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Swamp Hawg Airboat

Discussion in 'Airboats' started by 7up, Jun 10, 2011.

  1. 7up

    7up Moderator Staff Member

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    Not a true airboat, it can't glide out of water due to the rudder, (I have trucks foe that) but it can easily be modified to a high rudder if you like. I finished this up last weekend and plan on cutting it out this weekend. This is a prototype for the big one I am going to build. I have a 26cc gas engine to strap on it :dance3: .

    Have fun and please post all your improvements. Attached files [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] Swamp Hawg Airboat.skp (3.6 MB)Â Swamp Hawg Airboat_air rudder_1.cnc (34.3 KB)Â Swamp Hawg Airboat_air rudder_2.cnc (16.4 KB)Â Swamp Hawg Airboat_water rudder_1.cnc (34.4 KB)Â Swamp Hawg Airboat_water rudder_2.cnc (16.1 KB)Â Swamp Hawg PDFs.zip (2.5 MB)Â [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
  2. kram242

    kram242 Administrator Staff Member

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    Great job Buk! This is the best air boat plan I have seen. Going to be nice at the lake!
    Thank you for sharing
    Mark and Trish
     
  3. blindflight

    blindflight Moderator Staff Member

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    Nice , have not seen one in years... :D Great job
     
  4. jovian

    jovian Member

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    This is GREAT I was looking for something I could use at my grandparents pond
     
  5. kram242

    kram242 Administrator Staff Member

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    I love the way you did the curvature of the sides. How did you do this Buk?
    I can make a lot of things in SketchUp but when it come to a shape (like a sink for instance), it becomes difficult. Are you using splines?
    Thanks
    Mark and Trish
     
  6. 7up

    7up Moderator Staff Member

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    Thanks guys!

    Mark, when I am working on something, I usually start with a rough block of what I have in mind, just like a big chunk of foam. Instead of adding to it to create what I want, I take away from it. I do this mainly with the "Intersect" function (a very powerful tool). Notice in the first video how I use a simple one face "sheet" to separate the parts I don't want, then use the same sheet to create a face for the parts I delete.



    This technique works for any profile shape you want, just make sure you have a face on it.

    Vid #2
    Ever have a weird curve that you just couldn't get a face to appear upon? The way I do it, the face is already there before anything gets deleted. Just do your intersect, hide your "sheet", delete, copy or move what you need, unhide your sheet, explode your sheet and intersect again if needed and delete the edges that are not needed.



    I hope you guys can understand this. I'm not much of a talker, so no audio and still pretty new to the video screen capture too, anyway, that's basically how I work in SU.
     
  7. kram242

    kram242 Administrator Staff Member

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    Great examples Buk! :good:
    I need to start using the intersect more, like you said its a powerful tool.
    Thank you for putting this together for us(me) :)
    Mark and Trish
     
  8. 7up

    7up Moderator Staff Member

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    You are welcome :good:
     
  9. 7up

    7up Moderator Staff Member

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    Added air rudder setup files and both PDFs to first post.
     
  10. kram242

    kram242 Administrator Staff Member

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    Nice! thanks again Buk!
    Mark and Trish
     
  11. 7up

    7up Moderator Staff Member

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    UPDATE: 06-29-2011

    Slow going, but I'm chipping away at it. I should have it done before the lake freezes over. :fugly:

    I got it cut and started construction. Here are a few pics of where I'm at so far.

    I am making tweaks and changes to the plns as I build. I just updated the files in the first post and will notify of any other changes. So far there has only been minor tweaks.

    I really went crazy with the hot glue on this one, filling every pin hole I could find. Although the outside of the boat will be sealed from water when completed, the hot glue should help seal any leaks I might have. Attached files [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
  12. kram242

    kram242 Administrator Staff Member

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    Looking great Buk! :good: What is the plan for sealing the outside of the hull?
    Mark and Trish
     
  13. 7up

    7up Moderator Staff Member

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    Thanks Mark! I'm not sure on the sealer yet, any suggestions?

    UPDATE

    I couldn't sleep last night so I worked some on the boat.

    I put the hull framing in, glued it with hot glue, Installed a push rod guide and push rod then sealed every joint from inside the hull with hot glue. Oh yea, I put the hatch supports in and sealed those compartments good, again, with hot glue.

    I plan on using #64 rubber bands as gaskets to seal around my hatch doors when they are closed. I'm going to just cut them to length and glue them flat around the inside of the compartments.

    Next I put the deck on. For this I sprayed the back side of the deck with 3M 77 mostly where the framing was going to make contact, slid the two rear slots over the pylons and everything was lined up just right so I put some weight on top and let it set. Once the 3M 77 was set, I sealed the entire deck perimeter with hot glue.

    At ths point I went to the fridge for a pop, came back, plopped down in my chair and... CRUNCH!!! Yep, I sat on it. It took all my weight, be it just 160 lbs., but I was setting on the deck and it was supporting me. Luckily I missed the pylons and the only damage was a small crease in the deck.

    So here are a few more pics. All that is left for me to do is hinge the rudders and hatch doors and stuff it with electronics, then I can try it out before I paint and seal it. Attached files [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
  14. 7up

    7up Moderator Staff Member

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    UPDATE: 0701-2011

    Well last night, this morning, I was gonna hinge the rudders and connect them together but quickly found out that I was completely out of packing tape, strapping tape and Scotch tape, and blue painter's tape just aint gonna cut it. So, wanting to get this thing done before the weekend, I scrounged through my junk filled quart jars on my desk and came up with this simple bind free hinge.

    It consists of a bamboo skewer, a popsickle stick and a small piece of fuel tubing.

    1. Measure, cut and glue or tape the skewer to your vertical stab right at the hinge line. Leave about 1/2" at the top and bottom of the skewer free of tape or glue.

    2. Drill 2 popsickle sticks so that the skewer will spin freely inside the hole.

    3. Glue one popsickle stick to the upper part of the rudder and align hole with hinge line. Go ahead and slide the rudder down onto the skewer.

    4. Slide the other popsickle stick onto the skewer from the bottom and glue the stick to the bottom of the rudder.

    5. Glue a small piece of fuel tubing, or whatever you have, to the bottom portion of the skewer.

    Trim out any notches where binding may occur.

    Done... Attached files [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
  15. kram242

    kram242 Administrator Staff Member

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    Great idea on the hinge system Buk! :good: Shes really starting to take shape.
    Rubber-bands for the seals! very clever. I was reading the post and when you said you sat on it my heart just dropped! I see its ok though, never a dull moment in this hobby LOL :D
    Looks like everything is fitting well. Can't wait so see it in the water! :good: Keep up the good work.
    Thanks for the update
    Mark and Trish
     
  16. 7up

    7up Moderator Staff Member

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    Thanks again Mark! :D

    UPDATE: 07-02-2011

    Back in the work shack again last night. I got a little work done. I ran into a slight problem with my hinge idea. The bottom of the rudder is too low to glue the bottom hinge support on to. I would have to cut a notch in the hull for clearance and that is not good. Oughta not never be holes in the hull. So I just moved it up on the rudder to a suitable place. I just cut a slit in the rudder, glued in my popsickle stick and cut a clearance notch in the vert stab. The hinge system works great, very free movement.

    All these revisions will be added to the final plans.

    I also got my rudders linked together. Again, I used popsickle sticks for control horns and a small piece of music wire. And I added a foam brace between the two vert stabs, just to keep constant distance between them from front to back.

    That's about it for now. Tonight I may tackle the electronics and work on the compartment hatches.

    And I got the motor mount (popsickle sticks) glued in and the motor mounted. Attached files [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
  17. 3DMON

    3DMON Moderator Staff Member

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    Looking good buk!
    I like that hinge method. It should do good for airplanes too.
     
  18. 7up

    7up Moderator Staff Member

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    Thanks Shaun. I may give it a try on a plane, maybe use 3 or 4 contact points along an aileron? The weight might add up fast, I didn't care about weight on this boat. You could use lighter materials though, I think those popsickle sticks are 1/8" thick, maybe thicker.
     
  19. 7up

    7up Moderator Staff Member

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    Got the electronics in and all hooked up... Test run soon.

    Attached files [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
  20. kram242

    kram242 Administrator Staff Member

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    Looking forward to it Buk!
    Really came out strong looking, this is a cool project that has me thinking :)
    Mark and Trish
     
  21. boggers12

    boggers12 New Member

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    A year later . . . any updates? I have been looking at the Hobby King boat for my small pond, but then I stumbled on this. The boat looks great, but I'm wondering if it ever saw water and if so, what did you use to waterproof the outside?
     
  22. kram242

    kram242 Administrator Staff Member

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