RhesusMinus

I´m about to paint my airboat, but I am not sure if I should make the bottom with a gloss/shiny, or dull finish. Usually a big "board" with a gloss and shiny finish will suck to the water. What is your experience with this on an air boat? Any ideas what to use on the bottom that is hard wearing?

crispyspa

I've heard that you want a "lightly sanded" finish on the bottom. Like a 500 grit light sanding.
The theory I guess is that water will fill the small sanded groves and act like a film between the hull and the water...giving less friction.

Hard wearing? It depends on if you want to run in a gravel parking lot or just in the water and grass. Resins such as polyester and epoxy will hold up fairly well on grass....however if you want a bottom that will take a pounding from gravel, concrete and other surfaces like that, I suggest "coroplast" or a thin sheet of ABS plastic.

vamp131

I have used gloss paint on mine just household stuff give it a coat every few months after it wears down lol 1st had my boat it was rough finish underneath so glossed it found it way faster less drag in the water

shaunmichaeljohnson

to get maximum speed you want a finely sanded bottom.
race boats do this because water sticks to the bottom and effectively makes a new bottom from water[8D]
i have seen it done with sabot class sail boats that i race against, clearly the guy who did the "wet and dry" rough bottom had no idea what he was doing LOL having a rough bottom like that only has an effect when on the plane, and sabots are FAR FAR FAR away from planing ROFL!!!

but roughing up your bottom some will most likely stop it from moving on grass[:@]

summing up...
a VERY finely sanded bottom will increase planing speed but will stop dry running. if not done right it will increase drag and slow you down.

shaun

rickster3057

paint it really smooth fit a gearbox to it and it wil pretty much run on anything, i used ford red paint and a geared 500 motor and mine went like stink,it was in marine model international in 2000.
Rick.

noahdear

My Feedback: (2)

I don't paint mine. I use kitchen benchtop laminate (called laminex here in Australia) as the bottom hull surface. It's slippery and waterproof and very strong for its weight. And it bends really easily to the curved hull shape.

I start by cutting the deck ply, lay it down upside down, glue the bulkheads to it, add the sides, and finally glue on the laminex and the hull is done.

TERBObob

My Feedback: (21)

That miniscule' amount of speed your "possibly" gonna get by doing the sanding is NOT worth it ! Save the hassle and toss on a nice thing coat of resin ( either kind ) and when done , leave it be and have fun .
Folks , we are NOT here racing some TOP dollar speed boats where 1/50 of a mph is gonna matter .
Putting on a smooth bottom will allow you MORE options on what you run on .
Do ANY kind of sanding and try running on grass ( make it wet grass and now it becomes even harder )
If you want to run and have fun .. like I said , toss on a layer of resin and have at it .
End of story , plain and simple .