Upgrading toy boat

[jamespl]

It's the proboat blackjack 26. It's a nice boat, even more so now it has the offset rudder instead of the plastic one.

[lars]

Also, for me the most fun is actually upgrading and finding stuff on the web, creating a wish list, dreaming.

I just mean, it doesn't have to be an expensive hull or the real deal for me to be happy with it, as long as I'm pleased with its looks, looks first - performance second, and it have modest performance, then I'm happy.... After all its only my kids I'm racing!
But that doesn't mean it has to be cheap plastic stuff I wish to upgrade to, and I would love a big engine packing a lot of punch.... But i don't care if it would have gone 5mph faster in a better hull, am I making sense?

[jamespl]

I always say I'm not going to upgrade this one, I'm just going to leave it as it is but I always end up changing something. If you like looks then take a look at the venom P1 king of shaves. Very nice looking hull.

[Make-a-Wake]

Make-a-wake, what did you use to fill the holes,and did you reinforce the hul?

Cool video and I really like the looks of this boat, got some nice curves to it..

I sanded everything down really well first...................its got a fibrous look to it when its raw. I used epoxy to fill the holes then sanded smooth before paint. I made my own motor mount and and used a simple straight tube for the driveline/stinger.............made my own trim tabs too. You can get one going decent with a 380XL motor as well. Mine is propped way down to eliminate torque steer as it is a narrow hull..................runs nice and cool though.

[lars]

Well I just went trough some old stuff and found a Novak XBR sport 8.5T motor + esc, hardly ever used. Would that work in this boat and how does i compare to the other motors in the above link? Those damn motors, I don't know a lot about them.....
Had this motor mounted in my Tamyia gravel hound where it broke the propshaft rather quick, rendering it a 2w drive car :-)

By the way, I went ahead and ordered the stinger, rudder and other parts from the first link, can't wait to have a crack at it...

Me and my son was out racing today and my son hit a rock and flipped the boat.... The electronics died and one of the shafts just kept spinning even though the switch was off.
So now we have to convert that boat and fit some real radio gear, how do you waterproff the electronics in your boats?


Edit:
Here's a youtube video in really poor quality, so bad it's embarrasing, but here it goes.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CyhcL7iYKw
There was a lot of wind so the sound is allmost worse than the video, sorry. But it a reference point for future upgrades, and I promise the next video will be better!

[echo75]

Hello lars, my honest advice is that you do not bother modifing that boat, trust me its not worth it ,i have one myself the hull is too weak to take a serious motor and the center of gravity is too poor. Like you said, you just want to have fun with your kids then leave it as it is and they will still be pleased.
However, if you want a real 'adult' boat as you say browse through these http://www.iccom.dk/rc-hobby/joysway/speed-baade.htm even the cheapest model there is a better option.

As per flipping the boat over, this happens. Get yourself some electritians tape from harold nyborg and tape the hatch. This way, even if you flip no water enters the boat.

[lars]

Thanks for the advice, but I'm going to stick with it and modify it. I like a challenge and fact is, that it doesn't matter what boat I modify. It would not be fun to build a pure racer capable of 60+mph when my kids boat will do 10mph.
With that said I might like to upgrade to a better boat in the future and then I have some of the gear but that's not the issue here....

I have been browsing iccom.dk's site and it's also nice boats, but like I stated in all of the above treads that wasn't what I wanted...

What's wrong with the center of gravity? I have noticed the boat is a bit jumpy, perhaps back heavy! But that's also something I look forward to trying to fix with the trimplates and adjustable stinger.

Haven't thought of elictric tape, good idea..... And it doesn't get smeared all over the boat?

Also picked up some fibreglass from the local boat builder, for reinforcements.

[Make-a-Wake]

The boat is very narrow which makes it a bit difficult to setup, that's why i went with a smaller diameter prop, however, you can achieve the same speed or better as i did in the vid with a bit of trial and error.

[lars]

I think your boat looks super stable in the video, do you think it's the trim plates that does the trick? There is no tendency to jump like mine has in the stock setup.
And yes, I look forward to doing a bit of trial and error, learn as I go along.

One thing I would like to know, if anybody know, is how the novak compares to your motor or the others in the first link. Years back when I bought it I thought it was a powerfull motor, but maybe evolution has moved on :-) and now it's only a mild upgrade over the stock ones.... The stuff I ordered will take two weeks to get here, patience..... Hmmm.