*Unofficial* FT Sea Duck

rtn9105

New member
I'm watching the build video for the sea duck and don't see anything about building the power pods for the motors. The video shows sliding the pods in to the plane but nothing about building the power pods.
Am I missing something in the video??
 

Winglet

Well-known member
I haven't reviewed the build video, but I sort of recall that it wasn't in there for some reason. The little power pods are super simple. You can probably figure them out, however there IS a video on constructing the standard power pod somewhere. Its the same thing just smaller. Basically it is just one piece of foamboard flolded and glued with the firewall stuck to the front. Held in place with 2 bbq skewers.
 

rtn9105

New member
When I bought this kit and power pack at the LHS I was very excited because I watched the flite videos and the build video.
After opening the kit I was very disappointed to find no assembly manual, build instructions, or a list of what should be included in the kit, and worst of all no customer service contact info. So I guess the only way to see any instruction is to try to build the plane while watching a video. I'm even more disappointed to learn that my kit doesn't have the plywood battery tray or the Velcro battery straps that the build video showed being installed but since there's no parts list included in my kit I have no way of knowing if the kit has missing parts. Since there's no phone number for customer service listed at the flite test store web site or included with the kit I guess this will have to be the next best thing.
 

thenated0g

Drinker of coffee, Maker of things
Mentor
When I bought this kit and power pack at the LHS I was very excited because I watched the flite videos and the build video.
After opening the kit I was very disappointed to find no assembly manual, build instructions, or a list of what should be included in the kit, and worst of all no customer service contact info. So I guess the only way to see any instruction is to try to build the plane while watching a video. I'm even more disappointed to learn that my kit doesn't have the plywood battery tray or the Velcro battery straps that the build video showed being installed but since there's no parts list included in my kit I have no way of knowing if the kit has missing parts. Since there's no phone number for customer service listed at the flite test store web site or included with the kit I guess this will have to be the next best thing.

Sorry if you are having trouble but im not sure why having to watch a video is a problem. This is how all the kits are. And if you do watch the video you will see that they say that wood kit is not included.
 

rtn9105

New member
Having to watch a video isn't the problem, I think the build video is one of the best I've seen and is one of the reasons I bought this plane. The problem is having to spend time going online to the video and scroll through that video to try to find the spot where they say the battery tray isn't included when a simple parts list on a single sheet of paper would do the same thing in a couple of seconds.
 

formula_pilot

New member
Fat Duck (overweight)

I just completed the Seaduck, but the empty weight came in at 3.19lbs / 1.445kg. (full paint job). This is 3/4 of a pound heavier that the 2.45lbs / 1.11kg listed in the specs:eek:. This is my first attempt at a hot glue / foam board plane so I am sure I overdid the glue trying to keep it watertight. I am bummed because I really like the looks of this plane. Part of me wants to scrap the overweight bird and start over to "do it right". Does anyone else have the finished weight of their Seaduck?
 

Winglet

Well-known member
Hey Pilot,

I don't think you have a problem at all. The Seaduck doesn't know what weight is. Put it in the air and enjoy it. Fantastic airplane!
 

Winglet

Well-known member
I don't actually know what the weight of mine is. I do know i've flown it with extremely heavy batteries and also very water logged. Mine is over painted and over glued. Flies fine!
 

Havak37

Brand new to RC planes
I just completed the Seaduck, but the empty weight came in at 3.19lbs / 1.445kg. (full paint job). This is 3/4 of a pound heavier that the 2.45lbs / 1.11kg listed in the specs:eek:. This is my first attempt at a hot glue / foam board plane so I am sure I overdid the glue trying to keep it watertight. I am bummed because I really like the looks of this plane. Part of me wants to scrap the overweight bird and start over to "do it right". Does anyone else have the finished weight of their Seaduck?

I just finished my sea duck. It was my first foam board build. I used ten sticks of the long flite test hot glue, the wooden battery tray reinforcement(sold separately), the flight test velcro straps with logo and plastic buckle(sold separately not the wooden battery tray ones), C-pack engines, ESC's, and 10" props, and it weighs 1040 grams without battery and I haven't painted it yet. The sticks weigh 26 grams so 260 grams of hot glue went into this thing (minus scraping excess) :D

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Havak37

Brand new to RC planes
I'm watching the build video for the sea duck and don't see anything about building the power pods for the motors. The video shows sliding the pods in to the plane but nothing about building the power pods.
Am I missing something in the video??

Yeah I noticed the same thing when I was researching everything I could about the Sea Duck before actually getting my hands on any of it. I found a power pod build on a diff plane build and linked it in the Sea Duck build comments section. The Sea Duck firewalls are a little different but if you look in the sea duck build video at 1:09:51 you can see how he has them feeding the wires at the top left on both pods. I mirrored mine so they are both to the top and towards to fuselage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC8iSxAVhVA&feature=youtu.be&t=5m28s
 

Havak37

Brand new to RC planes
For people who have questions on how many cell batteries they can use with what size prop. My 3s is a 2600mAh 70C Hyperion, and my 4s is a 3300 mAh 50C Hyperion both bought off the flite test store. I have the 10x4.5's that came with the C power pack twin, and some 9X4.5's I bought off the FT store. I run one cw and one ccw so no plane twist under throttle. I have the 30amp ESC's that came with the C power pack twin that can burst to 40 amps. Because of the Y harness in the sea ducks setup either of my ESC's are only pulling half of the amps shown on the meter.


 

RavenFly

Member
Has anyone put flaps on the sea duck? I am going to rebuild mine after almost two full summers on the lake (a huge FPV crash, crushed nose, saturated paper, peeling packing tape...)

I plan to
1. water proof better - delaminating paper was recurring theme on my last one. seal edges with wood glue?
2. Build a go-pro mount closer to CG. Previous mount was in front of windscreen area.
3. Figure out how to build flaps into the centre wing section and maybe behind the nacelles for super floaty (See what I did there?) landings.
4. Reinforce the nose/bottom of hull for stiffness.
5. Plan for more elevator throw than last time, maybe access to the elevator servo as well.
 

bruman

New member
Hey Guys

Just bought the FT Sea Duck speedbuild kit, and I have some small plans for this if I build it well (Also got the Mustang and Corsair kit to practice). These may include lights, some servo-driven retractable wheels and a water reservoir and pump for the cargo...

Very excited to join the DIY community, I have outgrown my Super Cub over the past year and am daring to branch into scratch builds.

Will let you guys know how it goes.

@RavenFly let me know how your water proofing and nose stiffness goes, have read enough that reinforcing the nose via extra foam, light expanding foam or fibreglass is the way to go.
 

thenated0g

Drinker of coffee, Maker of things
Mentor
i used some finishing epoxy resin and some light glass on the bottom of the front fuselage area wrapping up about 1/2 inch around the nose. Its held up really well.
 

RavenFly

Member
i used some finishing epoxy resin and some light glass on the bottom of the front fuselage area wrapping up about 1/2 inch around the nose. Its held up really well.

My nose actually held up quite well with just the packing tape and hot glue. When it fell apart it was because I was FPV and lost signal getting cocky in flight along a granite shore line. Luckily the plane went into the water and not the forest :) but the nose disintegrated on impact. Some glue and it was back together. I did notice the bottom of the hull getting a bit soft - so I think I will try your idea. Just some light epoxy over a layer of light glass cloth?
 

Headbang

Master member
Built my Sea Duck as per build vid, only change was a basswood spar in the wing. Twin C Pack with 9x4.5 props on a 4S 3300mAh battery.

Maiden

I have over 50 flights on it, mostly off ice and snow. Holding up well!
 

Tjhochha

Active member
I just finished building a Sea Duck with a few modifications. I have a similar size plane that use a modified "swap-able" power pod, so I modified the nacelles to accept the power pods I had. I made them taller to allow the power pod to slip in above the wing spar while still being removable. I went with a scratch build and used DTFB but wanted it waterproof to fly off of snow and at the family lake place this summer. I did a fair amount of experimenting during the construction.

My experiments/results.
1. Brushing polycrylic directly onto DTFB Paper.
Result: Appeared to soak into paper well and seal without lifting paper off foam until water was applied. the water soaked into paper and the paper lost its structural integrity.
2. building as normal with dtfb then removing paper and brushing on polycrylic and applying new craft paper covering.
Result: this was a slow, tedious process and was difficult to get into all the tight corners. I have not tested on water yet but suspect water may weaken joints underneath/inside the areas were the craft paper was applied.
3. remove paper from whole sheet and cover entire sheet with polycrylic/craft paper.
Result: this seems to be the most effective way to waterproof the pieces. there is a significant amount of warping in the sheet when drying, even when weighted flat. with the design of the sea duck, the bends/internal braces seemed to have taken out most of the curve from this process.

Conclusion: I would recommend buying a sea duck kit from FT and not scratch building from DTFB if planning on flying on snow or water. I probably have nearly the same cost into materials as I would have if I had just bought the kit.
62E65036-45CF-4171-9FE7-BC83AACCA4EC.jpeg D72D4F59-E83D-4EF0-9BFD-135162451C9D.jpeg
It flew pretty well even though I forgot to check the CG. The craft paper coating also doesn’t seem to have the same crush resistance. A low speed crash into a chair during a botched landing left a sizable dent in the leading edge of the wing.
 
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Sero

Elite member
Built my Sea Duck as per build vid, only change was a basswood spar in the wing. Twin C Pack with 9x4.5 props on a 4S 3300mAh battery.

Maiden

I have over 50 flights on it, mostly off ice and snow. Holding up well!

Great job! Enjoyed watching the videos!

Building my second Sea Duck right now, getting inspired to go build!
 

Headbang

Master member
Great job! Enjoyed watching the videos!

Building my second Sea Duck right now, getting inspired to go build!
At this point I have so much video footage of the seaduck it would take me days to edit it all and put it up! Over 50 flights on that one!