Two or three years ago an older modeler passed on and left his tools, parts and pieces behind. As is often the case, the son had little interest in the hobby so advertised the items for sale. I don't remember where I even saw the ad, but responded more out of curiosity than anything else. The son and I corresponded via email a few times with him sending images of box-lots of what was available, Towards the end of our correspondence he mentioned there was a boat hull that he knew nothing about, but apparently had not generated any interest and I could have it for a few dollars and shipping. I didn't need another hull and particularly didn't need a 'glass lapstrake boat, but thought it might be worth something down-stream as trading material, or someone may want it. The alternative was it would end up in a New Jersey landfill. ☹️
I received it about a week later, checked it out, and shelved it in the "stash" group.
A while ago I was idly thumbing through a book with page after page of study plans and blew by a launch-type hull that was carvel planked. A couple of days later the plan resurfaced in my mind's eye and I looked it up again and thought the 'glass hull in a 1:8 scale would be close enough to loosely emulate these lines. The inspiration drawings were drawn by a fellow named Nelson Zimmer out of the greater Detroit MI area. My apologies to Mr. Zimmer as I've taken some subtle liberties with his drawing, all the while keeping the basic profile of his design. His title for the boat was "Utility Launch" at 23'3" and the hull I have is 35". Close enough for my purposes.
In this opening "chapter' I have drilled the shaft log hole, determined the log angle, and built a platform for the motor and drive pulley. Given enough room I like the timing belt method of propulsion as they're not real particular about alignment, (that's not to say some care isn't necessary to set up the drive,) they just seem to be quieter, plus one can experiment with different pulleys to come to a good efficient RPM for the propeller.

Photos:

1. A cursory general beginning.
2. determining that everything is "on the level." (This of course starts with the bench the build is on)
3. The propulsion will be a six volt system. One larger battery didn't fit well anywhere in the hull given the open midships area, so I tried two smaller batts in the ends which will be hooked up in parallel. There was some ballast required anyway, so doing a tub test proved this a viable solution.
4, 5, & 6. The forward and main bulkheads. After the time invested in these, I decided both need some modifications. Once the forward deck is in place retrieving the forward battery can be done through the hatch, but it would have been tight with the middle open cockpit benches, flooring, and "stuff". Keeping in mind this was only a 23' launch the 1:1 main bulkhead was originally designed with the bi-fold doors as shown which was a help to access the engine. I'm thinking of reconfiguring this arrangement as well.

I'd name this "Knot Likely", but it's knot a speed likely boat... 😊

Here's one of those side trips that I alluded to in an earlier post.

In the drawings there were two 10"X36" fuel tanks one each port and starboard under the benches. No particular fittings were called out, so I suppose it was "builder's discretion" as to how they were plumbed. If my calcs are remotely in the ball park, a 10"X36" tank doesn't hold very much fuel. (Surely you didn't think I was going to hazard my volume guess amongst you wizards?) however, I can with some authority proclaim that two of these tanks will double the volume of just one!😊
Short of a sounding stick, I don't know how one would determine the remaining fuel in either tank unless they were fitted with electric gauges. Running a wire from a sealed and painted closet dowel to simulate an electric gauge would be the sensible thing to do.
OR, find a short length of 1 1/4" copper pipe, cut it to represent 36" in scale (4 1/2") cut some discs of copper flashing, solder these to the pipe, and polish the whole thing. Now, to determine the fuel level...sight glasses. In 1:1 context the sight glasses probably wouldn't satisfy the authorities, but I'm reasonably certain in 1:8 scale no one is going to inadvertently kick out the glass.
Although these are not complete, here's where we are. I think they'll work.

The photo's:

1. using a 1/16" acrylic rod for the "glass", and drilling out a cabin-top grab rail stanchion to 1/16" provided the upper and lower valves. (The valve wheels are yet to be installed.)

2. Work in progress.

3. If the authorities find out we're using off-road fuel they may take a dim view of the operation.

4. I contemplated installing a couple of safety rods down both sides of the glass as would be done in the full sized installation to protect the glass, (and may still,) but here's where this little excursion is as of this update.

There hasn't been a lot of progress that shows, but some of the mundane items have been tended to. The forward and main bulkheads are epoxied in permanently after attaching the hatches closer hardware.
Patterns for the deck and cabin roof have been made and the false deck/roof laid out and roughed to shape. Still a lot of finesse is needed for a good fit.
I've also made up five sets of frames and marked the hull where they're to be installed. These frames are not required for this hull, but will be installed to facilitate attaching the floor stringers, fuel tank brackets, and seat stringer.

Photos:
1.thru 4. making up patterns and fitting the false deck and cabin roof, plus the rudder and wheel arrangement.

5. & 6. Laying out and marking the frame stations.

7. thru 9. The forward bulkhead and cabin hatches fastening method. these are just a small hook at the bottom of the hatch to retain the bottoms in place and a small magnet glued to the top corners which engage tin flashing shaped around and glued to the strip jams.

10. As with other builds I have found "fenders" in some most unlikely places. I have also "trained" my adult daughter (who frequents antique stores and flea markets ,) to keep an eye out for crochet tassels as found on some home made ladies purses and hand bags. She sent me this find recently which will produce nine excellent fenders for this build. With what she paid for the purse, the fenders come out to less than a dollar (US) a piece. I couldn't make them for that.

Thank you for the comments!

Just a very quick update before I begin the trying and fitting, trying and fitting, repeat, repeat, repeat.
These are the things that take such a long time and very little progress shows.

The first two photos show the general arrangement of the deck and coaming that will take some time to finesse.
I'm reluctant to hazard what the fellow in the third image is thinking. Most likely not appropriate for a family site such as this.

Managed to get the cockpit decking completed as well as the benches on either side. The benches will have a couple of turned spindles each to support them on the inboard side. I'll make a couple of cushions for the benches a little later.
I need to turn to the mechanical side before much more topside work, but I have to shelve the project for a week or better and get some yard work done since the majority of the snow is gone.

Back to The bench.
A summer of projects around the house, gardens, an old van, and the holidays used a lot of 2023. There were occasional evenings on the bench, but the weather has turned with the calendar and it's time to dust off the launch.

The original design had a sweeping arc as a coaming around the cockpit (shown in an earlier photo) and the foredeck continued under this and terminated in a straight horizontal line. To me it made the coaming look like an after-thought. I used a wall paper steamer and built a steam box to try some pretty severe curves in the cherry wood at the forward corners of the cockpit. There were a couple of pieces that split, but paying close attention to the grain of the wood enhanced the success of the bending. I built a buck just slightly smaller than the contour I needed and clamped the steamed strakes to it allowing them to cool and take a set for a day.

Most of the electronics and electrical components have been temporarily installed in order to prove their effectiveness and determine the trim/ballast requirements.

The steering apparatus is a little unusual, in that with an outboard rudder and tiller a conventional rudder post and quadrant inboard forward of the transom wasn't possible. A system of turning blocks and a vertically mounted servo answers to operate the tiller. I used the stock servo arm and although it's relatively short still provides close to the 35 degree rudder port and starboard which is considered maximum effectiveness. (The image below shows the winch pulleys which proved unnecessary. The original thought was a two part purchase that would have needed more line, but the rudder action and size has proved the single line to be sufficient.)

A float test has proven successful in the trim department although a full test under power couldn't be done as at that time the rudder rig wasn't sorted out yet.

Several coats of satin finish have been applied and weathering and fitting the hardware is in the process now. After this is completed it'll be disassembled, sanded, and final finish applied.

The detailing will follow with lines, "stuff", and perhaps running lights.

Hi Steve,
Glad you found the (probably) last installment of this build. I inadvertently posted it as a comment to a previous installment instead of a new "chapter" of the build log.

The cushions:

All they are is a piece of rigid closed cell foam used for insulation from a big box store or lumber yard. (I use it cut up and installed in voids for floatation as well.) It can also be found on construction sites as cut-offs in sizes good for our hobby.

The photos:

After a bit of experimenting, here's a quick summary of how these cushions came to be.
Cutting the cushions to size and shape, marking off, filing and sanding the grooves to create the pattern of the sections, rounding off the rough edges, wrapping the part with a kitchen wrapping product. (I have no stake in this company, it just happens to have a little texture to it, sticks well during this process, takes rattle-can paint well, and above all was available in the kitchen cabinet.👍 Some of the spray paints are too "hot" for the foam, but this wrap provides a barrier so the foam isn't effected. I recommend experimenting with the materials at hand to be sure they're compatible. )
Once the wrap is applied the pins were installed to simulate the buttons, CA glued on the backside and cut off if too long. A piece of cord is glued to the outside edge of the cushions to simulate the piping.
A couple light coats of primer, then a color coat.

I thought the last entry was the last entry. 😊
After shelving the launch to wait for the ice to go out and thinking about it a little, it seemed like a good time to add a few lights and a couple more details. I also didn't like having to remove the cabin roof to turn on and off the power. It seemed like an opportunity to break something particularly at pond-side, so moving the power switch was added to the list.
Interior, running, cockpit, and instrument lights were added. The main power switch was moved to a mount under the small hatch forward.
The anchor and boathook was also added.
The boat has been launched and run albeit in a very small area of a very small pond, but I suspect even with a six volt system it'll still operate at speeds somewhat above scale.