It has been a while since I last posted. The work on the boat has moved along very quickly. The pontoons have been shaped and sanded using the hot wire cutter that Jeff built and 120 sandpaper. The pontoons will be coated in a polystyrene protective coating and fiberglassed using industrial grade fiberglass resin and cloth. The frame was welded together this past weekend. The structure of the frame is built from electrical conduit scaffolding. After fiberglassing the pontoons, the frames will be mounted and the drive shafts put in place. There is still a lot of work to do before the boat is finished, but we are on our way.

Construction of the first pontoon began tonight. The foam was glued together with 3M Super 77 spray adhesive to form a 8" x 2' x 16' block. The glue was left to set overnight.

Materials for one pontoon were purchased over the weekend. New pontoon designs are currently under review. Construction will begin tomorrow.

Over the past week, we have worked to clean up the Physics Shop. Unfortunately, this project is going to take longer than expected. Anyone who is interesting in acquiring donations for the group should let us know via our group email address. We still require 16 foam boards before construction can begin.

The new HPB designs were submitted for suggestions on an HPB forum. The input provided by experienced HPB builders will allow us to develop a more efficient boat design.

Hanson Hobby Shop has declined our donation request for a propeller.

The boat designs were presented on a forum so that we could receive suggestions from hpb builders. Warren Beauchamp suggested that our pontoon dimensions (12' L x 8" W x 1' H) would not supply enough floatation. Warren suggested using 16' L x 8" W x 1' H to provide a weight capacity of 400 lbs with a water level at 5". These dimensions will require 4 additional foam boards and addition fiberglassing material; however, the pontoons will actually hold the required weight. In addition to the forum, donation letters have been submitted to the Brockton Home Depot and Hanson Hobby. 16 foam boats were requested from Home Depot and 2 16" x 16 pitch model airplane propellers were requested from Hanson Hobby. Acquiring these materials will be essential to starting construction by the start of next semester.

Website has been updated and the Project Calendar has been setup.

Wheaton HPB Project website is up and running.