8thScaleRoostertail

Hey All,
I just found this site a few days ago and have been poring over all the articles related to 1/8 scale unlimited hydroplanes. I grew up in the Seattle area and my first exposure to these boats was back in 1990/91. One of the clubs, I believe it was RCUnlimiteds, managed to convert the parking lot next to the Kingdome into a man-made pond for racing. (this location is now Safeco Field I remember sitting on a hay bale with my brother and my dad watching these scale beauties race clock wise around the course. I was hooked. The sound of the engines, the smell of nitro and water, and the meticulous craftsmanship that went into these boats was amazing. Since then, I have managed to catch these races in Ellensburg and Marysville. I purchased a Dumas Circus kit about ten years ago and am hoping to build it this fall. I have never built a boat before so this will be a good test. I'm hoping eventually to join the RCUnlimiteds as it appears to be a stand out club of genuine folks. Plus, theirrace sites arecloseto my house.I know I cannot register the Dumas Circus in the club but I'm hoping to progress to a scratch build following the Circus kit. I'm hoping to build the 89-91 Mr. Pringles or perhaps a Fred Leland hull that was common in the mid to late 90s (Pico, the Nate Brown driven Miss Rock, etc). I'll probably get the cowl and wings from RCBoat Company. Anyway, it’s great to have this resource for support. I had a few questions here that perhaps someone can answer. Thanks much!

1). When I get the plans from NewtonMarine how do Itransfer the bulkhead layouts to the plywood? I've heard some folks cut out the bulkheads in the blue prints and paste them directly on the plywood as a template, then cut them out with a saw.

2). Where is the best place to get the boat painted? I'm in the North Sound area. Any good body shops or paint shops that have experience with 1/8 scale hydros?

3). I've seen a few articles here regarding the Dumas Circus. It appears, it needs a lot of work to make it competitive. Primarily, window framing the bulkheads. Is it recommended to do this before or after they are epoxied to the hull? Also, the instructions call out for fiber glassing the belly. Is this recommended?

4). Anyone know of spots on the web or elsewhere(hobbyshops) to buy used 1/8 hydros. I see RCUnlimiteds.org has a for sale site but not much seems to rotate through it. There use to be a hobby shop in Auburn, WA, Wagner's Hobby House I believe that sold used 1/8 scale hydros. Not sure if there are others.
Thanks!<o></o>

Hydro Junkie

Just curious, where abouts are you? I live in Marysville and have been a member of R/C Unlimiteds for years. I remember the Kingdome race, was working security that weekend, was a spotter the year before in Issaquah. If you're close by, I may be able to help you out.
In reply to your questions:
1) PHOTOCOPY the plans and cut up and glue the copied plan parts to wood or trace and then retrace on the wood with carbon paper and save the plans are two of the more common ways. I normally trace and retrace the parts myself as the Newton Marine plans do have errors and it's easier to rework the parts that way
2) I'm working with an autobody shop in north Marysville right now that has shown an interest. Beyond that, you'll have to do some inquiring at the race next month at Twin Lakes
3) Check out my threads http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_10351409/tm.htm and http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_10666178/tm.htm and that may answer that question
4) You can look at Unlimiteds Northwest and R/C Unlimiteds for sale areas, the for sale area in this forum and (can't believe I'm saying this) Fleabay. Wagners Hobby is now Ultimate Hobbies as Harvey Wagner retired and sold out. Last few times I went down, there wasn't any built scales in the shop.

TCHedOff

Another option is to buy some mylar (it a thin stiff plastic that comes in sheets) and trace your templates onto that. I like it better than paper because it gives you a better edge for your pencil to ride against.

The website intlwaters has used 1/8 scales for sale pretty frequently.

8thScaleRoostertail

Hey HJ,
Thanks for the feedback. Looking at your thread on re-engineering the Pak, I'm tempted to use the bulkheads in my Circus kit as a template for building a better boat.I've heard rumors that some of the wood in the kit is not great, particularly the luan pieces. So at the very least I would like to upgrade that. Where do you get your plywood, Lowes, Home Depot or hobby shop? Thanks for including such detail in your articles. Thatwill really help when my build starts. I also live in Marysville so would be interested in checking out the body shop here in town when it comes time to paint the boat. Maybe I'll run into you at the Spark Plug regatta atTwin lakes in September. Thanks Again.

8thScaleRoostertail

Thanks TCHedOff. Where do you get the mylar? Hardware store I assume? I checked out the intlwaters website and it looks good. There were a number of 1/8 hydros for sale. However, I could not view any of the jpg files in the forums as it requiredme to login with an account. I created an account and then all the forums appeared empty to me(no threads at all). Kinda buggy. I'll check back later. Thanks.

KenC

My Feedback: (13)

You can purchase mylar for pattern making at www.seetemp.com

Hydro Junkie

If you would like, we can meet up someplace on Wednesday afternoon or evening and talk boats and building. I can also bring a set of plans and some parts made from them, if you haven't seen Roger's plans yet. If Wednesday doesn't work for you, we can set something up for next week as I'll be free Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Let me know

8thScaleRoostertail

Hey HJ, Tomorrow evening sounds great. There is a Starbucks in the Hagens parking lot right off State Ave. I can buy you a decaff for your time I'll email you to confirm. Thanks much!

Hydro Junkie

No need on the decaf, though a Chai tea would work for the wife since I don't drink coffee. Just need to know what time

8thScaleRoostertail

How about 6pm ish?

Hydro Junkie

Sounds good, I'll be there. Do you have plans or do I need to bring a set and a boat or two?

8thScaleRoostertail

I have nothing. I'm completely green here with the exception of the Circus kit I have. So whatever you feel is appropriate is great. Thanks!

advanced builder

What's a kit look like ? Does it have 1000 pieces. The Dumas Kit is like that. I haven't seen the inside of the kit. All CNC or laser cut.

Hydro Junkie

AB, the Circus kit is die cut, all the parts are in the sheets they were punched from as there are small "retaining tabs" holding them in. The materials include 1/16 birch ply and the usual 3/32 doorskin framing. They also included a multipiece vacuformed ABS cowl with a clear/painted windshield option as well as a couple other ABS parts. While the kit includes pretty much everything needed to build the hull except for the running gear, engine and radio, there is a lot still to be desired. The kit includes several large diagram sheets and a construction/set up manual, all geared for a builder with some experience. Considering how much Dumas wants for the kit, it's not a good value since "technically" it's not legal for scale competition. One other thing about the kit is no commercial aftermarket cowl will fit the boat due to the kits narrow engine bay

Strecker25

Out of curiosity, what makes the Dumas kits illegal? I may already be passed that point since my Miller American is completely assembled minus running gear, and I wont really be racing. But it'd be nice to make it legal if its not a pain.

Hydro Junkie

The reason I worded my post the way I did, is that the Dumas kit is a "morphed" boat. Dumas took features of the 8401 Turbine Atlas hull and 8700 Miller High Life hull and put them all in one model, even though the boats were very different. If you run into a strict CD, they may not let you run in the scale class, though the boat is totally legal for sport 60 for that reason. I'll see if I can find the thread in another forum and copy/paste the problems later

joseywales

Now I'm very suprise that HJ didnt mentioned this,, Save your self time and headacks.. If that kit as any monhogany in it? Replace it with ply.. That stuff is junk and very frail and on the heavy side too...There guys moditfing this kit because of the weight issues and handing.. Theres threads on this site and INTLWATERS.COM about this kit..Anyone who's build any Dumas kits should replace all monhogany with ply..We learnd after my wife built her sport40 eagle..

advanced builder

Strecker25 ,the only place I seen them run is in London Ont a few months back. Not many guys run them anymore. Gas thundeboats are king- now. You will be able to run her is in open nitro rigger. And you will go against riggers. Not a chance to win. The way they run , you need still & flat water, dusk and dawn. They will flip in any ripple or chop. It's not a everyday hull.

Blackout

I think most of the time you will be able to run in the scale class. The rules imply that the boats need to be exact in detail, like HJ says. Supposely, you aren't even suppose to run a boat that looks like a test boat. The boat has to be representative of an actual boat that raced at one time. The rules are strict to make that class as realistic as possible.

Strecker25

Got it....not that I would really race it anyways and like advanced builder said, it would have no chance in the open class. Luckily I think I have a few places around me that are generally glass water at the times I would run it

Hydro Junkie

I know when I bought my Dumas kits, I had no plans of using the garbage mahogany. The only reasons I'm building the Pak kit is the wife wants me to, though it does give me a reason to do a build thread on the boat as well. As for Joseywales comment about me not mentioning the problems with the mahogany, it was a mute point as I'll be seeing 8thScaleRoostertail this evening and Strecker25 has his boat completely built except running gear so I didn't see a need to bring it up. Also, that very subject has been covered in almost every thread on a Dumas boat so again, why rehash it? This thread isn't about Dumas kits anyway, it's about someone wanting help in general and not with one particular boat

Strecker25

right on. Mine hasn't even hit the water yet and I can already see myself building a different boat to put all this hardware / engine in after I get a taste of running boats again, it just so happened that I had mine already built from years ago (although I contemplated ripping the decks off to at least lighten it up) An addicting hobby this is.

45caliberdlite

I agree mahagony is garbage to build with, I have an 1/8 scale Circus Circus and I used what came with the kit to build it and after all that I will never build with that crap again..  I wish I could have used better wood but the way that these parts were stamped out was pathetic too I tried tracing the parts onto paper and they were cut wrong so I had to "modify" them to fit in the kit so I didnt bother...

Hydro Junkie

That's exactly what I plan on doing with my Circus is modify the crap out of it. I've already used the sponson insides as templates, adding a little length for the nontrip extension that was tacked on the back by Dumas. I'm still debating on whether I will go with stock or "Jones" sponsons on mine since I have plans for another boat that include them

8thScaleRoostertail

Hey All,
I'd like to give aBIG thanks to HJfor taking the time to meet with me tonight and answer all my questions. We spent the last 2 1/2 hours going over many aspects of the sport. On top of all that he brought three boats and a bunch of Newton Marine plans which I had never seen before. This was a huge help to actually see the plans and a few boats in different stages of construction (btw, the '99 Madison was amazing! There were no skins on the boat so we could see the detail work that went into the construction of the hull which was superb!). The internet is great to a point.However, being able to see everything in three dimensions cannot bereplicated on the web.HJhas been doing this for a long time and understands it very well. Above all, you can tell he has a love for this sport and enjoys sharing it with others. While in Starbucks, HJhad a few of his boats laid out on the table. He noticed a few kids eyeing the boats from a distance. Without pause, HJencouraged them to come over for a closer look. His enthusiasm for the sport was contagious as you could see the wheels turning in the boy's eyes about someday maybe racing his own scale hydro. My son, who accompanied me, wasalso fascinatedand mentioned several times how much he liked the boats. Thanks much HJ! btw, I totally forgot to buy you a coffee. Got so caught up in our talk it completely skipped my mind. I'll bring you a Starbucks card next month at the twin lakes race. Thanks again and I'm sure I'll be asking you more questions once I start my build. Cheers<o></o>