dadkins

I am rebuilding a hull that performed really well but was a bit light for top speeds - previosly a foam hull with HPL laminate bottom - latex paint topsides - Super light, super fast out of the hole but over 20 mph the blow over is almost inevitable.
I added about 3" in length. 30" now and probably a pund or more of cedar strips and glue. I have yet to weigh it because I havnt finished stripping it yet...then planing 1/2" that off - then I'll weigh it - shooting for under 3 lbs. .40 engine. new rudder set up, new engine mounts sunk into the hull. Anyway - take a look, try not to laugh.
Dave

dadkins

More pics - and a pic of my recent distraction - little planes made of cedar.

1QwkSport2.5r

Looks like you have quite the project going there... I've thought about wood over foam, but haven't brought myself to do it yet. It should handle better with the new dimensions. If the front still ends up coming up on you, you can always add ballast up front. I've had to do it before.

We'll definitely have to have a field day this summer. If I'm lucky, I'll have 4 boats ready to run, with 3 needing to have a [real] maiden voyage.

Are you working on a hull for that gas engine you have, too?

dadkins

The gasser is going to have to wait a little longer - + I would need a high power servo for the rudder on that beast. I may get inspired after completing this one - trying to beat the snow - see how it does on the solid liquid.

1QwkSport2.5r

Airboats on snow are much faster than on water. I found out the hard way. Large wide open soccer fields are about minimum to get any kind of speed and still have time to turn to avoid obstacles. I ran the flatty in my yard last winter.. It tried jumping the driveway, but fell short. Hollow hull + asphalt driveway = hull 0, driveway 1.

Yours should be a good bit more solid than mine, so even minor "obstacles" shouldn't effect it much.

Do you know how many cc's your gasser is? I've got a 30cc sitting here, but I've no ambition to tear it down and convert it. I like glow a lot more for some reason.

dadkins

Ya the ol turn 180 and gas it - theres your brakes - I have a couple lakes right by my house and a fresh untracked snow makes for a FAST flat surface. Now we just need some snow. I have tried going on ice - but that is REALLY tricky - and it ripped the hell out of my bottom - not my bottom -the boats bottom.
I believe the gasser I have is a 26CC and I also have a cuple ryobi 30 cc's to work with. Ya know the gassers don't interest me as much either for some reason. Awesome on my mt bike ! but I really preffer the scream of the little nitro motors.

I glued the veneer down last night for the topside - tried doing it without slitting it but the 2 direction compound curves kept leaving a buckle in the front and I ended up slitting it in two spots - I used about 1/2 a roll of masking tape 50 lbs of weights a steamer and about 20 clamps and just could NOT Get er flat. Anyways I think I can hide the slits with a stripe or something but would have preffered the nice clean one piece top.

dadkins

more pics - test fitting the top skin. reverse transom.

1QwkSport2.5r

I know what you mean with compound curves. They are very hard to make work, and the thicker the plywood the harder it is to get the curve to come out. This is part of the reason I like using the thin 1/32" plywood for skin. I had to make a "Y" cut on the big kami to get the curves to work out, but so far on the new mini-kami the bottom compound curve worked out okay using a bunch of clamps and weights.

Looking good though. I can't wait to see yours done. Keep up the good work, and pics! We'll be on unfrozen water before we know it!

Edit: One thing I forgot to mention regarding compound curves... If you can taper your curves to be as "soft" as possible, you can get the compound bend to lay down flat without having to make any "Y" cuts. My compound bends on the big Kami were a lot "harder" resulting in the "Y" cuts. On my current project, I softened the curves substantially and that seemed to really make all the difference. Probably too late now, but just something I noted along the way here..

dadkins

More done this weekend - Course we had to take down christmas ... so that put a hitch in my building plans. Oh Well.
I got the top skinned. Not shown - fashioned struts for the motor mount and prop hoop.
And since I forgot my last 4 strips for the bottom at work on friday I can finish that up tonight.
Also, A little new vs. old comparison too.

1QwkSport2.5r

Looks good, Dave! What are you using for finish on it?

Altered1

that looks sweet !  Nice one !

dadkins

Im not decided for sure - most likely minwax urethane - that is what I used on the last hull and it showed pretty good scuff/fuel/ding resistance, I was tempted to glass it, but I think that would add a pound or more and this thing is bulletproof already with the bottom and sides being approx 3/16" thick. and the front pretty much solid wood for 1 1/2" + I can touch up pretty easy with the urethane.
Also debating weather to stain a design in the top veneer and not sure how to go about it or just stain it 1 color or raw ?
As is the birch veneer would be really lite colored and the cedar bottom will get pretty dark.
Also struggling with filler- I tried some plastic wood crap and it is a horrible match to the cedar - a good match for the birch - not good to sand. I also tried some gorilla glue mixed with cedar sawdust and it worked ok except it foams out of the holes and... hard to sand.
looking for ideas>..
I know... assemble it so there are no gaps

dadkins

The latest - Feverishly working on it now that we have snow - conditions are RIPE !
OK...maybe hurrying a little too much ! hanging my fingers over the edge while planing -results in... EeeYyyooooowweeee.
Progress continues despite the flesh wound.

Altered1

Dadkins,

With your filler problem, have you tried the wood dust and shavings mixed into PVA wood glue ?  Easy to sand once dry, and no foaming.

dadkins

No but I like that, and I am ready to fill some small cracks tonight. I have a couple different kinds of tite bond PVA. Thanks Altered.

Also - the latest progress - pictures taken in the twilight don't do it justice - anyway - looks fast to me...

Altered1

My pleasure. It's an old 'trick' a carpenter once taught me to hide imperfections in the C/D grade ply we were using. Use just enough glue to form a paste.... and test on test piece ! I'd hate to be responsible for an imperfection in that great looking hull !

She looks fast to me too !

dadkins

More progress, I decided to use Varnish as a finish - mostly because I have about 3 quarts left from my kitchen cabinets, after 2 coats of sanding sealer it looks like this.
more distraction... another P51 - gotta do something between coats of varnish waiting for it to dry.

1QwkSport2.5r

I was going to say (damn forum errors) that Epoxy mixed with wood dust tends to look a little better than wood glue and sawdust. The epoxy sets clear or mostly clear and as long as its sanded good before finishing, poly with stick to it.

The boat looks sharp, Dave. We will have to maiden our boats at the same time and get some video, ehh?

dadkins

Yeah, start chilling the champagne looks like they both are getting close to ready for the maiden - although with that water rudder - I might beat cha. I have about 3 more coats of finish and a little radio issue to sort out and I am ready to burn some nitro.
Maybe next weekend if we get any snow.

1QwkSport2.5r

Yeah, I dont plan to run mine on solid ground. I have a 3-pointer rough cut out that I might make as a "beater" boat to run on ground. Its a scaled up version of my "Minnesota 3-pointer".

I may make a set of air rudders for the .30 Kami but I am undecided yet. I want to run it with a wet rudder first and see how it handles speed. If it handles speed well, I'll try air rudders.

dadkins

More Progress - It seems every coat I throw down I end up scraping 90% of it off - couple more and it should feel like its encased in plastic.

dadkins

Couple more

Altered1

Hi Dadkins,

what did you end up using for filler on the hull ? 

She looks very nice with that clear coat.  did you spray ?

Rowboat

That hull looks to good to use. Great job on the finnish. What timber did you use?

dadkins

Hi Dadkins,

what did you end up using for filler on the hull ?

She looks very nice with that clear coat. did you spray ?


I ended up using PVA mixed with sawdust for filler - I brushed on the varnish finish- scrape it off with a scraper or razor blade on the bottom - then 320 sand, 400 sand and probably stop at 600