ORIGINAL: Tug Guy
LTDoc every little bit of info helps. I made one error on this model, I made it too solid. My main deck is my only deck and is 3/16" ply.The frames glue to the deck sealing in the area between frames. I will either have to use the resin/shot combo and disguise them as deck ornamentation (boxes, tubs) or I will have to make a thin box almost the full width of the hull. I have a rudder servo sitting on one side under the transom hatch so there isn't much room for ballast.
Here is a weird thought that just struck me. Drill a hole in the deck very near the transom on either side of the keel. Then insert a balloon in each hole and add the shot. Once I got the right amount of shot I could add resin into the balloon then seal off the holes. Good idea or bad?
Tug
Tug, I also ended up putting on my main deck before ballasting so I used the template on the plans to find the center of the elipical holes. This space is blocked off fore and aft by frames.
I used small containers placed on the main deck and filled them with the shot and kept adding to these until she was balanced. I then drilled two small holes about 3/8 dia on each side and slowly poured the shot in each side until I was happy with the weight. I then poured the glue (can't remember but I think it was weldbond or something similiar that poured very easy and then i just kept rocking the hull back and forth until there was no movement of the shot. I then used silicon to fill the holes and make it water tight. You could cover the holes with small wooden disks to look like access ports. Or like I did with my deck box covering the holes. This is the only place that I had to use ballast.
My rudder servo is in the front under the main cabin. The same place as the motor and batteries.
Kevin