Diamondia

My son and myself are getting into the boating side of RC and have decided to go with the Motley Crew to start the ball rolling. It could of been any boat, but after narrowing down we decided on this over the competitors. I have been into RC for almost 30 years, but have nothing in the way of accessories for boating other than the common RC tools. I would be very grateful if some could give us a heads up on any other additions we need to place with this order, so that we can enjoy the boats from day one.

*Currently I have a bunch of the Gen Ace 2s, 40c, 5000 Mah Lipos that are relatively new that we are using. All other items we will need to purchase.



*So far we are ordering:

- 2x Motley Crew's (Tower has 50$ off now on 400$ + orders - http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXASLN&P=7
- Drive Cable lube
- 2x Grimracer 42x55 Copper-Beryllium Prop - http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXRUD7&P=M
- Hatch Tape

Any other suggestions for common break or maintenance parts would be appreciated, so that we can keep the fun going for our first RC boating experience.



Many thanks!,

Mike and son

Foamaholic

My Feedback: (1)

I would get an extra prop and a spare shaft. Also Allen wrenches, which you may already have. Do you have the appropriate battery connectors?

Diamondia

Thanks mate. Would there be a better after market shaft for us to get? I also presume we should grab one of the balancer/sharpener kits for the props as well. Me and my son have done some crazy things with 1/5 - 1/12 scale rc gasers and electric, so I can see us getting pretty radical in the months/years to come with some FE builds. Thanks again for the input


Thanks,

Mike and son

Basstronics

My Feedback: (2)

Just be very aware these hulls are pretty flimsy. I had one and ended up selling it after only a couple runs I was so unimpressed.

If your not up on prop sharpening there are a couple guys on OSE that does them. OSE also has some available- but its on a first come first served basis and the restock is always in the air.

The Grim Racer grease works awesome.

The propshaft/flex if you want to get a replacement get an Octura and solder it up yourself. If you want the easier route Kintec offers a direct high quality replacement.

Dont be surprised when you unbox the boat and the decals lift because of factory tape- or the first time you run it and pull tape off...

Diamondia

Aye! It seems like every model that I look at in the 500$ range has quite a list of problems associated with it. I started off my research with the notion that my son and myself could get a good turnkey ARF boat without many complications, but I guess when your looking at the FE boats, your going to have quite a few trade offs with ARF. The traxxas Spartan is what initially caught my attention, and then the Snowball research effect trickled down from there. We looked at Aquacraft, Pro boat, Venom, Pursuit and many you tube vids.

In the end I would like something that works with our many 2s 5000 mah 40 c lipos that I splurged on for our 1/8 scale RC cars. I would like to see a modest FE experience running dual 2s lipos. I havn't even totally ruled out moving into the 3s realm either. My opinion of an FE would be around the 40mph with dual 2s packs. We don't need a 50-60 mph first boats! I don't mind putting a little time into a build and adding the Leopard motor and 180 ESC etc..., but my knowledge of outdrive setup etc.. is limited

I am going to make some sort of final decision by monday mid-day, and I don't want any regrets, but that might be allot to ask lol. I guess that is why I have proclaimed pulling the trigger on the Motley crew. I guess it all depends on where I get lured to from the forums and a little more research.

Thanks,

Mike and son

Foamaholic

My Feedback: (1)

I recently bought the new Proboat Blackjack 29 and am very happy with it. I just checked the tightness of the bolts and went out and ran it. Mine does 38 mph on two 2s 5000 batteries.

siberianhusky

Looks like you've got everything pretty much covered.
I'd use a Hughy flex shaft, simply the best Available, you just need to trim them to length. The stub shaft is already brazed on for you.
You do need a pair of metric 10 and 12mm wrenches (I'm going from memory but I think thats right), for the collet on the motor.
I don't know about that decal thing, my first release MC has painted graphics under some kind of clear. Had a turn 1 incident with another boat and had to do some repairs and everything I sanded through on mine was paint.
The clear coat had fingerprints in it from the factory!
Good chance they could have changed things during the production runs.

JawzSS

one more thing...and MOST IMPORTANT....a retrieval system such as one of the following:

-fishing pole with tennis ball

-cheap boat with pvc raft (best option) http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl...0&tx=107&ty=62

-life jacket! lol

you will, at some point, be dead in the water for a few reasons: stripped drive shaft, broken propeller, flipped, losing bind with radio.
HATCH TAPE HATCH TAPE HATCH TAPE!!

lol im sorry if this sounded crude.. just want you to be prepared for everything because I wasn't and almost payed the price...

Diamondia

Thanks for the heads up here, I appreciate your feedback!


Thanks,

Mike and son

Diamondia

haha! Thanks for the links and the pre-mediated dissasters waiting to happen!


Thanks,

Mike and son

Diamondia

I am kind of on hold at this point on a boat purchase, until I figure what the costs is on my 1/5 gaser repair. I just had one of my new 1/5 scale RC Monster trucks hit a fence at full speed due to a stuck open throttle servo. I spent most of the evening/night breaking it down to get a scope on the parts cost. So far with the vehicle parts, tuned pipe and possibly a new head, we will be in the 500$ range for this repair! The aluminum 1/5 scale chassis alone was around 100$.

I would be interested to hear what kind of costs some of you guys have had due to a bad boating accident! I think the worst costly accident I had was with one of my Hangar 9 biplanes which flew inverted full speed into the ground. Of course it wasn't me.... It was the radio gear..... yea that's it..... hahaha Considering the kit alone was 1200$, I think we had well over 2,000$ in a rebuild after engine/carb and radio gear was calculated into the mix.

I started putting allot more energy into RC Car/Trucks with the 1/5 , 1/8 scale and short course trucks because even the worse accidents didn't dent the pocket book, especially with my 15 year old son.


PS: For fun... the 3 pictures of the babies are my 1 year old triplets. They had priceless expressions about the wreck after affect. My son even has figured out about the middle finger, but I think that was because he really doesn't like mommy feeding him peas!!


Thanks,

Mike and son

Diamondia

Hey mate, I could not get that link to work! Could you beam it again my way?? Thanks!


Thanks,

Mike and son

JawzSS

sure ill just post the picture... here is the typical PVC / cheap boat retrieval system..works GREAT!

regarding your 1/5 truck disaster..i feel your pain man.. i had a rail dragster where that same scenario happened to me and i hit a curb.. you will get it figured out.. good luck... and def dont forget about that boat ..they are great and super fun.

Diamondia

Not sure whats going on with the images, but its reporting it as an error!

Thanks,

Mike and son

siberianhusky

I had a 3.5cc tunnel hull turn left and hit the bank at full speed, total loss due to an AM radio issue, even broke the skeg off the K&B lower unit.
All my other carnage has been repairable, hit a few turn bouys and knocked sponsons off riggers, My motley ran over a SV that turned down on lane 1, bashed in the lower edge of the hull pretty good and lost a sponson tip.
Most of the time you can rebuild a crashed boat with some time and epoxy.
Surprisingly in a year of flying a heli I've only gone through 1 set of blades and broke the left landing gear in a hard landing, no other damage the bird stayed upright, failed auto rotation!