I have lots of RC experience mostly racing electric cars on and offroad. I have little gas/nitro experiense. The only nitro rc Ive owned was a t-maxx. As far as boats I'm a total rookie, other than a electric dual motor Curcus Curcus hydro when I was about twelve. Im looking for a boat 30"+ gas or nitro RTR. Im only going to use it for fun(not racing). Im willing to buy new or used, providing the used is in like new condition. Im looking for a V type hull and lots of speed (35+ at least). Ive done some looking and found a few that look ok but im not sure. Does any one have any opions on the, Grey Thunder, Aqua jet, Nitro Hammer, Megatech wicked angel, traxxas nitro v? Im up for any sugestions and would greatly appreciate the help. Also if anyone is interested in selling RTR boat ld love to here about it Thanks!!

If you get the Nitro Vee with the (RTS return to shore) system you won't have to buy another boat for retreival. i just bought the Miss Bud RTR a couple weeks ago and I've had to retreive it about 20 times. I've run about 4 tanks of gas through it. My next one will be an electric. If nothing else it will be one sweet retreival boat for the Miss Budd. Go to RadioControlZone.com and check out the Traxxas Nitro Vee in action. If you watch the clip you'll notice it dying out in the middle of the water.

thanks, anyone know anything about the wicked angel or any megatech product quality?

I had the nitro V and was not happy with it. The Return to shore system was great, but it required the boat to have a clutch. That stupid little clutch slipped way to much. It takes alot to get a heavy boat on to plane and the clutch couldn't handle it. I also didn't like the exaust set up, it has a 10" piece of silicone tubing that burns apart after a tank or two and you have to keep replacing it. The drive line was OK but it was made out of cheap parts. The set screws stripped the first time you tried to remove them. And last but not least the prop is plastic and easy to break, but hard to find. The shaft size requires you to use their prop only.

Just my 2 cents on the Nitro V.

I,ve been hearing the same thing. I think the nitro v is out. I'd really like to know more about the megatech wicked angel and the hammer.

There was a nice review on the wicked angel boat in last months copy of RC Boating magazine. But then again I have yet to see them give a bad review!

Is the Angel made out of fiberglass like the Hammer? I would try to go with a fiberglass hull because it's fuel proof. I was surprized to see how easy it was to melt a ABS hull! The nitro fuel will melt the plastic if you don't clean it out really good. I found it a real pain to have to clean the boat as soon as you get home.

Also I think the Hammer offers a replacement hull incase you break it. The same company makes a air boat and offers a replacement hull for under a $100.00. The hull is almost RTR, you just have to swap the radio and engine. My local hobbie store even has them in stock! I think it would be nice to know if you hit the dock or something, you could easily get a replacement hull.

I've cracked my Bud hydro hull already, hit the boat dock at low speed. Man am I ready for something else. This thing stays full of water all the time. I'm running it in a cove where the water is glassy smooth. Got the dying out problem solved. Had to learn how to tune a nitro engine. Just not a very impressive hull design to me.

If the Hammer sells a replacement hull, you could just swap the engine and radio. Like I said the company sells replacement hulls for their air boat, so I bet they offer one for the hammer. Might be the easiest and least expencive way to get a new boat.

I might just want to go with a big gas boat rtr, seems like there less work and more drive time.

I've been thinking about e-baying the bud hydro and going with the Enforcer Super G. 46" gas deep vee bottom. 40+ MPH supposedly. Looking through a couple of mags it looks like there are endless hop-ups for the Zenoah engine. The only problem is its $800 RTR without a radio or servo's.

I have a 46" gas boat with a Zenoah pro mod engine. I have to say that I love it! Nothing better than getting to the pond and knowing that your boat will start, and run great with out all of the fooling around. My boat usualy takes two pulls and off I go for up to 20 min of fun. (could be more with a larger fuel tank.) Gas boats are alot of fun, but your right they can be expencive. Might want to watch E-Bay for a good deal on one. You never know.

Nitro-Vee, too heavy with the added junk. Wicked Angel, I've heard heard nothing but complaints on it, especially the motor. Grey Thunder, I've got one. Great for a cheap boat but the steering is tricky, it's on it's roof too much. The Nitro Hammer, watch it if you get one, a lot of complaints about the prop being broken out of the box and problems with the rudder breaking easily. The Aqua Jet might be a good choice, I kind of wanted one myself. The motor in the CEN boats vibrate like crazy until they're broken in but after that usually they're a one pull starting motor and smooth out.
I did a review on the Grey Thunder in www.radiocontrolzone.com in the Beginners section under "Boat Review Coming".
Like I tell a lot of other beginners, let us know what you like, how much you want to spend and we'll give you honest recommendations. Don't trust RCBM, they are out to sell advertising space and won't give a bad review on anything, no matter how bad it is!

Ron you are right about RCBM, I have yet to see a bad review!

Alright Ron and RC Lover, got a few questions for you guys. The Bud Hydro is my first boat and first nitro engine. When the engine is cold there is plenty of compression. When the engine has warmed up a while there is no compression at all, literally. I can get it restarted but no very easily. I think I scorched the rings when I first got it. I didn't know what I was doing and leaned it way!!! out . I ran it several times and it would just die out as soon as I opened the throttle. Someone later told me it was way too lean. Not good. Anyway, does that sound like burned rings, piston, or sleeve.

Also, a big deep vee gas boat sounds good but I just can't afford a $1,000 boat. Since I already have a engine (dynamite .15 pull start ) radio, servos, and everything I was thinking about just buying a hull and moving everything over from the Miss Bud. I live on a rough lake and its almost impossible to find water smooth enough for the Hydro. I like the looks of the Graupner Systems Cat, Titan, Bandit El lobo, and Hydro & Marine M-1 Super Cat. I don't want to build a scratch hull like the Systems Cat though. I can't tell if all of the hulls will except a nitro engine. Really leaning towards the M-1,I think its 39" long.

What do you guys think? New ring, piston, and sleeve? Run it a while? New hull?

The smaller nitro engines don't have pistion rings. The sleeve has a slight taper to it so the fit is very snug as the pistion reaches the top of the sleeve. As your engine warms up the pistion and sleeve expand alittle and the compression goes down. This is why it is easy to turn it over when it's warm. Some of my engines have soo much compression I have to loosen the glow plug just to start it the first time. After it is warm I can start it very easily. I have even heard of people taking a heat gun to the engine prior to starting to make it easier. (I don't recomend trying this though!)

Your engine should be OK if you still have compression when it's cold. My brother has a few engines that have almost no compression and they still run great.

As for what hull to buy? Hopefully Ron can help. I don't know what one would be best.

I must tell you that I started with a small tunnel hull with a 21 outboard once I got it tuned in it was fine but you need smooth water to run well if you get any type of wave the boat tends to flip over I then bought a 53in gas boat it is much better rough water no problem starts & goes runs for 45mins also has a clutch so it will idle in the water to check them out look at warehousehobbies.com might seem expensive now but in the long run it will save you time & money hours of countless fun also gas is $1.50 per gal instead of $15.00
good luck Scott

OK, seeing how my name got mentioned I guess I'll try to give you an answer. I would say more than likely you ran some fuel in it not made for boats. airplane and car fuel have a lower oil content than boat fuel. Planes run around 10-15% and cars run about the same. 20% oil content is what you're looking for. Use an additive if neccessary to get it up there. it's easy to get a boat motor too lean, it sounds good on the stand, goes lean in the water under the load of the prop.
What to do with it. good question. It'll be up to you. Run it until it drops, rebuild it or find some sucker on eBay to unload it on. A new boat would want a new motor but the radio equipment is about all that you'd save, the rest of it is mostly no good in another boat. Over on www.midmad.com , the guy that runs the site dropped an HPI .15 SS motor in his and now it hauls butt!
Options, pick one or none.

If you want a nitro vee for your first boat that is fine. But mine had some bad problems, the engine died every two seconds the return to shore system failed to work. It isn't all that fast. That is why I am going to buy a O.S. .15 for it. I never did like nitro boats, thats why I bought a ProBoat Shockwave. It takes mixed gas and is the funest boat I ever drove.

http://rcuniverse.com/magazine/artic...article_id=221

[>:]HY, I'm new into boats and I have no experience with a gas boat, the only boat I have had was a traxxas nitro vee which i despize of now. I have a general idea about what kind of gas boat I'm looking at and I need an opinion from experience. The three main boats that I'm looking at are the pro boat Shockwave, wharehouse hobbies Enforcer super gator, and the super sport. Money isn't an issue, I just need some advice on a good quality speed boat.

If money isn't an issue (I wish that I could say that!), I'd go with a Warehouse Hobbies boat. Tony has been around for a long time and no signs of going away anytime soon. The boats will take a beating with their heavy lay-up 'glaswork and less hassle than the Shockwave.

the warehouse hobbies boats are very good running boats. they are also low maintenance, which is good for a beginner.I have 1 I went for the water cooled model so I could have the cover on it while on the water, just for looks.I believe that the air cooled might be slightly faster and about $500.00 cheaper.Good luck with whatever you decide. Scott