Tigger N. Bennie

Yes, I know the Kyosho Mini-Z Formula Boat Series consists of "boats" and not cars; however, the boats are on trailers and can be towed by Kyosho Mini-Zs. Enjoy.

Photos from the 2005 Nurnberg International Toy Fair via Kyosho Japan.
http://www.kyosho.co.jp/web/race/rac...nberg01-j.html

yellowpasta2000

nice man thats sick did u see the kyosho half 8 buggy 1/18 scale very nice http://www.kyoshofrance.com/mag/salo...mages/0017.jpg

MBX5T Maniac

My Feedback: (-1)

no offense, but if you do a search, he posted the original thread on this buggy, just use the search button and you will see it.

BitHed

...the trailer actually doubles as a charger for the boat itself...sexy looking little beasts arent they...Gives me excuse to buy an OL too

Tigger N. Bennie

Since there are more than one model of F1 boat, there needs to be more than one OL in the garage. I just wonder if the charger runs off of 8 AAs like the Predator 60 if it might be too much for the OL to handle without a fet upgrade if the batteries are in the charger/trailer. Perhaps, not for short pulls since I have towed an F1 and a trailer around with my OLs.

Benthehen

neat-o. any info on it? price, release date?


benthehen

BitHed

...nothing yet...We have another local show in may i think it is but the funny thing with KYOSHO is they are often late with things they DO announce dates for and then EARLY with things that no one knows about...I will post as i know anything new...

BitHed

..the names are...sorry if this is old already...


LIGIER SPORTS READYSET

...and...

TRUST GODDIES 30 READYSET...

...and this is probably a good start for us noobies to start learning about our 'new' hobby

http://www.f1boat.com/index.shtml

ritzheli

These boats are available now from some Kyosho sellers, but I got mine from Hong Kong a week before Kyosho released them public. Look at e-bay and get one, the prices are slowly rising. You will not be dissapointed, the performance of these little boats is amazing. Kyosho said they will produce up-grade parts in late July, making these little gems a total blast, especially if you have two to race!! Even right out of the box they're impressive runners.

Diesel_Fuel_Only

Yeah I can't wait to get my hands on one. I got a Mini-Z Overland mainly because I wanted to be able to tow it around :P

Oh, and about towing them. I'm sure the Mini-Z's will have no trouble pulling them, at least with the low gear ratio. I've pulled tons of stuff around with mine, including 3 cat toys on a 6 foot rope. Hehe that was fun watching the cat try to catch it. Anyway, pop in the small pinion, lock up the diff, and you're ready to head on down the ramp into the... err... bathtub.

BitHed

...upgrade motors and propelllors are out this week...as i think an improved battery...the usual upgrade suspects...

Big-Kid

Hey BitHed, good to see you here.

These things look good. I've been thinking about a boat or heilcoptor. Something to mix up my R/C stuff a bit. I think this might be it.

Do you have them available at your place? Parts too?

So what's the deal when they cut out in the water? How do you get it back? I've seen the bigger scale guys use pole or a set-up with a hook and line. Is there no easier way?[8D]

Tigger N. Bennie

Some people have second boats to go after the first boat. I believe there is also a nitro boat with basically an electric reserve so that the boat can be brought back to shore after the nitro engine dies. Of course, the Kyosho boats wouldn't have such a luxury.

jimbobmarley

ya - i know someone that got so fed up of losing/chasing there boat that they got hold of a cheap boat fixed it up so i could get hold of his other boat and used that to bring it in.........

i think this is a great idea and it doesn't mean you have to wait for it to drift close by
also looks pretty good as well

Super_Dave

I just realized this was the r/c CAR section and that there was another thread on this topic after I posted my own . I just got one yesterday and the performance out of the box is fantastic! Out of the box top speed is probly around 6-8 mph and you can still get more (or less) by changing the pitch of the prop, the prop itself, the motors that are supost to be availible along with the battery packs. This boat also turns very well... at full speed just cutting the wheel hard one way it will turn in about a 1 1/2 foot circle without losing to much speed. The charger is built into the trailer and uses 8 AAs and charges the small battery pack that comes with it within 3mins (although you need to hold a button for 3 mins to charge it) and get about 4-5 mins of decent run time on a charge. The trailer hitch for the overland comes with the boat and only takes a min to put on so you can charge up in a few mins then go drive to your pool and launch and have fun . I don't think this boat will be fit even for a small kids pool you really do need some room to run it but if you have a somewhat large pool or your friends pool you can go have a blast especially if you run with someone else. With a little creativity you can make some boies and have a lot of fun racing especially if you get 6 people out at a time. I did put some foam strips with adhesive on the top of the 2 slick plastic bars that are pretty much stands for the boat on the trailer to help keep the boat on the trailer. I did get quite a bit of water inside the boat and the circuit board isn't sealed but it is raised up pretty high so you don't need to worry about shorting out the board unless you sink it somehow. I think the water got in there when I went a bit to fast in reverse and the rear of the boat started going under the waves .

BitHed

...the motors ARE available here in Japan right now...So they SHOULD be available else where to you very soon

Super_Dave

Sounds good . How about better battery packs? Maybe one thats not Ni-MH.

Has anyone started racing them in Japan yet?

Tigger N. Bennie

Since I have the Kyosho Predator boat, I already have several battery packs which appear to fit. I may have to pick up that Formula 1 yet. Thanks for posting the photos.

Super_Dave

No problem. Being the racer I am I managed to squeeze out about another 2 or 3 mph of it. Take off the trim tabs (little black pieces that extend the boat in the rear) and I played with the prop trim (the vertical angle of the prop relative to the boat) and it made it quite a bit faster. They are common sense tinkering things but theres deffinatly potensial for really good racing especially if you make a track out of that RCP like tigger did as a boat pond. There is only one thing I'd like to have made better and thats the battery pack. It is tiny so its hard to have 6v last long in that thing but you don't get much run time. Its only 130mah.

I flipped it on a boi today and had to fish it out with the skimmer. The inside really wasn't flooded like I thought it would be and the out board motor (that houses the steering servo) was full of water but everything still works like new.

Tigger N. Bennie

I see you noticed the RCP Track pond. I'm also glad to learn the F1 is rather water proof. I can't remember, haven't looked at any of my old photos, and can't seem to recall any comment on this forum, but is the board an actual Kyosho Mini-Z board or not?

Super_Dave

The board is the same size and shape but it is covered with some kinda water sealent and theres no on/off switch just the battery leads. The boat isn't water resistant really after every run there is some water that gets in the boat (especially when running in the rain ) because theres no rubber seal on that cover. Its really not a problem aside from extra weight because of the design all of the water goes to the sides and rear of the boat keeping it away from especially the motor. When I flipped it the board did get soaked but the deepest part of the boat upside down of corse is normallly the top of the boat which is also where the wires run to the steering servo in the outboard motor and that explains why that filled up. I'll post some close up pics of the motor, circuit board and battery pack. I also found a way to get a little more speed . The props edges are only rounded so if you take a dremel and carefully shape the edges of the prop to a knife edge you get a little more speed and better battery life.

I have my nail bitten thumb in there to show how small the battery pack is.

Tigger N. Bennie

Thanks for the close up photos and feedback. Can you also take a close-up photo of how the hitch is attached to the Overland and post it on this thread. I just believe it is much better to have someone post photos of their own RC instead of photos taken at the RC Expos. Thanks.

SManMTB

Looks like a POS.

For real RC boats go [link=http://www.namba.com]here.[/link]

Super_Dave

I know what you mean the pics from rc expos are always glorified and don't show you the details. The hitch is just held on by 2 screws that screw in from behind the motor plate. The hitch itself is 2 pieces first you have the piece that screws into the motor plate on the OL and than the ball end that screws into the first piece. I broke mine already because the trailer sits low and it caught something while I was moving pretty fast in the hobby shop I work at . Also I think I said this in a previous post but I put 2 foam strips on the bars that the boat sits on to keep it from moving on that slippery plastic. Chris (smanMTB) it showed you posted something on here in my e-mail. I hope it wasn't an innapropriate comment that made Tigger N. Bennie take it off the thread .

mouser

Man, those things look awesome. I've been looking for a small boat, too! Maybe if I had money I'd buy one...[]