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[Alastair_I]

Has anyone any experience of using 2" foam slabs as a hull.. not as formers, not as a lost-foam process.. but as the actual hull?

The plan for a slightly fun, whimsical design is currently based around a 2" foam hull, either lightly clad with thin ply or sealed with acrylic varnish.. electrical gubbins to be in a seperate plywood box deeper than the hull and projecting through a well in the main hull.



This is just a very quick sketch of the construction method..

I just happen to have some foam about the right size to hand.. and it looks a cheap and rapid solution..

Will it work or is there a problem I've not yet considered?

Al

[Arrow5]

Yep Alistair, your central hull idea is nearly a Springer and I`ve made fit-on-top "Seal" to fit over a bare Springer hull. It was epoxy resined all over (no glass) then painted with enamel. Ping-pong ball eyes.  I`ve also made a light-ship from blue-foam, covered with brown paper using waterproof wood glue that dries to a hard eggshell finish suitable for enamel paint. Deck houses were from Tupperware boxes, postal-tube lamp column and glass and metal mesh table candle holder with lamp instead of candle. Pictures somewhere in Springer Section or movies on www.putfile.com/Arrow5 and on www.youtube.com/MacSpringer  No problems except too much floatation !!!! Bit damage prone if you are hashing and bashing compared to wood or f/glass. Go ahead,do it.   The Coastguard Cutter on a couple of the clips is 100% blue-foam with 1/16th ply skin...un-sinkable !

[martno1fan]

You could also use A very light cloth and epoxy resin to cover the foam that way its damage proof but still very light.Just dont use poly resin or it will melt the foam.Heres a link to a good source they deliver fast and are very reliable.
http://www.ecfibreglasssupplies.co.uk/store/linear-meter-glass-glassfibre-cloth-p-1103.html

[Alastair_I]

I realised the sketch was a little Springer like as soon as I posted it..

However the plan I'm working on is a slice of Rogue County-ish (this one is a bit closer to the look I have in mind) inspired by a great railway modeller with a vivid imagination.

The Maverick Monitor will be loosely G-scale (that is somewhere between 1:20 and 1:25, nominally 1:24 to me)..

Mk1 and close-up..





Mk2, a little better proportioned, but possibly unbalanced (looks stern heavy at the moment).. (about 42" length, 10" beam..)



To get the ballast right I figured I could almost literally ironclad the base of the hull..

[rwalker]

Your ideas lend themselves to American Civil War river monitors. A few whimsical anime (Miyazaki's Laputa or other day dream book designs) could also take shape as well. I'll have to try this after my other projects.

[towboatjoe]

River Bill and I have built foam hulls laminated with 1/8" balsa for our towboats and some barges since the 1980's.

[Alastair_I]

Your ideas lend themselves to American Civil War river monitors. A few whimsical anime (Miyazaki's Laputa or other day dream book designs) could also take shape as well. I'll have to try this after my other projects.

That's where the inspiration comes from.. baby monitors with a whimsical hillbillly twist.. the big brother of these is the USS Miskatonic..  I can't quite bring myself to scratchbuild serious models.. I could see a surface-only Nautilus done very easily in the same style.