RE: Thunder Cat 31
 

Cool back yard!!!!!

Actually I live on a lagoon, and the water goes on pretty much forever, and thats why I went along with the crazy idea I had to get a RC boat. The only real issue I can see (well more than one I guess lol) is the chop or wave action that should be making this thing fly is also making it flip.

Who knows maybe I just need a larger boat :)

RE: Thunder Cat 31
 

I have the perfect set up on mine. A rod on the transam with a pin in it.I'm new to forum. i'm going to check my rc pics site and see if it's still actve. or if there is a better way let me know.My boat has a few mods that have fixxed all the problems.

RE: Thunder Cat 31
 

I have read on what you guys have been doing but not done much. I have only had the boat 2 weeks. I have tried a few things like raising the strut. I have not got around to cutting off the rudder yet but plan on it. If anyone has anyother tips let me know. I my boat could always use going a little faster.

RE: Thunder Cat 31
 

Hello

can anyone tell me how large is Thunder Cat 31 box. I am in usa now, i want to buy one and send it to europe, but USPS said that the box can be only 41 inches long! where is the cheapest internet shop to buy Thundercat 31?

RE: Thunder Cat 31
 

When i get home ill measure it for you, but i know that it shouldnt be to big to take with you on the plane (not carry on but checked baggage)

its around 41 inches so it'll be close.

FYI, open it open and test it out to make sure that it runs and nothing is wrong with it before you ship it, and also make sure that you ship it, and insure it for atleast $500, if it arrives to you damaged you can claim how much it would cost you to replace it where you live :)

RE: Thunder Cat 31
 

Not a good night for my TC, I went out to try and run tonight and the carb came loose and the boat was stuck on 1/4 throttle soooooooo I drove boat straight to me and caught it just before it hit shore ouch lol. All is good just gotta figure out why carb is coming loose.


Paul

RE: Thunder Cat 31
 

My TC31 box is 38 1/2 x 14 3/4 x 8 hope this helps :)


Paul

RE: Thunder Cat 31
 

Does anyone see any problem with using a airplane carb. I have a super tiger 40 that the carb fits it perfectly but has a bigger opening. I think I am posting pictures of both but it is the first time so I am not sure if it is going to work.[img][/img]

RE: Thunder Cat 31
 

That sure does look like the carb I am using ? I know it is a supertiger that I am using, I am almost positive this is the carb I am using : http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...p?&I=LXFW08&P= . It works great for me :)


Paul

RE: Thunder Cat 31
 

if it fits try it and let us know..

i just don't have luck tuning .32 dynamite with other bigger carb and .45 tuned piped i tried so i still end up stock motor.

RE: Thunder Cat 31
 

Tomorrow will be my first day back on the water with the TC31 since last August about, so I decided today I would make a radio box gasket. The old one just plain sucks, and I didn't like it. Now I should have a permanent one that will keep all water out. First thing I did was get all the supplies I would need. In the first picture I have the radio box removed form the, the radio box lid, the screws to hold it in place, wax paper, and the RTV Silicon.

First, I cut out a piece of wax paper to fit the lid and used electrical tape to secure it on place. Next, an important step was punching the screws through the wax paper, doing this while the cover was on with the silicon in place would have put too much pressure on the lid and squeezed the silicon out. Then I put the Silicon down. Wasn't sure how much of the stuff to use, so I gobbed it down pretty well. Then, I put the lid on and lightly screwed it down till it was a uniform height all the way around. I then used an old knife and scraped away the excess and put a nice smooth finish on the outside. It will now dry for 24 hours.

Hope this guide will help a few, and hope tomorrow goes well for me! I will be sure to take plenty of pictures!

RE: Thunder Cat 31
 

exciting! I wish it would warm back up so I could go out this weekend! I really dont want to battle 30 degrees while trying to go boating, but if it is sunny I might just do it!

RE: Thunder Cat 31
 

mmm....


there is a better way to seal it up, not to mention a less permanant way.

what if your battery needs replacing ? the servo arm breaks? servo goes out? you will have to take that all off, and it looks like you use gasket maker sealant, it wont be easy to get it all off to get inside the box.

the problem with the stock seal really isnt the seal itself, itss the really thin plexiglass that tehy used that will bend up when screwwed down, all you had to do wa go to home depot and buy a small piece of thick plexiglass, they sell them in all types of sizes and thickness, then buy a plexiglass knife, and a few feet of weather stripping the total for the plexiglass ,knife and weather stripping cost me less then $12, that with 1/4 inch thick plexi, all i did to cut it out was placed the old plexi cover on the sheet of plexi by matching 2 corners up so i only had to make 2 cuts. took about 5 minutes, then i took the weather stripping I bought and placed it on the outside edges of the new plesiglass and it is sealed up tight and looks good too. I will post some pics up this weekend of what i have done to the boat so far.

this is what i have done so far.

-hitech 645 high torque servo for the rudder
-replaced both servo arms for blue metal futaba ones
-3000mah 6v battery back
-duratrax fail safe
-new foam for the inside of the radio box
-new plexiglass and seal for the radio box
-M447 prop, sharpened and balanced
-futaba 3PM 3 channel radio system
-thinker rudder and throttle rods
-check valve for the exhaust pressure line
-relocated the exhaust pressure valve towards teh end of the pipe
-new blue fuel/air lines
-blue fuel filter
-new header gasket (made with the liquid gasket seal maker)
-fiberglass resined the inside of the boat to strengthen it up, also put resin & cloth under the radio box to strengthen the drive shaft entrance intot he boat, also resined the boat lid, and resin & clothe the lid tabs for strength
-painted the radio box blue and 3 coats of clear coat on it.
-waxed the hell out of the hull for a reall smooth and slipper surface to reduce drag


The new rudder servo helped out a ton, especialy with the futaba servo arms, they are longer then the stock ones which allows the rudder rod to be placed further away fromt eh center of the servo shaft so it can have a more responsive feel to it and also allows the rudder to move further in each direction and quicker rudder movement ( i only suggest this with a radio that EPA (end point adjustment) on it, beause without it you can litterally turn your rubber a full 90 degrees :)


this weekend I'll be picking up a new motor and mounting that. And for this i have to fabricate a a metal shelf to hold the servo arm for the throttle since i'll be using a slide carb on it. I will also have to cut the crank down a bit also to accomidate the drive shaft coupler. I will then have to get a header for the new engine since it is a rear exhaust engine, then i will have to fabricate a header extexnsion to join it up with the tuned pipe.

I also think i will be picking up a Traxxas servo for the throttle, i will get the traxxas for a couple of reasons, for one ther is no need to have 133oz of torque for a throttle (thats what the hitech servo puts out) and plus the traxxas has more then enough torque with 80oz torque and the price point is real good only $20 at my LHS. that way i have plenty of power to spare.

right now im pretty certain that i will be getting the speedwerks .26 engine to replace teh dynamite .32 engine. over twice as much HP and 6,000 more PM's should work out pretty nice

RE: Thunder Cat 31
 

I'm not sure quite what you mean. I didn't seal the radio lid down to the box. That is what the wax paper is for. Once it dries, I will take the wax paper off and viola, a perfect gasket for the lid. It is a custom fit.

RE: Thunder Cat 31
 

Sorry to double post but I had to ask this. I hope you didn't wax the bottom of the boat because all you did was make it slower. Use 600 grit sandpaper and lightly sand the bottom of the boat to make it really go fast.

RE: Thunder Cat 31
 

Yes Don't wax the bottom of a boat, and don't make a header extension make and extension from the tuned pipe to the exhaust outlet in the back of the boat. A tuned pipe has to be a certain length from the glow plug to the fat of the pipe to get the best power, I don't think after the fat of the pipe is as important as before so make your extension on the end of the tuned pipe. :)


Paul

RE: Thunder Cat 31
 

Had my cat 6 mo. and 2 gal of fuel. Tore conopy off in high speed crash .Put 2in pin with hole for clip on back were thumb screw went. perfect. Not imprested with tiger drive I install a hex drive that gos inline with the moter.But the hex hit fuel tank .So I moved tank 1 in. forword and 1/8in. down. Its so much easer now to start. Snapped rutter off installed a alum. one off of one of my weedaeter boats s a temp. It has the water pick up in it. Well I guess the less drag of the brass tube ,it's faster now and the spay is way more defined. I allso have a 442 prop. As for the ele. box if you look close the screws bottom out against the stringers and bust it loose somme washers fixxed that bottm of box had air pockets in gel coat glassed and reenfored the whole inside as cracks are every were. Also put 1/4 in. plex on box and couter sunk allen heads so i could put the stock one back in. Over all its easy to start get canopy on I'm not sure if moving the tank and or the prop but cavitation is nonaxsistant or I'm just getting the hang of it! As for watts next I plan to waer the moter out buy a new one . Then port the old one as radicaly as I can. s for a bigger moter I'm not sure I have a JATO with a Mach 26 in it and it is undriveable!Well let me know how I'm doing.Alllso I'm comuter stupid how can I show some pics I think ya'll be impresed.All I live on the lake and have my jet ski for retreaval.LATER

RE: Thunder Cat 31
 

If you want to post pics instead of posting on the bottom of the page , every post on the upper right side has reply/quote/fwd just hit the reply and you will be give the opportunity to post pics. :)


Paul

RE: Thunder Cat 31
 

i will be getting out the sand paper to take the wax off:):):):)

good point about the header tube, i never really even thought about it as i never really thought about that because in trucks you really can get to far fromt he glow plug :)




and as far as what i was talking about when using the gasket maker is that it isnt just like you can take the radio lid off and put it right back on, the gasket sealant will come off in some spots and not in other spots. your idea will keep the water out thou, which is the main point, i persoanlly think that there are better ways to do it to make access tot he radio gear easier, just my opinion, if it works for you then keep it

RE: Thunder Cat 31
 

guys getting ready to paint tc31 but no idea what paint scheme,,,pls. throw-in any idea ....

RE: Thunder Cat 31
 

Look on http://www.offshoresuperseries.com/ for paint jobs if you whant to go scale.

And for the radio box sealing, I just used wing seat tape that we use on radio control airplanes and it works fine. I dont eaven get moist in my box now. Wil post some pic. I wil also be air brusing my TC31 in the Bacardi Silver offsore racing colours. Check out this boat.

RE: Thunder Cat 31
 

I have seen this posted before, but kind of want to dabate this idea because I think there has to be some confusion etc

Again I am new to rc boating, but by no means new to boating, and have had more than one high performance boat.

From everything I have learned about the effect of water going accross the hull, and drag, etc etc making the whole hull surface or contact area rough will actually slow the boat down.

Sure you want to break up things a bit like the stepped bottom design is made for etc, and since an even flow of water under the hull isnt good for speed, and airing it out or up will allow the boat to go faster etc this all makes sense, BUT a rough surface should create drag as far as I understand it from the uneven surface, and the power needed to push it thru the water.

I know I have mixed up some things between hydrodynamics and aerodynamics etc before, but I am thinking a consistant broken and rough surface or contact area will create drag just like what happens on a full size boat with rough bottom paint.

I am helping someone lately with boat that is powered with 500+ hp bb chevy engine, and one of the things that is killing the speed for this guy is that his boat has a rough bottom from being painted with antifouling etc, and we are estimating gaining 6-10 mph just from stripping off the paint.

Maybe I am mixing things up here so please someone explain this in more detail of I am

PS I would want to be sure before I went and messed up an otherwise fine hull

RE: Thunder Cat 31
 

Everything that I have read that is RC related says to wet sand the bottom of the boat with something like 400 grit paper. Just enough to create air bubbles that will let the boat skim the water and not let the water cling to the boat like it would with wax. That is just my .02 :)

Here are some pics of my .21 powered TC, just figured I would share!

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2.../Side-View.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ngine-Shot.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2.../Back-View.jpg
Prop isn't on it right now, but you get the drift :)

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...h-hatch-on.jpg

RE: Thunder Cat 31
 

that bacardi paint is awesome but don't think so my painter can do it[:o].

Drmeff,

ur boat set-up is interesting, what kind of .21 motor is that?..

the inline rudder too kinda interesting,, i'm thinking bout to try this set-up but i'll still use the stock rudder and make a custom extended mount, what makes me think bout this coz my i noticed tc31 during high speed and tight turns it doesn't turn as smooth as can be instead it turn like pivoting or turns in angle and occasionally causing to spin-out...hope the inline rudder set-up will fix it.

let us know how ur boat doin....nice modification though[sm=thumbup.gif]

RE: Thunder Cat 31
 

400 grit makes more sense I guess as its a pretty smooth grit etc (its also what I finish small parts with before buffing too so I know it leaves a fairly smooth surface) and the air bubbles (what I meant by airing it out etc) I know to be true, but I guess what my issue is about that isnt this what the stepped bottom is supposed to do?

Sorry for that being as much a question as a statement :)