Pilot Boat

This pilot boat marks my first attempt at creating a vacuum-bagged part. I approached the project with some uncertainty regarding both the quality of the final product and its intended use. Ultimately, due to the relatively high weight of the 3D-printed pilot house, the model will remain as a static display piece. However, it has potential to be retrofitted into an RC pilot boat in the future.

The project involved several key steps: 3D printing a mold, vacuum-bagging the deck and hull separately, mating these parts, and then coating the combined assembly with Brightside one-part yacht enamel. Although the finish is not perfect, this was a solid initial effort.

A major lesson learned was related to the design of the mold bezel. I hadn’t fully considered how the bagging media would interact with the tooling. This oversight led to difficulties managing the wet cloth in the mold and finding a suitable place to tape the vacuum film. Consequently, epoxy ended up on the bezel during the taping process, causing the tape to leak air and resulting in a weak vacuum.

Despite the vacuuming process not being successful on my first attempt, the project was far from a failure. It provided many valuable insights and opportunities for improvement.