I think want to go with a pour-in foam for the Goeben's waterchanneling. Does anyone have any recommendations on product (and source) for that? Tips/tricks? How about sealing it up once its poured, cured and trimmed? Or talk me out of it if you think its a bad idea.
This is what I use: http://www.alumilite.com/store/p/973-Super-Foam-320.aspx Then cover with light fiberglass and epoxy
Yes.. it can and has cracked when something heavy falls on it but the point is to keep it light. You could use a slightly thicker fiberglass, not thick car matt but something like 2mm and it would still be light and tough. I used the stuff I bought at the hobby store and it was sheer/see-through. In the future I would use the slightly thicker stuff. 1 main advantage of this water channel is it allows you to build the boat light OR heavy depending on how much ballast you add. The problem with concrete sealant is.. once you pour it... its permanent (until you grind/cut it out). With ballast I can remove/add quickly and then re-weigh to get to the exact weight I need. I am also able to reposition ballast to allow for the correct trim in the boat to compensate for different issues that arise. Other things work just as well if they are light-weight such as Bob's pour in plastic.. (I think its light) or using EVA foam pieces. I did have a problem with the EVA Foam that was in the Baden when I first got it.. the problem is that the EVA does not conform to the bottom of the ship so if you miss any crack/crevice/hole.. then water fills all those gaps.. and stays forever. When I finally ripped out the EVA there was a lot of water retained.. which meant extra weight for my boat.
Me personally, No way on expanding foam..... any open cell foam absorbs water. Either balsa/fg combo or micro-cell foam(exercise mat material)
The grey exercise mats they sell at Lowe's in the flooring dept works great, easy to cut with a band-saw, and east to sand.
This thread is almost 4 years dead. A good foam many people are using is Here: https://www.smooth-on.com/products/feather-lite/
I've been informed this is basically the same stuff, just cheaper. Plan to use it in future builds. https://www.alumilite.com/resins/ultra-lite-400/
From what I read, there is a bit of difference. Firstly is that Featherlite is a 1:1 mix by volume, while alumilite is 1:1 by weight. If you check their respective product pages, they say this. Not a big deal if you have a scale. It's also a point festherlite makes on their page (no scale nessessary) But the second difference is the density. Taken from another forum linked below, Alumilite will be more dense and thus heavier. You would have to microballoon the Alumilite to get it to the same density as the Featherlite. http://www.tackleunderground.com/co...e-vs-alumilite/?do=findComment&comment=115704
Check out these videos I'm making on how to build a boat for the IRCWCC ruleset. The waterchanneling video is complete https://rcwarshipcombat.com/threads/building-an-rc-warship-videos.446640/
I dont know about tips but I can say how not to use it. I was experimentating attempting to build a hull shape, I had built one side of the ship hull using poster board with it laying flat on the table on its starboard side facedown on the table. I had poured some 2 part foam on the side facing up, after 30 minutes the foam had expanded to a degree it had bent in a "U" shape. What I concluded from this A.Pour borh sides at the same time possibly, B use a stronger back bone like plywood instead of poster board. And C. it is sticky as heck use lots of plastic on the table.
