Hardtop mold

[keoki62]

I have an albin 25 which I have been updating to do the Great loop.
I have built a hardtop with gull wing access on either side. And a cover for the helm station which will lift 15" to allow me to stand at the helm.
I am at the stage where I could make a mold and make fiberglass hartops for these.
I will check with a local fiberglass shoonon cost to lay these up if anyone is interested in them.
I have also changed my windshield setup to three pane so the center can open for ventilation. There will also be a brow.

[keoki62]

I have an albin 25 which I have been updating to do the Great loop.
I have built a hardtop with gull wing access on either side. And a cover for the helm station which will lift 15" to allow me to stand at the helm.
I am at the stage where I could make a mold and make fiberglass hartops for these.
I will check with a local fiberglass shoonon cost to lay these up if anyone is interested in them.
I have also changed my windshield setup to three pane so the center can open for ventilation. There will also be a brow.

[WillieC]

Keoki, the Starfleet Commander just yesterday showed me your handiwork on FB. Nice job! For those of us who haven't heard of FB, could you post some pictures here? I would appreciate seeing more, especially of the forward section over the helm. It appears you have it set up to raise and lower.

I have a handmade BC style hardtop, plywood cored fiberglass, which took a lot of work by a Previous Owner. No gull wings, no lovely wood details like yours. I have been pondering the gull wings, which would be no small mod for my top. Starting from scratch might be easier. It looks like you basically built it out of decent framing, mahogany or? and a plywood skin, then glassed it all. I'd love to hear more details. That looks very well done.

Edit: I just saw your pics on the other post. Thank you. Since I don't use fb, I haven't figured out how to zoom in on details, a feature I use often here at AOG.

[keoki62]

I used a foam care which consists of two layers of half inch top weighs about 115 pounds.

[keoki62]

The framing is Honduran mahogany. All parts are laminated for strength and stability

[NickScheuer]

I would go for one of your moldings, provided I like the lines. My plan for a plywood-cored fiberglass hardtop include gull wing panels for easier egress & entry.

Some hardtop mods I've seen step up several inches from the elevation of the helm roof. I prefer my design wherein the hardtop extends aft of the helm at the same elevation.

I really don't want the brow either. It catches wind on the highway. The original rounded windshield frame is much more streamlined on the highway. Trailering is a big consideration for us.

[keoki62]

I stepped Mine up because I am 6'2" . Also made the sides extend down about 6" to allow me to roll up my side curtains out of the sun.
The brow will be vented but I was not planning on a mold for that or the windshield setup

[keoki62]

This is the drain setup for the gull wings

[DesertAlbin736]

Yes, been there, done that. A different design than what you're talking about (each boat is unique in user installed mods). In our case I opted only to cover the opening over the wheelhouse and included 18X18 opening hatches for ventilation & ability to stand up at the helm & stick my head out & added 20 watt solar panel in the center. Lots of fun! My costs for the project totaled roughly $700, including all tools, supplies, hardware, and wood for the hatches. Note that a single Bomar hatch can cost more than that! I made the hatch frames from Iroko, aka "African teak" with 10" square plexi windows in the centers. For the tops of the hatches I used some 9MM marine grade teak veneer Okeume ply that I had on hand left over from an earlier project back in the early 2000's, with an inner layer (to facilitate mounting the plexi center windows) of 1/4" birch ply. Then kerfed shallow groves in the outer ply which were then filled in with black polysulphite (sp?) caulk to simulate planking, and finished with varnish over West System epoxy & then made Sunbrella covers for them. The cost of fiberglass supplies, including isothalic resin (2 gallons), gel coat, hardeners, mold release agent, chopped strand 'glass mat & cloth, diviny cell foam core material, safety equipment, etc came to about $440 of the total.

I would only caution about a "pop up" cover of the helm station in that if you plan to do any trailering over the highway be sure you have a means of dogging it down real good. The reason I had to make a new hard top in the first place was that previous owners had installed a lexan/acryilic pop up, that unless you tied it down good with ropes between the hand rails it would come loose & fly up when going down the highway. It did that to us once & broke into 3 pieces, besides which it was never fully water tight anyway.

Completed mold made from masonite & scrap lumber. Shape & curvature was determined but using styrofoam insulation as pattern material. That pattern can be seen leaning up against the garage cabinets in the background. The mold was a one-off & scrapped afterwards.

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Materials staged for layup; mat, resin, diviny cell core foam

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Initial gelcoat layer. Temperature control is crucial! Yes I did use a respiriator mask with vapor absorbent cartridges.

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Layup fun! This stage was fitting & cutting the mat to fit before actually placing & applying resin.

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Plywood core added for hatch hinge & solar panel corner attachments. Note thermometer used to monitor temperatures. This was done in month of April in unheated garage (upper 60s to mid 70s outside).Pieces of mat & foam coring were lettered & numbered for position & layer number (1, 2, & 3).

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Making hatch frames... Imperfections in the gelcoat & layup had to be filled in with epoxy putty & the whole thing painted over with Interlux deck paint.

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Finished top ready for install over wheelhouse opening. Through bolted on 8" centers with #8 machine screws & sealed with 4200 removable caulk/sealant. Totally watertight. Whole thing weighs about 50 lbs. 3/4" layup with alternating layers of mat & 1/4" diviny cell foam, top outer layer is woven cloth.

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Finish project installed

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Note that we opted only to cover the wheelhouse opening. Since our boat has the mast & sail rig, I wanted to retain the option to use it in the future. I later made a new canvas enclosure, essentially copying & modifying the stock design to add side windows, screens, & roll up flaps while also making the rear window wider.

Seen here with mast rig installed, docked at the marina in Blaine, Washington.

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This was the old top that came with our boat when we took ownership five years ago (seen in Roche Harbor, San Juan Island, WA) Until one day driving down the road the wind caught it, slammed it open & busted it into three pieces. Actually the white material seen in the mold in the very top photo came from remnants of the old top. New one is a vast improvement!

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[WillieC]

My BC hardtop has an eyebrow over the windshield, extending maybe 6" forward of the windshield. Venting would be a bad thing for us as it was through that less than stellar fitment that drenched our helm when we took that blue water over the roof. I have since sealed that gap up. On the ICW, from what I hear, you need all the venting and AC you can get.

So how does that lifted section work? I see the chrome/stainless posts and sockets, do you remove the posts when you want to lower it? Then how do you secure it in place?

Nice detail on the gull wing gutter drain. A critical part of the system as our seagulls leave other deposits all over the place. Our lid traps "water" in the middle of the eaves, there is a slight rise along the edge of the lid. The original idea was that that lip would prevent "water" from just running over the side along the entry gunwales. It has a nice relief at the stern for drainage. Only problem is that our boat doesn't sit at 45 degrees stern down to over come that low point. Details, details.

[keoki62]

Yes Willie I am on the texas coast summer is brutal lots if shade and ventilation is a lot of work Installed a sea water ac but have not had her in the water for a while

[keoki62]

Caught this off the port A jetty today