xplayer930

im lookin to get my second boat. i build airplanes so lack of building skills is not a problem. what brand running gear do u guys sugest for thi boat? what brand engine? any i dea how long it takes to build because im short on time these days but i really wanna build a kit.

Ron Olson

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I'm glad that you have previous building skills as you're going to need them.
What you put in oyur boat will dend on what you intend to do with it once it's built, race or play. My choice of running gear is Speedmaster, www.rossisales.com . Motor choices come down to what you can find, but the one of choice here is the MAC .67, www.cmdiracing.com .

Hydro Junkie

A few other notes on the Dumas hydro kits.
1) Unless they have changed materials over the years(which I doubt), the internal frames are a very cheap "mahogany" plywood. If you have the tools, make some new out of aircraft grade ply, using the kit supplied for templates.. This will let you make more than one out of the kit as well.
2) Be sure to put lightening holes in all the enclosed framing. This will cut the weight of the boat by up to 30%, as well as make it so you can drain any water that gets inside the hull.
3) Use 1/16th ply for all the cross framing. It will lighten the hull further and will be just as strong.
4) Use 1/4 inch 5 ply for the transom and the right sponson transom and 1/8th 5 ply for the left sponson transom. The 1/4 will handle the stress from the rudder and skid fin better than the 1/8th with a doubler, while the 1/8th on the left sponson will handle the pounding while cornering fine.
5) Forget about the laminated tail/wing assembly. Either get fiberglass parts or build hollow parts to cut the weight. Weight at the transom will kill your boats performance.

jw637362

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Hello xplayer930, I too am building a Dumas Kit. The Atlas van lines 48" - 1/8 scale version. A friend of mine had it sitting around for years. The wood supplied with the kit has it dissapoinments as hydro junkie mentioned. I refitted some transom parts with my own better ply. But I'll be damned if I was smart enough to utilize the whole kit as templates. I wish I had done that. Would have had two kits. Well I can build more parts from the plans at a later date if needed.
Anyway, I too am an R/C airplane enthusiast but have raced boats in the past-They are pretty straightforward to build, You can frame it up in one evening. Make sure your Building template is straight and true.

I actually spent more time building the form / JIG than it took to frame the thing up on it. I hope you have a canopy that is a little easier to build. the canopy for the Atlas van lines stinks. I am designing a new one out of fiberglass, A LOT lighter and will serve a better purpose.

The running hardware is my other problem, Would not use Dumas's stuff if my life depended on it. Rigid drive shafts I believe is what they offer, and they'll vibrate the boat apart I've been told.
Would like some other advices on Hardware suppliers as well, took a look at the two links above , One is engines (CMB) and one is smaller Nitro boat hardware, Limited on 1/8 stuff. Looked like they specialize in monohulls??
I am looking into the K&B .67 for power with the CMB Tuned MAC.67 Pipe. People have had great performance with this combo and it won't break the bank.
I will not race it, just for kicks racing my brothers around, but still get excessive speeds running 50 - 60 percent nitro

I have an OLD Original Dumas Drag'N'Fly - The 1/8 scale version - 48" Shovelnose Hydro, They do Not make it anymore, Was extremely fast fitted with an OPS .60 engine. It is in Dry Dock now, Hanging from the ceiling in my closet.

This is where I left off last year to go back to airplane projects, now it is winter again. I can finish it.
Jeff

xplayer930

jw637362 thats sounds awesome!!!!! my boat came an i was surprised how simple the boat went together. it pretty much builds as one big jig. As for the finish out it i have no clue how to do that. So any ifno u have i would greatly appreciate. In the engine depart ment i also wanna get the k&b because i just plan on running it for fun. How much is the engine?

Strecker25

ive got a miller american hydro basically done just gotta put on the hardware, and Chris from www.niagaramarinehobbies.com has set me up a real nice flex cable package and even quotes everything with shipping included and everything. Said they have it all in stock also, ill be sure to get pics of the stuff up once i order it.

im setting it up with an older .60 OPS that im ordering a bunch of new parts for to get it back to new, also from niagara marine.

Hydro Junkie

A solid shaft will work fine on these boats. As long as the shaft is supported at less than 10" intervals by needle bearings, they work with no problem, as long as they are lubricated. The only real difference between the solid and flex shaft is the solid can't be fine tuned as well as a flex. If the boat is going to be a play toy, you can build either way.

jw637362

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XPlayer: I went and did some more research on hardware for the boats,
http://www.aeromarinerc.com/
listings under "running gear" good prices and proven products.
Went and looked at what the K&B engines are going for and found them to be around 450.00 through Mecoa engines
CMDracing.com has their MAC .67 engine at 409.00, Definately a better engine for that kind of money.
As Strecker stated above, Niagara marine has the MAC .67 for 399.95. and their prices on hardware look compariable as well.
I am wondering if the prices on K&B's is seasonal cause I could swear the last I looked at buying one, it was around 300.00??

As far as the finishing is concerned, i have gone over it with rough sanding, gone back and filled with bondo finishing putty, sanded that off to fill small imperfections, then primed, to find anymore pits, filled them, Sanded that down yet again. Now I am ready to go over it again. Keep in mind that I pretty much take off everything I put on.. I will not paint it until I have the new fiberglass canopy made to paint at the same time. But at that time, I will prime and paint with an automotive paint, Laquer based with automotive sprayer, It will not be stock atlas van lines due to that being one heck of a hard paint job to do. besides I love gloss red and yellow whipping by at 60+ mph with a honkin' rooster tail.

Take some pictures of your boat and post'em love to see it. Other posters too, with 1/8 scales
jeff

xplayer930

jw637362 is auto body bondo to heavy?? cuz if thats wut ur talkin but i can us that?? lemme no. as 4 the engine ima have to wait on that being a college student an all.

Strecker25

i use minimal bondo for filling, it can be heavy if missused but i just round joint edges with it, afterall a hydro has many sharp edges anyways. I was originally gonna go with the yellow/black T-plus scheme, but decided to stick with the miller american red/white and use the decals included in my kit.

well, back to sanding...lol

jw637362

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xplayer930: Not nessecarily Auto Body Bondo, that would be too heavy, I am talking about "Bondo No.907 Glazing and Spot Putty"
Goes on easy, dries quickly, no mixing and extremely easy to sand. It dries in 10 - 15 minutes, Sands off in about 1 minute.
Pick it up at any auto parts store., around 4 bucks for 4.5 ounces I use it for fixing divits in balsa as well but only for very small areas on planes.
You can see it in the picture of my boat, it is the red tones on the primer areas. I ain't in college and I have to wait as well, That is Ridiculous how much they sell them for.
My father had the previously mentioned DRAG'N'FLY and the first engine he had in it was an OS .60 airplane engine. Had the exhaust out the side of the boat and purchased clamp on water inlet coolers for the head. I still have that engine with clampons but no exhaust for it. I also have his OPS .60 engine that he upgraded to but the carburator got broke, you can not get parts for the OPS.60 anymore so the carb inlet was milled to fit the carburator of a K & B 7.5 style carb. Actually, I never checked into it before. I will post another thread about it.

Later Jeff

xplayer930

jw637362 i found the k&b for 280!!!!! not bad at all. Ill pic up sum bondo sum time this week

jw637362

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Where at?? I could not find one for under 400.

Ron Olson

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I just happened to pick up a tube of that today myself. My Sport 40 was loaded with pinholes. I've also used DAP spackling and Squadron white putty for models from a LHS.

JW, I see that you're in Golden, HQ of the company that I work for, a spin-off of Jeffy Coors' little brewery.

jw637362

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@ Xplayer: Where did you happen to find the K&B for 280.00?? I am still interested in that engine as well if the price is right.

@ Ron Olson, I just happen to work for the Bottle plant / RMBC complex for the big C..... myself, But I guess I should say the big M.C. now...
I love the bondo Spot putty, Dries hard and sands easy. Very light and easily paintable.

Jeff

xplayer930

ughh...my bad there rebuilds[&o]

Hydro Junkie

That's not all bad if they were done correctly. Then again, you could be like me. I've got TWO K&B .67s that have never had fuel in them[X(] To make it worse, one had only been used for laying out a boat, while the other has never even been out of the box[sm=disappointed.gif]

Hydro Junkie

Question for JW...... What's so hard about painting an Atlas? Here's an 1984 turbine running in the high 50MPH range[sm=spinnyeyes.gif]

jw637362

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@XPLAYER 930: Hey, I found something interesting for you . http://www.geocities.com/reefpics2002/nitroboatcrazy1
Oh and the Circus Circus will look sweat when it is done!!!
@ Hydro Junkie, Is that yours? Looks like Don Mocks Turbine Atlas, Not that it is So hard to paint - but definately time consuming on the paint scheme.

3 shades of blue and alot of masking between each color. I have viewed Don Mock's Videos on building, trimming and racing the Atlas Van Lines and even he has a professional painter do it for him.

Hydro Junkie

I'm surprised you recognised it as Don's boat. Most people wouldn't. BTW, it's TWO shades of blue, white, black and red lettering decals. It's the Circus that uses three shades of pink and white. Speaking of the Circus, I checked out the pics at the website above. While he did a nice job, there are several things he did that either aren't right or should have been done differently.
1) Filling the boat with foam isn't neccessary. It adds weight(believe it or not) and, depending on what kind of foam it is it can actually absorb water.
2) The shoes should be OUTSIDE the airtrap, not in the tunnel. It affects the aerodynamics under the boat, but on a 1/8th model, won't really be noticable(I hope).
3) Running the stuffing box through the radio box is never a good idea. It limits what you can do with the limited space you have as well as giving water another way in. I would have put the radio box in front of the engine for balance and not having to remove the tuned pipe before taking the top off the box. Here's a pic to show you what I mean. Notice how everything is kept forward, only the rudder assembly, driveline, strut and tuned pipe are in the back of the hull. Prop weight is important, so keeping the weight forward will make a boat perform better.

Square Nozzle

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Sorry folks but that is not a model of the Atlas van lines and it is not a turbine but the old standard Rolls Merlin engine. I'm not clear on the year but I'd guess that Bill Muncey is driving. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

jw637362

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@ John Palica : I know it's not a model, I took it from the Atlas van Lines restoration Page. I put it on here for reference of the color scheme. The turbine model is in Hydro Junkie's previous post, going around the turn.
The year is actually 1982 in Seattle, Yep it's the Merlin. and it is Bill in the drivers seat

Hydro Junkie

You are both wrong. That shot was taken last year either in Tri-Cities or Seattle. It is Chip Hanouer driving the RESTORED 1982 Atlas. Bill Muncey never saw this particular boat, as he died in a blowover/runover(the jury is still out on which one) in Mexico in 1981. The boat has a Merlin under the cowl, which along with the tails and rear wing, were from the 1977-1981 Atlas. That boat is also at the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum, waiting for its own rebuilding. To take the story one step further, Fran Muncey was the one who hired Chip to drive the new boat after Bill's fatal accident.

Hydro Junkie

Tried to post some pics from last years Chevrolet Cup during Seattle's Seafair Festival. Unfortunately, they are bitmaps and unusablefor this forum Here's the link so you all can see them anyway It's www.thunderboats.org. Click on news and scroll down. The Seattle Spectacle and Thunder on the Lake articles have pics from September testing and the Seafair Festival's Chevrolet Cup. Hope the turbines don't spoil the view

jw637362

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BooYAA, I stand corrected, I went and read the history page Don Mock wrote - I knew I loved this boat for a reason.
I would love to see it race! I lived in Washington but never had an opp to go to a race ........ Someday!