My first fast electric boat !

[T.S.Davis]

I just don't think there's anything more satisfying than building a wood boat. Engineering, science, and art combines into a grown ups play thing.............and it comes in a box right to yer door. Perfection.

Try a wood build fellas.

[DeltaAPmech]

Time for the top fixed sheet to be bonded on. There?s not much to it, but apparently it really stiffens up the hull so the directions say to make sure the bottom is flat, so it?s screwed back down to the jig for this step. I also turned some little wood plugs for the carbon tubes. I?m thinking if water gets to where these tubes are then if left open it could flow to the whole boat. Probably never happen but it?s easy and light.
Pete

im not sure why the pictures flip upside down sometimes and I don’t see a way to fix it sorry for making you flip your computer upside down to look at them :-)

[DeltaAPmech]

I got the top skin cleaned up and prepared for bonding on the sponson assys. It feels like a big deal to do but it wasn?t too bad. The dowels line everything up nicely, it?s just a matter of getting the epoxy consistency right, spreading a good layer on both surfaces, clamping and cleaning up the squeeze out. The jig once again gives me confidence that everything is straight and true. Once the clamps come off it?s going to really look like a boat !!
pete

[DeltaAPmech]

One skin down one to go. I sure do like the shape of the sponson. The top skin really makes it look great.
Pete

[Xrayted]

It does look sweet! I have to admire you for taking on a wood kit as your very first boat build. I may get around to building a wood kit one of these days after I retire. I also want to do a big scale heli build at some point to add to my heli collection, but didn't have the man cave space to do so since I lived in the city in a high rise condo on top of a hotel. Now I have all the space in the world in my new house I bought in the 2019, but now its the time to do anything that's missing since I spend most of it on a Delta plane going somewhere else

I'll get there one day! Good luck and keep the build photos coming

[DeltaAPmech]

Thanks ! I'm having a lot of fun building it. I have to be honest though, it isn't my first wood boat that I have built. This is the first FAST boat, I have a few others but all of their speed combined wont come close to what this one is supposed to be able to do.

I scratch built the sternwheeler as my very first boat ( ten years of time ). Its so big that its tough to get in the water and complicated to run so I scratch built the little steam launch for quick trips out. Next up was ditching any mechanical propulsion so I bought plans and built the schooner. Last boat was a bit bigger so I bought a kit and built it so had one to ride in !!

A scale Heli sure would be neat, Are you talking a Hughes 500 or a Sea Stallion maybe even a Chinook

Congrats on getting space to play!
Pete

[Xrayted]

That's right, I forgot about the big steam boat you told me about when we were at the club together. The hydro should be a piece of cake then compared to the complexity of that giant steamer! I have only managed to get by the club lake for less than one hour since were were last together there several weeks ago, so hoping for some time at home with decent weather soon.

Yes, most likely a big 700 sized Hughes multibladed heli, or Eurocopter EC135 with a Fenestron tail. Ive already built a 500 sized hughes years ago, but it was only scale on the outside. Im looking at full lighted instruments, carpet, etc on a 700 if I ever get around to starting one. Ive also had a scale Eurocopter Dauphin years ago that was also 500 sized.

Hope to see the hydro at the pond soon!

[1coopgt]

Whoa Mad skills . Those are beautiful.

[DeltaAPmech]

That sounds like a pretty cool helicopter project. I’ve never seen one with a full interior, just semi scale on the outside.
1coopgt - Thanks! I don’t know about mad skills just lots of time and plenty of mistakes learning how to do it ��

[DeltaAPmech]

I sanded down the upper skins of the sponsons and got the cowl trimmed down to fit in place. Wow this boat design looks great to me ! It looks like its moving fast just sitting on the table.
Pete

[DeltaAPmech]

Well I?m never one to leave something alone. I like the looks of the full scale unlimited hydros, I know this isn?t one but what happens if I put fins and a wing on this hull? Does it completely mess up its performance? The little turbine exhaust won?t hurt anything I?m sure and this one is just a quick see what it looks like. I?m going to make something that fits well. I could make the wing assy removable and just run it when I?m just messing around. Anyone have any experiences with a wing on this size hydro ?
Pete

[DeltaAPmech]

I decided to just glass the whole belly in one shot rather than lots of little pieces inside. Besides being easier to lay, it will protect the bottom from hits from stuff in the water. Long ago the guy that runs the hobby shop near me said to glass the bottoms of boats. If it?s only paint water will get into the wood and suck it up like a sponge with every little ding and nick in the paint.
I just used 1 ounce cloth and just enough resin to get it all wet. When I built my wood canoe the directions explained that if any more resin is used on a wet layup than is needed to wet out the cloth the glass will float off the surface. The weave of the cloth should still be visible with the right angle of light and can be felt. Once it?s cured, the surface is skimmed with more resin to fill the weave. It makes for a nice strong well bonded surface.
pete

[DeltaAPmech]

I sealed up the area behind the sponsons and that pretty much seals up the bottom of the hull. With that done I threw in all the parts to make it run and see where the stuff fits and balances out the boat. It?s my understanding that it needs to balance on the center of the turn fin. In the build pictures ML Boatworks has on its site the batteries are up front and motor aft. If I lay mine out like that it?s not even close to balanced at the fin. It works out fine this way especially with the wire drive. The nice curve in the stuffing tube comes out just about perfectly for the motor being located in the front.

Anyone see any problem with this layout ?

Pete

[Gary]

Looks awesome !! What's great about building like you are is you can make whatever modifications you want as you go along.

[DeltaAPmech]

Thanks Gary you?re right and this post is an example of that. I hope it works like I want it too !

So it?s time to quit staring at this boat and start cutting all the pretty wood up. It?s intimidating to slice into the hull. I used the trick Scott has on his YouTube channel to get an idea where the stuffing tube will pass thru the belly. Clamped the strut to a scale, set the angle of the strut to 1 degree and measured where the tube met the scale. It worked out pretty good. I ended up lowering the motor a bit to allow the shaft to be as shallow of a curve as I could. I ended up with about 5.5 degrees of tilt on the motor and it lines up great with the wire drive system. I?ll have to build a little enclosure for the spot the motor sticks down but it won?t take much. The other thing I?m working out is the motor mount. I bought a nice setup but it looks like any time it?s disturbed I?ll have to go thru getting the perfect angle and that?s tedious. I?m going to make the whole assembly removable. The last shot shows what I?m gonna try first. Seems like it will work. I?ll secure 4 tabs to the sides of the mount assembly and then those will screw thru the reinforced belly. Those screws will be there to keep the motor in place but the loads from the motor pushing forward are going to be absorbed by the blocks in front of the mount that fit real tight against the carbon fiber plates on the mount system I bought. If it doesn?t work I have more wood and epoxy 🤪
Pete