Good Composite Resource?

Rcsailing.net Technology Discussions
1

Howdy Folks,

I have been building model sailboats for a while now, but they’ve always been built out of wood. I would like to start building out of composites, and was wondering if there was a good general composite resource out there.

Things I’d like to know are information about the resins available (pro’s/con’s) as well as the different fabrics available.

Also, information on weights of fiberglass would be nice. What would be appropriate for a model boat? My boats vary in size, and I’m looking toward moving into the Footy arena, so anything from 12"-48".

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Graham

2

G Walker,

Soon, they’ll be many resources posted here… let’s start with a couple.

A good supplier with some technical data is The Composites Store.

An epoxy that is widely praised here… web site with abundance of specific uses/tutorials.

And one more for the heck of it.

yar

3

Here are some cloth weights, that are used in my boats:

2-layers in my footies, a 4oz. and a 2oz. weight cloth, and now going lighter with a 2-layers of 2oz. There is still room for even lighter lay-up schedules to be used. 1oz, .75oz, .50oz. etc.

2-layers of 6oz. cloth in the Yankee III’s, seems to be getting good results.
That boat is 36" long.

Ask some of the other builders what they are using, and you can kind of get an average.

:zbeer: