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[toesupwa]

As a bit of a Springer builder  , these are a few of my thoughts...

The construction of the hull looks to be over complicated, with too many cross braces along the bottom of the hull.

I like the wheel-house, but make sure there is enough provision for a good 1"(25mm) coaming under the wheel house to stop water ingress.

I dont see any push knees in the pic, make these from something solid (3/4" (20mm) material) and make sure they are securely fitted to the hull, not just stuck to the bow / deck.

I'm assuming you have the blessing of the designer and / or the Pacific North West (PNW.. USA) group that came up with the original design.. before you start thinking of marketing someone's design as a kit?

If the kit comes to fruition, make the price in the region that a beginner (as the design was originally intended for) can afford.. ie: under $100, 100 UK pound's. There are glass hull's available, so you have to make the price competitive with the glass hull's.

I would go with Arrow5's suggestion and make the sides, bow and stern from 3/4" material.. Beginners are not known for their 'finesse' when it comes to boat handling and if the boat is to be used for football, thinner material may mean the boat ends up at the bottom of the pool.

In the instructions, give a History of the Springer and it's origins.. as well as links to this thread and also the RC Group's thread.

[mike_victoriabc]

Well said there Toes!

A big plus goes out to the PNW guys - you can see from the posts that it is a great 'get your feet wet' project.

[steamboatmodel]

A kit would be a good idea for some of my fumble fingered friends, who I dare not let loose around power tools for fear they would be my fumble fingerless friends. for myself I have salvaged some 3/4" plywood that once I scrape the paint and tar off might be good.
Regards,
Gerald.

[toesupwa]

Looking at the pictures...

I also don't see any provision for attaching / securing the towing bitts... 

If the hull construction is to be simplified, incorporate at least one bulkhead to attach the towing bitts to.

... or at least strengthen the deck, maybe a doubler, to attach the bitts to...
 

[Martin (Admin)]

I would go with Arrow5's suggestion and make the sides, bow and stern from 3/4" material.. Beginners are not known for their 'finesse' when it comes to boat handling and if the boat is to be used for football, thinner material may mean the boat ends up at the bottom of the pool.

If it's too much work to inconsiderate doublers, then extra infill pieces could be cut  and glued in place.

$100??? I don't think you would get many customers at that price..... I would say nearer $50-60 (€35-45) to make it attractive.
Also, look in the costs of supping running gear or arranging another suppler to make up a running gear kit for you. 

[Aurigarius]

As a bit of a Springer builder  , these are a few of my thoughts...

These are very welcome - thank you!

The construction of the hull looks to be over complicated, with too many cross braces along the bottom of the hull.

I would go with Arrow5's suggestion and make the sides, bow and stern from 3/4" material.

We chose the 4mm plywood because of the abilities of the lasercutter. We would have chosen thicker material, but the laser has some limits. That is the reason for strengthen the hull with these cross-braces. It may look complicated at first (at least more complicated than a simple wooden-box setup) but it all goes together quite logically. Maybe this lightweight-construction has something to do with our heritage (Torsten flies/constructs model-planes and I am the RC-Racer) Maybe we learn, that we went wrong. But before we sell the first boats we will put our boats through a very hard test. If they survive that - they should survive anything. 

I like the wheel-house, but make sure there is enough provision for a good 1"(25mm) coaming under the wheel house to stop water ingress.

That has already been built in. You don't see in the pictures, but it is there.

I dont see any push knees in the pic, make these from something solid (3/4" (20mm) material) and make sure they are securely fitted to the hull, not just stuck to the bow / deck.

The knees  are made of three identical pieces of 4mm ply, which is glued together. They are not shown in tha last pic, because that's a part we are still thinking about a bit.

I'm assuming you have the blessing of the designer and / or the Pacific North West (PNW.. USA) group that came up with the original design.. before you start thinking of marketing someone's design as a kit?

We will get in contact with them to get their blessing. That's a good idea.

If the kit comes to fruition, make the price in the region that a beginner (as the design was originally intended for) can afford.. ie: under $100, 100 UK pound's. There are glass hull's available, so you have to make the price competitive with the glass hull's.

We are wanting to keep it below 50€. I think that should be realistic.

Beginners are not known for their 'finesse' when it comes to boat handling and if the boat is to be used for football, thinner material may mean the boat ends up at the bottom of the pool.

We will have a lot of fun on our first test-drives, because we want to make this as 'idiot-proof' as possible.

In the instructions, give a History of the Springer and it's origins.. as well as links to this thread and also the RC Group's thread.

That's intended, of course.

Thank you very much for your input. This is much appreciated.

Jorg

[Aurigarius]

ok - so we have given the first kit to Ulrich - one of our club members. If there is something wrong with it - he will find it. And he will build it beautifully, I'm sure.
A second kit will be handed out to someone tomorrow. So we will have 4 or 5 boats in the making and we will test-drive them very shortly.
Torsten will make a first prototype soccer-version as well...

For the time being I let you have a look at Ulrich's build. Some of his decorating work will not ne part of the kit.

The box arrives


The boat's rest-place


The battery-braces. We stick two 7,2V stickpacks here with velcro. So the center of gravity can easily be moved


The wheelhouse


Parts of the inner frame which stiffens the hull


Little bit of work done to the wheelhouse


Downstairs to the machine-department

more to come...

[andygh]

SOCCER?   

[Aurigarius]

yes...did I hit a nerve there?     

[andyn]

SOCCER?   

Not exactly football if the players don't have feet is it?

[des321]

I think its Water Polo. No worries about 4mm ply construction if its braced properly.
That how mine is constructed and in its short life its taken quite a bashing. Mine is the one with the helicopter on top.

[Aurigarius]

I have some more pictures from Ulrich's build. So you can see that it is braced properly.


Wheelhouse is on.


Inside the Wheelhouse

[Aurigarius]

We are experimenting with different wheelhouse-versions. The hull is always the same.
Do you think we went a bit over the top here?


This could be our "soccer-version" with reinforced front and smaller wheelhouse with open backside. I think we will call this "Wembley" 


The wheelhouse accommodates a playmobil-sized driver figure


We are not really running out of ideas. But if someone else has a good idea - now is the time to come forward  

[Martin (Admin)]

Fantastic!!!! 

[Arrow5]

You certainly are getting full use of the laser-cutter.  Wooden railings don't look as good as wire.  Not over the top with elevated wheelhouse at all.  Wembley is the ENGLISH football stadium...that one wont sell in other (non English) parts of the UK !   You might need access to steering gear at stern.  I would add two full width bulkheads. Careful with Snoopy !!!!!

[craftysod]

To make life a bit easier for you guys.
Looking from the front of the hull,you will not need the first and third brace,it will be strong enough.
You could insert a slot,like you have done for the motor brace,further rearwood,where the bottom bends,and add a brace there.
This will help with stopping the wood trying to spring free.
Brilliant idea though,i would get one to play with

[toesupwa]

We are not really running out of ideas. But if someone else has a good idea - now is the time to come forward  

Once you have an 'experienced' builder build one of your kit's, give a kit to a beginner.. say a 10 -12 year old, and see if they can do a build without any problems. Of course they will need assistance along the way (try to let them do as much on their own as possible), but that should highlight any corrections you need to make with the kit and instructions.

Like the wheelhouse variations by the way!...

[craftysod]

Good thinking there Toes 

[Aurigarius]

Instructions are on the way. We will do it by showing the build with some pictures.
Our "typical 13 year old beginner" will get a kit this week.

Seems like we have quite similar ideas. 

[SteamboatPhil]

A great idea, anything that might bring new comers to hobby can't be all bad, its a sort of one up from the ezzebuild kits. 

[fooman2008]

If you are looking for a guinea pig (victim) to try your kit on I have an 8 year old little girl (with about 200 Barbie's seemingly, for pilots) who would love to try one!  I have a spare three channel stick radio, and a couple of motors from a broken down off-road truck.  Even have a step speed controller (which was replaced by and ESC in my wife's R/C truck).  Sounds like the start to a good springer!  This time of year (in Idaho) the water is either solid or falling from the sky frozen into little crystals (snow), so this is a good time to build.  Drop me a line, please
Foo

[Aurigarius]

ok, you've got a PM, Foo.

The instructions are not ready yet. But if anyone is interested please drop me a line (PM)

[Arrow5]

Advice on where to fit foam flotation blocks (styrofoam) would be wise.  Dont ask why I know this

[norry]

...Hi Guys...  Wait till i get my Sporran sitting properly on my kilt...

Why is the Football Springer to be called "WEMBLEY" does that mean it wont work in Scotland....

...Scotland....Home of arrow5 The instigator of the Springer Craze this side of the Atlantic puddle...
...Why not call it "PELE" or "BECKENNBAUER"[b]or even "MARADONNA"[/b]

...Och Aye The Noo...Norry...

P.s Please excuse the spelling of "BECKENBAUER"

[Aurigarius]

Hi Norry!

your spelling of BECKENBAUER is perfect 

Don't take that name "Wembley" too seriously. We leave the name-giving to you guys. I think you're much more creative than us. 

"Wembley was a reference to a certain historic world championship footy-match in the 60's between England and Germany with an outcome some old germans still argue about.