BigBoats507

I will E-Mail you thanks for the help! right now I might cut off the lid and fix the shape but I want some opinions before I destroy it and add more time!

BigBoats507

Thanks for the help guys, tomorrow im going to get a weed eater and maybe some more wood so I can make a new top, always oped for ideas or tips Thanks!

jquid

One thing is to make sure you put some flotation in the front hull. Should you flip it, you do not want it going to the bottom.

As for making it look better, I guess the best advice I can give is to use a sanding block. It can be as simple as a block of hardwood with sandpaper. As long as it is flat that can go a long way in making your sides/bottom smooth. Start with a coarse sandpaper, depending on how you did with the glass, but 80 will take down large spots of epoxy, if not, then start with 100, and go up from there, 200, 400.

I assume you glassed the hull. So when you lay down the glass, you can use a very light mist of 3m spray adhesive from about 18 inches away. this will allow you to stick the glass to the hull before you add epoxy. Smooth out all the wrinkles, then add the epoxy with a spreader. I like old credit cards, you can cut them to shape and they flex just enough. Then use your sanding block and sand down to the weave of the glass, but not into it. Then you can use a sandable filler primer. Paint it, sand it to the weave again, paint it, sand it repeat until the weave of the cloth is filled, and your skin is smooth. Here is where you will use like a 600grit wet sand paper. Take a bucket of water add like 1/2 gallon and a few drops of dish washing liquid. dip the sandpaper in it and you will feel it bite into the primer. still using a sanding block, you can get a nice smooth finish. So best of luck, looks good so far!

My first attempts took me some time to get right. I guess my biggest advice is make sure when you epoxy is to mix it mix it and mix again! Make sure the resin and hardener are thoroughly mixed. I had a gooey mess on my first hull. took a long time to get off and start again.

Also you may want to think about adding chines to the bottom?

BigBoats507

I am a Mechanic and I used to work with wood because I used to make shelves for people then I moved on to speaker boxes with fiber glass, so I already got the wet sanding and stuff down. What this thread is for, is Ideas on motors, modifications, water cooling ideas, and so on. I messed up the lid so I have to make a new lid anyway so I was thinking of while in the process I could cut the hull to make it look better, to take off weight and for better surface plane. I will start to sanding it AGAIN after I get the lid off and ill post more photos and let you guys know! But any ideas on the motor and some tips on the drive setup and water cooling would be great! Thanks!

P:S: I had the foam to put in the front but got carryed away and forgot to put it in so theres another reason to make a new lid! lol

STAY TUNED, I will be posting a couple pics inna bout 2 minutes showing my water cooling assembly and a servo box I need help with

BigBoats507

as you can see I have a pipe with a T connection about 3/4's up the pipe so im having 2 water pickups from the bottom of the boat flow into the pipe and back out, only problem is while its sitting there it wont be pumping anything so I might get a pump and add a extra line for when idling just because ??

And the servo box, any Ideas on mounts inside that thing?? I might just buy a box instead of this flimsy thing

advanced builder

Custom is right. Make mount as hendocap shows. What you want to do isn't in many posts. They are here you need to read up. They have a DIY home build section over here http://www.modelgasboats.com/forum/5...budget-builds/

BigBoats507

May not be in any other posts but I have a buddy who is a rc boat expert and the water cooled pipe idea was his creation and it works great so im going to stick with this website because there is alot of home builders that know alot about what im doing and it took me a while to get the hang of these threads. Thanks though! any tips? And the mounts will be made the same but a little more stable done from our machine shop

BigBoats507

Alright now I DEFFINATELY need some ideas now! I got the top off and its a good thing that I did because in the process I found ALOT of spots that would have came apart if I was to drivee it in a lake, here is some pictures, I figured out why its heavy! Look at how much wood I put up there! WAY too much I need ideas on what to do, QUICKLY!! Thankss (:

Justaddwata

My Feedback: (3)

Looks like your tackling every project with this boat all at once which has made the thread a little hard to follow and respond to - that said.

Hull you have looks very workable. Indeed you could modify the lines of the boat but realistically I think you might want to aim to get it going as is and make it pretty later on (no point doing a lot of body work and painting it if you need to change things around before it will work). I would not look to cut too much weight out of it. It may be a big job with not so much return. If your using a weedwacker motor for this build then weight is nominal. Next time around you might hollow out some of the frames etc.

Motor mounts - you want the motor to be isolated from the hull using rubber isolators - this will keep the vibrations from the motor transferring through to the boat hull. A decent motor mount can consist of a frame that attaches at strong points on the motor and then rests on isolators where it is installed in the hull - or it could be a series of isolators attached directly to the motor and then attaching to a frame that is part of the hull - either way it should be as light and strong as practical and strong enough not to pull from the hull when starting.

Radio box - a Tupperware style box is workable (though perhaps not optimal). As you have found the issue with this style box is it lacks rigidity. Way around it is to cut a wood tray that the servos will attach to. This tray is secured inside the water tight box - it is then secured to the hull with screws that also screw into the servo tray. One thing to do with your battery is to use strong elastic bands or a cable tie around all 4 batteries to keep your AA's from popping out of the tray if you hit a bump etc.

Prop sharpening - there is a thread with instruction on balancing and sharpening the prop - not really your biggest priority at this stage but worthy a look when your ready. No need for the prop to be razor sharp - you will only cut yourself unnecessary as it will not increase performance for you. http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_3120686/tm.htm

Also as already mentioned - use floatation in the hull to keep it afloat if the boat flips or stalls on the pond. The standard is pool noodles - 2 would be plenty. Also - NEVER swim for your boat - you may be a great swimmer but we have had a few strong swimmers drown trying to retrieve a stalled boat - http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_9569185/tm.htm Have a means of recovery in place before you take it to the pond (a dinghy, canoe, etc). My signature is what it is for a reason!!.

Also keep in mind that you will need to buy a RESISTOR spark plug to use with your weedwacker. Any standard wacker plug wont work with your radio. So buy a Resistor plug or two and save yourself that learning exercise (can be a frustrating one when you dont know).

I have some build pictures from a guy in Germany that may give you some ideas or inspiration. Worth a look - http://imageevent.com/justaddwata/mo...ipsfromgermany

I was 13-14 when I did my first gas boat build - learned more working on that boat than on any boat since. Have fun with it. Certainly ask questions if we can help with anything!!

BigBoats507

Yes I am trying to tackle alot of important points, the hull cutting is not only for looks but for flotation help and for a better plane. im 15 so I guess I have all the time in every day to wake up and work on it as its my summer vacation right now. I will be taking weight out of the front with my dremel tool as you can see its front end heavy and floats funny,

As for motor mounts, my dad is a appliance store owner and technician etc... so I have a bunch of rubber mounts that I have used in previous mechanic projects and plenty of material to make the actual mounts. I also have made up some rails with 5" spacing as I have seen thats the size to tacckle.

For the radio box I might just build one like you said with wood instead of going after this cheap kitchen storage things. For a gasket im going to use silicone and for a top I gave plexi glass. For the batteries I will not be using the 4 AA's that you see in the picture just because of very short run time and there a pain and expensive. My sisters husband is HUGE on rc stuff so I can get a REALLY nice battery for free.

When it comes to prop sharpening, I think you sharpen and then balance. Last night Icouldn'tsleep so I made my own balancer, kinda like the Aquacraft precision balancer with the level and everything. Not that it needs to be too precise because its a big boat so its not so sensative as the smaller boats but its better to be safe than sorry.

For Flotation I already have pool noodles cut up, I just forgot to put them in when I sealed the boat (Most of the part I cut the lid off). For recovering I will be able to swim to it as I will be running it in shallow waters by the shore on Higgins Lake, in MI. but when it comes to the deep waters I have a spare pole with a magnet on it as I might be putting a littlemagneton the boat or something, I have read alot about it.

I race Motocross and I am currently a Mechanic for Team Yamaha as we use resistor spark plugs in our dirt bikes so I dont interfere with the T.v. at home so I already know where to get them and how they work.

Thanks alot for the help! and the websites you gave me!! Hopefully what I just wrote will clean this thread up for more people to follow better! Once again thanks!

cheesewizz69

I really think you need to take a breath and slow down just a littleMatt and others have given you some great advice and links. I agree with Matt don't worry so much about how she looks right now. Focus on getting everything layed out and running. Once you got it setup you can begin the water test. You will find that things that you thought would work just don't.

I noticed your exhaust system. My first boat had a similar design and it worked flawlessly. I used a walbro pump fed by crankcase pressue to draw water at idle into the exhaust header. From there it flowed into larger pipe and exited into true wet dual exhausts system. A word of warning you will need to silver solder the copper fittings as 50/50 solder will not hold up to the exhaust temps.

Leo

BigBoats507

Thanks for the pipe advice! like I said the whole removing the top and fixing it is not 100% for looks its for better flotation and a better plane, and it was originally in my plans but I messed up the build, right now I am currently waiting for a motor so while I wait I do body work, if that helps you understand my situation. My original plan was to just get it moving, but in the process of doing that I found ALOT of issues with the boat which is why it was necessary to remove the lid. the whole left side of the frames not even glued to the body so I have to glue it to straighten it out and for support. You know kinda like bike spokes, if some are lose rim bends and it has no support, same idea with my boat frame. The only reason im moving so fast is because this thing has been sitting in my garage for a year now and its time to get a move on it before school starts.

BigBoats507

ok slowing down on the questions. ONE last question for a while and its very detailed I even have a picture to show you, Picture pretty much explains it. Might be hard to get these but it doesnt matter what boat but as long as its around 5 foot long, I guess you dont have to do this for me but it would really help, alot!

cheesewizz69

Disregard the measurements I gave you on the other thread they were taken from the keel. I will send you what you need from my Apache after dinner. Hope you can wait that long

Leo

Justaddwata

My Feedback: (3)

I dont really see any issue with the way your boat is sitting in the water (with motor in it) - Thing you might want to check is your boats balance point (COG - Center Of Gravity). For most RC gassers we aim for around 30% (+/- 4% depending on the boat etc). What this is is a measurement of where the boat balances (front to back) relative to the overall hull length (not counting hardware). This measurement is taken with as much of the hardware on the boat as possible (need not be bolted on - site the motor in to get an idea). Closer you can be to 30% the better off I think you will be. This is usually done when setting up the placement of the motor within the boat as it is the heaviest component and can be moved forward or aft to adjust balance.

[link=http://images.rcuniverse.com/forum/upfiles/560121/do81247.jpg]Also in looking at your drive shaft - looks like it might be exiting the hull a little high[/link]. The aim is to have the prop near to level with the bottom of the hull and the cable should exit around 1/4" or so above the very bottom of the Vee.

BigBoats507

Cheese-Yes I can wait, im just sanding thats what ive been doing since I removed the lid, Thanks for your help!

Justaddwata- The boat before I tore it apart had a HORRIBLE Balance point, thats why I had mentioned its (Front Heavy) so I took out some weight in the front, I had to many cross members. moving the motor would be pointless when I just forgot to take off weight in the front, Heres what im trying to say look at the following pics,

Also I was sanding and came to a wonder, shouldnt I fiber glass the motor compartment? And what would happen if I didnt?

cheesewizz69

Here you go and yes you will need to seal the wood. I cannot give you the measurement at thetip of the bow becausenone of my hulls have that drastic of a rise at the tip.All of them taper up very slowly.

I would use west systemexpoy or a light weight cloth with resin to seal all of the wood.

Leo

BigBoats507

BigBoats507

Thank you cheese! That helped alot, now I can start to tape where I need to cut, like you said you cant get the tip of the bow measurment because it doesnt have that drastic of a rise, say from the top of the transom to the tippy point of where it does rise, say that would be like maybe a inch ?? ill draw another picture so you can see what im talking about,

BigBoats507

The second one are my measurements, and the first are what I was thinking when I cut it. Let me know what you think!

rcguy1411

use a pice of tape starting at the transome and find what looks good to you i think i wouls use these numbers 4" transome 5" center 4 1/2 "bow play with tape and see what you like this hull is 65"

BigBoats507

ok let me draw another one and you tell me if I read that correctly

BigBoats507

ok I dont know what that last 4 1/2" number is for but heres a drawing. now the 7" number the only reason that changes is because im cutting off at the top, if I changed the 7 id would change the 4 and the it would be WAY to small. Maybe I would understand a little better if you did what cheese did and chenged the numbers on that picture to what your talking about so I understand lol sorry but here,


Mainly my issue is my boat is alot deeper than most vee's but im not making another boat, thats why that middle number is so large

BigBoats507

??? This is the HARDEST decision of my life, if I make the wrong cut im SCREWED! I really need help on dimensions guys!

BigBoats507

ok final decision, 41/4" to 5" middle of boat drop down 1/2" to a 4 1/2" top to bottom tip