Author Topic: RC Rescue Boat built from Styrofoam (Read 71778 times)

Bernd · « **on:** October 01, 2009, 01:56:53 PM »

All right. I know I've got several projects pending here in the "Projects" page of the forum, but I really need to build this one. It's cold water that I need to go into to rescue my RC nitro powered speed boat when the engine dies way out in the water.

So I came up with the idea of building a rescue boat that has styrofoam pontoons. I haven't figured out what I'm going to use for the structure of the boat yet. That'll come as I go along since this will be a build while you engineer it.

SO first I need a set of templates and some foam. The templates are 1/4" luan and I'm using blue styrofoam just because I have a bunch of it. In the pic you'll also see the side profile templates. I made two so the cut would be parallel when cutting out the rake on the bow.

Here I'm taking the first cut on one side. Notice the small nails I'm using to hold the template in place.

Now for the inside. A hole is drilled to get the wire through and the inside is cut out.

The two halfs, one with a cut out and one without a cutout, are ready to be glued together using spray adhesive. This pic gives an idea of how wide this boat will be to capture the little speed boat and bring it back to the dock.

Here the side templates are being used to cut the curve of the bow.

And there we have it. The finished pontoons ready for a bit of detail work and adding fiberglass.

Regards,
Bernd

chuck foster · « **Reply #1 on:** October 01, 2009, 02:09:24 PM »

looking good stew

i have what might be a very dumb question but is there not fumes from melting the foam???
if so i hope you are wearing a mask or something to protect your lungs.

chuck

dsquire · « **Reply #2 on:** October 01, 2009, 02:11:35 PM »

Bernd

Well it looks like you have got a good start on it. Looks like you have been practicing with your cutting speeds and heat settings. You seem to be getting a pretty good cut.

Are you going to make any provisions for ice breaking in case the weather turns cold?

Cheers

Don

Bernd · « **Reply #3 on:** October 01, 2009, 03:59:07 PM »

Quote from: chuck foster on October 01, 2009, 02:09:24 PM

looking good stew

Hey Stew. I didn't know you were building a boat just like me.

Sorry Chuck I just couldn't resist. You know how many times I did that too!

Quote

i have what might be a very dumb question but is there not fumes from melting the foam???
if so i hope you are wearing a mask or something to protect your lungs.

chuck

The fumes are not that bad, I mean no big cloud. There are a few. A fan takes care of that.

Bernd

Bernd · « **Reply #4 on:** October 01, 2009, 04:03:31 PM »

Don,

It's not as good as I would like it. I've found that the nichrome wire stretches when it gets hot. Looks like I'm going to have to modify the cutter a bit. Also want to try SS wire.

If it gets that cold I'm going for making an ice boat.

Or I'll just stick with the steam engines and my model railroading and machine modds and ................

Bernd

sbwhart · « **Reply #5 on:** October 01, 2009, 04:05:21 PM »

Quote from: Bernd on October 01, 2009, 03:59:07 PM

Quote from: chuck foster on October 01, 2009, 02:09:24 PM
looking good stew

Hey Stew. I didn't know you were building a boat just like me.

Sorry Chuck I just couldn't resist. You know how many times I did that too!

Quote
i have what might be a very dumb question but is there not fumes from melting the foam???
if so i hope you are wearing a mask or something to protect your lungs.

chuck

The fumes are not that bad, I mean no big cloud. There are a few. A fan takes care of that.

Bernd

The real Stew or is there more than one

dsquire · « **Reply #6 on:** October 01, 2009, 04:16:33 PM »

Quote from: Bernd on October 01, 2009, 04:03:31 PM

Don,

It's not as good as I would like it. I've found that the nichrome wire stretches when it gets hot. Looks like I'm going to have to modify the cutter a bit. Also want to try SS wire.

If it gets that cold I'm going for making an ice boat. Or I'll just stick with the steam engines and my model railroading and machine modds and ................

Bernd

Bernd

I have seen that most people put a spring on one end of the nichrome wire to keep a uniform tension on the wire as it got hot and expanded. It can be a catch 22 situation.

Too much or too little tension. Something else that would work is a pulley and weight system to keep tension on it.

Cheers

Don

Bernd · « **Reply #7 on:** October 01, 2009, 04:35:44 PM »

I already broke one wire after I shut the power off.

That's the one mod I'll need to make. Think I'll add a pulley and weight. More even tension that way.

Bernd

Bernd · « **Reply #8 on:** October 01, 2009, 04:37:17 PM »

Quote from: sbwhart on October 01, 2009, 04:05:21 PM

The real Stew or is there more than one

There's only one real Stew and you are the man.

Bernd

sbwhart · « **Reply #9 on:** October 01, 2009, 04:53:58 PM »

Thanks Bernd

Nice boat build by the way I was bit puzzled as to how it would work but I can see now you catch the rescue between the hulls:- neat idea

Have fun

Stew

Bernd · « **Reply #10 on:** October 01, 2009, 06:20:56 PM »

Thanks Stew,

Well, that's the idea, catch it between the hulls. But when the boat is out there several yards (meter's?) it isn't going to be easy. Will have to video some of that for a good laugh, right?

Bernd

dsquire · « **Reply #11 on:** October 01, 2009, 07:04:47 PM »

Quote from: Bernd on October 01, 2009, 06:20:56 PM

Thanks Stew,

Well, that's the idea, catch it between the hulls. But when the boat is out there several yards (meter's?) it isn't going to be easy. Will have to video some of that for a good laugh, right?

Bernd

Bernd

If worst comes to worst you can always install video telemetry? Boy if your wife reads all these ideas that I keep having she is going to kill me.

Cheers

Don

mklotz · « **Reply #12 on:** October 01, 2009, 07:36:25 PM »

Quote from: Bernd on October 01, 2009, 06:20:56 PM

Well, that's the idea, catch it between the hulls. But when the boat is out there several yards (meter's?) it isn't going to be easy. Will have to video some of that for a good laugh, right?

Wouldn't it be easier to put a high-strength magnet in the bow of the boat-to-be-rescued and a thin steel plate on the stern of the rescue boat? Seems like a lot less fiddly way to take the disabled boat into tow. Get close and let Maxwell's laws do the hard work for you.

Bernd · « **Reply #13 on:** October 01, 2009, 08:21:09 PM »

Ah Marv. Were talking models here and don't need any great speed to get the boat back. Half the fun is in building this boat and then trying to get the other boat. If I wanted to make it easy I would have a small hook on the front of the speed boat and a large loop on the rescue boat that could be dropped over the hook on the speed boat. A lot less weight and I won't have to worry about the magnet letting loose when the water gets rough.

Bernd

Bernd · « **Reply #14 on:** October 02, 2009, 01:42:13 PM »

Got a little more done on the Rescue Boat.

In order to mount a frame work over the top you need to secure that to the pontoons or floats. To have a secure mounting in the styrofoam you need to add some wooden blocks, perferably hard wood that will hold the screws better. So I need to make some cutouts in the floats. I marked them on using a felt marker.

Next is to scoop out the foam. Very easy to do if you have one of these:

All you need to do is use some 12 or 10 gauge copper wire formed to the shape you want to cut out. In this case I needed something about a 1" wide.

Of course you don't want to stick the whole iron through the foam so a stop is needed. I made one out of a piece of 3/4" plywood. Cut two slots in to fit over the wire and presto a depth stop.

And here we have the scooped out 1" wide by 2" long by approx. 3/4" deep pocket.

Here are the blocks that are going to be expoied in. They are 1" X 2" X 3/4" hardwood. I ACC'ed small pieces of wood over the top so they would be level with the top of the foam.

Filled the hole full of epoxy.........

.....and dropped in the blocks and taped them down so they wouldn't float to the top.

Next will be a super structure over the top of the two floats to tie it all to gether, but first I need to get the propellers so I know about where to mount the motors. They have been ordered and so have two 6 volt batteries the will power each of the motors. So it'll be a while befor I get back to this project. I figure the items should be here by next week sometime.

In the meantime I can think about what I'm going to use for the superstructure. It's going to be either real small PVC pipe or 1/4" luan. Right now I'm leaning toward the luan.

Bernd

rleete · « **Reply #15 on:** October 05, 2009, 04:55:11 PM »

Go with the PVC. Make it look like that massive boat Howard Hughes built to ~~steal~~ rescue the sunken Soviet sub back in the 1970's.

Heh. That just reminded me of something my wife said a while back. I was watching a show on the TV about the Kursk - a Ruskie sub that sank due to accident, killing all the crew. Named, of course, for that epic battle in WWII.

She walked in the room and said, "what did they expect, naming it "Cursed"?

Bernd · « **Reply #16 on:** October 05, 2009, 06:15:03 PM »

Gotta' make a trip over to Debbie Supply and see if they have any 1/4" PVC. I think that would work the best.

Your wife isn't blonde is she.

Bernd

Bernd · « **Reply #17 on:** October 11, 2009, 06:00:31 PM »

Did a bit more work on the boat this past week. Today I got the props mounted to the motors. The story continues.

I tried to use electrical tape to hold the pieces of wood down. Didn't work to good.

I finally resorted to a couple of small nails.

After it all dried I sanded it down as best I could. I left a few scallops in the foam but some Bondo will take care of that.
Next will be to cover the floats/pontoons with fiberglass cloth and resin. First I need to save up some cash to buy resin. I plan on using West Epoxy to do the fiberglass.

In the mean time I've turned my attention to the power system of the boat. I'll be using two 6 volt motors that came out of one of those child electric cars. They come with two pretty powerful electric motors.

I needed to make a couple of adapters to attach the props to the motors. A simple turning exercise. Since I'm doing this on the fly no drawing or dimensions are presented. Also each motor set could be different. I turned one end for a tight fit in the prop hole and the other for a press fit onto the shaft of the motor. Worked quite nice.

And here they are ready to have the motor mount designed. That won't happen till I get the superstructure built.

Until next time.

Bernd

ibuildstuff4u · « **Reply #18 on:** October 11, 2009, 06:33:35 PM »

I raced RC boats for a few years and always wanted to make a rescue boat but never got around to it. Most of the time I lugged my little 14' boat along.

I like your design using the two pontoons, but I'm not sure about the power source to drive the boat. The fan drives are not very powerful and I'm not sure they will be up to the job. I had a nitro powered fan boat in the past with a .46 sized engine and a very light weight fiberglass hull. We tried to use it to retrieve a stalled boat and it couldn't push it. The stalled boat wasn't even full of water, and the fan boat couldn't push it.

I know it will take more work, but I think you will be much better off with an under water prop in each pontoon. You can use a stick radio and set up the boat with two speed controls so you can drive the motors in different directions or at different speeds. This way you can drive it like a tank and you won't need a rudder. Most stick radios can be taken apart and the right side stick can be turned 90* so it moves the same direction as the left side stick.

I know the two motors look like they move a lot of air, but that boat is going to be quite heavy when done and will take more power than that to move it's self not to mention a second boat that could be full of water from a crash.

Good luck on the build. It looks good so far!

Dale P.

Bernd · « **Reply #19 on:** October 11, 2009, 10:36:46 PM »

Thanks for the heads up Dale. Going to continue with the build just for the fun of it. If it dosen't work I can still redo it and use the motors to drive water props.

Besides, I need something to run around when I run out of nitro.

Bernd

dsquire · « **Reply #20 on:** October 12, 2009, 12:16:45 AM »

Bernd

If you use bondo or any type of filler on the foam to smooth out the ripples it would be best to check it out on a piece of scrap first as most fillers will attack foam. I would hate to see all your hard work end up as just a blob.

You probably knew this already but better safe than sorry.

Cheers

Don

dsquire · « **Reply #21 on:** October 12, 2009, 01:43:15 AM »

Bernd

I have just been browsing and thinking (that can be a bad thing), when you go out to play with your RC boat you should invite boatmadman along. This would be good for both of you. You would have a means of rescue if needed and he would get the practise of flo/flo rescue.

Just be sure to take a video of it all because

and I think it might be a first.

Cheers

Don

Bernd · « **Reply #22 on:** October 12, 2009, 10:56:29 AM »

Don,

Oh ya I would definatly try it out on scrap. I discovered that the fiberglass resin I had does a number on foam when I tried to glue two pieces together. Perhaps I'll cover it with fiberglass first and then fill in "any" deformities afterwards.

All boatmadman has to do is show up at the river next season and he can have as much fun as I do.

BTW I've already got one guy interested in it and he finally bought the same kind of boat I have.

Vids are definatly on the list. Just need to train the other half how to use the camera in video mode.

Stay tuned. More to come.

Bernd

Bernd · « **Reply #23 on:** October 17, 2009, 12:23:05 PM »

More work has been done on my rescue boat. I couldn't decide if I wanted to use wood or plastic tubing to build the super structure. A trip to the hardware store for something else was all it took. I found 1/2" CPVC tubing. The id is 1/2" and the od is 5/8". This tubing is used instead of copper 1/2" for plumbing. It is rated at 100psi at 180 degree F. It's used both for cold and warm water. Only problem was I had the wife's Beetle and an 10 foot long piece wouldn't fit in, plus they wanted way to much. So a trip to one of the Home Horror stores the next day got me what I needed. 4 pieces of 4 foot long pieces. They would definitely fit.

So on with the build. In order to mount the tubing I would need to fasten it to the wood blocks I had epoxied into the foam. I drilled a 1/2" hole for the dowels.

Next was to make up the first part of the super structure. The pipe has been cut to the varying lengths I needed and laid out with the 45 degree fittings.

A couple of cross members in the back to catch the boat.

The cross pieces had "birds mouth" cuts made in them so they would fit the mating pipes.

This is how I made the end cuts. I'm using a 5/8" end mill to cut the pipe. You have to take it slow or the cutter edge will catch the pipe and break it.

I made a quick jig to help align the two cuts.

Here I'm lining up the first cut so I can make the second cut on the other end.

Over all view of what I did in the pic above.

The first time I tried to hold the pipe in the vise the cutter pulled the pipe out of the vise. Not wanting to crush the pipe I added a piece of dowel into the pipe so the vise wouldn't crush the pipe when I tightened it up. Make sure the dowel is pushed in further, out of the way of the cutter, before cutting.

The back end dry fitted.

The front dry fitted.

And here's what the whole thing will look like when in the water bringing back the race boat with a dead engine. There's much more to do as far as the superstructure is concerned. I need to add a few more pieces of pipe yet.

That's it for now.

Bernd

chuck foster · « **Reply #24 on:** October 17, 2009, 12:45:49 PM »

looking good bernd

chuck

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Author Topic: RC Rescue Boat built from Styrofoam (Read 71778 times)