i have i 26 dumas shelly foss and i want to build a scale barge for any ideas on size many even have a pre made one out here on the web


thanks nicole

dumas sells or sold a 2 barge set for $50.00ish

is there anything already built not to good with wood

thanks nicole

Why not consider making one out of foam, either block or built up using pink or blue insulaton board? Its easy to sculpt & conture into the shape you want & will certainly never sink! Just be sure you know what foam you are using before you try to fiberglass it - Styrofoam or polystyrene foam doesn't take well to polyester resin but can be used by first applying a barrier coating. Here's a good link for tips on using the medium.

[link=http://www.sculpture.net/community/archive/index.php/t-2182.html]Hotwire Foam Tips[/link]

I'm playing with it now between kits to make a simple Chinese river barge for the pond.

Chuck

You could build it out of Aluminium...

I'm not joking... No, really... aluminium

Umi, your barge is amazing! Did you every beat it up like we recommended over at the other forum & paint it in red lead & rust?

I'll post a few pics later this week of my block of foam - its become weekend therapy for me in between screaming at the contractors as they finish construction on the house.

Chuck

Here it is undergoing sea trials.

And one at the reggatta after we cracked the valve and sunk it.
All the tugs running around are chasing the cargo.
The system needs work, as it sunk perfectly, but had trouble pumping the ballast tank to refloat.

did you weld it

No!!, I didn't weld it....[&:]


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I had a friend weld it...

Umi,

Loved seeing your barge as well as all those cargo containers floating around! I had no idea you planned to build your barge one that sinks for the tugs to chase around.

Would be interested in how you did your ballast system - I'd assume you are using a simple tank & reversible pump setup.

Chuck

It's just a submersible pump in the flood chamber....

It didn't refloat the first time, during full testing, because there was too much water coming in the gap at the deck and in spaces throughout the barge.
The second time, at the event, it wasn't properly balanced, and rolled over.
But there were lots of tugs to recover it.

These fun barges are not scale, but they are certainly easy to make:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=714083

A trip to an office supply store, or Walmarts, will yield many different sizes of bins that can be converted to barges.