Once again the heat continues inside and outside of Naval Yachts this week.  As per the title most of the work was focused on giving Möbius her curvaceous shapes as the 3D curved hull plates you may recall seeing us receive in last Friday’s post were hoisted up onto the framework and tacked into place.  These thicker and heavier curved plates take much more time to get into position and tacked in place than the flatter and lighter plates previously installed but as you’ll see below most of the plates on what will be the Port/left side are now in position.  Show me don’t tell me right, so on with the show we go………..

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First step with these thicker 12mm/1/2” and 15mm / 5/8” hull plates is to bevel all their edges to create the V grove where they butt up against each other and enable the welds to fully penetrate from each side.  These curly chips are from cutting all those bevels.


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One of the great things about aluminium is how easily it can be worked with woodworking power tools so as you see Enver doing here, a router fitted with a 45 degree carbide cutter with a bearing follower is used to put an even chamfer around all the edges of each plate.  Other than the horrendous noise it works quickly and well.


DJI_20180719_095521As each plate is beveled the whole crew helps to flip it over and work on the next one down in the pile.  Those stripes let you see where the wheel rolling and hydraulic presses the bender uses to create these very complex curves.

IMG_20180717_103923They work through each plate in the pile and put the bevels on all their edges.


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Once all the plates have been prepped it was time to put in a call to the preying mantis crane truck to lift each plate up onto the hull.


Hull plating thicknessJust before we jump into this week’s work on putting these 3D curved hull plates in place here again is view of the 3D model showing the different plate thicknesses.  The curved plates which are going into place this week are the green 12mm / 1/2” thick and the Cyan 15mm/ 5/8” bow plates.  Note also the “shark fin” Keel which protects and supports the propeller and shaft which also had more work done this week.

IMG_1151This is the 15mm “ice plating” that forms the first 5 meters of the hull back from the bow.


IMG_1155The super long reach of the crane makes short work of positioning this plate where they want it.


DJI_20180719_094852And then the crane comes back for the next one.


DJI_20180719_095000This is the 2nd plate back from the bow on the Port side and you can see just how complex the combination of the CNC cutting and the rolling/bending of the 3D curves has to be.


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Moving forward on the Port side you can see the 3rd plate back from the bow being set temporarily in place.  If you refer back to the coloured 3D model above you can see there is a long tab where the framing for a future stabiliser sits and you can see Umit and Uğur fitting that tab into place on the bottom edge of this plate. 

You can also see that some lengths of 15mm plate have been tack welded along the entire lower plate’s edge to ensure it stays in just the right place and tight up against the stringers and frames while they tack the new plate’s edge.


DJI_20180719_111744Moving right along, here is the 2nd plate back from the bow being manoeuvred  in place with some short vertical bars tacked onto the horizontal stiffeners to keep it from slipping off the edge as they move the plate into position.


DJI_20180719_164237The bends in the plates seem to be matching up just right against the underlying curved framework.  You gotta love the accuracy that comes from 3D models and CNC cutting!

If you click to enlarge this and look very carefully where the plate edges touch the stringers you will see the little step in the stringers which allow for the transition from this 12mm thick plate to the 15mm thick ice bow plate that butts up against it.  This ensures that the outer hull surfaces are all flush and smooth and the welded transition is on the inside.


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Time to move that 15mm bow plate into position.


DJI_20180720_110237Here you can see the scrap bit of plate with a hole in it is tacked to the plate to provide a place for the hook on the chain hoist to attach and let the plate slide all the way forward.  You will see this in action in the video below.


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And here is that eXtremely thick ice plate in position and ready to be pulled tight against that massive 25mm thick Stem Bar and welded in place.


DJI_20180720_181315Looking straight up the Stem Bar where that ice plate meets up with the Stem Bar and the 10mm upper hull plate will give you a sense of how strong Möbius’ bow will be.

And now the fitting and tacking begins to pull all these thick curvy plates tightly up against the framework and tack them in place.


DJI_20180719_163918Moving over to the yet to be plated Starboard side you can see these new curved plates being tacked to the frames and stringers.


DJI_20180720_133828Looking aft along the Port side wtih all its 3rd row of plates in position now you can start to see Möbius’ sleek slippery curves starting to come into view now. 
DJI_20180720_110435Still lots of curved plates waiting for their turn next week as the process is repeated and the Starboard plates are lifted in place as the plating of the hull continues.


DJI_20180718_105634Taking the plate to even greater eXtremes here is the 50mm / 2” thick grounding plate which will soon be welded onto the bottom of the 25mm thick “shark fin” shaped Keel where the prop shaft extends out.


IMG_20180717_103909Work continued on that shark fin shaped Keel  and you can see Uğur welding in the 25mm vertical frames which, when covered with 12mm plate will create the geometric curved foil shape to maximise the smooth flow of water feeding the eXtremely big 1m OD four bladed CPP propeller.


IMG_20180716_181940And lest you think that we never see the light of day outside of the shipyard building, here is what else has been going on this week in the Antalya Free Zone.

This little fella went sliding by our front doors on Wednesday making its way to the launching ramp after a complete refit after it was flooded when originally launched after being built at a yard in Italy.


IMG_20180718_103403And remember this rendering of the new home of Naval Yachts that is being built 2 blocks over from where we are now?


IMG_20180718_103235Well this week all the steel columns were stood up onto their deep concrete footings.


IMG_20180718_103307The thick huge concrete shop floor will be poured over all this dirt in the next few weeks
IMG_20180718_103454Work on the concrete part of the building for the offices and workshops has also been moving along quickly.

If work stays on schedule we will be moving into this new building around November and this will be where the right side up hull of Möbius will be moved to be fitted out with all her systems, equipment and interiors.


So that’s the week that was July 16-20, 2018 and below is the summary video of the week as usual.

Our continued thanks to you for taking the time to join us and please add your questions and suggestions in the Comments field below.