Replacement wood for Dumas boat

[Doug Ashby]

I'm going to build an 1/8th scale from a Dumas kit. What kind of replacement wood, and size, would you use for the deck and the bottom?

 

[Bill Gibson]

I'm going to build an 1/8th scale from a Dumas kit. What kind of replacement wood, and size, would you use for the deck and the bottom?

1/16th aircraft ply for the skin... 1/8th aircraft ply if you are making bulkheads, frames, etc.

 

[larcor69]

the skin and bottom that come's with kit, are fine, in the cheap brown(luan) wood that need's to be replaced, get ahold of Hydro Junkie, he can link you to some good threads to help ya

 

[Bill Gibson]

the skin and bottom that come's with kit, are fine, in the cheap brown(luan) wood that need's to be replaced, get ahold of Hydro Junkie, he can link you to some good threads to help ya

Some of the bottom skins that came with the Dumas scale kits were doorskin/luan...My 1/8th scale Pak that im building came with it....replaced it with 1/16th a/c ply and its much happier now!!

 

[Glenn Gates]

the skin and bottom that come's with kit, are fine, in the cheap brown(luan) wood that need's to be replaced, get ahold of Hydro Junkie, he can link you to some good threads to help ya

Some of the bottom skins that came with the Dumas scale kits were doorskin/luan...My 1/8th scale Pak that im building came with it....replaced it with 1/16th a/c ply and its much happier now!!

Hi Doug, Bill is correct, I've built two(Pak and AVL). Bottom skins and bulkheads were Luan .100" thick(2.5mm). Everything else was good quality ply(birch I think).

Good luck,

Glenn

 

[Bill Gibson]

the skin and bottom that come's with kit, are fine, in the cheap brown(luan) wood that need's to be replaced, get ahold of Hydro Junkie, he can link you to some good threads to help ya

Some of the bottom skins that came with the Dumas scale kits were doorskin/luan...My 1/8th scale Pak that im building came with it....replaced it with 1/16th a/c ply and its much happier now!!

Hi Doug, Bill is correct, I've built two(Pak and AVL). Bottom skins and bulkheads were Luan .100" thick(2.5mm). Everything else was good quality ply(birch I think).

Good luck,

Glenn

I thought my Atlas bottom was Luan too Glenn....goes to show if you you put on enough paint on anything you can cover up the bad stuff!!

 

[Hydro Junkie]

If you 're going to replace plywood, replace the transoms with 1/4 aircraft ply, all lengthwise frames with 1/8th aircraft ply and everything else out of 1/16th aircraft ply. I'm doing the same mods to a Dumas Circus kit and figure I can cut at least a couple of pounds out of the boat. Between the thinner wood and less filler needed to seal the framing than the luan will take, should be a much better boat in the long run

 

[Glenn Gates]

the skin and bottom that come's with kit, are fine, in the cheap brown(luan) wood that need's to be replaced, get ahold of Hydro Junkie, he can link you to some good threads to help ya

Some of the bottom skins that came with the Dumas scale kits were doorskin/luan...My 1/8th scale Pak that im building came with it....replaced it with 1/16th a/c ply and its much happier now!!

Hi Doug, Bill is correct, I've built two(Pak and AVL). Bottom skins and bulkheads were Luan .100" thick(2.5mm). Everything else was good quality ply(birch I think).

Good luck,

Glenn

I thought my Atlas bottom was Luan too Glenn....goes to show if you you put on enough paint on anything you can cover up the bad stuff!!

Actually you can(and I have) used the Luan mahogony ply. The worst things about the Mahogony ply is that it is very soft and the wood compresses easily. You can get around that by adding .040"-.050" carbon fibre doublers(inside and outside) all the stressed areas- transom, strut mounting area, motor mounts and the right sponson transom where the skid fin mounts and use larger 8-32 or 10-32 fasteners at the skid fin mount. It also soaks up water readily so it has to be sealed very well inside and out. I epoxied 6 small pieces of .090" C-F inside the sponsons/transom where you don't have access once the deck is installed- drilled and tapped for 8-32 button head screws to drain/air out the hull should any water get into those areas. Sponson mods were needed on both boats and longer skid fins also. I think I cut over 5/8" off the sponson bottoms on the Pay&Pak. Check with Bill Gibson and Hydro Junkie on that. Perhaps I should have cut another 1/16"-1/8" off. If you're making the Atlas do not put the divot in the bottom of the hull-std. hardware will not fit and running the pipe out the transom is very difficult or impossiable. Let us know what kit you are building.

Glenn

 

[Doug Ashby]

the skin and bottom that come's with kit, are fine, in the cheap brown(luan) wood that need's to be replaced, get ahold of Hydro Junkie, he can link you to some good threads to help ya

Some of the bottom skins that came with the Dumas scale kits were doorskin/luan...My 1/8th scale Pak that im building came with it....replaced it with 1/16th a/c ply and its much happier now!!

Hi Doug, Bill is correct, I've built two(Pak and AVL). Bottom skins and bulkheads were Luan .100" thick(2.5mm). Everything else was good quality ply(birch I think).

Good luck,

Glenn

I thought my Atlas bottom was Luan too Glenn....goes to show if you you put on enough paint on anything you can cover up the bad stuff!!

Actually you can(and I have) used the Luan mahogony ply. The worst things about the Mahogony ply is that it is very soft and the wood compresses easily. You can get around that by adding .040"-.050" carbon fibre doublers(inside and outside) all the stressed areas- transom, strut mounting area, motor mounts and the right sponson transom where the skid fin mounts and use larger 8-32 or 10-32 fasteners at the skid fin mount. It also soaks up water readily so it has to be sealed very well inside and out. I epoxied 6 small pieces of .090" C-F inside the sponsons/transom where you don't have access once the deck is installed- drilled and tapped for 8-32 button head screws to drain/air out the hull should any water get into those areas. Sponson mods were needed on both boats and longer skid fins also. I think I cut over 5/8" off the sponson bottoms on the Pay&Pak. Check with Bill Gibson and Hydro Junkie on that. Perhaps I should have cut another 1/16"-1/8" off. If you're making the Atlas do not put the divot in the bottom of the hull-std. hardware will not fit and running the pipe out the transom is very difficult or impossiable. Let us know what kit you are building.

Glenn

I'm building the Pay'n Pak.

 

[Bill Gibson]

the skin and bottom that come's with kit, are fine, in the cheap brown(luan) wood that need's to be replaced, get ahold of Hydro Junkie, he can link you to some good threads to help ya

Some of the bottom skins that came with the Dumas scale kits were doorskin/luan...My 1/8th scale Pak that im building came with it....replaced it with 1/16th a/c ply and its much happier now!!

Hi Doug, Bill is correct, I've built two(Pak and AVL). Bottom skins and bulkheads were Luan .100" thick(2.5mm). Everything else was good quality ply(birch I think).

Good luck,

Glenn

I thought my Atlas bottom was Luan too Glenn....goes to show if you you put on enough paint on anything you can cover up the bad stuff!!

Actually you can(and I have) used the Luan mahogony ply. The worst things about the Mahogony ply is that it is very soft and the wood compresses easily. You can get around that by adding .040"-.050" carbon fibre doublers(inside and outside) all the stressed areas- transom, strut mounting area, motor mounts and the right sponson transom where the skid fin mounts and use larger 8-32 or 10-32 fasteners at the skid fin mount. It also soaks up water readily so it has to be sealed very well inside and out. I epoxied 6 small pieces of .090" C-F inside the sponsons/transom where you don't have access once the deck is installed- drilled and tapped for 8-32 button head screws to drain/air out the hull should any water get into those areas. Sponson mods were needed on both boats and longer skid fins also. I think I cut over 5/8" off the sponson bottoms on the Pay&Pak. Check with Bill Gibson and Hydro Junkie on that. Perhaps I should have cut another 1/16"-1/8" off. If you're making the Atlas do not put the divot in the bottom of the hull-std. hardware will not fit and running the pipe out the transom is very difficult or impossiable. Let us know what kit you are building.

Glenn

I'm building the Pay'n Pak.

Doug, im building one myself...Glenn has a Pak that he has been running for a while...i made some changes to the bottom and the sponsons of mine and ive got a feeling im gonna wish I made more but Maybe not! I will be glad to send you some pics of where im at so far as ive still got a loonngg way to go! Ive been promising Glenn i would send him some pics also....my radio box as well as my fuel tanks will be in the front of the boat as these boats can be notoriously tail heavy....gotta get that transom outta the water!

Do you have an e-mail address?

 

[Kerry O'Reilly]

Hi All.

I am building a Dumas U31 Miss Circus Circus and it's ready for the deck skins do all the things that you have been talking about

apply to this boat as well.IT'S just that the hull has had a lot of time spent on it to this stage so i don't want to waste it...

Regards Kerry

 

[Bill Gibson]

Hi All.

I am building a Dumas U31 Miss Circus Circus and it's ready for the deck skins do all the things that you have been talking about

apply to this boat as well.IT'S just that the hull has had a lot of time spent on it to this stage so i don't want to waste it...

Regards Kerry

Kerry, if the kit came with luan frames and you used them...its not the end of the world! you just have to make sure that anything in the boat that is made of luan(doorskin)is WELL SEALED with slow set epoxy before you put the decks on the boat..you can also "cap" all the frames with with 1/32 or 1/64 plywood venier, then seal that also, but it is VERY tedious work!! I would never argue with anyone about using plywood in place of luan when building a Dumas kit as it is better wood....BUT i have built SEVERAL Dumas kits using the materials that came with the kit with NO problems because i was VERY careful to be sure that i sealed EVERY nook and cranny with slow set epoxy! Its all GOOD!

 

[R.J.West]

I noticed that some of the Dumas kits do come with all birchwood ply and some others have laun bulkheads and birch skins...

For whatever reasons I cannot explain, my Dumas Drag n' fly 40 came with all birchwood ply, the entire boat guys.......And my 36" Atlas U-76 came with luan bulkheads and birch skins, including the bottom is birch.....So they seem to be a bit inconsistant....

But I never had any problems building them or keeping them to last years as long as the parts are sanded good before popping them out of the carrier sheets and sanding the edges carefully.

 

[Kerry O'Reilly]

Hi guys..

Thanks very much for your replys will post some pics of our she is coming along soon..

Regards Kerry

 

[K.R.Joye]

Hi guys..

Thanks very much for your replys will post some pics of our she is coming along soon..

Regards Kerry

Heres a early pic of my 81 ATLAS Dumas kit i received totally built(not Painted),i went in and lightened the all the frames with a hole saw. Then sealed with many coats of spray epoxy clear. The boat was skinned in .047 G10 compression molded epoxy glass sheet.

 

[K.R.Joye]

Heres a finished pics of Munceys last ride`81' U-00(modified 82 Dumas kit).

Article link

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=907355&highlight=atlas+van+lines

Heres a early pic of my 81 ATLAS Dumas kit i received totally built(not Painted),i went in and lightened the all the frames with a hole saw. Then sealed with many coats of spray epoxy clear. The boat was skinned in .047 G10 compression molded epoxy glass sheet.