Robbe Najade rescue

[tomhugill]

Having (quite possibly very foolishly) sold my other Najade last week I picked up a Najade off Ebay this weekend. Unfortunately when it turned up it was in a lot worse condition than the pictures suggested. The previous owner has extended the rear but made a very poor job of it. Filler all over the place and very poor attempt at glass fibre. For some inexplicable reason the previous owner replaced the twin rudder arrangement with a single one which was mounted by cutting away the mounts and replacing it with a piece of styrene literally stuck on with a lump filler. I remounted the motor and added a brushless FSD 3674 watercooled motor. Unfortunately when I tested it it leaked like a sieve and handled very poorly. Also the water cooling didn't work at all.

I've pulled off the rear deck extension so I can rebuild properly and sanded the whole thing down. I've also removed the rudder "mount" ready to reinstate the original configuration.

[teddyt]

YES Tom i think It was foolish to sell your Najade( it was a very nice example) . but I am a bit biased as I own one too

but you have your work cut out on this one mate, but am sure you will sort it

[tomhugill]

It was nice but I would have felt bad pulling it apart to add the lights etc. To be fair it looked a lot less knackered in the photos (the joy of eBay). I've ordered replacement rudders today, just need a new water pickup pipe now. Hopefully I can have it sorted for this weekend, at least mechanically!

[Horses45]

Tom with your skills I can not see you having any problems

[ALPHA]

Just a thought... as that hull looks pretty beat....PATROL BOAT

ALPHA

[tomhugill]

It's structurally sound just needs some tlc! Hopefully I'll have the hull and running gear sorted to test this weekend!

[tomhugill]

Been putting in a bit of work today on this, I've installs the new rudders, added a brace across them (the structure that is in the original kit was cut away by the previous owner). I've also added a new water pickup pipe and exit. Ive properly attched the trim tabs too. Finally I've been trying to tidy up the finish, sand down the rough bits on the back etc..

[The Tank Man]

Shes comming on great Tom! And finngers crossed she wont leak like a sieve now!!

[tomhugill]

Been working hard on the najade today, hopefully she'll be ready for preliminary sea trials on Sunday.
First order of business was adding the panels on the back quarter of the superstructure. I've been using super glue and acceleration spray. This lets you use superglue as really tough filler. Much better for gap filling that messing about with miliput. The gaps between the panels and superstructure have been filled and sanded flat:





The next part was a much bigger job that it looks. I needed to replace the original scratched glass with a fresh set that had came with the boat. Unfortunately when I tried removing it it was completely stuck to the bottom of the removable top. I had to cut away some of the plastic at the bottom and take the glass away in one piece. Then I had to rebuild the top using plasticard as the previous owner had made a hash of cutting it out and had cut to much away so the glass didn't fit properly. This was further complicated by the fact I had to make it fit perfectly as I couldn't add any filer when the glass had been fitted.





Finally I blended the wing bit onto the superstructure using the superglue filler technique and then sanded using 240 grit paper so it's now super smooth!



Tomorrow I'll be cutting out the portholes and installing the crazy expensive ones I bought from Germany!

[Horses45]

As always Tom looking good