TNT Racing Banshee 60 Official BUILD THREAD & Instruction

[Mario Johnston]

Time for another build/instructional thread from Mario!
This is a full walk-though on the TNT Racing Banshee 60/80 kit boat. Special Thanks to Troy & TJ Hammons for giving me the opportunity to piece this early version kit together and show you guys what to look forward to.
Let's get right into it!

 

[Mario Johnston]

What you'll need:
- TNT Racing Banshee 60 Kit
- Two-Part Pour foam (we used Total Boat 2 lb. density
- Flat build surface, 4' length, MDF, pressboard, etc.
- Aluminum angle stock rails, 4' length x2
- Wax Paper
- Clamps
- Epoxy (we used West System 105 resin & 207 slow hardener)
- CA Glue
- Pink foam block
- 5/16"o.d. brass tube, 3'
- 11/32"o.d. brass tube, 6"
- SpeedMaster Strut SPDS-010-250HF Hydro Strut Assembly (Flat Bottom)
- SpeedMaster Rudder SPDR-013-1MBA 1" Rudder Assembly with bearing block

1. Lay all of your pieces out, do a quick inventory of your parts


Building the Rear sponsons

2. Identify you rear sponson inner sides. Be sure the FLAT side of each sponson is DOWN before gluing sponson bulkheads in place.
Your bulkheads will be numbered 1 through 5, with 1 being the transom, 5 being the forward most section. Glue these in place perpendicular to your sponson side with the numbers right side up relative to the sponson's flat surface.
Build tip here: use your aluminum rail to be sure the inner side is completely flat before gluing.





3. Glue 1/8" square stringers in place on rear sponsons. Start with a piece of 1/8" square stock as long as the sponson's inner side and glue in place along the bottom corner notched for it. Your upper stringer will be glued in place next. The front of this second stringer should be glued just behind the #5 forward bulkhead.

 

[Mario Johnston]

4. Glue outer skins. Identify the outer skins and be sure their FLAT edge is facing DOWN relative to each of your rear sponsons. Block sand the bulkheads and stringers lightly and epoxy in place. Keep your inner side set on a rail or flat surface for this step.



5. Block sand the top of each sponson smooth. Epoxy your top skins in place.



6. Block Sand your sponsons' lower surface lightly in preparation for the ride surface.

Your rear sponsons should now look like this.









7. Flip your sponsons over and mix up your two-part foam. pour foam mix into the sponson and allow it to overflow out of the open side. Once foam has cured, cut the excess off with a razor saw and block sand lightly. Be sure not to sand too deep into your ride surface, this side must remain as flat as possible. This is what each sponson should look like after excess foam has been cut

 

[Mario Johnston]

8. Setting the rear sponson floor/ride surface. The boat's rear sponson ride surfaces can be made from wood, carbon fiber or G10. On the boat pictured, we used .5mm carbon fiber sheet. Cut to size, sand inside surface and epoxy in place. Once the epoxy has set, sand the forward tips to match the top edge and the rears are complete!

 

[Mario Johnston]

Building the tub

9. Identify your bulkheads. There are two pieces to each bulkhead with the exception of the transom which is three pieces. Group the corresponding numbered identical pieces together and glue. You can use CA for this step.







10. Grab your tub inner sides and bulkheads. Mock up a dry fit so you understand where each bulkhead will fit. The #1 nose bulkhead will be first, the #6 transom will be last. There is kick-up in the hull floor so be sure your inner skins are positioned correctly. Use the boom tube and motor mount holes as a reference for which side is DOWN, should you need to.

 

[Mario Johnston]

If you are using pink block foam in your nose, this will be your next step. Pour foam can be used later should you choose to use it.

11. With your inner sides and bulkheads mocked up, temporarily tape the hull together. Cut a piece of your foam to the width of the bulkheads. Get your length by laying the foam under the nose and marking the distance with a pencil. Cut your block to size and sand. Your nose foam should fit snugly within the tub sides and bulkheads.

 

[Mario Johnston]

12. With all of your bulkheads and nose foam now ready, do a final mock up and check fit before epoxy. Lay your wax paper over both pieces of aluminum angle stock and rest the tub in between and the entire assembly on your flat surface. Epoxy joints and clamp. The wax paper will prevent your hull skeleton from sticking to the aluminum. Be sure the hull is square and true. A good way to do this is to use the radio box inner lip as a part of your jig process. If your tub is square, the radio box lip will fit in place easily. See image below. Do not epoxy radio box lip in place yet. To be sure there is no twist in the tub, rest a few pieces of scrap wood under your nose block bulkheads while you clamp.

EPOXY ONLY THE INNER TUB SIDES TO BULKHEADS

 

[Mario Johnston]

13. With your hull skeleton complete, move onto the bulkhead corners. Use your wood triangle stock to create reinforcements in the bulkhead corners (at rear of bulkhead #3 only, front and rear of bulkheads 4 and 5) Sand smooth and flush at top and bottom of hull.

 

[Mario Johnston]

14. Now is a good time to clean up your nose foam. Use your razor saw to cut the excess foam off the top and bottom of your nose section. Sand smooth with fine grit paper.

 

[Mario Johnston]

15. Epoxy radio box inner lip in place. Do this within your jig rails to ensure hull is still straight and true.




16. Epoxy hull outer sides onto tub skeleton

 

[Mario Johnston]

17. Epoxy top deck skin in place. Use the radio box inner lip as a reference for lining up the top skin square. You will have an overhang of around 1/8" at the rear over the transom, leave this in place for later.

 

[Mario Johnston]

Hull Floor: The hull's floor has a kick-up in the front and rear.
*Mario's note: for this reason i chose to epoxy the floor in three separate steps.

18. Epoxy the floor starting from the rear. The hull's kick-up extends from the transom to the rear motor mount holes. Epoxy and set this section first, clamp hull to your flat surface. Once cured, wick epoxy into the center tub sides and clamp again. For the floor's forward most curved section, CA a piece of 1/8" square wood stock across the floor bottom edge. This will give your clamps a good hold when pulling the floor up to meet the tub. Sand the wood strip off after.

 

[Mario Johnston]

19. Fit 3D printed boom tube supports. These blocks are specific to the front and rear tubes. Both block supports have drain holes that will need to face inward toward the tank section. Dry fit these pieces in place, take note of your drain hole placement. Lightly sand edges if needed.





20. Mark hole placement using the 3D printed boom supports as a reference. Carefully drill holes using 1/8" bit. With holes drilled in your floor, epoxy boom tube supports in place.

 

[Mario Johnston]

Fillets:

21: Fillet the corners where your tub sides meet the floor throughout the engine bay, radio box and bait box sections of the tub.
*Mario's tip: Use masking tape and a syringe to create clean precise fillets. Peel the tape off your area after letting the epoxy cure for 30 min to an hour.






Your tub should look like this!

 

[Mario Johnston]

20. Cut your nose block from Cherry, Mahogany or whichever hard wood you prefer. Sand the nose, epoxy and clamp in place. Sand and shape your nose block curve carefully.

 

[Mario Johnston]

22. Cut your transom's outer material. We used 2mm carbon fiber sheet for this. Be sure to use correct protective equipment if cutting carbon sheet, respirator, goggles, etc. Cut to width and height of transom, epoxy in place under deck top where overhand is left. Sand smooth.

 

[Mario Johnston]

23. If you're fitting your boat with a conventional 1/4" flex shaft, begin to fit your 11/32" outer stuffing tube in the hull. Use a drill or rotary tool to slowly open the bulkhead to accept the brass tube. Your tube should extend just beyond the cut out in the floor. Notch the tube with your rotary tool and cut-off wheel. The notched end should be around 3/4" from your engine's collet. Keep the notch on either the left or right side of the hull.

NOTE: The hull is set up for a wire drive system. I chose a traditional flex cable but you can go with whats best for your build! -Mario




24. Glue the two triangle stuffing tube supports inside your radio box on either side of the tube. You can CA these in place. Once the sides are in, mix a thickened epoxy to pour into the space around the tube. Elevate the transom on your workspace until the mixture is level with the supports and allow to cure.

 

[Mario Johnston]

NOTE: Relief cut on side of stuffing tube. This will allow the clamp to tighten easily later on

 

[Mario Johnston]

Front Sponsons:

The Right and Left sponsons are built differently. Each of the longitudinal frames in the Right sponson frame set has three additional holes for turn fin mounting. Be sure to separate your right and left frames before assembly. Mock up the frames and bulkheads before gluing in place to better understand their fit.

Mario's note: I tried to explain this as simply as i could, so bear with me, guys!






25. Identify the front sponson center frame. This frame will be notched across the top for the bulkheads to slot into. Slide each of the 6 inner bulkheads into place, each bulkhead will only fit one slot. Use this image as a reference. You can tack these in place using CA.

 

[Mario Johnston]

RIGHT


LEFT

NOTE 3x collar holes on RIGHT sponson