I am going to build this Splash 3-D so that someone that has never built a foamie before could finish it. So if I go a little slow for some of you, bear with me.

Check out the original thread about them here.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=455802

The first thing that you want to do after making sure that you have all of the pieces and the proper tools and glue, is glue the center deck piece to the right and left side deck pieces. You almost can’t make a mistake here. They snap together with a friction fit. Do make sure that you have all three pieces of the deck top surfaces facing down toward your board. They are the ones with the smooth surface and no grooves for the carbon bracing rods.

So lay some wax paper on your flat building surface so that any glue that gets under the deck won’t stick to your building board. I used gorilla glue but you can use five minute epoxy or foam safe ca. Just spread some glue on the mating surfaces and snap the pieces together. The fit is tight enough to hold them while the glue cures. Use any of the glues sparingly. Especially the gorilla glue, generally if you think that you have enough GG you better take some back off. It expands a lot, but that is what makes it so good for this kind of building. It fills gaps and water proofs the joints. Wipe off excess glue while it is still wet.

If you are lucky enough to find the disposable syringes like in the picture, you can fill them and squeeze a very controlled amount of glue where it is needed. Check with your local veterinarian or drug store. Mine only cost about 5 cents apiece.

Tim

Well, that started out well. The pictures didn't download.

Now cut the carbon bracing rods to length. The front rod completely fills the pocket cut in the foam for it. The rear rod is only long enough to come to the inside edge of the outside rear sponson groove. Was that clear as mud?
Look at the picture. There is not a notch in the outside sponson to clear the rod so you need to cut it a little short.

I use a dremel cut off wheel to cut the rod. Be very careful to not breathe the CF dust. It can cause all kinds of problems in your lungs.

Lightly sand the rod and wipe it off with alcohol to remove any manufacturing release agent and to insure a good bond.

Lay a bead of glue in the bottom of the groove and just snap the rod into it. Again the fit is so good that you really do not need anything to hold it in place while the glue dries.

The first picture shows a nice controlled bead of gorrila glue in the bottom of the groove. The second picture shows where the rear bracing rod stops.

Now here is where I need to decide how I am going to finish paint the boat.
If I am going to paint it I will just continue with gluing the sponsons on. On the other hand if I am going to use sharpie pens I will do most of that at this stage so that I can work on a flat surface.

I am going to stop for a while right now and think about how I want to finish this one. I have to go outside and clean up some trees that a wind storm blew down this week.

This is a picture of how I did the first Splash 3-D with sharpies. I did it before continuing with the asssembly.

Great tim -this is going to be a big help- I already screwed up -cut the read rod to long -wondered bout this but on instruction cd looked like went all way across. Oh well guess i can notch out the outside sponson.If this only mistake I'm doing good
Thanks
Harvey

I have a little time before going to church so I will do a little more on the boat.
I have decided to just wait until it is totally built and finish this one with paint.

First cut the two inner sponsons apart right in the middle of the little groove that was cut in by Fancy Foam. Glue these into the long slots on the deck.
Again I ran a bead of GG down the slot and then inserted the piece. I tacked it in several places with foam safe CA and kicker. The combination of a good tight fit and the square cuts on the 6mm depron almost insures a perfect perpendicular assembly.

Notice the neat fillet of GG that I run down the inside of the sponson. This will not be seen in the finished boat.

Now cut the two step formers apart and make a bevel on the bottom so that it will fit flush against the deck.

An easy way to do this is to lay the former right at the dege of a sharp edged table or board. Then with a very sharp razor knife cut the angle by using the table edge as a straight edge with the knife held at the required angle. It is much easier than it sounds. If you have any scraps, practice on them first.

Now glue the former and the rear outside sponson on at the same time so that you can get all of the alignments correct.

The tabs fit so tight with the slots that I found that if I pinched the tabs between my thumb and forefinger just before putting them together it made assembly much easier. The foam will expand back out quickly and fill the slot.

I am going to vary some from the instructions on this step.
When I built the first Splash I glued the outside front sponson on first as the instructions suggested. Then I had a bear of a time getting the bottom front piece to fit properly.

Ben suggested that it is better to glue the bottom on first so I am going to try that this time. I went ahead and glued the bottom of the rear sponson on now as well.

I have to leave for church now so I will let this all set up and continue later today.

Glueing the bottom on before the outside sponson really worked a lot better, and easier. Ben, I don't know how hard it is to change your manual but you should really consider changing that part.

I have now glued the front outside piece on the sponsons.

The hard part is finished now.

I did not mean to attach the first picture and I don't know how to get rid of it.

While I wait for the sponsons to finish curing I will go ahead and tape all of the hinges. Now is the time to do any sharpie art that you may have in mind on the vertical and horizontal stabilizers. They are much easier to work on when they are just flat pieces.

I don't need to tell you how to tape your hinges. Just run some tape over the hinge surface on the smooth side first. And then fold the hinge all of the way back on itself and put another piece of tape the full length of the hinge.
The way that Fancy Foam cut the hinges and left them connected makes this the easiest plane to hinge that I have ever done.

Most people are using packing tape or the new popular choice is blenderm tape.

I found this new clear duct tape by Scotch at Menards, that is very tough, sticks tenaciously to depron and is very flexible so you do not have stiff hinges.
I really like it, and for $3.00 you get enough material to tape a thousand planes.

Tim, the build looks great. I'm sure this will be helpful for everyone. You've got to be the best Sharpie artist on this fourm. THANKS!!! Can't wait to see how you finish this one because you have set the bar so high.

Harvey, don't worry about the back spar, that won't hurt nothing, that's how I've been doing it. You really don't have to notch it just push down good and the foam will shape itself to the rod.

Ben

"Gorilla Glue""" Help !!!!!!! Tim please give me some advice-do you use water ??? Mine looks great starting out then turns to popcorn. your beads look bout same size as mine but i just end up with a mess .Maybe i'm still using to much. How do you clean this stuff up without ruining the foam-or can you ??
Thanks Ben kit is great and am anxiousto get mine finished. May have to do another since this one going to look like a "patch work quilt"!!!!
Thanks Tim & Ben
Harvey

Originally Posted by justaguy533

"Gorilla Glue""" Help !!!!!!! Tim please give me some advice-do you use water ??? Mine looks great starting out then turns to popcorn. your beads look bout same size as mine but i just end up with a mess .Maybe i'm still using to much. How do you clean this stuff up without ruining the foam-or can you ??
Thanks Ben kit is great and am anxiousto get mine finished. May have to do another since this one going to look like a "patch work quilt"!!!!
Thanks Tim & Ben
Harvey

Harvey,
I use a very tiny bead of glue with that syringe. The glue does cure in contact with water but the more moisture the more it foams.
I never add water with a spray or wipe. Even this time of year there seems to be enough humidity to make it cure with just the right amount of foaming.

If you catch it early enough you should be able to remove it with alcohol.
Once it is hard it is very difficult to remove. Just pick it off with a sharp razor knife, or carefully sand it with a dremel drum sander.

Tim

Didn't get to do much today. Too many family commitments on Sunday.
I will get back at it tomorrow.

Keep in mind, it really doesn't take this long to build one of these things. I just have to work it in between forty other things.

Tim