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The Merrimack
Library 2002 Cardboard Boat Festival is just around the corner! This
year will be interesting because I've heard more and more people say that they are going
to enter this year. Who knows how many boats we will have! (last year we set a
record with 25 entries).
This year several factors lead
to my 2002 cardboard boat creation. First, I was down-sized from my job at Compaq
Computer corporation in October of 2001, second, for years I have had a dream of starting
my own business based on the hobby of model rocketry. Many children and parents in
Merrimack and surrounding communities know of my passion for model rocketry and, more
likely than not, learned the hobby from me personally. I've taught model rocketry,
and given demonstrations for the town of Merrimack as well as Nashua, Candia, Manchester
and others, as well as the Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts (I also used to be the New
Hampshire Scout contact point for the Aerospace badge), Civil Air Patrol, 4-H Clubs of
America (having been the Hillsboro County Group Organizer), High Hopes Balloon Fest,
Vineyard Project for youths with AIDS, Summit school for troubled youths, and others too
numerous to mention.
This change in job status lead
me to seriously consider starting this business. With that in mind I contacted my
long time model rocket buddy, Brian McCarthy who was also interested in such a venture.
Together we hammered out many business details, I documented many of my designs to
put them into kit form and we started locating and contacting vendors for materials.
As of this writing, we are about
4 weeks away from launching our new endeavor (hoping for an August 1st launch date).
In this light, I decided to enter my first business entry in the cardboard boat
race with FlisKits, Inc. being the sponsor of the boat. With that idea in place, I
started searching for cardboard and planning my design. It just so happens that I
obtained 4 large sheets of triple thick corrugated cardboard about 2 weeks before the
towns 4th of July celebration. Around the same time, I completed the structural
design of my boat (shaped like a 3 fin rocket, it lays on its side in the water with two
paddlers).
I decided to take the gamble and
see if I could construct this boat in time for the parade and informed the 4th of July
committee (of which I am also a member of sorts) that I will be in the parade. With
that I began cutting and shaping. You wouldn't know to look at it, but this entire
boat was built in 7 days, working about 2 hours each morning and each night. I'm
telling you, it doesn't take a whole lot of time to build one of these things, if you put
your mind to it!
With that, for the first time
since I've joined this activity, I am presenting my entry long before the event itself.
She cut beautiful lines in the parade, but more than this rocket boat (even with
the space suited monkey on top), I believe the fact that my daughter (Jen) and her friend
were tossing out frozen freeze pops to the audience was the biggest hit of the day!
Here then is a photo essay of
the construction of the Independence (named by my wife, Kathy), from
cutting out patterns to forming, gluing, sealing and painting the cardboard. Quite a
lot of fun. I can't wait to see how she does on the water!
The photo's below can be view in
full size by clicking on the picture itself (use your browsers BACK
button to return to this album). Accompanying text to the right describes each
photo.
Enjoy!
Photo's from Race Day! |
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The 5 images here
show the construction of the fins used for this boat. Starting from the upper left,
and moving left to right, we have:
- Fin pattern cut from single layer scrap cardboard
- Fin formed and glued
- Close-up of fin tip showing thickness of cardboard
- Close-up of fin corner showing fold over
- All 3 fins glued and drying. Note the fin on the left
has bricks on it. This fin was cut from a section of cardboard that had a fold down
the flat part of the fin. I added a rib to the inside of the fin, in the area of the
fold and used the bricks to keep the fin flat till the glue dried.
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These images show the
bulkheads that I cut and glued that allowed easy forming of the body into the proper
shape, while providing incredible strength. Each completed bulkhead was made from
gluing two triple layer thick cardboard bulkhead forms together. One bulkhead (used
for connecting the two body tubes) was made from 3 triple layer bulkhead forms. From
Left to right:
- Bulkhead shape (you can see all the other bulkheads stacked
behind this one)
- Good glue coverage assures a strong bond
- Tape helps to keep the edges touching as the glue dries
- Stacking all of the bulkheads and placing weight on top helps
assure good surface contact and strong bonds.
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The photo's here show
the two half nose cone forms. The close up in the second photo shows the lines drawn
that will be the fold lines. The small tab of cardboard to the right is the glue tab
used to connect this half to the other half. |
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These 6 photo's show
the preparation to the large full sheets of cardboard that are to become the body of this
rocket boat. Starting at the upper left and going left to right:
- With the sheet flat, I mark off all of the fold lines
- This close-up shows the fold lines. I centered the
original fold of the cardboard in the center of the bottom of the body, as this worked out
best for design.
- This image shows a bulkhead set in place. In the final
form, the body will be wrapped around this bulkhead.
- This image shows the tools used to cut the cardboard to allow
for folding. With triple layer cardboard, you need to make V cuts on the inside of
the cardboard to allow folding without creating crinkles in the cardboard
- This image shows the utility knife being used with a straight
edge to make a V cut 1/2" on either side of each fold line.
- This image shows the removal of the waste material after
cutting the V cut.
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Here we have formed
the first body tube section. At this time, I have only applied glue to the lower 3
sides of each bulkhead. Once dry, I will open up the top, apply glue to the
remaining 3 sides then seal the seam at the top. From left to right we have:
- Body tube glued with tape holding the unglued top section
closed.
- An end view showing the end bulkhead. You can see that
the top section of the body overlaps the seam. When dry, I will cut this to be even
as I glue the top section in place.
- Looking down the body tube, from the other end, shows the
inner bulkhead. This will also become one of the crew compartments.
- Here we see one body tube section standing on end with the
other on its side with weight to help keep it tight while drying.
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At this point, we are
ready to connect the two body sections. From left to right:
- Gluing the top section of the body tubes required the use of
unique placement of weight and pressure due to existing fold lines in the cardboard.
- This image shows the center (3 bulkhead thick) bulkhead with a
9 inch wrap of flat cardboard. This will be used as a connector, holding the two
body sections together.
- Here we have the two sections glued together, with weights to
hold it flat and stable while drying.
- Another view of the two joined sections. In this form,
the boat is now 12 feet long.
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One of the problems
with this boat design is that I had to construct the body in two sections. This
leaves a natural weak point at the seam. My first step at strengthening this area
was in the construction of the connector that you saw earlier. To augment the joint
further, I added a 9 inch wide strip of thick cardboard to the entire exterior of the
seam. The photo at left shows the exposed seam and the second photo shows this seam
covered with the extra strip of cardboard. The duct tape will be removed when dry. |
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Now we get to the
fins. Starting at the upper left and going left to right:
- The dorsal (top) fin is glued and held in place with duct
tape.
- Close up showing the fin in place
- After the dorsal fin was dry, I flipped the boat over so that
I could attach the two lower fins.
- The last photo shows an overall view showing the nose cone and
fins in place.
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Now, the seams where
the fins connect to the body need additional strength and I want to clean up the seam
between the body tubes. The left photo shows how I've taken 4 inch wide strips of
cardboard and bent them down the middle, lengthwise. I then glue these in place
connecting the fin to the body much more firmly. The second photo shows how I use
brown craft paper to cover and protect the exposed cardboard around the body tube seam. |
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Another problem I
encountered with these cardboard sheets are several square holes cut into the cardboard
that were used for shipping brackets. Starting at the upper left and going left to
right:
- Close-up showing typical holes in the cardboard
- Here you can see where I've cut out a matching square or
cardboard and glued it in place, inside the hole.
- This image shows how it looks after I've covered the patch
with brown craft paper. Very strong. I apply the craft paper by spraying the
area to be repaired, as well as the back of the craft paper with spray adhesive glue.
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But, paint alone
doesn't make a sharp looking cardboard boat, for my money. I spent some time with my
computer and the many graphic tools I have and created marking for this boat. I then
printed those marking on full sheet label paper so that I could just peel and stick them
to the boat. After that I sealed each decal with spray polyurethane. From left
to right, we can see:
- Side view showing the beginnings of markings
- View of the dorsal fin with the FlisKits, Inc. logo in place.
The two angled red strips were spray painted. I later changed this to a
decal.
- Front view showing the cock pit painted on the nose
- Quarter profile view of the nose showing the cock pit and some
of the air intake vents. NOTE: Under the cockpit window it says "Aim away from
face!"
- Close-up of the seam between the two body sections showing the
many rivets I put down. The rivets were my wife's (Kathy) idea and a wonderful idea
it turned out to be!
- Close-up of the fin showing the rivets there too. Also
note the "air brake" at the rear of the boat.
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Painting and markings
are now complete. The images at left show many different angles and details.
From left to right we have:
- Overall view showing the red fin (fins are red, white &
Blue) and FlisKits, Inc. corporate slogan "Aim for the sky and try not to miss!"
- A view from below of the nose showing additional detailing
that was put there.
- Close-up of the dorsal fin showing the FlisKits, Inc. logo and
pin striping
- The blue fin whit its burst of stars
- Good view of the side of the rear of the boat showing many
details.
- An overall view showing the final touches.
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Ready for the parade,
I have her all loaded up on the truck with signs to inform the public of the upcoming
opening of FlisKits, Inc., the scheduled model rocket launch for later in the day and the
upcoming Cardboard Boat Festival on September 7th. |
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At the beginning of
the parade we inspect how well the boat traveled from home to Zyla's parking lot. A
close up of the back of the float shows the America flags we place around the float and my
space suited monkey riding shot-gun atop the boat. The last photo shows Jean Shaheen
admiring my creation as we talk about the job market in New Hampshire. |
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