FIRST TIMER
07-11-2006, 12:53 AM
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FIRST TIMER
whats up guys, im interested in purchasing a rc boat to play around with a little, just something to play with when im on my real boat on the lake, i like the sound of a gas motor, but dont want alot of maintenance, like the sounds of having a clutch on the prop shaft if i went with a gas motor, can you guys give me some pros/cons of electric vs gas boats, this is just as a hobby not for racing or anything, what boats would be a good first boat (i like the looks of the shockwave 36 or the thundercat 31).....thanks guys/girls in advance for your time.
07-11-2006, 01:20 AM
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RE: FIRST TIMER
Welcome to the hobby, I'm new just like you so hopefully I can give some insight from a new guy's perspective. I too am in it for the hobby, not for racing. I have several full scale boats and a little one sounded fun to me.
First things first. Gas and Nitro boats are two completely different things. Gas boats run on just that, pump gas. Nitro boats run on nitro. That is easy to understand. Most planes and cars run on Nitro engines. Boats are kind of half and half, and airplanes gas engines are also very popular. I just purchased a Thundercat31, and it is one heck of a boat. I have some very rough waters around where I use it. Such as constant jetski's going by our dock and boats up to 55' go through the back of our cove! That boy throws one heck of a wave. The TC31 handles it all. Of course you gotta slow down. I thought, nah, don't need to slow down. Let's just say I'm glad I added flotation because she was prop side up...That was the worst thing to happen so far. It is a great beginner boat, nothing to assemble. just plan on buying extra's when you get your boat. The TC31 was 350 but by the time I bought everything needed to run it, it was about 500. All boats will need this though. I had nothing.
Next is hull type. You may not want the TC31 and you may want a different kind. Well, there are several different kinds. Catamarans are kind of a cross between Hydroplanes and V-hulls. Catamarans are fast and stable at high speeds, but cannot handle very rough waters at apeed. V-Hulls handle the roughest waters. That is what I will be getting next, a v-hull. The other type is Hydroplane. They are meant for very calm water, maybe just a ripple, and top speed. A good example of a Hydroplane would be the 1/12 scale Miss Llumar or Miss Bud. All depends on what you want to get.
Fuel Burners v. Electrics
Well, Fueled boats are normally bigger, and faster. I say normally cause there are some big electrics out there, adn some fast ones. But genereally nitro's are the fastest, then gas, then electrics. Electrics have a big advantage when it comes to messiness and noise. THey have no fuel to mess with, no carb's to tune, and no hot exhaust pipes to worry about touching. THey are also very quiet, so they are allowed at almost all places, as to where a fueled boat can only be run at certain places. But for me, I love the smell of burning nitro and the noise of the motor running at 20,000 RPM. It's a heavenly experience....Uh yea, back to this. You should find out what meets your needs, but since you say you want one for where you run your big boats, noise is probably not a concern.
Hope this helped. Zelatio
EDIT: By the way, here are some pictures and videos of my TC31.
http://s68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...underCat%2031/
First things first. Gas and Nitro boats are two completely different things. Gas boats run on just that, pump gas. Nitro boats run on nitro. That is easy to understand. Most planes and cars run on Nitro engines. Boats are kind of half and half, and airplanes gas engines are also very popular. I just purchased a Thundercat31, and it is one heck of a boat. I have some very rough waters around where I use it. Such as constant jetski's going by our dock and boats up to 55' go through the back of our cove! That boy throws one heck of a wave. The TC31 handles it all. Of course you gotta slow down. I thought, nah, don't need to slow down. Let's just say I'm glad I added flotation because she was prop side up...That was the worst thing to happen so far. It is a great beginner boat, nothing to assemble. just plan on buying extra's when you get your boat. The TC31 was 350 but by the time I bought everything needed to run it, it was about 500. All boats will need this though. I had nothing.
Next is hull type. You may not want the TC31 and you may want a different kind. Well, there are several different kinds. Catamarans are kind of a cross between Hydroplanes and V-hulls. Catamarans are fast and stable at high speeds, but cannot handle very rough waters at apeed. V-Hulls handle the roughest waters. That is what I will be getting next, a v-hull. The other type is Hydroplane. They are meant for very calm water, maybe just a ripple, and top speed. A good example of a Hydroplane would be the 1/12 scale Miss Llumar or Miss Bud. All depends on what you want to get.
Fuel Burners v. Electrics
Well, Fueled boats are normally bigger, and faster. I say normally cause there are some big electrics out there, adn some fast ones. But genereally nitro's are the fastest, then gas, then electrics. Electrics have a big advantage when it comes to messiness and noise. THey have no fuel to mess with, no carb's to tune, and no hot exhaust pipes to worry about touching. THey are also very quiet, so they are allowed at almost all places, as to where a fueled boat can only be run at certain places. But for me, I love the smell of burning nitro and the noise of the motor running at 20,000 RPM. It's a heavenly experience....Uh yea, back to this. You should find out what meets your needs, but since you say you want one for where you run your big boats, noise is probably not a concern.
Hope this helped. Zelatio
EDIT: By the way, here are some pictures and videos of my TC31.
http://s68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...underCat%2031/
07-12-2006, 02:51 PM
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RE: FIRST TIMER
now are all these boats direct drive or do they run a clutch so you can come to a stop, that would be something i think i may be interested in as a first timer it would probably help me from destroying the thing, if they dont have a clutch can you add one??
07-12-2006, 03:10 PM
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RE: FIRST TIMER
Clutch is not really that important, these boats can idle really really slow. It's more of a safety thing as to not chop your finger off. You can add one but it would be complicated and heavy.
07-13-2006, 11:49 PM
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RE: FIRST TIMER
You might want to look at a gas boat if you feel that you need a clutch as there are only about 2 nitro boats that come with them and quite honestly neither one is all that great. You'd have to get a vacuum operated water pump also with the boat so that it will keep water flowing through the head while at idle. Warehouse Hobbies, www.whobbies.com has a selection of boats that might fill your bill.
An electric could be fun and much safer for stop and go driving but it's your choice, after all, you are the one who has to be happy with your choice in the end.
An electric could be fun and much safer for stop and go driving but it's your choice, after all, you are the one who has to be happy with your choice in the end.
