The second plug for the USS Artemis. By Stuart Calvert

My friend had the original plug for a couple of months. He had problems getting the mould of it. In the process he had to destroy the plug and the mould wasn't that good either. I decided to take a hull off it anyway and use this for another plug. It turned out pretty well in the end.

I fared the fibreglass plug with 2 pack filling and faring compound. I used West System with lightweight filling and faring compound. I had to do 2 applications of this with sanding in between to get it right. I then used 2 pack high build undercoat for a really good finish. The paint I used was Epiglass International Perfection undercoat. It is white, but I mixed in some black pigment. It's easier to see imperfections in a dark surface than a light (white) one. After 4 coats of this (allowing about 4 hours between coats - paint it on when the last coat is just dry) it was sanded using the long board again.

I didn't take any photos of the finished plug but these are in the process of building it up until the final sanding.
Artemis fibreglass plug 060.jpg (43123 bytes) I pretty much covered the whole plug with filling and faring compound.
Artemis fibreglass plug 070.jpg (46344 bytes)
Artemis fibreglass plug 080.jpg (35557 bytes) This was sanded with a 2' long board (on the flat parts, bottom and sides of the hull) and a smaller sanding block everywhere else.
Artemis fibreglass plug 090.jpg (35107 bytes) Still needs some more filler.
Artemis fibreglass plug 100.jpg (55346 bytes) Long boarding the sides of the hull and making sure they are parallel. I also checked that the sides were at right angles to the bottom.
Artemis fibreglass plug 110.jpg (55418 bytes) Ditto. You can see the internal bracing I put on the inside of the hull. it definitely wasn't moving!
Artemis fibreglass plug 120.jpg (26695 bytes) Painted with 2 pack high build undercoat.
Artemis fibreglass plug 140.jpg (29093 bytes)
Artemis fibreglass plug 150.jpg (22220 bytes) After this had been sanded (finishing with 1200 paper) I made sure the deck was at the right level and then glued it to the base board which was 3mm MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard). I used thin 3mm MDF so it would be easy to bend to the shape of the deck but still be rigid. This was waxed 6 times. The mould and subsequent hull came off a breeze!
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