Topic: Whiplash Hydro Build (Read 81992 times)

glennb2006 · « **on:** January 20, 2009, 12:25:26 am »

Hello all.

I have taken the plunge and decided to build a hydro, after some research, I decided to go for a Whiplash Hydro by Blazer Marine in the US. It is wooden construction, all parts are laser cut and fit well. The boat is designed to run with 26cc gas engines, but I am going to fit a tuned Zenoah running on petrol!

Some pictures:

The first stage, glueing together some pieces that require doublers.

First assembley of side rails and frames 1 to 7.

Frames tacked into place with superglue. So far I am impressed, well cut out kit. Going together well.

This will be a slow build as I do not have the time I want for all my hobbies, but I'll try to do a bit each week and post the results here. Hopefully it will keep me motivated to stick with it.

Hope this is of some interest to you.

Regards,

Glenn

Martin (Admin) · « **Reply #1 on:** January 20, 2009, 08:54:37 am »

Nice build Glenn!
How much was the kit and does it include running hardware?

( For larger photos, try using the "IMG Code - Forums & Bulletin Boards" from Photobucket: [IMG ]http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s169/glennb2006/Whiplashframe2.jpg[ /IMG]

glennb2006 · « **Reply #2 on:** January 20, 2009, 11:40:39 am »

hi There Martin,

the kit as it came includes nothing but the wood, the turn fin was additional to the cost. The base kit was from memory about £100 - $180 seems to ring a bell. On top I had to get the resin to bond it all together (and coat it), the strut, rudder, flex shaft and the prop. And engine mounts and pipe etc etc.

I reckon by the time I am done it will stand me about £500, but I have an engine already. Not cheap.

as to the pictures, thought I'd try thumbnails, if you click on the photos they get bigger, but looking at it now I think I'll put them on full size.

Thanks for the interest.

Glenn

w3bby · « **Reply #3 on:** January 20, 2009, 03:25:00 pm »

What's it doing here Glenn I expected to find it under Dry Dock

You hiding it from Martin (Martno1fan).
Will you be sealing the frame before adding the skin?
Little trick here, warm the epoxy and the wood before sealing, makes it thinner and absorb better

Looking forward to the rest of the build.

glennb2006 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 20, 2009, 03:41:32 pm »

Hi Ian,

dry dock for repairs, this is new build so on the slips!!

Not sure where Mart is - thought he would have been onto a lump of wood build by now, time yet though.

One thing I did not mention as a bit of an issue to overcome, when putting the frames together, they are very flexible in current state so need a lot os support to keep straight until the glue dries.
I clamped two spirit levels to the sides to keep them straight.

It is getting a lot stiffer even just tacked with the superglue. Seems this i going to be strong, which is good, and light, which I like. Hopefully it is going to be fast, the designer claims speeds in excess of 85MPH.

As to the epoxy, I'm using West Systems slow curing stuff which goes on like water, really thin at room temperature, I will heat it a little though to get better penetration, thanks for that.

Going to coat the frames when the bottom goes on, there are 1/8" sticks to go onto every joint with the deck and the bottom sheet to increase the glueing area first. That is going to be laborious, and I can tell I will superglue myself to the frame!!

I will have some more done on Froday with luck and will post some pictures as I go.

Off to London now - so no boats.

Glenn

martno1fan · « **Reply #5 on:** January 20, 2009, 07:35:22 pm »

Hi Glenn sorry i missed this

good luck with it mate,these are really nice kits ive been considering one myself for some time.One thing i notice about Brians kits is theres lots of frames like a traditional wood kit.Def more pieces compaired to the zippkits hydros,i know yours is a piccklefork so theres bound to be more bits i supose.Not a complaint just an observation,good idea about using the spirit levels for the sides to keep it straight i used ali angle on mine.You will be surprised how light and strong the wood kits are compaired to glass boats.Good to see you having a go mate keep up the good work,regarding your epoxy i used some i got from a yacht builders it was cheaper than the west systems and its lloyds aproved,name escapes me now,takes longer to cure though about 8 hrs usually but its very strong.Did your kit come with a glass cowl in the price or extra?.You can def get 80mph from that boat im sure,when shes done bring her to fleetwood .Be good to see how it compairs to the roundnose ,yours will be faster on a flat lake for sure.
Mart

glennb2006 · « **Reply #6 on:** January 20, 2009, 11:42:35 pm »

Martin,

How on earth did you find me here?

Let's get it finished first! I got West Systems resin, it only cost about £15 for enough to do three of these, so there will be no shopping around needed there, it seems to take about 12 hours to go off, it is the slow cure stuff.

Jury still out for me on wood, let me get a few high speed crashes under my belt and I'll let you know how tough I think it is.

As to coming over to Fleetwood, that's hardly fair, it's salt water - your boat is set up for it. And you got a posh tuned motor.

I believe there are something like 40 bits of wood in the kit, if I had the drawing with me I'd tell you exactly, I did laugh when I saw the wording from Brian Blazer on the US Customs Declaration on the box - he described the contents as a "Wooden Puzzle". Some truth there, though that was easily sorted once I realised I was missing four pages from the destructions, which Brian emailed to me.

Watch this space!

Glenn.

martno1fan · « **Reply #7 on:** January 21, 2009, 01:05:49 pm »

Haha im allways lurking mate not much gets past me muhaha

,when i said this epoxy takes 8 hrs i meant till you can safeley move the boat from the board but it does take a full 24 hrs to fully cure.Probably ther same for the west systems i guess,im sure you will get lots of pleasure building this kit .Just take your time and have fun mate,look forward to seeing how it comes together.Just be sure to add some cloth tape and resin to the seams where you feel it might be needed,thats what i did even though thats not in the instructions .Thats funny about him calling it a wood puzzle,i never paid any customs on the zipp either and it came in two boxes,one for the kit and one for the cowl.The sponsons on the zipp arent equal size wise by design which seems to work really well.As you know im making a plug for a glass T boat as we speak,i used the zipp as my inspiration taking some of its sponson angles etc and incorporating them into it ,all with Joes permision of course.Mine will be a tad longer and will have a different style deck and a few other changes.This one will have a sports cowl but i might do a traditional one too,lots of work to do but hopefully its worth the effort.Allready had interest from a few people about them which is encouraging.
Mart

martno1fan · « **Reply #8 on:** January 21, 2009, 01:17:49 pm »

I forgot to add Glenn my boat has the ss mod you have a zen 7 somewhere im sure

,that hydro will fly with a modded zen or are you modding one yourself or is it a secret

.Salt water fresh water its all wet to me ,ive never ran in fresh water with mine yet

Mart

glennb2006 · « **Reply #9 on:** January 21, 2009, 11:16:12 pm »

No secret,

I'm having a go at modifying an engine myself, it will be interesting to see what I can get it to do, I still have the Zen 7 which is going to go into my other new boat, which is an FSRV - then I have another motor which is stock, and staying stock for now, which is going into my third new boat when I get it.

Oh, looks like there are 31 pieces plus the deck, covers, radio box etc so I was about right with 40 bits.

Told you I did not have enough time.

Glenn

martno1fan · « **Reply #10 on:** January 22, 2009, 01:18:28 am »

Its good to see you building a boat that actually resembles a real boat for a change lol just kidding couldnt resist

.I think the zipp had 34 pieces including the radio box parts so not much of a difference really considering.Did you get a cowl with the kit?.
Mart

glennb2006 · « **Reply #11 on:** January 22, 2009, 01:29:41 am »

Looks like no boat I ever saw before in real life!!

Yes, it does come complete with a cowl made from epoxy / glass. And a turn fin, made from a hulking great lump of stainless steel!

Glenn

martno1fan · « **Reply #12 on:** January 22, 2009, 02:03:45 am »

Stainless steel fin thats gonna be heavy lol,get some ali and make your own .I think your hydro is kinda modeled on the piccklefork turbines maybe ? although its not exactly a scale boat but then neither is mine which i supose is why they run so well compaired to the scale ones.How good is your cowl ,the zip ones are epoxy or at least mine is,but been so long i needed to beef up the front and rear to stop it flexing so much but you wont have that problem

.
Mart

brodjack · « **Reply #13 on:** January 22, 2009, 02:05:57 am »

Looking good so far Glenn,if a skeleton looks good that is

Since when are real boats made of wood nowadays!
As you know i still prefer a nice smooth glass fibre finish

Brod..

martno1fan · « **Reply #14 on:** January 22, 2009, 02:42:08 pm »

Yea but wood is lighter and stiffer and thus faster when it comes to models ,most of the guys racing them use wood over glass and most of the records are set with the wood whiplash not the glass version as far as i know

,i supoose its as smooth as you make it too lol.
Mart

glennb2006 · « **Reply #15 on:** January 22, 2009, 05:55:13 pm »

Quote from: brodjack on January 22, 2009, 02:05:57 am

Looking good so far Glenn,if a skeleton looks good that is

Since when are real boats made of wood nowadays!
As you know i still prefer a nice smooth glass fibre finish
Brod..

I'm with you I think Brod - I am used to epoxy glass and carbon kevlar, just have to see how it goes, Mart is right in that so far it is light.

Might end up strong - we shall see how it handles flipping at full tilt and crashing into other boats.

Going to safety wire all the big lumps to some flotation if that is any cue as to how confident I am!

Glenn

brodjack · « **Reply #16 on:** January 22, 2009, 06:17:10 pm »

Ah,so you are a crasher Glenn,we shall see when we come over your place in summer.

I'll bring the woodworm cuprinol with me

Brod..

martno1fan · « **Reply #17 on:** January 22, 2009, 07:12:18 pm »

Very funny Glen,as regards flipping id think the clue is in how many guys use the wooden ones rather than the glass ones over there.They seem to hold up pretty well,i know my Rockett is pretty light but its strong too.The only place i find weak is the deck sheeting as its poplar ply and i think that is the weakest area as i think he should have used birch plywood instead.I left it as it was but i dont plan crashing mine so she will be ok .Not sure what wood yours is made of but you might want to check that .I think you will be surprised how strong it is when shes finnished although i do know how you like to flip your boats

.Strongest boat i had was my old woody vee it was hard as nails ,i think it would have smashed through a lot of glass boats if it had hit them lol.
Mart
Carbon Kevlar you must have money to burn theyre only toy boats you know

glennb2006 · « **Reply #18 on:** January 22, 2009, 07:12:36 pm »

I've had a few!

It's the only way to find the boundaries though!

Bring some creosote too....

Glenn

glennb2006 · « **Reply #19 on:** January 25, 2009, 03:54:39 am »

The build goes on:

The port side sponson frame.

The port side sponson frame from lower angle.

The starboard sponson.

The observant will have noticed the sponsons are not the same, the port side has a dihedral on the outer edge, meant to stop the boat tripping at speed through turns. I hope it works!

Here is full length shot of the boat tacked with cyano. The blocks of wood are to hold the frame square, which has been a challenge. Seems to have worked out. Next job is to fit the bottom, this should stiffen things up and make life easier and the boat more manageable. ONce that is done, the hardware fit out will begin. Hope to have more progress next weekend.

Glenn

martno1fan · « **Reply #20 on:** January 25, 2009, 03:13:32 pm »

Its getting there Glenn nice build

,its a completely diff build process to the zippkits i built.On mine the bottom skin is the first part you start with and all the frames slot into it,helps a lot with keeping things square etc.Lots of bricks and weights were needed to hold things flat to the bench till the glue dried though.The sponsons on mine are similar in that they aren't both the same size or shape in fact if you hold the boat up on end and look at the shape of the nose its not an even curve as the sponsons are different widths ,i think the ride surface on one is 1/4" narrower.Its not noticeable to most people until you point it out but as you say its to help with turns etc .Not sure if the whiplash has non trip sides at the rear like the t boats or not?.Keep up the good work,i enjoy the building almost as much as running them how are you finding it so far

.Someone gave me a great tip on home made clamps for these kind of builds,get some plastic tubing in diff diameters and cut them into 1" wide pieces then cut through one side and there you have a clamp and they work really well too

.Will you be adding any glass cloth or tape to the seams in the sponsons etc?.
Mart

glennb2006 · « **Reply #21 on:** January 25, 2009, 04:53:29 pm »

It's got no ride pads at the back, just runs on the prop!

I'll be adding some strengthening to the joints on the high impact areas - I will use Kevlar tape for this probably.

So far not been too bad, still not sure about wood but we shall see - it is a very well thought out kit though, I will say that.

Hope to get the bottom on tonight.

Glenn

martno1fan · « **Reply #22 on:** January 25, 2009, 06:14:32 pm »

Yea i know mate all i meant was on my t boat the sides at the transom are angled so they dont trip in a turn when water gets thrown up onto the sides i supose.Heres a pic of mine i just wondered if the whip was the same .Looks like a very nice kit thats another woody ill need to build by the looks

.
Mart

glennb2006 · « **Reply #23 on:** January 26, 2009, 12:18:20 am »

The Whiplash is more complex than the one you show, the sponsons are quite intricate. Once they are sheeted, I'll put a picutre herre - still very early days on this build.

Same principles apply though. Boat - engine - water - air

Glenn

glennb2006 · « **Reply #24 on:** January 27, 2009, 02:18:02 am »

Some more progress has been made. Here, the bottom sheet is being fitted.

The bottom sheet has to be cut to allow it to bend up either side of the sponsons, which project past it. Pressure on here, measure twice and all that!!

Hopefully clearer detail of cuts.

Square to the transom - eventually, but an important step, check for true front to back, then commence to tacking into place. Started at the transom once I got it square and worked forward.

Looks about right!!

Next installment, sheeting the sponsons.

After that is resin on interior, the flotation.

Hope some of you are finding this interesting.

Glenn

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Author Topic: Whiplash Hydro Build (Read 81992 times)

brodjack

brodjack