Old vintage midwest Klampon Kai
 

Hello

Does any one know anything about this kit originally built by Midwest products ,
was it a well put together kit, how will did it preform when compared to other company's kits of it's time .Were all the parts pre cut or did they uses the same stamp die cut method such as Dumas used back then .

Thanks

At the time they were one of the better .21 OB tunnels, that one and the one that Ed Hughey produced. The Dumas Hot Shots were junk even back then against the Klampon-Kai.
They came on the scene in RC OB tunnel boat's infancy, the late `70's. Ed's kits were pre-cut, machined I think but I don't know how the Midwest kits came at the time.

Careful Ron, many of the Dumas tunnels were designed by JD and, as we both know, he frequents the forums.
What made the Dumas boats not so great was the materials Dumas used in producing their boat kits. The mahogany door skin used for the framing is was what made the boats poor

Dumas messed up on more than one of the boats Jerry designed for them. The ABS Hot Shot 21 was supposed to have deeper sponsons.
I know Jerry and just saw him about 6 weeks ago.

That ok !
I have had a few Dumas Kits in the past, and I agree the materials for the kits was junk. It seems to me that non of there kits preformed very well unless you did a lot of modifications to the kit. Perhaps they did not follow the designer / engineer very well anyway ?
from what is described in the picture as I have only seen a pic of the box? design wise looks like a pretty cool boat and from what I gather performance was not bad ? That Midwest products produced. I like the old designs with all the sharp lines that were produced back then man these kits are getting very hard to find !!

Uh Ron, which looks older, the Jon or the Frog;)? Going to have to give JD a hard time about running a chase boat without him or his "mermaid" wearing a float-coat next time I see him:D

Remember that the first Hot Shot's, Klampon-Kai's and many others came out in OB tunnel's infancy so things have come a long way since those days. They weren't the best-looking boats around with angular parts did did well with the short-skegged K&B's of the era. You just don't see those around like we do with the original Hot Shot's. I can believe that there are still people trying to get those awful things to run today.
The Ed Hughey hulls were unique as they were easy to build. The sponsons were made of a very tough foam, airy yet a very strong shell.
Prather was just getting into the OB tunnel business at the time but most were outmoded when they hit the scene; a turn fin at the CG to help steer it.

I liked my Dumas Hot Shot Sprint (wood) very much. Thought it handled well at the time. Heck, I was still racing & winning with one just 5 years ago. The ABS, as Ron pointed out, was not in the same league as the wood version. Built many Dumas tunnels back in the mid-late 80's.