A real Honest-To-Goodness scale 38 KV Scarab!

[stac1627]

My first post boys!
After a 25 year layoff from RC...planes and boats...I'm finally back baby! I just recently took an early retirement and started a boat build that I've been building in my head for literally over 25 years. I was in love with the Miami Vice boat and went the Dumas route in the 80's...but calling those boats scale was like calling an apple a sphere! They were nice hulls but not what I was looking for...I also hated those gas engines...arggg! Looking at brushless motors was what actually got the juices going...small, powerfull and easily adaptable to scale.
So this is what I propose...a truly scale 38 KV Scarab, BIG, 1:6 scale, full cockpit area, done up in the 80" Vice pastel colors. I'm not looking for a "pond-rocket"...just a scale speed...30-35mph. MHZ outdrives would fill out the stern nicely...the scale seems almost perfect.
So off I go to Home Depot...plywood, luan board, bondo filler, hit glue...
I'm not new to scratch building...planes were my main addiction in the past...I figure just take my time and enjoy the process...So after lots of research, drawings, scaling up a plastic 1/43 scale model 602% I was on my way. I'll post pics of the wood plug...the finished 2 piece plug, the fiberglass molds of the deck and hull...
I was successfull in getting two nice castings...some minor gelcoat issues with the hull...nothing a long winter and polly-filler cant fix! If you guys wqnt, I'll keep you posted with pics as I go!
Mike

[stac1627]

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[stac1627]

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[stac1627]

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[flraptor07]

Wow so far so good, looks great! There's another Jersey guy "Ken_NJ" on here building a simular scaler of the Betty Cook KAAMA Offshore race boat.

[srislash]

Beauty work there. Glad to see you picked the hobby back up. Let the good times roll.

[Espresso]

That mold looks huge! Lots of respect for first of all making this from scratch and second, making it truly scale. Can you make a scale 48' or 52' MTI next??

[Fella1340]

Look forward to watching the build. Please keep us posted!

[stac1627]

Thanks for the kind words!
I will most definitely keep the build going and post pics...
Today was an all day affair finishing up the hull...hopefully the deck and hull will be joined by the end of the week

[785boats]

Now that is a serious piece of work.
This will be good to watch.

[olwarbirds]

Another RC plane guy getting wet. Its obvious like me your an old school scratch builder (Planes) ...That's a quality build you got going here. What motor/motors you thinking about putting in this beast ? Welcome back to hobbying and welcome to the OSE forum...looking fwd to seeing the end results... DJ

[stac1627]

Thanks for all the encouragement and kind words!
I was able to join the deck and hull...I used Loctite Marine Epoxy...went off without a hitch! I'm slowly repairing the gel coat "issues". This was my first attempt at mold making and boy was it an education. If I did it again I would have avoided the gelcoat issues but it is repairable and the finished boat will be immaculate! The deck/hull weighs in at 21 pounds...lenght is 74" with a beam of 16 1/2 "
Here are some pics...the figure is exact 1:6 scale, he's 6' tall...all seems to fit well. The gas cap. which is spring actuated, slides forward and releases two tabs that lock the engine lid in place...
I made a mock-up of how two Turnigy Aqua Star motors would fit...plenty of room for them...I'd like to have reversible ESC's but I'm putting the cart way before the horse. Like I said before...not looking for a pond rocket...just a 30-35mph boat...a scale speed of 70-80mph or so if my math is correct. I figure larger motors are the way to go because they still have to turn MHZ outdrives before the props cut the water...when I'm actually ready for motors and ESC's I'm gonna ask for some serious help from the guys here...
thanks for looking!
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[Ken_NJ]

Nice job Mike, coming along great! Your boat is twice the length of the one I'm building. Big is nice, but when it comes to handling and transporting, I'm at a point to keep things no bigger than about four feet. Keep it going!

[stac1627]

Thanks Ken!
I like big...but big can be a pain in the arss...
I have to start thinking about making a bra to protect the bow and stern corners when I transport the beast from the backyard ( where I sand) to the basement shop

[Ken_NJ]

LOL, yup, even at 45" I've had that problem moving from room to room and to the car.

[fox88gt]

I admire your skills and am jealous that you have time on your side to get this done! Congrats on the early retirement. I've been sitting on a brand new, in-box Dumas scarab 55 that I hope to build someday (maybe when I retire). Good luck with the build and thanks for the inspiration. I would absolutely love to build mine in a similar fashion as you have planned with dual motors and scale drives, but its just not in my budget for a while yet. Best I could do now is a simple gas Zenoah and surface drive setup, but going that route won't let me build an interior.

[hrspla]

Whatever happened to this build?

[TRUCKPULL]

He has not signed into the forum in 2 1/2 years.

Larry