Simon's Balsa Cat

[Simon.O.]

I tried the steps as per the idea in post #53
It was not for me.
I ended up back at the start where it was glued to the water and any extra power or lift adjustments made it go from stuck to blowover in the blink of and eye.
This is why I did the new bottom so that I can stick bits on and cut them off as I see fit.
I will stay with the strange step arrangement that I have and enjoy running it as it is.
I get 40mph as it is now, the old hull gave me 72kmh (44mph) but that was on glass water and only twice.

If I can keep this hull nose up and over 40mph for pass after pass then I'll call it a success.

When I get this hull running right and consistent then I will twin drive it.
.....and start all over with setups.

[Ub Hauled]

SImon, as always m8,
gr8 work!

[peells]

Video,Video,Video

[Simon.O.]

Over the last two weeks I have run his with the 12S can fed by 4S lipo to a 432 prop for some fairly spectacular runs.
Today I ran it with Jesse J's suggestion and that is 3S to the 12S can with a 637 prop.

#$%#@@#$%% that is fast. I have had this hull well over 70 kmh befoe but this was fun. The acceleration was smooth and it went to its nose up-tail ride attitude very quickly. This hull will ride like an OPC tunnel and runs very well with the nose up.

I'll keep all the strut settings recorded ( as usual ) and deffo have this as my fun boat.

Thanks a lot to Jesse for the hot tip on the 637
I was wary but it works...... well !!

[Jesse J]

Glad to be of service. It was my first prop choice simply because it is the smallest I have for the 3/16" stub I was using. I would have gone smaller, but am pretty smug about it now. I am happy you had such good results.

[crabstick]

video video!

[Diegoboy]

Simon, I ended up with that baby Freya. Here's a pic that I hope will help you. even though it's late
Click it for the larger one...

[Simon.O.]

Going back to rthe known !!

My 3S pack said bye bye so I was back to the 4S and the 432 prop.

Faster !! and that is that !!
As I have no gps now I have to rely on eye and ear.
The 637 would just blow it over if carefully setup,
The 4S and 432 setup will blow it over easily if not carefully setup.

I will stay with the 4S and small prop for now as it looks nice and sounds wicked.

[Simon.O.]

Well that was not so much fun.
I was running the cat with a K40 on 3S and pulling around the 40mph mark when there was a big ball of water and out of came a floating wreck.
It was drivable back to the launch area and came home so all is good.

This is my oldest operational Balsa boat and was built when I was running 23 turn brushed cans on 6 Ni cells.
It has had a few small cosmetic changes and has served me well. It is clear that this one will not be repaired and I will now replace it.

Matt among others have always warned me of the limitations of balsa and I knew all along that this was on borrowed time running nuts out BL setups.

I am now on the hunt for a glass cat about 18"-22" long. A cheap Chinese hull may do the job so long as it looks nice. However most of the small 18"hulls I have seen on ebay look cheap and toyish.
A shrunk "hotr" style would be the go !!

Any other suggestions ?? Bby SC21 ??

This one is done !!

[Xfactor]

There is hope fill it with foam and shave it back. Build your balsa boats then fill with foam before you deck.

[Simon.O.]

There is hope fill it with foam and shave it back. Build your balsa boats then fill with foam before you deck.

Foam. I assume you are refering to the spray in void filling stuff that expands.
I have use that for another project an found as long as I put it in in small amounts at a timeand leave it for 4-5 days to complete its expansion then it will not expand any more and blow the deck joins.

I would like to use the thin ply but it is so expensive here that it would be cheaper to bring in a glass or even abs hull from overseas.

Hmm Thinking now about another build. Thicker balsa like the big cat and foam.

[Xfactor]

have u looked on ebay for wood? try there

[befu]

two part urethane

Use two part urethane foam. chemical reaction and expands quickly. you can get it in different densities also. The lightest is 2 lbs a cubic foot and it is rather quite strong.

I will fill an vacuum formed hull with it and it is solid. I order mine from uscomposites.com Not sure where you would get it but someone would have it down there.

Keep up the builds. any chance of videos ever!!!! Your killing us!

Brian

[crabstick]

Simon, That will buff out !!

Bad luck man, its not nice to see that work turned into splinters.

[NativePaul]

You win some and lose some, I'm sure you learned some lessons when modding that one and the next one will be better, don't give up on the builds I have also strayed from the balsa path and am doing wood over pink/yellow or blue foam which is much more ding resistant than a 2part foam filled balsa hull and massively stronger than a hollow balsa hull, I'm using thin ply over the flat areas for ease of building and glass over foam for curved areas, glass it a fair bit more work as it needs sanding and filling for a smooth surface but its as good or better than ply for strength/weight and is very cheap.
Pink/yellow or blue foam cuts well with a saw or hotwire, carves well with a sharp knife, can be rough shaped with a wire brush and sands well, although if using a power sander watch the belt speed or contact force/duration to avoid melting the foam