sekwah275

Hi, im completely new to nitro boats, however i have run electric planes and boats and cars for a while, and have also used petrol planes for a year or so. Anyway to get to the point i enjoy my fast electric but wanted the added speed and satisfaction of using a ic boat, and my dad has an old (but still boxed and never used looks as good as the day it was made) Merco .35 nitro engine which i would like to put in a boat. I was thinking of the MHZ 'Isiklar - Zerodefect' hull, which is a 42 inch catamaran - http://206.206.85.209/xtdoc/Details....M&store=mhzusa. What do people think about this hull/engine combination, any advice or predictions on speed/andling etc would be great, i know obviously that there are a huge number of other variables such as prop size and type etc bt assuming i use the appropriate one can people give me predictions. Also if anyone thinks there would be a better catamaran hull for me can they let me know, as i say im new to ic and would like any help you can gve me!

330T

i have heard horror stories about MHZ, shipping delays for months, no support and so on.

a .35 nitro is a small power plant to push a 42" boat IMHO.

For less than half the price you could get a Mean Machine Hull only from Fun RC Boats. You could also get the hull and hardware package and get just about everything you need.

Mean Machine Hull from Fun RC Boats

sekwah275

ah ok, well what sort of size would you recommend for this powerplant? Im not such a fan of the shape of the mean machine hull (thankyou for the help, im just being picky now i guess) i like the shape of the isiklar and drambuie on ice (referencing to the mhz site although i had heard before of problems with mhz so will stay away) but that general shape ie scale of the class 1 offshore cats is what im looking for, any suggestions would be helpful,
thanks for the help guys

330T

its going to be hard to find a cat that is small enough to run a nitro motor. The only real options i know of are the MM and the Thundercat.

There are some fast eletric hulls out that you could convert to nitro but thats going to be a process

sekwah275

ok, well what sort of performance would i be looking at with the MM or Thundercat with this engine (roughly obviously), or would it be worth going up to gas if i wanted to use hulls of 42 inch size in which case can anyone point me to information on them, as i say im new to ic and thought nitro was an easy introduction to it but equally know nothing of gas boats

330T

i would guess it would have trouble getting it up and running.

A gas boat will run you around $1000, and if your not sure you want to get into boats that a large nut to crack. You can check expresscrafts website for pricing and hardware info.

http://expresscraft.com/index.htm

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

In addition to the MM hull, you could use any other of the 29" [link=http://www.aeromarinerc.com/]Aeromarine[/link] cat hulls (the ones labeled .21/.45). These are all the same size as the MM. With the older engine, the performance is obviously not going to be spectacular, but unless that engine is particularly anemic, I would think it could be a good fun boat. If you decide it's not as fast as you want, you would only need to get a new engine, pipe, and prop.

Going to a gas boat is an entirely different question. If you want a cat in the 42 inch range, gas would be a good choice. Nitro engines required for that size hull burn lots of fuel.

sekwah275

but i thought the MM and Thundercats are powered by .this sort of size engines? at least the RTR ones come with a .18 on teh offshoreletrics site so surely with a .32 it would fly rather than have difficulty leaving the water? looking at the thundecat thread here there are people powering it with .32's unless i read it wrong (quite possible)
thankyou, jon

Ron Olson

My Feedback: (1)

I don't know what a Merco engine is but I'm hoping that it's not a plane engine.
Like the others have said, a 42 inch hull is way too big for a .35, more suited for a good .67 on up to a gas engine.
You distributor for Aeromarine in the UK is JoTiKa Ltd., they do have different decks on the same hull.
We're not trying to push Aeromarine boats down your throat but really don't know what else is available in your side of the pond and I've been looking the past week to see what is available other than MH$.

sekwah275

No it is a marine engine, although merco made mostly aero engines this is a marine one. Thankyou very much for the help and advice, i am coming around the the shape, the thundercat still seems very ugly but actually the mean machine is pretty good looking, i know it seems like im being picky but figure if you spend lots of money on yourboat it should be one you like the look of! Assuming i get the MM, do you have any idea of performance figures for it, or a good thread as it doesnt seem to have a main one like the Thundercat.
thanks for your time guys, sorry for being difficult!

Ron Olson

My Feedback: (1)

If you really don't like the looks of the Mean Machine, you actually might be better off with one of the other Aeromarine Cat's as they come equipped with engine rails and not the little fiberglass "mound" that their engine sits on. This alone will make installing your .35 a lot easier.
I honestly can't give you an idea of what your engine is capable speed-wise as I really don't know anything about it. Your percentage of nitro, prop, tuned pipe and so many other variable factors makes it so that it's difficult to give you any hard and fast numbers.
No, you're not being difficult and I do understand fully that whatever your choice is has to be one that you are happy with, not us.

sekwah275

Yeah i appreciate the problem with idiots saying one of about 20 variables and asking for a speed, anyway thanks for the advice guys ill look into it some more, at least i have some avenues to persue!
Jon

Raylon

I have a TC31 and love it, the first thing I did was take all the stickers off. It looks much better now. The flames aren't very good looking. I left the side one on mostly because it is good protection if it bumps into anything. If you are basing your decision on looks, well, that may not be a wise thing to do. I have heard bad things about the MM, and my TC31 is really nicely built.

I will post a pic of it when RCU allows me to.