Radio Controlled Boat – Building RC Boat Hulls

As a kid, I was fascinated by radio controlled boats. As an adult, I still can't get my fill of them.

Over the years, I have gone through many different phases of boat styles. My first kit and still favorite boat is the Dumas PT 109. In addition to this boat, I have had interest in cabin cruisers, fishing boats, yachts, hydroplanes, outriggers, sail boats and hydrofoils.

Actually the fabricating of my own RC Boat Hulls from fiberglass has become as much of a joy for me as getting them out on the water.

My boats have had power sources including nitro, gas, wind and solar. While most of these boats have been propeller driven, some have been sail powered and a current project will be oar driven. The only other conventional type of drive that I have not experimented with to date is jet drive.

Depending on your mood, each style of boat and each type of drive can be satisfying and rewarding. I never use a cabin cruiser on days that I have a need for speed and I never use a nitro burning outrigger on days that I want the quiet, slower pace of a wind powered sail boat.

Although each of the different types of boats described above has very unique characteristics, they all have one thing in common. Without exception, all boats benefit from either a fully fiberglass hull or a hull that is reinforced with fiberglass.

Boat hulls are made from many different materials. Wood, ABS plastic, foam and fiberglass are common materials used in RC boat construction. Of all of these materials, fiberglass is the most reliable, has the greatest resistance to chemicals and it is the most rigid.

Fiberglass is water proof, extremely durable, warp resistant and easy to repair. Unlike hulls made from ABS plastic, fiberglass hulls are impervious to fuel residue, heat resistant and will accept epoxy and other glues forming tight bonds.

Fiberglass is often used to reinforce wooden hulls for both strength and water proofing. Using fiberglass on a wooden hull does not provide the same strength to weight benefits that a pure fiberglass hull does, but it does give water proof reliability.

One of the best qualities of fiberglass is that it is easy to use. Those with basic shop skills can use fiberglass to make molds of their favorite boat hulls (whether made from wood or fiberglass) and reproduce those hulls with fiberglass.

While I do enjoy building boats from wood, I don’t want to build them twice. Since I have the knowledge to make my own molds from fiberglass, I can easily pull a mold from a wooden hull that I have built and reproduce a fleet of them if I desire.

I had mentioned earlier ion this article that my favorite boat was the Dumas PT 109. I built that boat from a wooden kit. I didn’t seal it with fiberglass or pull a mold from it. As a result, this hull was subjected to the effects of moisture and eventually warped and cracked along the keel. I ended up buying another kit and building a new one. In addition to sealing this boat with fiberglass, I also made a mold of the hull.

Just for reference, it takes about 3 hours start to finish making a perfect replacement hull out of fiberglass for this boat while the wooden build of the hull took me about 30 hours to get it right. Additionally, the fiberglass materials used to make a replacement hull for the PT 109 only cost about $25.

Article Source: http://publisherscloninghouse.com

Author Information:
Steve Jones is the designer and creator of some pretty nice Fiberglass RC Boats, Cars and Planes as well as building fiberglass molds for full size body parts. Steve is the Author of a series of Fiberglass Mold Manuals, a Fiberglass Repair Manual and journals his projects at his Fiberglass Mold Making Blog.

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