cracker39

Having seen some pretty good coro junkers, I decided to make one just for fun since I had some coro on hand. Only part of it is from a politician’s campaign sign, so maybe it won’t do too much damage to other airboats, besides, I don’t think there will be any other model boats around when I run it. I suppose it could run into a fisherman’s boat and mess up his fishing.

The interior coro framing and top decking are glued with CA after flashing the coro. As it was too difficult to imagine trying to use CA to put on the bottom when the joints are fully enclosed and CA dries quickly, so I flashed the coro and used 30 minute epoxy that would allow time to fit the bottom and would stick well...I HOPE. I taped the bottom down to the sides and top, putting a piece of plysood and weight on the bottom to keep it in contact with the interior framing. I used hot glue to seal the flutes and make sure the seams are water tight. Finallyl, I sanded the edges on a bench sander. The friction heat helped melt plastic and hot glue and help seal the flutes and joints.

I don't think it will leak any water, but I thought of putting tape on the seams to reduce drag. What kind of tape holds up well in water?

This boat is 12" x 24" x 3" and will use a .46 nitro engine lifted off my other nitro airboat. Just 4 screws and throttle linkage is all that needs to be disconnected and reconnected for an engine swap as the tank is mounted on the same piece of ply as the engine (photo of engine is other airboat). A small plastic parts box seen on the partly completed boat will be emptied of nuts and bolts, the dividers cut out and it will house the RX and 4.8V battery. Foam placed around the edges will soak up any water that gets in under the lid.

Here's what I have so far.

crispyspa

wow..you put a lot of thought into this. Nice looking boat.
I think that Jasper uses plain clear box packaging tape to help reinforce the edges and provide water tightness.

cracker39

I'm 70 yrs old, retired and I get bored easily. Putting a lot of thought into my little projects keeps my brain active. Building them keeps my hands active. Once in a while, I actually use them...my airplanes and boats that is.

I suppose any tape would stick for a while and could be replaced if it starts to come loose. I'll probably not put any tape on it anyway. I still have to order a receiver and a couple of servos before I can finish it and try it out.

Selph-Inflicted

I use a 3M packaging tape to seal my radio compartments with. I have had no problem with it coming off and it seals excellently. Have had boats upside down for about 10 minutes before without any penetration of water.

Edit:
Forgot to mention that I use it on wood and depron. I'm sure it would work well for you.

cracker39

BTW "Selph", It was your boat that inspired my electric tri-hull creation:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_8610941/tm.htm

My Coro boat has undergone a couple of changes/additions. I see things in posts that make me go "HMMMM...I gotta try that", and I do. Gone is the hard plastic parts box for the electronics. I didn't think it would seal well enough to keep water out. So, now it's the old standby, Glad. I made a air foil wing to help keep the nose down and avoid flip-ups (I HOPE). It's all 1/4" ply. Four tiny servo screws hold it in place. Two screws in front are the pivoting screws. The two rear screws are in a slot that changes up angle range from 10 degrees to 20 degrees. In the photo, it is all the way up at 20 degrees. I stuck in a piece of pushrod tubing for my antenna tube and will trim it down later when I know how long it needs to be. I think I'll leave the coro unpainted, except maybe to paint the rudders red to match the engine mount, Glad cover and wing.

Selph-Inflicted

Thanks for the compliment!

You have done an excellent job on your coroplast build! Very well thought out and built.

Your not to far from me, we should try to get together sometime. We are looking at getting together possibly in late June in the Ocala area, if interested.

Looking forward to seeing your boat take to the water.

carlosam

cracker39 ,

I am following your topic that shows us an excellent job.[sm=thumbs_up.gif]

I was curious to know what the thickness of the plate you used?

cracker39

The coro used is 1/4", which is all that I have on hand. The flutes on top and sides run bow to stern. The flutes on the bottom run across so that I could get a smooth curve in front.

Today, I plan on testing my [link=http://home.roadrunner.com/~wdsummers/airboat.html]first nitro airboat [/link]that hasn't been in the water yet. I'll also take my [link=http://home.roadrunner.com/~wdsummers/airboat2.html]electric tri-hull [/link]with me and try to get some video of both. I'll be using my TXVIDCAM, which is my camcorder attached to a piece of plywood with the TX held in place with rubber bands so that the vidcam points wherever the antenna is pointed. By mounting the vidcam on the TX platform I get video that's not a shaky as it is when hand-held. I just hope that this time I remember to turn on the vidcam.

500 lb. koolaid man

Great work. Lots of creativity and building success.

Just one quick comment. Your range will be somewhat limited, I'm not sure if it'll be a little or a lot, but the TX antenna gives out the best signal while vertical (think about it, more "surface area" for the signal), it's a common misconception that it should be pointed at the rc.

cracker39

My other nitro and electric airboats have the antenna running horizontal for about 8-10" then up the tube and out at the back of the boats. My coro will have the antenna running only a few inches to the up tube in front. I'm using a Hitek Ranger 2N 75 mHz AM TX and a Hitek RX that has a 2500' range. I doubt that I'll ever have the boats more than 300 feet from me, so signal range shouldn't be a problem.

I just ordered another Hitek RX, same channel, and some servos so I'll proably have the coro ready to run in a week. I use Servo City for my RX and servoi needs as they have great prices and ship promptly.

jasperrc

I like your coro boat. Nicely done!

If you decide to use tape, I've used 3-m (Scotch) decorate and repair tape. It's the same material as electical tape but wider. The nice thing about it is that it stretches some and will handle minor curves as a result.