I’m still here thinking about to build a RG-65, but I don’t like to build anything, but I don’t have the money to buy one, then building is my only reasonable way to get one.
I was reading about some nice footies made with Depron, and found just two RG65 made in this material.
Here in Chile the Depron or similar are very cheap and easy to find in 6 or 5 mm.
Any experience with Depron or any similar foam? Is possible to buid a competitive RG65 with Depron?
Here’s the prototype, a light air hull designed for easy “frameless” building. Designed with Delftship, then moved over to Carlson design to get the true shape of the panels, which were then tweaked by building cardboard versions, so the plan shown is not completely accurate. Patterns were then made and the panels cut from 2mm Depron.
The sheer strakes are made first, laminated over a plan like an old-fashioned model airplane fuselage side. Then the side panels are spot glued on. Finally the other panels are assembled with masking tape covering all the seams. The stem is a blob of Aquamend epoxy putty pressed in place, which save the trouble of cutting a tapered wedge. The inside is given a coat of thinned epoxy and while uncured the inner seams are reinforced with nylon ribbon from a sewing shop.
After that cures, the masking tape is pulled off and the outside is given a layer of 1/2 oz glass. The resulting hull is light (70 gr) and appears plenty strong. Getting the cloth down flat is probably too tricky for beginning builders so on the next one I’m going to try glassing the Depron before cutting the panels.
I want to follow you because you are doing exactly the same that I have in my mind. As I never did any boat before please do a detailed report, I will really appreciate that.