speaker monkey

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I am in the process of designing and planning a model RC boat, having never built or run an RC boat before. However I am alright with my hands and have a keen understanding of basic engineering/DIY principles. My plan is to use an IC and the boat is being modelled to reflect classic wooden river boats with a sporty edge about 1m long. I'm not looking to race, just have fun.

I would be very grateful if people could comment on any of my ideas below and whether I am proposing any big "NO-NO's" within model building. I started a thread named "Diesel Power" a few months ago, I now am a bit further I think...

So far I have the concept for my boat designed, the next step for me I think is to buy the engine, RC equipment, rudder, drive shaft, prop etc then work out their positions & relationship within the boat. From there I can recalculate the buoyancy, stability & flow and refine the hull etc where I need to. Obviously this is a big step and so I don't really want to trip myself up at the first hurdle at the cost of some expensive kit.

The first thing I think you may say is "Hold on! Find out where you can use IC and then proceed" as I am aware most boat clubs don't allow IC for various reasons. I have found two fairly near me (Redhill, Surrey) one at Elmbridge and another at Shoreham Lagoon. I understand boat clubs also have certain rules regarding IC, pollution and noise so I will find these out too before proceeding to splash my cash. Apart from not using lots of ferrous metals, is there anything that I need to take into account if I am planning to run the boat on salt water?

I am planning on building my hull using (what I hear is called) the "bread and butter" approach of layered balsa wood and leaving cavities where I need to. The layers will be along the length of the boat (several sections of the breadth and depth profile). I am doing this for a few reasons - its easy, flexible to change during the building process, sturdy and once finished guaranteed to be water-tight.

Regarding engines I definitely want to go for IC because I like the idea of having my own little engine that I can tinker with and I think electrics are always a bit impersonal. Originally I was looking at diesel (or pressure ignition) due to the higher torque and lower running temperatures. But finding a dearth of suppliers within boat engines and reading about how tricky they can be to start I am thinking glow plug is the way forward for a first build. When researching "diesel" I was interested in PAW as they are British manufacture, does anyone know of any British glow engine manufacturers? Not so keen on petrol as you have to have the batteries for the spark on board giving extra weight.

I had a look at the CMB engines and although they look great, they are perhaps a little out of my price range for a first build. The one that keeps on popping up when googling is this:

http://www.sussex-model-centre.co.uk...d.asp?id=27260

Good price and size, does anyone know about these engines at all?

Another thing I have had on my mind is where the best place for the water intake for the cooling head is. I have found quite a few rudders that have the intake at the bottom and an attachment at the top. Is this a well practiced thing? What do you like to do?

Wow, this has turned out to be quite a long and wafflypost! It would be great to hear some constructive criticism and I will post photos of the build if anyone is interested.

thanks

monkey

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Ron Olson

My Feedback: (1)

A Bread and Butter built boat will end up awfully heavy, a plank on frame would be much lighter. Doing this type of building with balsa would also be very expensive to do. The CMB's are high-performance racing engines so unless you're building a race boat then I'd look for something a lot milder and less expensive.

speaker monkey

One of the reason's that I'm favouring the bread and butter approach is that the shape of the hull Iam going for is quite ambitious and Ireckon this would be the easiest way of acheiving it. Hopefully Ican incorporate some clever cavities to lighten the thing up but your right it will certainly be heavier than a plank on frame. Ihadn't thought about the cost of balsa tbh, thanks for that, Iwill look into it.

If not CMB then could you recommend me some other makes? What did you think of the tiger thunder engine link in my previous post?

Thanks Ron

monkey