Star-lite is a 27½ ft Auxiliary Offshore Cruiser whose plans and line drawings were published by Science & Mechanics magazine a very long time ago. She was designed and built by naval architect William D. Jackson who also designed the Jon Boat built by me here at AAAWelder. The one thing that makes Star-lite stand out among the free online plans group is that she is the one design that has been consistently built by home builders over the years, and I will be next in that lineup. Once you acquire the free Star-lite plans and go over them with a fine toothed comb, you will see that not only is she sea worthy, but that she is fully capable of extended excursions and even has live aboard functionality.
As I mentioned in the last paragraph, I intend to build Star-Lite but, the extent of my skills are in building smaller boats. I have no experience building ships, especially superstructures, which is why I have elected to build a scale model of Star-lite, in 1½" scale, to teach myself how to build this offshore cruiser and learn from my mistakes now so that I benefit and save time later on during the actual build.
I used the lines drawings to loft the frame dimensions in the 1½" scale. At first glance, I was concerned that the plans may not be complete enough to build the StarLite however, after lofting the frames and building a template for the transom-skeg-stem assembly, I found that all of the necessary information needed to build her is in the plans.
I made a copy of the transom-skeg-stem-assembly template and cut out the pattern for each member of this collective system.
I taped each pattern to the wood stock using clear tape. I used my jig saw to cut out the patterns after which they were sanded and numbered for order.
The transom-skeg-stem-assembly template was covered with plastic wrap to prevent the glued-up transom-skeg-stem-assembly from sticking to it. Rubber bands, and various other clamping systems, were utilized in transforming many pieces into one rigid backbone.
Fabricating the frames was a simple task once the lofting proceedure was accomplished. Since the frames were built to scale, I endeavored to keep my global tolerance to +/- 0.03125" in an attemt to stay as close as possible to true. If I, or someone else down the road, were to look at this model for clarification, I want as accurate a depiction as I can muster. As you can see here, I installed the floor timbers on the frame for ease of alignment.
The glued up frames were clamped securely to a rigid board to insure that they remained in tolerance and dried flat and true. I am a firm believer that if you start out correct, you stand a darn good chance of ending up that way and that's who I am.
One piece at a time and she is starting to resemble, a fish skeleton! Things that make you go, hmmmmm!
All of the primary frames have been built and installed. I am starting to appreciate the foresight of the designer. He wanted a strong ship and he designed one in Star-Lite.
With her chines, clamps, battens and half frames installed, Star-Lite is beginning to give suttle hints about who she is and what she is capable of. Her frame suggests, for her 27½ foot length, that the designers claim that she will accommodate 4 adults in full size bunks is realistic. I see a family of 4 having no problem with space and a couple living aboard should have ample room for, stuff.
This is a good shot of the forward framing showing the Sampson post, the rough opening for the forward hatch, the stem, stem knee, breasthook, the deck framing and the half frames. You can also see some of the gussets used to add rigidity and strengthen the framing.