Hi Hydrojunkie,

Thanks for replying.

First you mention the balsa framing, Id like to mention that its only a 16" boat. Do those things really take such a savage bashing? Ive seen em skip around and fork down in the water quite nasty though. Balsa is very spungy (in all aspects). Although the boat is sealed watertight, theres always a time where some water finds its way inside. Cant you just spray some blank laque or wax it a little on the inside to shield it from water? Or can it actually penetrate the layer of paint on the outside and creep though the plywood?

Second you mentionned its not built on a jig. Im not exactly sure what you mean by a jig, but I think he did use one though:


Third is the foam thing. I would have done it like that, too. I figured the thing will keep afloat on its sponsons anyway, so to keep it level so the electronics are more or less safe, id put some floatability on the backend. Is foam really that heavy? The guy in the buildlog could get there by lumping all its batteries infront of the motor I think, but that might cause some overheating. Just a note, he already put the motor further back then planned, might be for that reason you mentionned.

It seems this thing has some construction aswell as weight problems, so it might not be the best choice? Changing wood thickness will render the buildplan a little off whack, because its all made to fit into eachother at the given thickness.

Perhaps you know of a buildplan thats perfect from the start? "Boatbuilding for dummies" you might say. Ive never built anything out of wood before, so I preffer not to have tomuch fuzz to think about. Remember those paint by the number kits? Im looking for something like that for boatbuilding. Simply cut out parts and put it together like a big jigsaw puzzle.

If youre interested, heres the buildplan: Hydro Mite (TIF format)

Cheers,
Sven