just did a google search...yes I believe it is luan ply...is this a bad thing?

Oh no the luan bottom is fine from here. I just like the grain pattern . Any photos of the real boat and guise?

TIA

you had me worried there for a minute...I was have horrible visions of peeling it off and replacing it with the very expensive ply from the hobby store ($25 for a 1'x4" piece as opposed to the $16 for a 4'x8' of the luan)

Question...is it worth cutting out all the interior of the bow to save weight? I was concerned that the structural integrity of it would be compromised if I do, however the more I look at it...the less concerned I am.

cheers,
corey

Corey,
The front of the boats is not as much of a concern as far as weight . Do what needs to be done to keep the transom as light as possible. Dont know the exact length but the cg shouldnt be much more than 2 inches or so behind the sponsons trailing edge.
Plan ahead with tanks etc to put the motor as far foward as possible. Consider the cowl clearance in this scenario. Take your time and think about it before you do anything.

Id clean up those hole saw cuts as I mentioned before but from here youre looking real good bro!

Also consider building the actual rudder, turnfin, articulated ball universals,straight shaft,strut, and metal bottom skins to attain an official "self aggrandizing" certificate!

What are you planning for the dummy motor?

I had considered skinning the sponsons with aluminium, but was at a loss as to how to attach it to the frame with out thousands of wee little screws. I had also considered a scale model V12 for her...but the cost was very prohibitive.

I am unsure if I will finish her to be a replica of Miss Supertest III...I will wait and see how the top skin turns out. On the 1/12 scale I built first, there was too much filler required to get the lines and curves looking right so I could not finish the top in natural wood and will have to paint that one.

I was planning on putting in the zen I should get in the next few days and build the cowl to fit around that (again not sure if I will build a repo or just build a stream lined type of thing) and then redo the set up when I can afford to buy a QD for her. I might just shelve the zen and build a boat for it later as it seems like a lot of work to put the zen in and then re-jig everything for a QD when I get one.

That turn fin looks tiny...how does one gauge the size of a turn fin for a boat?

~C~

You must finish her as the supertest III, thats the thread . Dont be intimidated, you just have to take extreme care when fitting the deck and not sanding through the first ply. If it still bothers you do a thin skin deck then plank her with mahogany.The deck appears to be in sections anyways. The real boat has the small screws the only issue is countersinking them. Youll have to decide it before you deck Im thinking because if you run the screws youll need to seal them inside the hull with epoxy. Maybe even a space age adhesive will do the trick versus the screws. Its not out of the question.The Aerospace industry uses certain glues in construction .

Get in touch with Jim Williams at south river rc and see if he has any 1/6th scale allison dummy motors in stock.

I will be ordering a dummy motor from classic hydros as Jim does not have any available at the moment.

Now that I am going the replica route, do you know of anyone who has a rudder approaching the original? I cannot even figure out how it is operated from the pictures I have seen.

And a few more pics...all the holes have been cleaned up.

Thats looking real nice!!!!

The rudder would probably have to be machined . For your purposes based on the real photo the typical rudder horn and ball joint linkage seem appropriate and wont take away from the scale appearance. People use really odd items sometimes to simulate a gas cap, dash dial,etc. Get as many photos as you can of the dash, motor, or any other details you may find. It may not be worth it to you but if it is you can really make this look incredible. I cant stress enuf not to rush such an endeavor. Youre looking really good from here tho.....

Is classic hydros Eddie Hansen? Thats who used to supply JW then all of a sudden Jim said he couldnt get anything from Eddie. One day I may need to use art cam and create dummy drivers in two halves as well as dummy motors. I have the patterns for a 12th scale Merlin. There used to be a guide on how to make the drivers yourself from blocks of balsa. It has been lost and I have yet to find it again. Ive been looking online for a very long time . I desperately need a driver for a 76 Pak.




Quite a bit of details still left to complete........... At this point I dont care how long It takes to hit the water. If you want to see a pretty scale model check out some of Greg Hanhs work on IW. Goto rumrunnerracing.com and check out "TC's" builds. Beautiful is all you can say!

I like the looks of that boat Hugh, I hope to do one in that style at some point. However I would like to build a Miss Canada IV first, once Osborn releases the 1/12 scale kit it will be my next project.

The fellow who replied to me from Classic Hydros was Douglas Campbell.

I will be scouring the inter webs today for all the pictures of MST III I can find, with the inspiration I found here, I am taking this build to a new level and hope to reproduce the boat with as much accurate detail as I am capable of. I wish I had paid more attention in high school machine shop, I would be better off for it now...if I had the machines, but for one off pieces I should be able to do it with my drill press and files.

Will it be possible to run the engine exhaust through the dummy motor exhaust? Or will I have to just port it out the back?

cheers,
corey