BBY Micro Turbine Hydro for SSSH

[RandyatBBY]

Hey Randy, glad to see you're still around. I heard about your bike crash ( Ouch!!)

I'm trying to resurrect the SLOBS (Santee Lakes Old Boaters Society) and the number of decent available micro hulls is limited. If I can stir up some interest, I'll let you know. I still have the files for laser-cutting the internal plywood bracing, so it would make building a fleet of them a breeze.

By the way, did I mention my hull turned out as stiff as a board? That's one reason it handles so well and predictable.

Thanks, I still have the molds and Vacuum former's. I would not mind selling them too.

[Dr. Jet]

Thanks, I still have the molds and Vacuum former's. I would not mind selling them too.

Hmmmm....... I wish there was a market for the little guys. It would be fun to get the Micro Hydro and the Micro Scat Cat out there again.

[larryrose11]

Only a kid?
If your mature enough to participate here, then you are plenty old to start a racing club.
Just curious, but how old are you?
I'm also a kid, born in 1969.

[Dr. Jet]

Only a kid?
If your mature enough to participate here, then you are plenty old to start a racing club.
Just curious, but how old are you?
I'm also a kid, born in 1969.

Who said anything about being a kid??


I'm a teenager born in 1950.......

BTW, I have started a racing club: the Santee Lakes Old Boater's Society, but interest here is very limited.

[larryrose11]

Who said anything about being a kid??


I'm a teenager born in 1950.......

BTW, I have started a racing club: the Santee Lakes Old Boater's Society, but interest here is very limited.

I mis read how many dam pages were in this thread....from post #16:

...i would lover to start a clone of what your doing , only in my area, but iv been getting kicked out of every lake lately. and im only a kid so i don't think i could make anything offical, only like fun get togethers...

and I responded with :

Only a kid?
If your mature enough to participate here, then you are plenty old to start a racing club.
Just curious, but how old are you?
I'm also a kid, born in 1969.

sorry for the confusion....carry on teenagers.

[Fluid]

He’s not a “kid” any more, his post was well over ten years ago! In the future it will be much less confusing if you quote the post to which you are responding.


.

[Dr. Jet]

Jeeze, has it really been TEN years? Where does the time go?

Regardless, the little things still run like a raped ape and I still think it's a hoot. The cool thing is you can put a finely-tuned race boat on the water for about the cost of an ESC in a 1/8 scale boat.

No, you can't compete in NAMBA, APBA, or any of the other "alphabet" associations, but you can have more fun than a human being should be allowed to have.

I suppose it's the same thinking that got me out of flying high-performance German-made fiberglass/carbon fiber sailplanes in favor of the lowly tube-and fabric Schwerizer 1-26. I have just as much (if not more) fun than the "big" guys at a small fraction of the price; AND I don't need nearly as much space to land it.

[Dr. Jet]

A Conundrum of Epic Proportions

As you all know, I’m a great fan of the micros. In a manner of speaking, I feel like I’m picking up the torch Trent Hare left off for someone else to carry. I have developed AutoCAD files to laser-cut parts for a 1/20 Atlas “Blue Blaster” based on Garry Finlay's plans and a 16” version of Jesse J’s modified Shockerman cat. Now comes the conundrum: Randy has offered me the molds for his line of micro hulls at a VERY REASONABLE price. The drawback is I’d have to drive from SoCal to the Bay Area to get them. Additionally, the designs are a bit dated by today’s standards, but the success of the Micro Turbine Hydro that is the subject of this thread is testimony that while dated, the design is still solid and dependable. The same applies to the Micro Scat Cat twin I built. It goes like a raped ape and handles like a dream.

If I were to make this deal with Randy, it is patently clear that I would not just be building hulls for my personal use. Obviously, I’d want to sell some hulls to amortize my investment. I could combine laser-cut internal structure like I did for this build; I could incorporate the lower profile I did for my Micro Scat Cat build. I could spec out modern hardware (Steve sells much of it here at the OSE store), I could even come up with new molds for completely new designs in the future. So here’s a question I’d like to pose, and it’s the same question posed by Stinson68 in the Micro Forum:

Would there be any interest in building “Old School” micros? I could do either all wood or vacuum-formed or both. If so, which would you prefer to build?

Send me a PM, or if you think your response would be good to share with everybody here, feel free to respond to this post.

Finally, I have a VERY SHORT window of opportunity to make this deal happen. Speak up NOW! You snooze, we all lose…

[RandyatBBY]

I will sell this part of the line of BBY boats. I do have another friend that could pick them up. But it would be nice to have the plastic part of it stay in the USA. I Just turned 70tie and with a broken wing I will never be able to give this line the support it needs. Really up dating to today's standards will not take a lot of work. Plastic and wood framers will work great up to about 21 inches with today's power.

[Dr. Jet]

I'm seriously considering it Randy and I'll give you a go-no go by next Sunday, the 20th.

Come on boys and girls, let's hear some support and convince me to pull the trigger on this deal.

[RandyatBBY]

I'm seriously considering it Randy and I'll give you a go-no go by next Sunday, the 20th.

Come on boys and girls, let's hear some support and convince me to pull the trigger on this deal.

That is good Bill I can wait till then. I have had a lot of support hear over the years, they will come just take time.

[Dr. Jet]

Thanks Randy.

I still have the AutoCAD files to laser-cut the internal formers for the turbine/picklefork hydro hull (similar to the structure in the old Classic Hydro 1/12-scale hulls) and it will be easy enough to modify them to work with the drop-sponson shovel-nose as well. With internal bracing, it should be possible to use the lighter plastic sheet to mold the hulls. That would save some weight and create sharper lines. I would also want to smooth out any imperfections in the molds if I used the lighter material.

Steve here at OSE sells hardware suitable for the micros, and I'm sure I could get him to combine all the various bits together into one complete package. I will re-work the laser-cutting files to include motor mounts, servo mounts, and mounts for the recommended hardware. All this should make it a no-brainer to get one of these on the water in short order.

[Dr. Jet]

Well Randy,

I tried. It sounded like a good plan and I had some great ideas to update the kits, but the silence here and on the Micro Forum tells me everything I need to know. I was excited about the possibility of re-breathing life into the micros, but if it doesn't run on 6S and/or fit into a specific NAMBA/IMPBA class, no one gives a rat's posterior about it.