Custom-designed mono

[TheShaddix]

This is something my dad and I have been working on. I designed this hull in a 3d program and he made it out of wood. He makes violins for a living so this wasn't much of a challenge. However, the real task will be perfecting the quality of this hull. We ended up just going with a primer instead of having the wood exposed and then painting it over with main color coat and then clear. The inside will be a carbon fiber inlay, but not for strength since this thing is already way stronger than any fiberglass hull I have. It's more for looks and ease of mounting of the hardware.

It'll be powered with 2 leopard 1400kv motors on 8S with 200A swordfish esc's. Using the speedmaster rudder which will be center mounted between the two props.

Not really chasing speed records here, just want some good torque and decent speeds (around 75-80 mph). The main priority is, as I mentioned, perfecting the design and quality. There will be more hulls like this in progress including my own V-cat design which is a mono and a cat hybrid, I'll post pics of that once I have something worth showing.

I already painted the hatch, had to adjust the hull hatch opening for better clearance, and then it'll receive the same gray metallic paint as the hatch.



http://imageshack.com/a/img901/4825/7E0Udv.jpg


Here is the 3D design

http://imageshack.com/a/img538/378/uLBaac.jpg

[ECSURFER84]

dude thats awesome, what program is that? what was your cost for making that hull?

[Tamelesstgr]

Love the transom lines on this hull, kudos!

[TheShaddix]

It's 3DS Max, just polygon modeling so not much precision there. The wood work was all done by hand based on the 3D images. He uses some kind of templates so the symmetry is there. The cost was 0 since it's my dad who built it. The wood supplies were dirt cheap since it's generic pine wood, plus a few cans of primer and some sand paper. This is his 3rd boat ever. Before doing this kinda thing he didn't even know anything about boats, just built guitars, violins, etc. He was complaining that he needed a hobby to fill up that free time, so I got him some boat building book which wasn't of much help. Through practice he just got better with each hull and learned on his own what works best. I have another one like this that I can sell if anyone is interested. I doubt I'd be building it since I'm already on this new one. Our focus now is on the v cat hull. I don't want to post the design for that just yet since I have nothing to show for it.

[ECSURFER84]

post a picture of that other hull if you can and asking $

thanks!

[TheShaddix]

Will do when I get home! But these hulls are still prototypes, my father is learning fast but still making small mistakes. He tries not to repeat same mistakes on the next hull but nevertheless, this other hull is still a practice one, so there are imperfections such as slight waviness in surfaces, wood grain showing in some places, etc. Overall it's built like a tank though. Basically, if you have any experience and desire to do some block sanding and more primer, then more sanding, etc., then this might be right for you. But if you're expecting a perfect shell to start building right away, this will not be of that level just yet unless you're not as picky and just want to get it running. I'll post it up and you can see for yourself. I won't be asking for much money since I do realize it's a practice hull. As long as I know it's going into the right hands, I'll be happy.

[785boats]

Very stylish.
Love the flared transom overhang.

[TheShaddix]

Here is the other hull that I have. This is the one that came before the one I'm building in this thread, so the quality is a bit worse but still looks good.


http://imageshack.com/a/img540/3510/9HKFG4.jpg

[tlandauer]

Tell you DAD this will be a the "Strad" of RC FE hulls in 200 years!!
Awesome job you and your DAD!

[TheShaddix]

Expandable foam added. Slow progress on this one because I still need to paint it before proceeding to the hardware, etc.


http://imageshack.com/a/img661/5449/h0pqo9.jpg

[Mathieu]

Hello,

Amazing skills ! Really love your work and the result so far.

Never trusted expqndqble foam as the majority continue to expand over time, causing a lot of hulls to finish split opened :(

[TheShaddix]

That depends on the foam you use and how you mix it. I used to use denser stuff like 4lbs but switched to 2, aeromarine flotation foam, it's much better as it does not distort your hull and once cured it's rock solid. I know if you mix too much of one part, it does different things it's not supposed to. I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but even though it says 1:1 mix ratio, that's by volume. I don't trust volume so I always go by weight as it's easy to misread the amounts just by visually estimating it, so the weight mix ratio is 1.1 : 1 (A to B). And before mixing the two parts I take two cups and measure both parts separately, then dump one into the other fast, add a few drops of black dye, and mix it fast for 10-15 seconds. The results are pretty good. I haven't had an issue of a hull splitting up but I can see why that would happen if you do it wrong. Another thing, i noticed that if you do just one large pour, the foam ends up cracking or not being as smooth at the top due to so much heat. And i used to use a water bucket but noticed that under water pressure thinner hulls (like a flowmaster) will deform, so while it's curing it's actually concave at that point. I ditched that method and went with a big fan for cooling, it works well. On these wooden hulls it doesn't even matter as the wood will not deform during cure.

[TheShaddix]

Decided to use my 56mm 1350 kv leopard motor instead of going twins on this one. Running a 240A swordfish on 8S (2x4s in series). I did some water testing this past weekenddddd, it runs surprisingly well, but needs a bit of tuning. It's not a record breaker by any means but I think it did about 50 mph on a 52mm octura prop. The esc gets barely warm so I'll run a bigger prop next time.

http://imageshack.com/a/img538/2719/tuHFyd.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img540/171/pBDfeN.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img673/9932/kjDFm6.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img538/532/s5cfRh.jpg

[Tamelesstgr]

Sexy lines, love the color combo selection as well. When are you going to post a video? Did I miss how the hatch is held down??

[TheShaddix]

Thanks! Right now the hatch isn't held down by anything. I just throw a lot of tape on it to hold it down while running. Initially I wanted to install pins in the front and bolts at the back as I usually do, but with wood it's a bit tricky. I'll need to approach it a bit differently as I can't just drill and epoxy in some pins, the hatch will crack. This is pine wood so it's still quite soft and makes things a bit difficult but it's easy to shape initially and is cheap.

Just installed the turn fins and repositioned the rudder, so a video should be ready after this weekend. Still tuning things. The boat goes fast but it tends to lean to the right under full power (striaght line) which I'm not sure about, is it the torque of the motor or the fact that the rudder is offset? at slower speeds it's perfectly centered and does not lean. The prop and rudder have enough distance apart to avoid prop wash or any turbulence. I'm not as knowledgeable about monos as I am about cats, so any advice would be greatly appreciated to balance this thing out!