Its time for me to install water channeling, and I'm not sure what to use. I know some people use balsa, but I don't trust myselfe to seal it properly. I don't know what kind of concrete sealer to use either, so I thought I'd ask for help before taking a leap of faith. Is there any generally accepted "safe" method?
Go to any good home improvement store, get self leveling concrete sealer, mine came in caulk tubes. Takes a bloody long time to dry and smells awful, but it works oh so good. It also smells awful, make sure your ship is somewhere well ventilated. Whoever found this, i don't recall, but my had is off to them. -Greg
Dave, when building your water channel, you first need to construct the form of the channel. Are you working with a wooden hull or a fiberglass one? With a wooden hull, building in a water channel is as simple as running two keels down the boat, and leaving two ribs thicker on the bottom so they act as edges. For a fiberglass hull, you run two rails down the middle, spaced out as large as you want your water channel. You then need to put edges on, so your filler material doesn't leak around the edges. Once you've got the form built for your water channel, you then need to fill it. Concrete filler works great in fiberglass boats, but lacks visual appeal when used in wooden hulls. For a wooden hull, you ballast your boat with lead fishing weights in the bottom, arrange them nice and pretty, then pour epoxy over them. With both epoxy and concrete fillers, the material is self-leveling, so it will adjust to whatever angle the ship is resting at. This means you can tip the boat to one side, then pour that side if you want angled water channeling. If you DONT want angled water channeling, make sure the boat is perfectly level while your filler material hardens.
it would generally be better if it angled to the water channeling, but that really depends also on if you have the room to make it worth it. Have you laid out all the parts that go into the boat yet and figured out where they will go?
No, most of the parts haven't gotten here yet, but I am using nimhs, so I won't have a big SLA to worry about...
I would highly recommend you figure out the internal layout completely prior to doing the water channeling. That allows, amongst other things, the tiedown points for components to be molded into the hull. When I have used the concrete sealant, for example, the CO2 tank gets wrapped in plastic wrap and positioned. Sealant is poured in, and once cured, the co2 cylinder has a nice seat. same can be said for other components. some folks have even hidden the wiring underneath the water channeling.
Okay, I just ordered a pump from BC, along with the batteries and ESC. I won't be able to get the guns until next year due to money, but I might be able to use a piece of PVC to simulate the CO2 bottle.
find a 2" OD wood rod, assuming you are not using some monster of a tank. The 3.5oz, 7oz, and 9oz tanks I have are all ~2" OD...
if you don't have a SCUBA tank in your boat, you don't have enough air Seriously, though, planning out your internal layout is one of the most crucial stages of construction. Don't move forward until you're really sure it's all going to fit, and it's all going to be easily accessible for maintenance. One of the worst mistakes people make is to start mounting components, only to realize it's all gotta be moved later on to make room for a must-go-here component.
I have found laying the guns out is a crucial part of setting up where things go in a boat. There's nothing like getting it all done to find you can't clear a interupter or something. In my boats I have made it a must to have guns in before or with internals.
I fully agree with rob on this one. Cannons have a particularly nasty habit of interfering with gearboxes, motors, etc. (and just about everything else).
