Chynewalker

Over the weekend I began building a model of a 1:1 boat I own, made by Hedlund, raced in the 1970s in Class B/25SS APBA stock outboard. The model is in 1:8 scale, kind of a proof-of-concept boat before I build a larger version for my Graupner GTX 650. The 1:8 scale will work with my old Sea Fury and Atwood .049 outboards, as well as the K&O electrics from the '50s.

Chynewalker

A few more photos...

I'm using 1/33" aircraft plywood for the skin, balsa for the frames and cross members, and mahogany for the cockpit coamings, transom and other accents. The boat measures a little over 14-inches in length at 1:8 scale.

magnum500

i like it . did you have a set of plans ?

srt10

My Feedback: (20)

great job man!
I'm realy looking forward to seeing this build complete
I would love to build a full size electric of this boat...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yNu2_LlO9s

Chynewalker

Magnum - I lofted my 1:1 boat a couple weeks ago and drew up the frame drawings, etc. last week. Send me a PM with your e-mail address and I'll send you a PDF with the frame drawings...

SRT10 - my full size boat will run low 60s with a 20hp Mercury outboard. It was the first boat I ever "flew", as it rides about 6 inches off the water at speed.

srt10

My Feedback: (20)

60mph on 20hp! that's nuts, I thought that kind of speed would take much more..
do you have pictures of you 1:1 ?
it looks like it would be alot of fun being that close to the water at those speeds..

Chynewalker

I don't have any of that boat, but I have some of my runabout with a 30hp. It also does low 60s...

srt10

My Feedback: (20)

Awesome!
do you know what the price of something like that today.. new and used ready to race?

magnum500

are the plans from the 1:1 glen L . i have always liked the 8 to 10 foot outboard powered hydro`s.


PM sent

jetpack

My Feedback: (1)

Nice going on the Hedlund project! I like the choice of woods, it should turn out looking great and good on the scale.

Ron Hedlund and his brother I think started making boats in Illinois in the late 60's to compete against the DeSilva's and the Sid-Crafts that were running at the time in the A/B hydro classes and utilities/runabouts.

They sold only fully built hulls from what I can collect because it is impossible to find plans for.

Glen-L and Hal Kelly still has plans for early type sport hydros. I have a Ben Hur from Hal Kelly plans on Adobe files which can be scaled down for templates.

Stock outboard is one of the less expensive forms of racing to step into. Very simple to run stock, but lots of tricks to learn along the way. I think a person could start out with less than five grand with used equipment, including a basic trailer. For practice and testing your going to need a standard boat and helper.

Chyne, I noticed you had a Broccoli decal on your runabout model, so here's a Hedlund decal if you wanted to try and print one up for this one. Trade you for the Keller hardware. [:-]

Chynewalker

Thanks Jetpack!  I'll see what I can do with the artwork.  My boat is actually a Hedlund copy, likely made in the Finger Lakes area of NYS, but that's as close as I've gotten.  I've compared it to a "real" Hedlund and it is bang-on part for part copy, with the exception of the deck notches at the sponsons.  They're arced on the Hedlund, and squared on mine.

jetpack

My Feedback: (1)

Stover won ten consectutive years with that hull, and you're right it's pretty neat how its built. Our family was involved with racing also at that time and Stover lived close so I grew up knowing him around the house as my brothers friend.

That bottom is one of the first hulls I believe that were rounded on the inside edge allowing it to roll up better in the corner.

About the decal I would just try and copy it, re-size it in Microsoft Paint and print it out on sticky-backed label paper if you have lables, cut to size and mist coat it to seal it up.

Chynewalker

Back to the work week so shop time was short. I did get the sponsons faired in and glued the chine planking onto the sponsons. Hopefully I can get the sponson bottoms on this evening and then I can seal up the insides with West System epoxy.

A couple folks have asked about the butt joints I used for the cross members, etc. - I did that on this boat simply because it likely won't see much water time. I am doing this one more as a proof of concept hull just to make sure my lofting and drawing work went well enough to move onto the larger version. Strength, although important, was secondary to making sure I got the various alignments and curves right. At 14-inches long, it doesn't weigh much and the stresses if I do run it with a 1/2A outboard are minimal. The West System that I'm sealing it with will greatly strengthen what's there, too. On the larger version I will notch the cockpit coamings to run the frames chine to chine, and will also run the lateral battens full length on the sides and chines.

Chynewalker

The bottom is pretty much done! Got the last of the sponson skinning done this morning. Still a little fairing to do, but the bottom line is that this boat will now float!

srt10

My Feedback: (20)

looking good man!

magnum500

i totally igree !! that is a fine looking project !

Chynewalker

Thanks for the compliments! It's been a fun project!

I didn't get into the shop last night, but I did print off my 1:8 scale plans at 160% to give me 1:5 scale plans. I laid the GTX 650 on the profile view and it looks pretty good, although maybe a little big for the boat. The hull will measure in at a hair under 24-inches at this scale. Does that sound about right for this motor? I can scale it to pretty much anything, but I figure it'll be somewhere in the 1:4 (28-1/2") to 1:5 (23.8") range.

magnum500

i`d say 24" being the min. size . i like the 24 myself . minimal boat max power is what i like

sleeper607

where in the finger lakes was it made? Cool boat. I always love the scale looking boats especialy this style. Im trying to build a gas version of one now.

Chynewalker

Sleeper - for awhile I thought Mitch Meyer built it, but when he took a look at it he determined it wasn't one of his.  Nor was it Pat Davids or Leigh Furnal.  To date, I don't know who actually built it...

Chynewalker

I've decided to go quarter scale for the FE boat.  Being my first boat, I decided to go the conservative route, given that I'll be running a 600 size motor with a 6 to 8 cell battery load.  It also allows me a bit of flexibility if I want to make the jump to a brushless conversion motor later.  Thanks for the input!  I just did a paper mockup at 1:4 scale it it doesn't look to bad, either....

Chynewalker

I was able to work a bit more on the boat this weekend. Got the inside sealed with West System and installed the foredeck. I used the blue tape idea to help hold the side decking down. Worked great!

Chynewalker

The hull is now completely skinned and faired in! I'm calling this stage done! Now to come up with a good looking paint/varnish job. The mahogany bits will be natural, but I will probably paint most of the birch ply areas.... Maybe not.

Next step is to make up some hardware. I remember seeing some dollhouse handles that look pretty close to the grab handles on the transom. The steering wheel and throttle I'll have to fabricate.

magnum500

looks real good ! how about paint some of the hull and varnish the rest . just a thought .

Chynewalker

Moving into Stage II - the 1/4 scale version...

I got the coamings cut and shaped, the transom laminated and the framined cut and shaped. WIth a little imagination it's sorta looking like a boat already!