Sarik Styrene Hulls

[Chris EParticipant @chrise]

What thickness styrene are Sarik Hulls drawn from?

I have seen a couple of ABS (???) German kit hulls recently which seemed very flimsy to me. I don't think that they used to be like that.

[Chris EParticipant @chrise]

[Fred wooleyParticipant @fredwooley76212]

Ive had a look at those hulls at show yes they seem thin BUT tbh if you add bulkhead with lite ply inside them i cna see a problem at all

Fred

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Some small kit GRP hulls can also be pretty thin but as said above, once you get the supporting framework in they are usually OK. Fitting the deck will turn them into a sort of open box section which gives rigidity.

Colin

[Chris EParticipant @chrise]

I don't like things that flex unnecessarily.

I would still like to know how thick the styrene sheet used by Sarik is before it is drawn. The flat surplus around the edge of the moulding is the thickness of the sheet.

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

That could be a moving feast Chris. As the styrene hulls are pressed out the thickness will vary in different places depending on how the plastic is stressed when it is warmed up and pressed over the plug.

If you look at my feature article on the Model Slipway on here:

**LINK**

You can see in the first few images examples of the plug and the styrene pressings. The article explains the process. The plastic tends to be thinned around sharp corners.

Colin

[Chris EParticipant @chrise]

Posted by Colin Bishop on 20/12/2020 18:50:12:

That could be a moving feast Chris. As the styrene hulls are pressed out the thickness will vary in different places depending on how the plastic is stressed when it is warmed up and pressed over the plug……………

Colin

That is why I asked about the thickness of the base plate. from which the hull is pressed.

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Well, I think you'd need to ask Sarik really. I doubt if anybody on here will have measured the thicknesses.

Colin

[David Marks 2Participant @davidmarks2]

I have built the tug Plaudit from a vac formed hull purchased from Sarik. No idea of the thickness but certainly thick enough not to distort, especially when considering that the area most likely to flex/distort is where the batteries sit.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

i have just bought on ebay a Graupner RAU IX whaler.

it is a hips [ abs] hull, and is a replacement for one i built in 1980 and then gave to a work mates 10 year old son as a gift….his mum had just died from cancer, and my mate and i thought it might give him an object of light relief.

i remember building it in 1981/2 and it was flimsy until i put in all the formers, stretchers and bulkheads, when the whole hull becomes very sturdy and rigid.

Nothing wrong with an ABS hull if it is braced properly, and i look forward to my second build of my RAU IX later next year.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

normally, depending on the depth of the "tool" that the plastic is stretched over when heated to a floppy constituency, a 3mm plastic sheet will end up as a 2mm thick plastic hull.

i used to use vac formers in the latter part of my teaching career with kids in CDT lessons and we always taught the kids that on average the form would be reduced by about 30% of its original thickness.

that is usually the standard loss of thickness in a moulding.

[The Long BuildParticipant @thelongbuild]

If that was the one I saw on Ebay then initially thought wow what a price that went for, but thinking about it I suppose when you look at the price of largish Airfix kits now it was not a bad price.. Hope you post your build as will be interesting to see as I have one which needs a bit of TLC..and am hoping to get it going again as it does sail well. ( Although not always a popular model !! )

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

are you refering to the RAU IX Larry…………YES, i can remember it as a lovely build 40 years ago………i had scratch built for years until i came across early biling kits, and boy oh boy, if they didn't put you off kit building nothing wood [ excuse the pun]………sadly my plank on frame builds never improved, and why i now scratch build or kit build using my own plugs with plenty of filler or propriatory grp hulls, as i am quite useless at plank on frame hulls…..each to their own and a throw back to biling kits and their awful Meranti planking…….most thought it was mahogany planks……….but the much cheaper mahogany derivative and much shorter grained meranti that split and cracked…….never got over it…………so the abs hull of the RAU was a god send…….

i will post a build blog, but it wont be till later next year as two lifeboats to finish, the new dave metcalf one which i designed for him and he improved with new cnc and lazer printed stuff and released this last week, to build and then the coast guard cutter to build…………….it is in the back of the mind to build………..but looking forward to a change from lifeboats……..

Edited By neil howard-pritchard on 21/12/2020 01:46:03

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

i noticed your comment about the price i paid for it of £221 quid……………

in 1980 [ think it was that year as i bought IT] off the same model shop my first radio set, a futaba 6 channel 27mhz set,

And i paid just £180 quid for the model, [so an increase of 41 quid in 40 years ain't too bad an inflation rate]…….. and a £120 for the radio set………cant remember though how much i paid for the decaperm that i put into the RAU. LOL.

[Chris EParticipant @chrise]

Sarik tell me that Plaudit is moulded from 2mm.

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