The Riverboat Gambler

Filler Primer followed by lots of careful sanding.

Is it perfect? No. That would require a lot more filler, primer, sanding and likely weight. This is designed to get the worst out. When I have gone for perfect it got all beat up first race. So, this is good enough. 


What I’m going to do next may seem crazy. But, I think it will give the same desired weight loss without having to cut the car from the sides (and add back coverings).

The reason I chose not to cut out additional squares is the prior repaired breaks at the spar. The balsa is so thin you can see the spar thru it. So, I really don’t think cutting it out and then putting a cover back over it would net a significant weight loss to warrant the loss of structural integrity. The thin balsa top will help strengthen an area where I will likely need to hold in order to insert and remove axles.


Now to the crazy/brave/nail biting (if you’re in to that) part:


The first pic you can see I drilled small holes along the bottom of one fender to very near the inside of the top.
I then drilled small holes on the other side. 



I then went to a larger size, blew it out and weighed it again. Then I drilled the largest size I was going to drill. I would have went larger, but the edges of the lower fenders were a rough not straight edge when I received it. And, the repair I added to the one side is wider, but I didn’t want to drill thru the thin edge below it and get air it the pocket from below.


Then I took a cut off wheel and cut between the holes. Next I ground out deeper and wider with the dermal. Finally I filed things out as smooth as I could. Difficult as the whole thing flexes and I didn’t want to punch through.

I also do not want to add CA glue or get any paint in the pocket. The added weight would likely negate the weight reduction.

Geometry wise, this is very similar in layout to Katie's MA Flame car.

The COG on hers was about .9 in front of the rear axle.

I'm interested to see how much that shifts with the balsa construction.

I was thinking the same thing, Frank.

The major differences are the material and that you constructed your pontoons from a few pieces rather than hollow out after the fact. 

Eagle,

I see that you quoted me from a post but...

As is often the case when chatting with you... you interpreted what I said differently from what I meant...

I had not considered hollowing out from below and above...

though I did notice PWDCNC had a similar idea for his Concept Car...

I have never anticipated seeing a car run as much as that car he is building. 

Sugar Creek Racing: Interesting tid bit: When I click on your pictures it gives me a larger version in a different rotation.

Paint looks good so far, just remember to TEST your clear coat of something other than the car.

I masked the front of the car to allow roughly half of the pink tinted area to be painted with Candy Sage (cap is pink metallic). I stuck a few other maskings in. If you look close you’ll see them. Otherwise, if you wait a bit they should jump off the car in a few steps.


Now things are going to get interesting.
 My originally planned sticker over the holes does not really match the paint. It was supposed to be for unfinished wood look. So. I will have to decide to change the paint a little bit and make the two windows see thru. Or, if I will go ahead with the sticker and see if I can blend it in.


Either way will be cool, but it may effect what I do next. It is difficult to paint thru the window area matching the top (without extra masking and painting from the bottom.