several boats.

Scarab 16 floats part 3

The floats were painted with Jotun Imperite (Homebush yellow) sprayed with a gravity gun 1.4 nozzle. 

After the paint hardened the area to be masked was marked out using masking tape. I used KiwiGrip non-skid (white). This non-skid was easy to apply and clean up (water based). The paint was applied with a spatula and brush to the desired thickness then rolled with a special textured roller. It’s the best non-skid I have used.