help needed
 

Hello all!!!!!

I'm in the process of building a 48'' Wildthing from some free plans I've downloaded from this web site http://www.modelpowerboat.com/RC_Boa...13_sectionid/2. One of my main concerns at the moment is that no strakes are included in the plans. Are they unecessary or is this just an ommission of the person who drew the plans??? If i have to install strakes then how many should I install??? in witch order and taking what measurements? Is there something like a rule of thumb concerning the installation and shape of strakes on our boats???

Thank you in advance,

Orestis.

RE: help needed
 

take a look at the bottom of either a Lazer or the insane mono they pretty much have the strake deal nailed shut.... ( figured out )

RE: help needed
 

this boat doesnt need the strakes it runs great as it is turns on a dime and is very fast if a little flighty.what are needed are the chines where the sides join the bottom just let the sides hang down 1/4 and fill the over hang a bit using either filler or silicone then sand the edge till you get the shape you want run your finger along the filler or silicone to make a concave shape chine then epoxy over it and this gives you a slightly concaved lip(chine)which helps the boat in the turns .ive had no problems with this boat running straight at all!!, by the way its not a wildthing it just looks similar.i built mine 36" for nitro but im building another for a weedy engine soon.what engine are you putting in? you may want to raise the sides a bit as with a zen in she sits very low and a mate built one that size for a zen see how low she sits and he raised his sides a bit.ill be raising mine an inch as my engine is heavy compaired to the zen.by the way heres a link to the build of this boat done by w3bby.by the way also check out his videos from the naviga world champs 2006 with some of the boats the americans say are slow fsrv ,running submerged drives.!!!also fsro 7,5 is dave marles winning another world title 5 so far i think![img][/img][link]http://www.putfile.com/w3bby[/link]:eek:

[link]http://www.putfile.com/w3bby/media[/link]

RE: help needed
 

martno1fan thank you very much for the invaluable help. I hope my boat looks like the beautiful SASSA when it's finished;). If you have experience with this boat and say strakes are not needed then I won't put any (saved me from the hassle:D). As for the chines, I will follow the plan and leave 0.125'' (3mm) of the sides hanging down (I'm gonna follow your tip for raising the sides too;)). Then I will fill them with silicone and shape them with my finger. But I have to ask you how accurate is this??? What if the right chine has a bigger cavity than the left one and vice versa? Am I exaggerating?

And something else. Should the sides hang down 3mm accross the full length of the boat or is this ''trick'' applicable to the transom area only?
Yet another question (don't shoot me:D:D:D!!!). what should be the weight of the fiberglass cloth I'm gonna cover the boat with and how many layers should I apply so that the boat is not very heavy?
Sorry for my english (it's not my native language) and for bombarding you with my silly questions...but it's my first boat and I want to get it as accurate as I can!!!


Orestis.

p.s. As for the engine, I was thinking of a zen G26 or G231.

RE: help needed
 

hi mate either engine will work great in this hull as regards the chines if you keep the over hang the same at both sides all will be fine i used a small block plane and a sanding block to get it right .then i used the filler or you can use silicone.just remember to epoxy over it after lol.i used an old credit card and 3 coats of epoxy to coat the outside of the hull and one coat useing a brush inside.im not sure how much w3bby raised his sides maybe 1/2 " not sure but like i said it still sits low so maybe more would be better.the chines hang down from bow to transome( full length).hope this helps if you check all w3bbys pics on that site you will see the chines very clear on his pics.i used his pics as a guide when i built mine as he kindly sent them all to me.hes since put them up there probably as i keep posting them for people to see as they are so well done and clear.strakes wont hurt but like i say it runs well and the wildthing seems to do ok runs like its on rails from what ive seen .the most important thing is to get the hull straight and all will be fine.mines a little smaller at 36" and its submerged drive runs well on a 11 cc plane engine id say mid 30s not bad for a solid shaft submerged drive. ps forgot to say no glass is needed for the hull just good old epoxy slow set i used 3 hr stuff givess you 45 mins work time and takes 3 hrs to dry 24 to set hard though.[img][/img]

RE: help needed
 

thanks again martno1fan. I know many modellers who just epoxy their hulls. However, I'm gonna apply 1 or 2 layers of the lightest fiberglass cloth I'll find just to make it extra strong and more waterproof. I just hope that the overall weight of the hull does not increase dramatically[:o]

I will post any other question that rises since you know the subject so well and you are willing to answer

Again thank you very much,

Orestis.

p.s. By the way your Banana Split looks great!!!

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the glass isnt needed it will only add weight!! a lot ,use marine ply or birch ply 1/8 all over is ok or you can go liter on the deck but id go 1/8 for the hull .1/4 for rails and transome.i dont see the point in using glass over wood unless its balsa wood.if you do want to glass it id go the 1/16 ply for the bottom of the hull to save weight.

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mmmmmmmmm you convinced me!!!! I will not use fiberglass!!!! When you're saying "epoxy" you probably mean epoxy resin ain't it???

RE: help needed
 

i use epoxy glue but if you can get resin thats better as it comes in bigger containers :D.by the way if you want you can use the wooden hull as a mould to make a glass one just cover the finnished hull in wax then apply gel coat then glass over and when its dry you have a mould then you lay your wax ,gel coat and glass inside that one and when its pulled out that gives you a nice new glass hull the same as the wooden one

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I didn't glass the outside of Sassa and the boat has survived some pretty spectacular blowoffs and visits to the shore....

http://img150.echo.cx/img150/9780/06132dy.jpg

Build the boat straight and light, make sure the bottom is true and you will have a nice handling, fun boat.
Drove mine with both a G23 and a modded 260, a stock 231 or 260 should be a good match to the hull.
When building I set the depth of the overhang as I built and did no prepwork prior to filling the cavity, I used small nails to hold the sides in place and then applied pressure.
During the many builds that have taken place we have discussed not having the overhang at the bow some believing that it acts as a small sail lifting the bow at speed and helping the blow offs. You may like to remove the overhang on the bow third of the hull, I don't believe it will be badly affect the handling of the hull and may well improve it somewhat.
Sassa is now 2 years old and in relatively good shape despite a lot of use apart from a split seam (now mended) from falling onto a concrete floor from about 1,2m [:@]

RE: help needed
 

ian any videos of her running at all? mines now retired got fed up of nitro engines (pain in the ass) lol .i agree on the chines thats a good point id never thught about that to be honest maybe it would helpto taper the chines down to nothing towards the last 3rd of the hull.i might try that on mine as i agree they can get flighty although i havent blown over so far but come close a cpl of times.maybe im a better driver than you lol but i doubt it hehe:D.
by the way mate i have to say that in my opinion sassa is the best wildthing (looks like one but isnt lol)that ive ever seen ,you do great work mate.i hope my new one comes out half as good as her is the biggest compliment i can give you.well done!!
by the way ian sorry for stealing your pics again but they are the best build pics ive seen anywhere and thought the guy could use them hope you dont mind?

RE: help needed
 

:)nice pic you got there w3bby:):D:D:D

Thanks a lot guys. I'll take your advice under consideration concerning the chines and the overhang! Sure thing for now is that I will not apply any glass!!!

I'll keep you updated as soon as I get my hands on the boat and I'll post some pics of the build. But at the moment I'm only visualising the construction of the boat since I'm up to my neck in...work[>:]

Orestis.

RE: help needed
 

keep running it through your head mate and read as many threads as you can on boat set up and such like before you start that way you will have a better chance of been successfull in your build.keep us posted and good luck with it and the only dumb question is the one you were afraid to ask!!;).hows the weather over there at the moment? a lot warmer than sunny blackpool in january i bet?:).
mart

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I don't want to tease you but I have to tell you that right now we've got 17C and a very bright sun!!!! hehehehe:D:D:D:):) By the way I'm quite familiar with UK weather since I've spent 5 long years in Newcastle! I know you poor people are struggling for a bit of sun!!!!!:):):)

Don't get me wrong, I'm only kidding!!!!

Orestis.

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[:@]***** offf :D just kidding lol newcastle ehh i think the brown ales almost as bad as the weather up there lol.by the way where will you be running your boat? on the sea?.struggling for sunshine here in the uk are you kidding i can tell you we had at least 3 weeks of it last year so there [:'(].

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hehehehehe. Three weeks of sunshine in the UK??? Now ain't that a miracle!!!!! Brown ales suck yet I miss them...strange ha??? I should see a doctor!

I'm gonna run my boat on salt water unfortunately. No lakes nearby Athens[:@] So I should be extra careful with that .... salt cause it's really harmful for the hardware. I hope my epoxied hull will be alright cause if not gonna get my fat ass and come to england to kick yours for preventing me from installing glass!!!!hehehehe

Those questions are endlessly rumbling on my mind. Here's another one: What (approximately) should be the weight of the boat when the latter is ready (without the hardware installed)?????

Answer this and you win a trip to sunny Greece free of charge!!!!!

Regards,

Orestis.

RE: help needed
 

the weight of the bare hull all depends on the wood you use how thick etc ive never weighed my 36" boat so i dont have a clue.w3bby might know how much his weighs but like i said its all up to you how lite the boat is depending on what wood you use for the build.go lite on the deck and that will keep the weight down a bit 1/16 as i said before would be best.marine ply is pretty water proof as it is the epoxy will just seal it all and make sure theres no gaps at the seams etc. just seal it all inside too to protect it from the petrol and all will be well.all the seams need to be glassed inside too for extra strength,you can use thin strips of matting for this or glass fibre tape!!.engine rails need to be glased in the same way too.also the forward sections can be made water tight and fill them with floatation(pool noodles or similar).this will keep her afloat till you get to her if you do flip [X(] at least the waters warm if you do need to get wet lol.make sure you get good hardware ,stainless steel and or alluminium will not rust.make sure you seal the electrics well too just in case.sorry i couldnt help more on the weight but no two scratch built boats will be the same anyway.doesnt look like ill get that free trip to greece :(:(:(:(.

RE: help needed
 

for the moment you missed that trip. But don't you worry as in the future I will have more questions about the construction so you'll get more chances!!!! Yesterday I bought new blades for my jig saw and I'm getting ready for a couple of building hours in this weekend!!! I'm so anxious building the boat but time does not seem to be on my side. I'm always busy [>:]:(

Thanks,

Orestis.

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When I'm done with epoxying the hull, what type of primer should I use??? And what type of paint after the primer???

I guess the primer should be epoxy primer and the paint polyurethane paint. Am I right?

What about filling the gaps of the hull (if any) with polyurethane foam? Will this work?

Do the epoxy mixture and the boat have to be warm prior to applying epoxy? I've heard that this helps epoxy penetrate the wood. Is that true?

The epoxy resin I purchased states "this resin is to be used for repairing concrete cracks by injection and also for installing and anchoring reinforcement rods into existing concrete elements". It doesn't mention anything about wood application. Did I buy the right epoxy or is there another type I should have bought???


Orestis

RE: help needed
 

mate what gaps? all i did is fill them with filler any wood or car body filler will do!!,then yes warm up the epoxy prior to use it helps.all i do is leave it in the sun to warm up or close to a radiator as long as its runny it will work fine.im not sure about the type you have to be honest maybe try it on a scrap peice and see how it sets up.its only to seal the hull so i think it should be fine.dont use expanding foam it will split the hull apart its strong stuff.also what helps the epoxy penetrate the wood is the setting time if its slow setting it will penetrate enough to get a good hold if it drys in less than an hr it wont key to the wood very well.have you glued the curved area of the bottom of the hull yet? if not drill small holes as in w3bbys pics and use zip ties to hold it till the epoxy glue dries ,normally overnight then you can cut them off and fill any holes left and sand smooth before sealing the hull.where the sides join the hull bottom i glued 1/4 square spruce strips to the hull and then attached the sides to these it give more gluing surface .as far as paint goes i use car spray cans, first primer then the paint and use a clear coat to match to protect the paint.i hope this helps!!if you want to use a brush,any enamel will work too or some use acrylic paints also but ive never used them.if you ask at the car dealers what they suggest for paint and explain you need fuel proof paint they should be able to help with paint and clear coat(laquer).

RE: help needed
 

by 'gaps' I meant the possible gaps between the sides of the hull and its keel. If any I will apply filler as you did. The only thing I've done so far is to cut the bulkheads[&o] But I hope this weekend I will make some progress...if not busy again[>:]

The resin I bought is slow drying (I guess) as it sets in 6 hours. I think it will fit for the purpose.

Tara mate

Orestis

RE: help needed
 

you will find that if you run a bit of epoxy into the v of the hull from inside and leave it it will fill the gaps and once set you can trim it off and sand it assuming the gaps arent massive lol.6 hrs is plenty of drying time as i say i use 3 hr stuff just means you will need to wait longer for the stuff to dry.by the way ive never been to greece but im told the beers not much better than newcy brown lol!!mind you i think i could handle it for a cpl of weeks in the sun hehe but looks like ill need to stick to best bitter on draught nice and cold mmmmm.

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lol. yeah not the best beer down here. but it's not like ncl brown ale man! No way!!!! I could hardly find that...tastew elsewhere! It's...extraordinary!!!!lol!

Another problem incurred. What is the length of the stringers and what's the distance between the bulkheads (their position on the stringers)??? I scaled up all the other pieces with the help of a friend but we missed the stringers. So now I'm wondering for example what should be the distance between the front bulkhead and the bow, or what should be the distance between transom and the middle bulkhead???

thanks in advance

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you will need to get the stringers done as the stringers and bulkheads all fit into each other!!they all have slots that correspond to one another .cant you just use your a4 printer? i did i just used printer settings to get the size i needed but mines smaller at 36" so its not like i can measure them ,in any case you need to get the shape right or they wont fit the hull shape .i think w3bby has the tiled plans for this boat and they print out the correct size without messing about with settings.if you ask him im sure he will send you them.

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I'll do exactly what we did with my friend a week ago. This is measuring the stringers lenght, height etc with a ruler and multiplying with 9.50 or 9.72 (I don't remember the exact number now but I have it written down). This way I will scale the stringers up without messing with resizing the plans on the printer!