Building Gas Boat from scratch?

[Benmcfarland]

Everyone,

Brand new to this forum. I have been away from RC for many years kids have a glow truck and I have an old RC10 and a electric candy boat but other then that not been doing anything with modern RC stuff since I was a kid and had a 46" prather that I bought and put my moms stihl weedeater engine into. I like the off shore boat design because I live fairly close to big water.

I would like to scratch build a fiberglass boat similar to the enforcer or the prather and am looking for some basic patterns or drawings/sketches so I can make a mold.. Goal in length is 46" as long a 72" with a beam of 12-13" or so. Want to put a weedeater engine so my kids can play for hours with it. Any help would be great.. Thanks for your help

Ben

 

[boatking]

i would try modelgasboats.com they have a few patterns you can try.im not shur about the weed eater engine but i would go with a zenoah engine (stock) a 260 or a 28.5 or a 29.5 would be a good start

 

[evan ritchie]

You might want to have a look at ZipKits EZ Vee It is a great build and runs well.

 

[Ron Olson]

Boy, you do got back a ways if you had a Futaba Candy boat! The first RC boat mag I bought had that on the cover, I may still have it.

The Zippkits boats, www.zippkits.com does have some nice kits which are hard to beat for the price. A lot of times you can't buy the wood for the price of a Laser cut kit.

What are the ages of the kids? Nowadays they pick stuff up quickly. I've seen 10-12 year-olds that can put a whoopin' on us old people.

 

[Benmcfarland]

My kids are 10-12-14 and we have a cabin on the lake and thought it would be fun. I am a welding, fabrication instructor by trade so building things does not scare me. I have taken some composite classes and would like to try and make maybe a couple of boats for the boys to race. I was thinking of buying some old Echo weedeater engines or even buying new and sell what I dont need off of the weedeater and go boating.. now I need to learn more about zenoah in my day it was all homelite.

 

[bmazor]

My kids are 10-12-14 and we have a cabin on the lake and thought it would be fun. I am a welding, fabrication instructor by trade so building things does not scare me. I have taken some composite classes and would like to try and make maybe a couple of boats for the boys to race. I was thinking of buying some old Echo weedeater engines or even buying new and sell what I dont need off of the weedeater and go boating.. now I need to learn more about zenoah in my day it was all homelite.

IMO:

From a few year experiments with weed eater ans chainsaw motors I stick to Zenoah and RCMK ( similar ) mass production motors. It is much less problem to complete the project. Boris

 

[Benmcfarland]

RCMK?

and after looking it looks like most engines do not come with clutches those are add ons?

 

[Benmcfarland]

just looked at zippkits I like what they have though I am thinking fiberglass because of durability or am I thinking wrong?

 

[bmazor]

RCMK?

and after looking it looks like most engines do not come with clutches those are add ons?

The clutch is a separate issue. You not need a clutch unless you like to stop boat with running motor. This is more money and more trouble. Maybe better to go with electric. Boris

 

[bmazor]

just looked at zippkits I like what they have though I am thinking fiberglass because of durability or am I thinking wrong?

You are not wrong. But good protected wood last for years and finally it is much cheaper. If you not far away from Memphis, TN I can gave you deep-V free. Boris

 

[Hydro Junkie]

I agree with Boris on this one. For a beginning builder, a wood kit is the way to go. I would recommend a Zippkits Easy Vee for the following reasons:

1) It's framing is precut so assembly is easy

2) It's a proven design so, if you follow the directions on building and setting it up, it should be a runner the first time out

3) Zippkits is known to have great customer service as well as having all the parts you'll need to put the boat on the water except for the radio itself and STOCK engines, they do have a race ready engine available.

4) This would give you and the kids some projects to build together, within reason.

As a note of advice, I would forego the use a clutch. I know the thought of not having a spinning prop sounds good but, at the same time, they do require adjusting and can fail. The added complexity needed to use them doesn't justify the one benefit they give, especially for a beginning builder.

 

[Benmcfarland]

just looked at zippkits I like what they have though I am thinking fiberglass because of durability or am I thinking wrong?

You are not wrong. But good protected wood last for years and finally it is much cheaper. If you not far away from Memphis, TN I can gave you deep-V free. Boris

I'm in Wisconsin unfortunately. .i might buy a wood kit to get back in the game. .then move to fiberglass later. .i should sell my rc10 and candy to fund this stuff

 

[Benmcfarland]

Okay I just tracked down my original 46" prather that I put my moms stihl weedeater engine in when I was 14 years old. the guy says its still mostly there and wants $200 for it without the radio? I might be able to negotiate what do you think fair price? I would change out the engine anyhow for something a bit more of a performer unless I could upgrade the engine a bit?

 

[Benmcfarland]

Okay just picked my old boat of from when I was a youth. It is rough needs a repaint. but I think I am going to use it as a plug for molding a few more for friends etc. then I need to find the right power plant. I was going to just use an off the shelf weedeater engine but as I am learning it sounds like Zenoah is the only way to go?

 

[bmazor]

Okay just picked my old boat of from when I was a youth. It is rough needs a repaint. but I think I am going to use it as a plug for molding a few more for friends etc. then I need to find the right power plant. I was going to just use an off the shelf weedeater engine but as I am learning it sounds like Zenoah is the only way to go?

It is not very good idea - to use old outdated boat as a plug. To make a good mold you will spend a lot of time (if material is free). If you like to make less than 10 hulls use plywood! IMO.

For fun even your weed eater motor is fine. But looking for ward better to get Zenoah or RCMK. You will need also set of hardware. Some time is better to bay than make own. Boris

 

[Benmcfarland]

Good points. I am already looking and making some CNC parts(rudders, Mounts, possibly props) I will decide on the hulls as time goes on. I have a long winter here in Wisconsin..