|
Materials
:
A. 1 sheet of 1 1/2 inch 4x8
"White Foam". This stuff looks like Styrofoam cups but more course. $7.00
B. 2 sheets of 1/8 inch 4x8
Paneling/Plywood. If it has a painted or finished side you must sand it
off for good gluing. $14.00
C. 6 yards of 6 ounce Fiberglass.
$25.00
D. 2 gallons of Epoxy. This stuff
is a 3 to 1 mix an has a full cure of 24 hours. Make sure your Epoxy is
foam safe while purchasing. $75.00
E. 4 ounces of Medium CA glue and
2 ounces of Thin Ca glue. $30.00.
F. 1 3x4 sheet of 1/4 inch Plywood
 1. First determine how much water you are going to need
to fully ballast your model to simulate a full load. Water is 8.5 lbs per
gallon and has a volume of 231 sq. inches. With an HO boat if you just
figure the entire cargo hold for ballast, and the use of 1 1/2 inch foam
sides you should be pretty safe.
2. The foam sides are for easy shaping of the hull such
as the thumbhole and hull bottom radius. Remember the strength of the hull
comes from the fiberglass and inner ballast tank frame not the foam. I
would recommend using 1.5 inch foam for the sides on a model of this size
and scale. Here you can see the finish hull supported by a single 6 inch
foam block in the middle, plenty strong enough.
3. Plan your parts, determine what is going to
be shaped with the foam such as the bow and stern sections, and how much
is going to be plywood such as the hull bottom and ballast tank.
4. Cut all parts out before you continue to
the next stage of construction. Do a dry run and
put things together ( No Glue ) to see how they fit and get an idea as to
how to put all this together. Construction sequence of your hull is very
important so read through this instructions to help with your planning.
|
