Thickness of ply skin and flotation ?

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Tall Fella

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2007
Messages
370
Hello everybody .

This is a enquiry from Australia . I recently aquired a partly built Scale boat and wanted to know what thicknesss and type of ( timber ? ply ) to use . 1 Recommendation that I have is 1.6 mm thick and from a article in Radio Control Modeller book years ago there was a build story showing blocks of foam shaped in between the frames for flotation . Any better tips - Aircraft Ply has been mentioned as well , I look forward to reading your replies .

Regards

Ian Baas

Tall Fella Racing

Australia
 
australian plywoods in your state ian will have what you need or others will tell you where to get from other sources but i think it would be birch your after also you can use hoop pine as its fairly tight grain as well.
 
Since I don't know what boat you're building, I'll try to go generic:

1.5 mm..........for all skin and cross framing. If the boat is an early picklefork or round nose, all the lengthwise framing will be this as well

3 mm.............for the sponson insides, engine bay walls, sponson sheers and, in my case anyway, left sponson transom. Some will also use this for the boat's transom as well. In the case of the sponson insides and engine bay walls, this is for the canard boats only. You can use it, if desired, in the earlier boats as well but it will mostly just add weight.

4.5 & 6 mm....for the transom and, again in my case, right sponson transom.

As far as what wood to use, I use all aircraft grade birch plywood as it's generally voidless and, in the case of the 1.5 mm, flexible. For stringers and glue blocking, I use of 3, 4.5 and 6 mm spruce square stick stock as it tends to be a bit more flexible than many of the other woods
 
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Hello everybody .

Mark L., In the line under the main heading , it says 1983 American Speedy Printing . What I have is believed to be a ML Kits frame tacked together , but there is no sheeting . Hopefully this helps narrow down what to use in the timber / ply department .

Regards

Ian Baas

Tall Fella Racing

Australia
 
Sorry, I missed that due to the small size of the letters.

That being the case, the 1.5 mm birch ply would be my recommendation for all the skin panels, along with the spruce stick stock for stringers. Something else you might consider is using the blue or pink foam insulation, if it's available, gluing blocks into the framing BEFORE installing any of the skin panels. You can then sand the foam to match the framing so it will fit perfectly. This has the added benefit of giving the skin more surface area to be epoxied to and less chance of needing to be surface filled later
 
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Ian, something that was mentioned to me to use as flotation was the foam used to make surfboards. If you can, check with some of the local board manufacturers and see if they have any offcuts.
 
Gaday Young Ian

Mate for the ply Get onto Ron Fissel

Mr Plywood Blacktown is the store he manages he will look after you.

Flotation i use the sheet pool moodles you can get these from Target , Big W

Brad
 
Hello everybody .

Mark L , Wayne J, Brad T - Thanks for the tips and compliment . Just yesterday my Towing Secretary who is younger than me , called me her SON - So that must be a case of immaculate conception - and when Ron Filsell was at the Winter Spectacular a few months back he said that he is working at a kitchen place in Penrith , I will check with Maso about how to contact SQUIRE FILSELL .

Regards

Ian Baas

Tall Fella Racing

Australia
 
Hello everybody .

Mark L , Wayne J, Brad T - Thanks for the tips and compliment . Just yesterday my Towing Secretary who is younger than me , called me her SON - So that must be a case of immaculate conception - and when Ron Filsell was at the Winter Spectacular a few months back he said that he is working at a kitchen place in Penrith , I will check with Maso about how to contact SQUIRE FILSELL .

Regards

Ian Baas

Tall Fella Racing

Australia
Gaday Ian

Mate well thats news to me I know he used to work for Better Cut years ago .

But i thought he was Manager at Mr ply & Wood Due to Redhouse getting his Ply for the riggers there not to long ago but hay your never know Brad .
 
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