Custom lower grille build.

[ExMX5owner]

I did not like any of the offerings OEM or aftermarket.. So, here we go...fibreglass.. And I hate fibreglass the bloke that invented should be made to wear some in his underpants..You can laugh now or later, maybe both...I can take it...

 

[ExMX5owner]

Roughed out the shapes, worked out the spacings, and required clearances. The whole thing floats off the front bar so it doesnt get broken when I innevitably nudge one of our super high tropical weather kerbings. just sitting on spacers ATM. I only ducked one up , I threw it away and it came back. I might be on to someting with that

 

[t-tony]

Yeah, Charlie Drake did a song about that years ago ...

Tony.

 

[ExMX5owner]

Yeah, Charlie Drake did a song about that years ago ...

Tony.

Yes he did.. It should look like I want it too with bullnose front edges and complimentary corner curves. looks a bit dickey ATM because its balsa, but with some imagination I can visualise arctic silver, or black.. Maybe even red, just for you Tony..

 

[ExMX5owner]

Whoa !! , balsa wood you might say. Well I have built one or two 1 meter class model racing yatchs out of much thinner balsa than this, wrapped in fibreglass it's incredibly strong for its wieght. Did you know that racing model yatch's is a contact sport ?hat sometimes spills over onto the forshore. I's not unusual for the skipper of the yatch to come home with more damage than the boat.. .

 

[ExMX5owner]

Well I decided on a 20mm inward rake from top to bottom, to mirror an compliment the kidney grilles as the tunnel gets narrower to the back, so there is a radical difference between top and bottom, as can be seen here. Tomorrow I will cut away all the dead that is marked.. Too much time on my hand, yeah I know...

 

[Jack Ratt]

Good idea, I can see @t-tony knocking up a few of these, but his will come with flashing colour changing LED's

 

[ExMX5owner]

Good idea, I can see @t-tony knocking up a few of these

Maybe see how this one works out first.. I,m allergic to fibreglass, so I'm not looking forward to that bit...

 

[Althulas]

I remember my dad making wings for some control line models with foam cores and a balsa outer skin. Once covered and doped they were quite strong but light. Just gave me a flash back this thread.
Instead of fibre glass why not try carbon weave and epoxy instead, messy but probably better for you than the fibre glass.

 

[ExMX5owner]

I remember my dad making wings for some control line models with foam cores and a balsa outer skin. Once covered and doped they were quite strong but light. Just gave me a flash back this thread.
Instead of fibre glass why not try carbon weave and epoxy instead, messy but probably better for you than the fibre glass.

Yes I had thought about that, but I have never used it before. So I thought it best to stick to what I know, given how long it's taken to get the shapes right, also its the hardeners that I'm alergic too, sadly...

 

[Althulas]

Apart from gloves do you have a full faced filtered mask to protect all your mucous membranes from the glue fumes?

 

[IainP]

Yes I had thought about that, but I have never used it before. So I thought it best to stick to what I know, given how long it's taken to get the shapes right, also its the hardeners that I'm alergic too, sadly...

Which hardener do you use?
I find the dbp paste much more irritating than the mek liquid, though I’m quite careful not to get any resin on my skin. Tight fitting nitrile gloves are a must. I now wear a silicone mask with organic chemical filters as post covid, I can’t smell the stuff. Yes, I did find that out the hard way.
Worth having a word with your supplier, there are various low VOC and ‘green’ resin systems available now.
I would second Althulas comments, epoxy resin is much nicer to work with, less irritating but you still don’t want it on your skin. It’s much more controllable, i use mixed packs with fast and slow hardener included. Small jobs I use fast, 15 min pot life, sets in an hour. Big job, slow, 1hr pot life, 7 hour set. Beauty is you can mix them in whatever ratio, to adjust the pot life/set time to what you want. Ratios are helpfully provided in the instructions.

As far as reinforcement, I really like woven fabric as opposed to csm, super easy to finish. Black diolen looks like super fine carbon, it’s cheap and really easy to use. Carbon/black twaron (generic Kevlar), is super contrasty and really stands out if you want the look. Both of those come in various weights and work well with wet lay up. If you want to use actual carbon I’d use a kit, or fabric, designed for ‘skinning’. The fabric is lighter, as low as 90g per meter, so will conform tighter, as a bonus it comes with extra binders so the pattern is more difficult to distort.
One thing though, carbon and carbon/twaron require really high quality scissors otherwise you just make a mess.

 

[ExMX5owner]

Which hardener do you use?
I find the dbp paste much more irritating than the mek liquid, though I’m quite careful not to get any resin on my skin. Tight fitting nitrile gloves are a must. I now wear a silicone mask with organic chemical filters as post covid, I can’t smell the stuff. Yes, I did find that out the hard way.
Worth having a word with your supplier, there are various low VOC and ‘green’ resin systems available now.
I would second Althulas comments, epoxy resin is much nicer to work with, less irritating but you still don’t want it on your skin. It’s much more controllable, i use mixed packs with fast and slow hardener included. Small jobs I use fast, 15 min pot life, sets in an hour. Big job, slow, 1hr pot life, 7 hour set. Beauty is you can mix them in whatever ratio, to adjust the pot life/set time to what you want. Ratios are helpfully provided in the instructions.

As far as reinforcement, I really like woven fabric as opposed to csm, super easy to finish. Black diolen looks like super fine carbon, it’s cheap and really easy to use. Carbon/black twaron (generic Kevlar), is super contrasty and really stands out if you want the look. Both of those come in various weights and work well with wet lay up. If you want to use actual carbon I’d use a kit, or fabric, designed for ‘skinning’. The fabric is lighter, as low as 90g per meter, so will conform tighter, as a bonus it comes with extra binders so the pattern is more difficult to distort.
One thing though, carbon and carbon/twaron require really high quality scissors otherwise you just make a mess.

Super helpful input there, much appreciated..I will do some research as to what is available locally..

 

[IainP]

Forgot to mention:
You can’t use epoxy with csm, the binders need an ester to dissolve them.
Diolen is used a lot in canoes, boat hulls, surfboards, because in will deform in an impact but not break into pieces. I think it’s available as low as 100g per meter, a while since i bought any, it was in the UK£4 per meter range, 1M wide. Probably ideal for bouncing off kerbs !

 

[ExMX5owner]

Forgot to mention:
You can’t use epoxy with csm, the binders need an ester to dissolve them.
Diolen is used a lot in canoes, boat hulls, surfboards, because in will deform in an impact but not break into pieces. I think it’s available as low as 100g per meter, a while since i bought any, it was in the UK£4 per meter range, 1M wide. Probably ideal for bouncing off kerbs !

I will definately look into it, and i am getting close to that now, cut away all the extra material next is to bullnose the fins front edge only.
It's turning out OK so far... , the top one in the stack is actually the bottom one on the car...

 

[ExMX5owner]

A special thanks to @IainP , for some great input.. however. I'm going with the glass cloth wrap for the following reasons.
After researching the alternatives, I decided that.
I'm too chicken sh#t to try something new on this project, matching the weave patterns across the elements would be beyond my abilities. Also I already have the cloth the resin, and the clincher is, SWIMBO would like to it the same colour as my stone chip prevention on the rear arches..So I will wrap them when they are done.. I,ll glass them on the morrow, and post up the abortion for you all to laugh at.. assuming I can still open my eyes..

 

[ExMX5owner]

My Wife : Somebody has stolen all the clothes pegs.... And I thought I was doing the right thing, by bringing all the washing in..

 

[IainP]

With curved areas I tend to put little cuts in and overlap the fabric, if I put a second layer, I put the cut in a different place.
Looks excellent though, looking forward to see how it turns out.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Whoa !! , balsa wood you might say. Well I have built one or two 1 meter class model racing yatchs out of much thinner balsa than this, wrapped in fibreglass it's incredibly strong for its wieght. Did you know that racing model yatch's is a contact sport ?hat sometimes spills over onto the forshore. I's not unusual for the skipper of the yatch to come home with more damage than the boat.. .

Interesting. I built a woodstrip canoe that is cedar sandwiched by fiberglass. I also own and sail dingy's (laser), scows (C-Scow) etc and have had a few plastic 1M RC sailboats. I've wanted to try building a 1M using the same strip/glass technique with balsa. I'd love to pick your brain about materials, plans, and standing rigging if you're so inclined.

 

[ExMX5owner]

My knowledge is limited, the model boats turned out really well, I will help where I can. My plans came usually off the net, masts ware made from a hollow fishing rods, as was the boom, spars from brazing rod, rigging from braid. sails from heavy'ish mylar sheet..

Some takaways from my experiences, a crap cut sail will spoil the performance of a good hull, a well cut sail will redeem a crap hull.
The hull should be water tight, because it is a contact sport, and it will end up on its side, and sail winch servo,s are not cheap.
Mast and keel should be removable for transport, rudder too if you can. as the keel and rudder are quite long and easilly damaged.