Gas F1 Tunnel Construction Information

Designer and Manufacturer of the “Millers Legend” RC, F1 styled, Gas Tunnel racing hull

Built to run at speeds of 100km/h +

A brief explanation of “how we make it” The hull!

Hi!

Thanks for your interest shown in our “Millers Legend” F1 styled, Gas RC Tunnel Hull. We are very excited about this development of ours and we are always pleased to share our knowledge and experience’s with those who have an interest.

Besides our Gas Tunnel Hull proving its self, both locally in South Africa, as well as abroad, to be a “World Class” design, allow us to share with you how we go about constructing our Hull, in an effort to produce a lasting, Quality assured, race boat. This has been an ongoing processes of constant development, through the many trials of testing and racing experiences.

All our Tunnel hulls are presented with a quality, polished Gel coat exterior, offering white as a standard, and colour decks, as an optional extra. This quality finish saves our customers time and money, from having to otherwise prepare and spray the boat to achieve the smooth and shiny finish, required to work of as a base, when creating the desired decaled look of the boat.

In our experiences of building, running and racing these boats, we have found that the traditional” chop strand, hand lay up” process has an inevitable weakness. It is caused, when during the lay up process, the loose strands, making up the chop strand cloth, are separated from there entwined binding, when being brushed/ forced, into the tight corners and steps of the detailed F1’s hull and deck.Due to this, they loose there collective strength and leave a resin rich area, with very little fiber in place, which then, results in a severe weakness, in these tight arrears, which are usually most stressed, thus causing the hull to fail, after at times, only a short period of running.

It is for this reason, that we have sought the advise and expertise of experienced persons working in the ever advancing field of GRP, and thus come as far, so as to construct our hulls in the following way, to make the best effort to realize an affordable and durable, weight conscious, racing rc boat, that is most capable of enduring the various stresses evident, especially when racing at high speeds, in the rc boat racing environment.

The construction of our currently produced boats, now comprise mainly of both a, Twirl and a Bi-axle cloth, which holds its structure well, especially in the tight corners and steps. These layers of cloth are then supported by an added Cormatt material and Uni-directional cloth reinforcement, in strategic areas identified within the hull, of known stress areas.

These specific cloth laminates are then wetted out using a High Spec. quality resin, adding to the rigidity and overall strength of the boats construction.

This construction then, is completed by a process of” vacuuming” the layered cloth laminates and the resin into the mould, to ensure that it is pulled” under a constant (high) pressure” into all the corners, steps and over radius’s sufficiently, preventing any air bubbles between the Gel coat and laminate, that is often commonly found in the hand lay up process.The vacuum process also ensures that only the absolute required amount of resin is used, as all the excess resin is drawn out from the mould, using specific products, as in Bleed and Peal ply layers, which draw the excess resin out, preventing a resin rich (heavy) lay up.

Added to the construction of the boat then, are the marine ply laminated wooden structures, which are laminated in place, for the purpose of extra strength.One piece of marine grade laminated ply, is laminated in place in the aft section of the hull, spanning across the entire width, ensuring an absolutely true and rigid relationship between the two sponsons, much needed to withstand the stress on the inside of the sponsons, evident, when putting the boat through demanding, ninety degree plus, high speed turns.

The second piece of marine grade laminated ply, is laminated in place under several layers of unidirectional cloth, in the Transom area, to ensure a robust mounting platform, for the outboard motor drive, to be bolted onto, able to endure the very intense vibrations of the Gas engine, as well as endure the torque, which is transferred to the prop, driving the boat forward.

After that, our pre manufactured, light weight, radio box is fitted and carefully bonded into position, making sure that it is water tight.The green tubes, are the flotation devices that are placed into each pontoon, prior to the bonding process.

Then comes the process of bonding the deck and hull together. Always making sure that the boat is ‘True” in its level form, without any twist in the hull and that the flange joint is capable of holding up to the stresses it has to endure.

For that purpose we have currently chosen to use a product that is well known to the large boat, boating industry, known as “Plexis” This product has been tried and tested on boating fronts far beyond the needs of our rc racing boats, and although costly, in respect of other alternative products, it has proven to work well for us, thus far.

Once the flange surfaces have been sanded flat of any cloth creases and then cleaned with Acetone to ensure that no contamination is on the surface, the Plexis is applied to the surfaces, and the deck and hull are then married to-gether.

At this point, we ensure that all relative points are lined up correctly and that the hull is true in respect of a flat surface.Then we proceed to clamp the flanges to-gether and allow for the Plexis to cure completely, before trimming the flanges.

Once the flange is trimmed completely, the transom access area is cut out, and the fuselage canopy is fitted, with its securing fitting.,In some cases, on request, the servo cut outs are completed with riv nut fixtures, in the roof of the radio box, for easy/quick servo installation.

The average weight of a completed, ready to be equipped, white hull, should be 3,6 kg’s. Certain Gel coat colours tend to add another 150g’s to the overall weight.This however, has not proven to be a disadvantage, nor make a measurable difference in the overall speed of the boat.

We are also able to lay up Carbon Fiber boats, still presenting it with the polished Gel coat finish. This, purely for those who desire an even lighter version of the boat, and don’t mind the added expense. P.O. A.

Even though we have an “Artistic Copy right” on our product, we still, as so many other committed rc racing hull designers and manufacturers, are plagued by the unethical few, who continue to overlook the” value for money package” of our products, and choose to copy our products for distribution, all to often, with very poor results.This unlawful act, not only denies the originator the well deserved prosperity for there work, but also denies an ignorant client the realization of a good Quality and lasting product.

Loot for the YPC “Stamp of Originality” to ensure you have an authentic boat

Please feel free to make further enquiries to us via our e-mail dominicyoung@iafrica.com should you require more information.We will be all too happy to seek to answer your questions!

Or continue to visit our website and share it with others.www.youngzrcboats.com

Kind regards

Dominic and Lisa-Marie Young

“Youngz Performance Craft”

Making RC boat racing, what it ought to be “FUN”