Making a boat out of RC hull

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by alcastan, Dec 8, 2010.

  1. alcastan
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    alcastan Junior Member

    Hi all, just wondering, is it crazy to make a catamaran out of a Radio Control Hull? I want to make a 22 ft long and with 8.5 ft of beam, and I wanted to know if it's possible and a good idea to scale up a RC hull?

    Alejandro,
     
  2. Doug Lord
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    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    Sailboat: too narrow- Powerboat:? The short-and best answer- is to consult with a naval architect. There is a LOT of money and time at stake and a lot of variables to consider. Don't do it.

    PS-was the RC boat scaled down from a larger boat? Is it sail or power? Got any pictures?
     
  3. alcastan
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    alcastan Junior Member

    No is a powerboat cat.... basically trying to make a fishing boat out of it, for at most 300 hp..., and yes the RC is a scaled down version of a real racing cat..
     
  4. rasorinc
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    rasorinc Senior Member

  5. gonzo
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    gonzo Senior Member

    No, boats don't scale up well.
     
  6. Submarine Tom

    Submarine Tom Previous Member

    Yes, it is crazy.

    Thanks for asking.

    -Tom
     
  7. gonzo
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    gonzo Senior Member

    Unless you are building boats for really, really small people.
     
  8. rasorinc
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    rasorinc Senior Member

    Hobbits ARE real people.
     
  9. alcastan
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    alcastan Junior Member

    So basically, not viable right?
     
  10. messabout
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    messabout Senior Member

    Correct. Not viable. Scaling a model ignores many important variables that can cause you to build a boat that is not the best result of your time and money. You could scale up the power cat and it would probably work but not as well as a full sized design done by a knowledgable person or design firm. Scaling up a sail boat is completely out of the question....A power boat maybe.
     
  11. CDK
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    CDK retired engineer

    Theoretically there is no problem: what was scaled down can be scaled up again.
    But it is highly unlikely that the RC boat maker truly scaled down every detail, because there is no real need to go through all that trouble. All he wanted was to make an attractive product; there will be a lot of shortcuts and differences in construction.

    By simply multiplying all dimensions with a constant, you may end up with a far too heavy boat.
     
  12. alcastan
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    alcastan Junior Member

    Thank you very much guys, I kind of knew that it was not a good idea, supposedly the boat is 100% scale made with the CAD's of a 51 ft offshore cat, and is not cheap at all, $1,800 usd for the RC hull, I wanted to scale it up so it would come at 22 ft length and 8 ft beam, anyway, thank you very much for your input...

    Alejandro,
     
  13. WickedGood

    WickedGood Guest

    Vat?
    You want to make a real boat out of a Model?

    Thats never gonna work.

    where did you get such an idea.


    [​IMG]

    PS: If anyone can Smartly Identify the Builder of these relative obsure Yachts; You may just get a Prize.

    A Surprize!

    ( Note: The Scale in the Picture is the reason they are called Scale Models)
     
  14. alcastan
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    alcastan Junior Member

    wickedgood, I know every design initiates with a scale model, but those scale models are made with the data for making a big one, in this case, the "scale model"(RC hull) supposedly is a CAD scale down of the original, so I suppose is a little different, or maybe I'm wrong, also the original is 51 ft, and I want to make mine at 22 ft could it be possible?

    Alejandro,
     

  15. Submarine Tom

    Submarine Tom Previous Member

    Possible: of course.

    A good idea: unfortunately not.

    -Tom
     
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