Enterprise Catamaran Cruiser

Hello guys
                   Thanks for your wonderful comments on my work on the Catamaran cruiser. I had been looking for one for a few years with no luck. I decided that to have and one I needed to build it without much information. I have no idea how is going to perform but I`m giving it my best effort. Using a Cox TD.049 will provide extra power to haul the radio system and the extra weight of fiberglassing the hull. I want it to look good so I will be painting with Duplicolor,Rustoleum and some clear urethane. I will continue to post pictures as I go along,here are pics of the sheeting of the nose of the cat. Thanks for your support!
                                                                                                        Juan  

If you can't buy it, build it, eh Juan? Very nice build. I'm loving your craftsmanship.

Dave P. wrote:If you can't buy it, build it, eh Juan?  Very nice build.  I'm loving your craftsmanship.

I fully agree with you Dave!

Juan, it looks fantastic. No way I could have done that without plans. You have a keen eye. Will you be shaping the vertical stabs/rudder to look like the shark fins as seen on the box art?

Ron

Dave P. wrote:If you can't buy it, build it, eh Juan?  Very nice build.  I'm loving your craftsmanship.

Hello Dave
                Thanks for your kind words.  I`m an old guy and have been building from kits and plans for many years and I learned by doing because information was scarce and initially my only resource were Flying models and Model Airplane news magazines. Later on I also got to meet other modelers and exchanged information. I wish I knew then what I know now I would have made better models. I started doing my own design models many years back and have enjoyed this hobby a lot. Here is a 35 year old picture of my son holding my four channel Cox TD.049 powered Mini Sport aire that I designed using as the basis the North East Aerodynamics Sport Aire 40. My son is 40 years old now.  the yellow and white V tail racer is my own design. the white with black and red trim is the kit built Sport Aire.40.
                                                                                                      Juan

MauricioB wrote:

Dave P. wrote:If you can't buy it, build it, eh Juan?  Very nice build.  I'm loving your craftsmanship.

I fully agree with you Dave!

  Hello Mauricio
                       I have been following your build of the Betty Skelton little Stinker and I have to say that your work is excellent. I like the way you are mounting the top wing which has never been an easy task using piano wire. your solution of using bicycle spokes is inspiring I will keep it in mind if I do a Bipe. I also liked the cowling you made. I think is going to be a great looking model due your attention to detail. Will continue to watch your thread.
                                                                                                                                 Juan

Cribbs74 wrote:Juan, it looks fantastic. No way I could have done that without plans. You have a keen eye. Will you be shaping the vertical stabs/rudder to look like the shark fins as seen on the box art?

Ron

Hello Ron
                       I don`t know yet, I will look at them some more since I changed my mind and I`m deviating from what I drew. thanks for your comment.
                                                                                                                   Juan

I am so entertained by this build. Subscribed!

The Cat is looking great Juan! Since this is an RC build... I had a thought. I like the Tee Dee engine choice. If you had a reserve-channel for engine-throttle.. maybe you could fabricate a horizontal spoiler just rearward the propeller, to divert thrust "down".. which would raise the hulls; assisting planing-out under full-power. Even then; the ability to further trim for optimal.

roddie wrote:The Cat is looking great Juan! Since this is an RC build... I had a thought. I like the Tee Dee engine choice. If you had a reserve-channel for engine-throttle.. maybe you could fabricate a horizontal spoiler just rearward the propeller, to divert thrust "down".. which would raise the hulls; assisting planing-out under full-power. Even then; the ability to further trim for optimal.

     
 Hello Roddie
                     This is new ground for me and I`m going to go slow on the things I do I think that I will finish it try it and see how it behaves before doing any mods. I will have to do the floating test in my bathtub and see how it floats. I gave the engine one degree of positive incidence and might add more to help with the engine being high above the fuses which will cause the front to dig in under power. I added a carb to the TD to be able to go slow when running to see how it behaves. I don`t know anything about boats but will be reading about them to gain knowledge.Thanks for your idea.
                                                                                                                        Juan

Well guys I`m doing a rhinoplasty on my cat front noses. I glued a few blocks of balsa and started sanding with a sanding disc to get the shape close to what it should be. I`m using 3m double sided tape to stick my Indasa Rhinodry 180 and 100 grit to the shermin williams paint stirring sticks that I`m using to sand because I can peel the sand paper and stick a new piece of sandpaper easier than if I used glue. I also use a piece of 1/64 ply with two pieces of sand paper attached for round areas because it flexes and takes the shape I want. I use blue making tape to protect the areas that I don`t want to hit by the sandpaper. The sticks with sand paper and masking tape attached I use to sand some areas sliding the masking tape over the balsa I don`t want touch and the sandpaper over the high spots. I glue small pieces of wood to form a handle and make them easier to use. here are some pics.

Looking Good Juan , you have quite a array of sanding equipment , i purchased some 3m tack spray glue for the purpose of the 2 sided tape ur using But haven't tried it yet What are you using to hold the nose on or is it fitted already ?

getback wrote:Looking Good Juan , you have quite a array of sanding equipment , i purchased some 3m tack spray glue for the purpose of the 2 sided tape ur using But haven't tried it yet What are you using to hold the nose on or is it fitted already ?

Hello getback
                          I used a few drops of Titebond original wood glue to hold the top block and nose in place. I removed the top block to hollow it a little before finish my sanding to avoid a misaligment when gluing it back in place. I spot glued the nose that way if I make a mistake I can remove it and place and other block of wood and start shaping again.






On the sanding stick I forgot to mention that once you have the sandpaper glued to the stick you have to ad layers of masking tape until the sandpaper and the masking tape are at the same level,sometimes it would be 4 or 5 layers all depends on the thickness of the sand paper. If you drag your finger from the masking tape to the sand paper and feel a step add masking tape . If you only apply one layer you will sand too far and create a step. The sanding stick will slide on the masking tape over the wood without damaging it and will sand to that level. In the last two photos you can see that I sanded the wood level with the bigger piece. I do that way when sanding the top and bottom planking of the fuselage on a small model.
                                                                                              Juan

Well guys I have been playing with the engine I`m planing to use on the cat. I have tried to get a low idle but the AP Hornet carb I`m using floods the engine at low Rpm and there is no low speed idle screw. I have tried different glow plugs, propellers and would like to use a master airscrew 6x4x3 blades. I even made a small brass flywheel that I placed behind the prop to see if that would help the idle a little but no luck. Just for fun I ran the engine with two .020 cox three balade props it was a hoot the engine would scream and it hit 23k rpm. My Fromeco tach read 46k on the three blade position but since there were 6 blades I divided it by two. I feel a lot of thrust from the muffler and it surprised me I didn`t think It would blow that hard. here are a few pics. Will continue playing with my engine before I get back to building the cat.
                                                                                                                              Juan

Boy that's a lot of blades Hope you can get the idle problem figured out , No other carb. you have to fit with a stop on it ?