MADD CATT -41" fantasim saw build

[Prop-a-Gator]

That is unlucky, but you did an excellent job on the repairs. I'm a slow, yet impatient builder. Worst of both worlds... plenty of mistakes. I'm a fan of bright yellow on boats.

Edit: Wow! You were posting while I was writing. Looks great!! Very nice!

[Cooper]

Now comes mistake number two. I was eager to see what the design was going to look like so I only taped off one side. When I laid down the tape I used pin stripe 1/8" tape to create the design. It was something I had laying around so I used it. It wasn't to user friendly making the curves soooo I used a heat gun to coax it into submission. Well that was part one wrong of mistake number two. The pinstripe is highly adhesive, made to stay put! Part two was the primer, it was fine to use but I did not scuff it up any and the waterborne (even solvent paint) paint did not have much to hold. Now that wasn't the whammy, the real problem was when I applied heat to help make the pinstripe curves I helped the adhesive of the tape and I weakened the bond between the paint and primer. Double whammy!! When I removed the tape the paint came with!!!
(I would like to state I am not a paint guy but have begun the learning curve. As I writhing this now I have sorted, learned, and obtained the right things to use. )


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[Cooper]

Hey prop, I have access to the iPad so I've got to stuff all my posts quick!! Had to bargain with wife as I bought some more "toys" so I'm limited to Internet for a while. (Yea they all came from online) :). Lol!!



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[Cooper]

Yes I'm a pin head!! ( had to throw that in there!!) I now know that the writhing on cans of paint isn't there because they needed to fill empty space. Removing bad to make room for good. Only a few places the paint peeled off like that. I never scuffed the primer, I was so proud when I laid down the primer it was sooo smooth! Looked real good. (Dumbass me!!)


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[CornelP]

From a sad experience I can tell you that it's better to redo the paint now than later... like on the pond, when you remove the tape on the maiden run... and you take off half the paint... just remember rule No.1 of painting:
THOU SHALL SAND BETWEEN LAYERS...

[alanr77]

Ouch!! How far was the drop?? 4-5'? Makes me wonder about just how strong the hull is at the points you were not able to reinforce. I have not bought the hull yet as I am still tied up in my recovery tug build but you have me thinking the extra $$ for the CF hull may be worth it. Your build is really coming along though and your cat looks really good. I am sure all the skill you have put into this will pay off when she hits the water. The paint looks freakin awesome. I used the tug build to justify buying an airbrush kit- practice on the tug build then apply it to the cat hull. Having not actually touched a Fantasm hull, I can only assume that you were unable to reinforce the sponson tips because you couldn't reach up in there? I have a few gallons of West System Epoxy left over from my full size sailboat project and I think I will use it along with kevlar tape to reinforce the hull. As expensive as all the electronics are for these boats, I would prefer to keep the hull intact after the inevitable cart wheel. Were the holes you found along the seam the result of damage or is the hull just really thin in these area's? Keep up the excellent posts, your skill and the resulting professional quality of your build is providing great inspiration for my upcoming build. Can't say it enough, great work man, great work. Alan

[Prop-a-Gator]

I doubt there would be much he could have done with internal reinforcement to prevent the damage shown. It looks mostly external on the tips. Not sure the CF version would fare much better - other than it's a little lighter and you may be tempted not to paint that pretty CF in the first place. One difference I can think of would be the bubbles along the seam. There's no gel coat to hide behind on the CF version.

Cooper, the hits just kept coming huh? Sanding sucks, but re-sanding sucks worse... Hope you have better luck on the 2nd try.

When I first skimmed through, I thought you vacuum bagged the hatch for the CF/K. Looks like you just laid wax paper down. Is that right? How'd you keep the wrinkles from showing in the resin?

[Cooper]

Ouch!! How far was the drop?? 4-5'? Makes me wonder about just how strong the hull is at the points you were not able to reinforce. I have not bought the hull yet as I am still tied up in my recovery tug build but you have me thinking the extra $$ for the CF hull may be worth it. Your build is really coming along though and your cat looks really good. I am sure all the skill you have put into this will pay off when she hits the water. The paint looks freakin awesome. I used the tug build to justify buying an airbrush kit- practice on the tug build then apply it to the cat hull. Having not actually touched a Fantasm hull, I can only assume that you were unable to reinforce the sponson tips because you couldn't reach up in there? I have a few gallons of West System Epoxy left over from my full size sailboat project and I think I will use it along with kevlar tape to reinforce the hull. As expensive as all the electronics are for these boats, I would prefer to keep the hull intact after the inevitable cart wheel. Were the holes you found along the seam the result of damage or is the hull just really thin in these area's? Keep up the excellent posts, your skill and the resulting professional quality of your build is providing great inspiration for my upcoming build. Can't say it enough, great work man, great work. Alan

Alan, thanks! I did reinforce pretty much everywhere in this hull. The damage to the tips from a fall of about 2~3' was just cosmetic like prop said. Any fiberglass hull in that circumstance probably would fair about the same. It's not too often when your out at the pond you squarely hit concrete and the tips of the sponsons are pretty small to take all the impact so I don't want that mistake to change your mind on purchase of carbon vs. fiberglass hull. This hull is beefed up beyond normal circumstances because (hopefully) it will be going beyond normal speeds. I also agree with prop, I don't like to paint carbon hulls as they look pretty cool. And the holes I found in the seam areas were just from someone in a hurry to get the next hull done. These are mass produced by people getting paid squat and the quality control just isn't as good as say a similar hull costing $600. But for the minor flaws are fine with me for only dishing out about a quarter of that. And thanks for the complement on the paint, I'm thinking this should really stick out when it on the water, and when it's upside down too!!! I built a rescue tug also, still working on it and have to post up in that thread also, do you have a thread on it? Always looking for new ideas and how others do things.

The pics arnt showing up too well, it is really alot brighter. I think it's too bright for the camera and it readjusts the gain for the background or something like that.


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[Cooper]

Prop, hopefully the hits are done!! When I did the hatch I wanted to vacuum bag it but I don't have the supplies. I needed to at least get the part where some foam sits to be flat and that's why I used the wax paper. There were some minor wrinkles in the epoxy. I was able to sand some down without hitting the cloth. The camera didn't pick up the little wrinkles, there is some dust on it now so they show up a bit more. For the most part they are minor.

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[Prop-a-Gator]

Thanks for the explanation. Don't be tempted to sand it down any further because of my question. Kevlar becomes a fuzzy mess if you sand into it.

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[alanr77]

Cooper; I've been on the fence regarding the cf or fg hull for some time. Maybe I'm just looking for a reason to splurge...that was before I priced some good inrunners..this is not a cheap hobby. :) Anyway, I have not started a thread on the tug build yet but I am going to shortly. I was going to do it on RCgroups but I will look and see if they have a category for that type of build here on OSE. She's a vac-u-tug with a 28mm 950kv outrunner and a 4 blade 50mm brass prop. Should work out well. I dont have a lake to run in so my Fe hull will be run off the back of my boat in a tidal saltwater creek...7 knot tides require a strong recovery tug. I'll PM you the link when I start posting.

Prop; a trick I learned years ago when using kevlar tape- if you thin out the epoxy it saturates the cloth better and can help prevent the peach fuzz effect from sanding. I screwed up enough of it that I experimented on a better method. Epoxy works, glass resin may not work as well- but I have had a really good experience with West System and CF- I would assume it will work as well as any other epoxy with kevlar.

[Cooper]

Got some more work done. Paintsnot done yet, I have to cut some vinyl for stencils. I wouldn't be able to do that till Monday, I decided to purchase a vinyl plotter (mainly for work) which I am going to familiarize myself with projects for this first. :).


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[Chrisg81983]

She is looking great man keep it going

[Prop-a-Gator]

Looks wicked!!

[alanr77]

Wow! The black on yellow looks great. That is paint? Are you using spray cans or airbrush? Can't wait to see the finished product on this one. When not in the water, this one is going to look good enough to earn a spot on a shelf for display. What is a vinyl plotter?