Scratch Built 1/8 Scale Azure AZ279 Build Thread
It has been a while since I have had the time to build a model, much less one from scratch, but I have finally gotten around to finishing a project that I started in 2005.
I am familiar with building boats, although they are usually full size boats. I have designed for Regal Marine, Monterey Boats, Crownline Boats, Cruisers Yachts, Cigarette Racing, Carolina Skiff, and I created the Azure Brand from scratch under Bennington Marine in 2004.
The Azure line of boats was my baby between 2004 and 2009. I created it from scratch. I designed the boats, engineered them, hand lettered the Azure logo, wrote the brochures, developed the dealer network, and conducted all of the dealer training. We were the fastest growing company in the Marine Industry in 2006 and 2007. Unfortunately, the economic downturn of 2008 put the nail in our coffin, and the company was sold. I continued working with the company, but after struggling to regain market strength, I ultimately negotiated the sale of the company to the current owners.
While developing the AZ 279 in 2005 (which at the time was called the AZ 259), we were worried that the full size boat would not be ready in time to show at the dealer meeting, so I cut 1/8 scale plugs off of the CNC machine so I could show a model of the boat. I had patented a cockpit layout that featured the head access from the cockpit, rather than the cabin, so you did not have to "Clear the Dugout" just to use the head. Access was also much improved, since you entered the head with open headroom in the cockpit. The cabin also had much more room, since the head was pulled halfway out of the cabin. The boat ultimately ended up making it to the show, so the 1/8 scale plugs collected dust until now.
I took the plugs down from the rafters of my warehouse, and started building the boat similarly to how we built the real boats. I will try to document the process for those who are interested, and I will also mention where I have had to deviate from the process, due to the nature of the small scale.
Enjoy: