New to the forum & building

[mike_savoie]

Hi everyone, I've been lurking here for a couple weeks and decided to sign up. There appears to be a great amount of knowledge here, as well as some friendly folks so I'm looking forward to becoming part of the community.

I'll be picking up my first model boat kit this afternoon on the way home from work. I bought the Dumas Short Stuff DV-10 cause it seemed a simple place to start and it was inexpensive, I figured I'd start cheap incase my handywork turns out to be a disaster. All I'll be buying today is the kit, after discussing it with the worker at the hobby shop he said I'd be able to pick up the hardware, engine and radio later. Is this going to make it more complicated?

 

[Terry Keeley]

Hi everyone, I've been lurking here for a couple weeks and decided to sign up. There appears to be a great amount of knowledge here, as well as some friendly folks so I'm looking forward to becoming part of the community.

I'll be picking up my first model boat kit this afternoon on the way home from work. I bought the Dumas Short Stuff DV-10 cause it seemed a simple place to start and it was inexpensive, I figured I'd start cheap incase my handywork turns out to be a disaster. All I'll be buying today is the kit, after discussing it with the worker at the hobby shop he said I'd be able to pick up the hardware, engine and radio later. Is this going to make it more complicated?

Hey Mike, welcome 'eh & "knock knock". (It's a Canuck thing, trust me)

One of my first boats was the DV10, put a TD 049 in it, had a blast, think probably an OS .10 or something similar might be a better choice these days.

Take your time and follow the instructions and I'm sure it'll work out for ya. Did you get the hardware kit?Do you have any building experience? Airplanes, cars?

 

[noodles]

Welcome, the here people are excellent . Lots of COOL stuff

 

[mike_savoie]

Terry,

All my experience is at best novice building static model cars/ trucks. I helped my dad build a plane years ago. Though I'm no stranger to mechanics, tools machining...etc. So working with my hands is one of the reasons I want to start into the hobby/ addiction.

No I haven't bought the hardware yet. From what I understand I can use 1 of 2 for either a .10 or a .049. I assume the .10 is bigger? Heh, whatever I have to do to make it faster.

Thanks noodles....yeah some of the stuff here is wicked cool!

 

[anthony_marquart]

If you can, buy a palm sander or a table top belt sander, if you don't have one. Those dumas kits take A LOT of trimming and the sander helps.

Make sure and seal the boat inside and out with a finishing resin...

If you like building that,, check out www.idmracingproducts.com I have a .12 outrigger kit that has just come to market..

If you put a .12 in you're mono you could use it in this rigger too..

(yeah,... a shameless plug)

 

[Dan_Cousin]

Something else.

5min epoxy is a no-no. It will let go with esposure to water. I recommend CA and 30 minute epoxy. Use CA to tack the parts in place and epoxy to seal and beefup the joints in high stress areas.

Also if you're using the mixing cups, the 30 minute epoxy will cure VERY fast. Much less than 30 minutes..more like 5 or 10.

Brands I've used are "insert hobbyshop name here" 30 minute epoxy and Devcon 2-ton from Walmart in the sirenge tubes for easy mixing.

good luck!

 

[dannyual767]

I know I built one if not two of those DV10s back when I was in high school in the late 70s. I love building wood boats and if you like building, you're going to enjoy the challenge of trying to correctly assemble an old Dumas boat kit !

Like has already been mentioned, you'll do plenty of trial fitting and trimming. Sometimes the instructions will leave a lot to be desired as well. Here are some of the things that I learned the hard way through the years:

1. Use slow set epoxy to build with not quick 5 min epoxy. Quick set epoxy doesn't have time to wick deep into the wood fibers for a strong bond. Cyanoacrylate users may have tips for you to successfully use "super glues" for building boats but I don't use the stuff.

2. Get a flat building board to build your model on so that it doesn't get warped. It is super easy to build a warped wood model if you don't use a flat board or jig for hydros! I use a scrap piece of 2'X4' (3/4" thick) sheetrock that I got from Home Depot for less than a buck. Ask them. They've usually got plenty and it'll cost next to nothing.

I draw lines on the sheetrock to help me build evenly and straight. I use "T" pins to pin the wood parts

to the sheetrock to get everything nice and even, straight and warp free.

3. Seal the interior of the boat before you glue the deck on. I use a sealing epoxy or you can thin your adhesive epoxy and use a small epoxy brush to "paint it on." Seal the outer hull the same way before you finish your boat. I didn't do this on my first wood boat and it warped and became junk after it got wet on the inside .

4. Try to keep it light. It's way too easy to slop tons of epoxy on the joints for "strength" but all you're doing is adding extra weight and making ugly glue joints. Don't skimp but don't slop it on in globs either!

The DV10 is a very small boat and I'm not convinced that it's the best boat for a beginner. I have a DV20 and it is 24" long vs 18" for the Short Stuff. Probably not a whole lot of extra money and it will give you a little more room, more choices of engines, easier to see, etc. No real extra work to build. Just a thought and just my opinion.

Keep asking questions and we'll be more than happy to answer to keep you from making the same mistakes we've made in the past !

 

[dannyual767]

I see that Dan beat me to the 5 min epoxy thing while I was typing up my novel ! Dan mentions not using mixing cups for mixing your epoxy and he is right. Epoxy generates heat as it chemically cures which further reduces the curing time. If a large amount is bunched up in the bottom of a cup, it generates a lot of heat and cures very quickly.

With these small boats, you'll never really need to mix that much epoxy at one time. Here is another epoxy mixing tip that I think you'll find usefull: Most adhesive epoxies are a 1:1 mix and are pretty easy to "eyeball" the correct amounts. I don't use the small measuring cups for this because they're really designed for larger amounts of glue. I cut off the bottom of a 2 liter soda bottle and clean out the bottom. You'll notice that it has 5 little "cups" that are just perfect for mixing small amounts of epoxy! The small amounts of epoxy won't generate much heat either. I always keep a bunch of 2 liter bottle bottoms on hand for my building! Try them. You'll like 'em !

 

[Terry Keeley]

Terry,

All my experience is at best novice building static model cars/ trucks. I helped my dad build a plane years ago. Though I'm no stranger to mechanics, tools machining...etc. So working with my hands is one of the reasons I want to start into the hobby/ addiction.

No I haven't bought the hardware yet. From what I understand I can use 1 of 2 for either a .10 or a .049. I assume the .10 is bigger? Heh, whatever I have to do to make it faster.

Thanks noodles....yeah some of the stuff here is wicked cool!

I guess the best choice would be one of the air-cooled .12 pull start motors if that's in your budget, should move the DV10 along pretty good and be simple to use.

I'd try to buy your hardware and radio before you get too far along building to make things easier to mount etc as you go.

Have fun!

 

[mike_savoie]

Thanks again for all the info! I can't wait to get home and start preparing and building. I'm hoping this will pass the winter months quickly. I have a feeling my girlfriend is gonna kill me, I have the laundry room filled with wine/ beer making equipment, the spare room with computers and fly tying setup and now the living room or kitchen with model making...haha.

The hobbyshop I'm dealing with is Great Hobbies ( www.greathobbies.com ) here on the island. I know they're well known for airplanes, the local club flies a quarter mile from my front door.

 

[dannyual767]

Mike, did you end up picking up the boat kit at the hobby store? Ya got some slow set (30-45 min) epoxy to go along with it, right?

 

[mike_savoie]

Yeah I left work early and picked it up, in my excitement to get it home I forgot the epoxy. I did pick up some Hanger 9 30 min epoxy this morning while I was doing some running around. The fella at the hobby shop suggested it, that's what all the locals use for boats and planes...anyone have any experience with it?

I read the instructions a couple times, got myself familiar with what needs to be done and all the parts and got started early this afternoon. So far I've got the 2 sheers and frame #3 setup, and drying as I write this. I know it says 30 mins, but what is the concensus on actual or common practice drying time?

 

[Tom Foley]

Mike , welcome to model boating ! My first boat was a Dumas Drag'n Fly 40, a wood kit , that I built and shoveled a 60 into . That along with a lot of help (and money ) from a lot of people have turned me into the incurable model boat freak that I am today ! Best of luck on your journey ! Tom .

 

[Terry Keeley]

Ya know what would be real cool and a great help to others would be if you can start a gallery and post pictures aong the way. Assuming you have a digital camera of course...