Scratch Built P Sport Hydro from CAD

[Shooter]

Oh, and that basswood nose is not going to cut it. It's WAY too heavy. I'd like to make it out of balsa. Anyone have any strong oppositions to using balsa (coated with epoxy of course)?? Let me know.

[jfrancisco892]

Nice job on that fin. How did you bend it?

[bozo586]

balsa will not help that nose piece-one bouy and your done at 50 mph. to much done to make a mistake now pete-might i add that it looks really nice too.

[Shooter]

Jimmy - For the fin, I made a jig that retains it using the existing mount holes. This ensures the bend is parallel to the boat direction. The aluminum is heated and forced over a large diameter.

John - Good call. I am looking at other ways to lighten it up. Here's what I've done so far....

[tjcast]

My LSH from last year actually has bulsa there. I used preformed leading edge for an airplane wing. But keep in mind that the nose part between the pickleforks affords protection from bouy impacts (and we all know how well I do that)! I think that if you complete the hollowing out of that and make it like a C channel, when viewed from the side, that should do it.

[Shooter]

Thanks Tom. Good point with the nose pc though. This boat won't have that extra protection. Although, I'm sure you or John are quite capable of squeezing a bouy between the nose pc and the sponson somehow.

I've decided to abandon the 'cab forward' idea. It's just not practical with the heavy P sport battery config I plan to run (two 4S packs). The CG is too far forward. I'm going to cut about 2" off the front and move the nose pc back. Live and learn I guess.

[Shooter]

Some major surgery this weekend. I chopped 2" off the front end. After a ton of work, a LOT of sanding and gluing, it's now much more practical for CG. I matched the curvature of the UL-1 canopy. The heat gun made easy work of the bending again.

[Shooter]

I had the whole afternoon to listen to the tigers lose, and build boats.

The motor mount stringers needed to be centered (next time, I'll add slots to center these). I used my drywall laser. This didn't work very well. I ended up missing by about 1/16". Not recommended!

[Shooter]

Motor mounted. Servo mounted. No slop, and very solid. I'm happy with how this turned out, despite missing the slot in the bottom by 1/16" (had to enlarge the slot a little). Once the epoxy went over it, you can't even tell.

[Shooter]

I will add the motor mount stringers (maybe just 1/8 ply....the 1/4 is a bit ridiculous), and the servo mount pcs to the 3D model so I can laser cut them next time.

[Shooter]

Still cranking away at this one. It's nice to see it finally becoming a reality after months of 'virtual work' on the tube!

[Shooter]

Didn't plan for it, but the foam insulation was the perfect width for the openings. Sometimes you get lucky.

[Shooter]

Skinned.

Dang, this thing is H-E-A-V-Y. I overdid it with the resin and glass. It's an absolute tank. Should help it in rougher water.

[jfrancisco892]

Looking good. Looks like a scaled up whip.

[tjcast]

So what are the 2 boats in the background in primer?