Foam Layout Project

Looks good Dave, id get it wet soon. If it floats like you want, wax it and pull a thin fiberglass mold off it and make some parts!!! With all the new materials out now you can make it as light as you want.Or should i say as light as you can afford. Some of the divinacell closed cell coring is very expensive if you ask me.Well worth it if you want a light part that has the strenghth it needs to take the abuse we give our boats. Ive had good results with half inch divinacell coring.STRONG and LIGHT!!!!! Rick
 
Well, I took the boat out last Friday while my Dad was in town. Recalculated that I needed about 350 lbs to sink the boat down to the wings. I had 160lbs in the boat with me on these pics. It didn't paddle well (I don't care much about that), but floated like a dream! Very stable. I move all around and even rocked it a bunch with no worries. Then to show the strength of the "questioned" top, i stood on it. (Not that I would recommend it to anyone over my size of 160lbs).

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Somehow the guys missed a pic of me laying down, but is was comfortable and just fine.
 
I then took it back home and slopped on some more paint, cut out the headrest so the board would lay down a little, and then painted the board. I like the tiger stripes, but I think the overall color is a little too light for my liking, so I may start over with a darker base. For the pattern, I mimicked the wood grain in the leftover piece of plywood I had used for the headrest.

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I don't know how much it weighs, but multiple people have estimated around 65 pounds. I plan on modifying some GHG decoys to place on the boat with velcro (I love the Bonneville concept). Hopefully I can show some hunting pics of it in action later this year.
 
Pretty sweet!! I think this might be in the plans for this fall yet. What was the demensions of your plywood floor?

Did you figure out how to mount your hardware? How are you going to ancore it?
 
Pretty sweet!! I think this might be in the plans for this fall yet. What was the demensions of your plywood floor?

Did you figure out how to mount your hardware? How are you going to ancore it?
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Thanks.........The bottom (plywood section) is 6ft long, and 30 inches at its widest portion up near where the torso is, then tapers probably to 24 inches or so (not exactly sure) where the feet are as you can see in the first few pics. It was a fun, easy build, and I can't wait to use it. Let us all know how yours comes out.
 
Wow Dave, it came out pretty sweet man!

I'll have to admit, I would have never thought of building a lay-out or any boat for that matter out of foam!

You gonna ship her up to AK!?!?! Hahaha

Good luck with it this season!
 
Thanks for the comments guys....Brian, it's lightweight, but just a little too big for a carry on!

Ed, I bought nine 4 x 8 sheets of foam at $30/sheet (might find it cheaper elsewhere, one sheet of 3/8" plywood, and a gallon of raka epoxy with slow hardener. So I guess a little under $400....
 
Dave, what is the bottom dimension, and what is the overall--length and width? neat little craft
Oobid built one using canvas and wood framing--lasted quite a while on the bay--now, we are looking for a bit more mobility on the marsh, and that looks like it might be the I T thing!
Have you tried poling it around in shallows? how long did it take to put it together? What did you use to shape it? Was the wife mad after she found you used her favorite electric knife?
Inquiring, cause i am presently wounded, and need a project!
 
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Hey George, good to hear from ya,
I just used 4 x 8 sheets of the 2 inch insulating foam from Home Depot, which is water resistant. The cockpit dimensions are roughly 30" wide by 6' long, with a slight longitudinal taper towards the front. I squared off the bottom, so it isn't really poll friendly, but I'd say all you'd have to do is taper the bottom front portion up into the bottom of the wings to make it like the front of a boat, then maybe add two 1x runners on the bottom and it'd be fine. I roughed the shape with a 12" blade on a sawzall, then finished shaped it with a 4", 60 grit grinding wheel. No wife, just a dog, which allows me to do these projects pretty easily. I can scan the scaled plans and e-mail them to ya if you want. Hope you heal up soon, and keep producing those great decoys!
Dave
 
Very creative, if you ever wanted to glass it, just skim off the finish with a grinder and glass away. Remember in any foam composite construction the real strength is in the glass. I would remove one layer from the drop box. It would probably sit just right. Check the depth laws, you might be considered a sinkbox at the depth you built it. Then again, I've had the FWC guys here is Florida ask me what kind of ducks I had! They probably never heard of a sinkbox.
 
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