Racing scale Hydro's

[KenOlvis]

yeah Ken I guess I can just not get on it at the beginning. I do have a 1950 dodge pickup with a 360 v8 and 727 3speed wedged into it lol.

Coolbeans soon you will drive it like you stoled it

 

[JasonBoushard]

An article on my gas scale build is Scaling Up in the March 2013 NAMBA Propwash. It is from an ML Boatworks kit. A video of its first race is here.

Lohring Miller

Cant get it to load

 

[JasonBoushard]

http://mlboatworksrc.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=38_50&products_id=126

thats the one I am thinking about building no wings to worry about. one cowling to buy I doubt I will put a driver in it if its not required. The only other one I would look at is this one.

http://mlboatworksrc.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=38_50&products_id=128

 

[FloridaScaleBoater]

Jason;

You may want to read up on the rules, May help you out before you get started building

I believe I read you will be racing in IMPBA

you can find the rule book at impba.net look at the specialty classes tab for nitro as some of the rules refer back to it.

and look at the gas scale rules tab also

Where will you be doing your race at? where in the country

 

[JasonBoushard]

District 12 I will look it up but I cant get into it on the ships computer for some reason. I will be racing in district 12 with the IMPBA in the odmba club.

 

[JimZaremski]

I am getting back into racing after sea duty and getting ready for retirement. I love the scale boats but I am nervous about racing them. You put in all that work then it gets run over or what have you and its all lost or severely damaged. MLboatworks has a gas executone I really like but I am wondering how you guys deal with fixing them for a quick turn around . My understanding is they have to be painted and done very close to the real boat.

The only "pre-judged" part is when you register your scale boat, you need to show your boat along with the actual Unlimited hydro it's a model of (the rule book says what your scale needs to have.) Past that, if your boat gets dinged up or whatever, you just do what they do on the big boats; patch it up as best you can and fix it later.

Put it this way, the real Unlimiteds look beautiful out on the water, but up close they're pretty scarred and beaten up.

if you go out and run laps, stay clean, and finish 6 laps, you may just end up being the winner! been there done that. i hate lap one, corner one , 6 boats and a lot of confusion and usually crashes.

this is what I usually do. I've only been racing a few years, so I try to hang back and let the folks who are "in it to win it" battle each other. I've still managed to pick up a couple pieces of hardware. the worst, though, is if I'm running tight alongside someone while also trying to navigate around dead boats. I washed out Rob Betke in Sport 40 last month because I was trying to keep an eye on where he was and not hit the dead boats in turn 2.

 

[John Christy]

you might think of thunder boats, same size semi scale so you do not have to worry as much about paint also cheaper and easier to drive and a good way to learn

 

[JasonBoushard]

na I am running a Conquest in offshore and some other classes and a hydro in p-limited, I like the look of the scale boats and I can paint so should be abl to do ok with this.

 

[moparbarn]

Jason, before you invest any money - gas scale just isn't strong here in d-12. Thunderboat & gas sport hydro are both strong classes at our district races. T-boat is a stock engine class & a good place to learn "sport"/3 point type hydros, gas sport hydro is a mod engine class, much faster & not really a class to learn in. I know you have some rc boat experience, but 70-75 mph with 6 big boats is touch & go at times, even with GOOD drivers! Prolly some of the most exciting racing to watch or be in, though. 3 point hydro's are a different animal, I've run tunnels, monos & riggers but when I picked up a sport hydro.......they handle way different, take some getting used to. To me, it was kinda like the difference between asphalt & dirt racing - sport hydro's being the dirt tracker comparatively speaking. You seem to want a gas hydro, but for a scale in d-12, look at nitro or fe 1/8 scale. Not saying you couldn't build a very nice scale looking t-boat or gas sport hydro (-; Hurry home SAFE, you have some work to do to get ready.

 

[JasonBoushard]

what about super sport hydro? I was looking at ML Boatworks GSX480 anyways. I guess I will look at doing the 1/8 scale FE boats. I was planning on building a few to show with the local slow scale boat club anyway just hate having to buy all the batts. I might still build a gas scale but wait until the 2017 season to worry about racing one. thunderboats might be an option I like to build though so thats why I was leaning to scale. I will have to see if there are any kits out there for the tunderboat classes. I do have a p-limited hydro I run for fun right now but thats nothing like actually racing.

 

[JimZaremski]

what about super sport hydro? I was looking at ML Boatworks GSX480 anyways. I guess I will look at doing the 1/8 scale FE boats. I was planning on building a few to show with the local slow scale boat club anyway just hate having to buy all the batts. I might still build a gas scale but wait until the 2017 season to worry about racing one. thunderboats might be an option I like to build though so thats why I was leaning to scale. I will have to see if there are any kits out there for the tunderboat classes. I do have a p-limited hydro I run for fun right now but thats nothing like actually racing.

I can speak highly of the Zipp Kits Thunderboats. I have a Bullitt which is probably the easiest handling boat I've encountered.

 

[JasonBoushard]

thanks I will check them out.

 

[JimZaremski]

thanks I will check them out.

here's a couple shots of mine at a race. Photos courtesy of the Motor City Model Boat Club.

 

[JasonBoushard]

sweet boat man

 

[Hydro Junkie]

Something else to think about is that a few of the gas scales would be legal as T-boats without modification so, by building one with a T-boat legal engine, you could have two boats in one. The only thing you would have to do is make sure the boat falls within the size requirements of both classes

 

[JasonBoushard]

http://mlboatworksrc.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=38_50&products_id=119

I guess this would work for both. its a shame the thunderboats have the year restriction on them. I will just do the executone in 1/8 FE later.

 

[FloridaScaleBoater]

http://mlboatworksrc.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=38_50&products_id=119

I guess this would work for both. its a shame the thunderboats have the year restriction on them. I will just do the executone in 1/8 FE later.

Jason,

That boat/hull will not make a legal classic thunder boat. does not fit the pickle fork depth rule.

 

[JasonBoushard]

darn.

 

[Hydro Junkie]

Jason, this is out of the IMPBA rule book:

G. Classic Thunderboat
1. Hull Specifications
a. Boats may be wood or fiberglass/composite type construction.
b. Length shall be a maximum of 56 inches, minimum of 47 inches. Width shall be a
minimum of 22 inches.
c. All boats shall have a front or rear cockpit with driver figures from the 1950’s - 1970’s era,
no cartoon or animal characters.
d. All boats shall have a period correct paint scheme and sponsor name & logo. The
Sponsor and/or logo may be original or of your own choice.
e. Normal hull configuration shall be conventional round nose, shovel nose, dropped
sponson or pickle fork design. The pickle fork shall not exceed 10% of the hull length and
be modeled after a classic era boat (1950-1970).
f. No rear sponson, ride shoe or other riding surface allowed aft of the sponson transom.
Engine belly pans are allowed. Engine belly pans may not extend beyond the engine
compartment.
g. Nothing may extend more than 5 1/4 inches beyond the transom.
h. The strut mounting is optional. Maximum strut length of 3 ½ inches in length and ½ inch
in width.
i. A minimum 50% of the gasoline engine must be covered with either a cowling or period
correct fake engine. This does not include header and/or tuned pipe.

This means that, per IMPBA rules, any round nosed or shallow pickleforked hydroplane that measured, full sized, between 28.5 and 30.5 feet long and over 11 feet wide is legal to build as a Thunderboat. You can check out the boats sizes here:

http://www.pnwta.org/editor_upload/File/PNWTA%20Hull%20Roster%20Website.pdf

Just got to thinking, you may want to consider wider hulls as they will handle torque better than the narrower ones will.

 

[JasonBoushard]

can you explain how to read the pickle fork rule I dont understand where to measure or what to look for. I guess this would work?

'62-65 Miss Bardahl U-40 "Green Dragon"



67 Miss Budweiser U-12