1/10 Scratch Built Thunderboat (Finlay Plans)

[monojeff]

Hi Jeff shes looking good m8,will you be adding any ridpads to the sponson bottoms?.
Mart

Thanks Mart,
Yes I am sure there will be some added once I get it finished up I will be adding them as needed once I have a chance to test and tune it with the help of some friends that have been doing this for some time. This way we can add what is needed rather then having to take away and adding....

[monojeff]

One Coat of epoxy has been put on the deck.
I will be putting a few more on today.

I also got the rest of my parts from Geof today.
Cowl, driver and fin & headrest.
They are taped on just to see how things lined up and fit.

[U1Racing]

jeff it looks great, i really love the cowl headrest and driver

[monojeff]

jeff it looks great, i really love the cowl headrest and driver

They fit on there perfect.
I sanded down the fin a bit in the back to get the angle more accurate with scale.
It's getting there, lots of prep and paint left!!

[U1Racing]

that will be a sweet boat and i cant wait till its done. cant wait to have 3 of the same hull out on the waters in RCMYC.

[monojeff]

that will be a sweet boat and i cant wait till its done. cant wait to have 3 of the same hull out on the waters in RCMYC.

it is going to be fun once I get it going.
I am trying to make it look as nice as possible adding as much detail as I can at the same time get it ready to run. If I crash it or get in a wreck then at least it was pretty at one point!

Get my mini hydro going and we can get yours out there and have mini races....

[monojeff]

Got the driver all painted up and added a half shield visor.
I also drilled 2 holes in the bottom to reduce the weight.

I am going to seal the bottom of the boat and work on the hatch covers next.

[RaGiN Z]

sick build! Very well documented! Can't wait to see the final product!

[monojeff]

sick build! Very well documented! Can't wait to see the final product!

Thanks I tried to explain as many things on the build as I possibly can to further help someone else build the same boat while showing what I could have done better to make things easier for next time.

I will be working on the boat tomorrow some and hope to finish sealing the bottom of the boat. I also will be finishing up painting the motor pieces.

[monojeff]

Started sealing the bottom of the boat today.

First I had to work on some areas where the epoxy clumped out in a few corners.
I used the heat gun to loosen up the hardened epoxy and an exacto knife to cut it out then sanded with a file and sand paper.

Then I sanded the entire bottom of the boat a few more times just to make sure everything was nice and smooth.

Here are some before and after photos.
I used the same method with MAS epoxy and heated it with a heat gun while brushing it in. I will apply another few coats.

[monojeff]

2 more pictures

[monojeff]

Well I am in the process of making the hatch cover and wanted to make it look as scale as possible where the dummy motor fits but it looks like I am going to have to abandon that idea as the actual motor is going to sit pretty much underneath the dummy motor and I do not have much clearance so I am going to have to rework my idea to make things fit better.

Oh well it is a race boat after all!

[monojeff]

Hatch is just about finished up.
I used a couple scrap pieces I had left over from the skins and made a paper template first then cut everything out with xacto knife.
I started to build the skeleton out of other scrap wood, CA & some triangle balsa.
I also made some supports and sanded them to shape of the curve to keep things even and make it so nothing warps while gluing on the cowl.
After everything was glued together I cut out the unnecessary pieces and kept only what was needed.
I then used the same fiberglass cloth I have been and put a layer on the bottom to stiffen everything up even more and help keep it's shape.
I epoxied the glass on then mounted it to the boat with some wax paper down and taped the sides while it was drying to make sure it stayed the shape I wanted it to.

I am very happy with the way it turned out!
Here are some pics of it.

[monojeff]

Next on the list is a lot more sanding.
I have started to smooth everything out and a few low spots with some cabisol & micro balloons and I am getting closer to getting everything evened out.
Last thing I want to do is rush this step!
Plan is to glue the cowl to the hatch and hopefully prime this weekend.
I will also be making a motor mount out of some aluminum angle.

[JimClark]

Looks great Jeff who made the cowl?
Jim