JessWin22

My Grandfather passed away some years ago and he built hundreds of RC planes and he always had this unfinished boat. I have had it for a few years and attempted to work on it and then stopped because not sure of what to do. I have attached pictures of this beast and its around 3 feet long or so and made of wood so its heavy.

I need to figure out how to power it on a lower budget but still have it look scale. Would prefer electric but would be open to gas like a zenoah type engine. I have no hardware or anything so kind of starting from scratch.

Next thing is how do I finish it? Is laying fiberglass down and sanding then applying gel coat a realistic possibility?

JessWin22

Im also open to wood veneer hull as well to keep it scale?

rc-oldguy

i think a gas zenoa motor is wayy too big for that id try a 40 or larger nitro marine motor like an ops if you can get one for the finish because this is a heavy wood boat sand it all down as smooth as possible finishing with 400 grit then save yourself the aggravation i went thu with pant and glass and buy a quart of marine gel paint it comes in white and makes a really nice finish you can apply it with a foam brush after a few coats let it dry for a week and wet sand it with 400 or 600 grit paper then apply a spray on clear coat this will make it very nice and its pretty easy to do trust me i got a 25" old school dumas wood kit and tried to do it all over i did the glass and sanded sanded sanded pain in a*****safter 2 weeks still looked crappy i wasted much of the summer on this lil loser found out the stupid boat cost about 30 bucks new so live and learn

advanced builder

Here is a another option to use with a veneer,in mahogany although you building in Birch ply.Keep the birch ply wrought so the veneer will adhere. The wood looks solid for 50 yrs good ole gram-pa I see she fly's a British flag. The 2 exhaust pipes on the engine looks mean
http://duckworksmagazine.com/03/r/ar...ass/bottom.htm

mike_o

It looks as if somebody cut out 2 sections of the right side. Both the veneer and the frame. I'd carefully strip it, recreate the frame and put on a new piece of veneer. Then I'd veneer the top and bottom and apply 3-4 layers of paint.

vbr

Mike

Will Sgarlat

Electric power would be great cause it's clean and quiet to run and so much easier to use than a nitro engine. You'd be able to run it in more places, too. Some of the electric gurus who troll these waters might suggest a nice motor & drive setup that would provide excellent service without breaking the bank.
Another cool thing about electric is reverse!!