brianl1620

I could sure use some help! I am in the process of building the dumas miss circus circus and I have taken the advice of a few members on here and have used my kit frames as templets. I am using 1/8 aircraft ply for the 4 long pieces- 2 inside sonson frames and the 2 inside cockpit frames, I am using 1/4 aircraft ply for the rear transom, but not sure what to do with the cross frames #11 up to #4. I know frames # 5 and #4 are 1/16 pieces that are laminated. If anyone can help me with a better way to build this boat, both being lighter and stronger I would really appriciate it. Also looking for a good .67 motor for scale if anyone has one. Thanks

R.J. West

Dont allow all the "expert advice" offered here on the forums to get to ya.Ibuilt a Miller American kit and I believe the hull is the same or very similar to the Circus hull. Its hard enough to build a 1/8 scale such as the Circus as it is, let alone actually going thru the process of redoing the kit.
I have a couple buddies that built that boat stock as shown in the plans and it ran and handled just fine. If it was me I would have just used a dremel right angle drive and make cutouts in the frames and bulkheads to lighten the hull up a bit....

brianl1620

well I already bought all the aircraft ply in the different sizes and have cut out the long frames(sponson insides and the cowling sides. Plus when Im done I'll have all the kits original pieces for maybe another kit. I know its a lot of work. It was a lot of work just building the jig too the specs the plans call out.

R.J. West

And thats one of the cool thing about Dumas boats. you can use the original frames as templates and create an armada of boats.You might want to check with Newtons marine here........ http://www.newtonmarine.com/plans_re...&Search=SearchAnd as an idea to consider, to check and see what other hulls this can be finished as...
The replacement wood I'm sure is a much better quaility wood compared to in the kit. i would still consider making cutouts on the frames to lighten up the hull.....I'll use this pic as an example....

brianl1620

would you happen to know the answers too any of my questions?

R.J. West

I'm not too sure what answer your looking for since you asked for suggestions I gave you mine, but I'm guessing you went ahead and took hydrojunkies advice on building your boat because of howyou described what you'vedone so far sounds like something he would say.If thats the case you can either wait for him to pop up or send him a PM.

brianl1620

on cross frames #11-#6, the kit uses 1/8 mahaghny, should I use 1/16 aircraft ply or 1/8 aircraft ply? Also the kit calls out for frame #5 to be laminated together with 4 pieces of 1/16 what should I do here, and #4 is 2 pieces of 1/16 laminated together, also what should I do here also. Is the center section of the cross frames cut out or something in a later step of construction? Thanks. Oh I pm-ed hydrojunkie, hope he can find this thread.

R.J. West

Oh yeah if you even mention scale hydro's he'll swim in and nibble...he'l probably be online tonight.

advanced builder

OK , just got my old Dumas Miller America prints out, your talking about doublers , the reason they are there is to hold down part of the outer skin or to add strength , your choice
If you can hold down that skin on 1/16 edge YOUR BETTER THAN I
PS stick to the plans, IF your not an engineer
The 1/4 transom is good id,I ended up on my Atlas Van Line using some long small brass screws into my transom,cover over with 1/32 or 1/16 ply
I also changed the wood that the screws went into, better grade of wood ,larger wood
I can carry my 1/8 scale atlas by the rudder, if I wanted to= It's that solid

brianl1620

no I'm talking about the 8 frames that that go across the boat, you have 4 lenght wise frames and 8 width wise frames #11-#4. The kit has these as 1/8 mahogany, but I read somewhere where people are building these from 1/16 ply to reduce weight and the frame ends up being just as strong.

advanced builder

I see said the blind man, I would like my skin bonded to 1/8ply as to 1/16 ply

brianl1620

now it is very possible that I may be wrong or have miss understood that, this is where I need the help!

advanced builder

Sorry I didn't stay at the Holiday inn last night. show some pics ,I am lost

brianl1620

I think I'm going to take your advice and just build this kit stock, with the stock wood, so from now on what can I do too make this stock kit better. Not sure what areas to drill holes at and what areas to leave alone. I will just save my wood for a later build using Newtons plans, and use this boat to get some experience. Thanks advance builder!

cybercrxt

My Feedback: (3)

Brian, is this the kit you got from ebay from me?

If so, try and replace the transom with one solid 1/4" piece of aircraft ply, use those sponson former 1/8" ply pieces I had cut out instead of the luan ones that came in the kit. Once you have the framing put together, you should take a dremel with sanding barrell, and window out all the framing. You may actually want to do that once you have the bottom skin done so the framing stays square, but either way, remove a lot of that wood, and the hull will lighten right up. I highly recommend buying some Minwax satin urethane clear, coat all the framing wood with a foam brush. This will put a light barrier on whatever luan is still used from the kit. Once its on the luan, when you add your thin epoxy to waterproof it will not soak up a ton of epoxy and add a ton of weight. It will keep the epoxy towards the surface. Oh, here are some pics of the epoxy cowling I was telling you about. And one of the windowing out process on my Circus build. My guy will hopefully start production in a couple weeks. He wants to change the way the front turbine inlet installs to the cowling, lol, which is delaying things a little more! It will be worth the time tho! Mike Luszcz, [email protected]




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brianl1620

wow! that looks great. And again thanks for the kit. what is that in your boat? foam. Also how are you doing your front canard wings, the aluminum rod seams real heavy, are you using a carbon arrow shaft? Are the canard wings going to be operational? The cowl looks great, I can't wait to get one. Also do I need to window out the sponson inside frame or the cockpit framing towards the back of the boat? Heard some people on here say you don't want too leave any area closed up, so water can drain out if it gets in there. Thanks for the info. This helps a lot!

brianl1620

I guess I have to laminate those 1/16 cross frames together to form #6,#5, and #4

advanced builder

have fun Brian
cybercrxt I wish I got one of them on E-bay

cybercrxt

My Feedback: (3)

Advanced, I actually have another complete Dumas Circus kit with everything in the box if you need one. I really have decided since I built mine partially from newton plans that I will probably never build the Dumas kit. Let me know, Mike

advanced builder

Thanks cybercrxt I have more hulls than I need. That hull has a great look. Fast & streamline, can't wait to see her done.That kit is always in demand. I have a miller still needing paint.LOL

brianl1620

wanna sell your miller?

R.J. West

Love to get my hands on another dumas miller american or 1/8 scale pay n pak, but augh! I'm so broke right now until work picks up again..

cybercrxt

My Feedback: (3)

Brian, the center is wood over foam actually. The front canards are solid balsa. There is a metal tab that mounts behind the front part of the canards. you are only seeing half of the front canard in the picture basically. The rod is a carbon arrow shaft. The canards will be manually operational. You should window out any interior frame that you an get. Hopefully no water will enter the hull, but windowing them will help! Mike

Hydro Junkie

Did someone say scale? Sorry guys, have been out of town and am actually right down the road from Ron Olson in Paw Paw Michigan at a Comfort Inn using a free WIFI connection, instead of at home on the new PC[&o]
Getting to the question I think I'm reading, if frame 8 is one of the radio box frames, 1/16 ply will work. Since I'm not at home and don't have access to my kit/plans until at least Saturday, I'm sort of guessing which frame we're dealing with on this one.

advanced builder

Hydro Junkie, Paw Paw ,Michigan is getting closer to the east coast. any red necks ? Just kidding Ron Never been there, been to Walla Walla Washington & Wawa Ontario I found in my travels on a guardrail, IF the rednecks don't get you the vultures will now that's a mean& nasty town
brianl1620 let me think on that one. I haven't been working with .67 stuff lately kinda into the .12-.21 My finishing skill need a workout It's a outside job with the big stuff.i did just order some lite fiberglass 3/4 oz 3 yards for the Miller
I do have a Finnish hull Atlas Van Line, many man hours into her. give me a number $