DF Sniper 45...Let's Talk!

[EX Con]

O.K., I'm an RC vet, but new to RC boating. Recently got a Villain EX just to play with and get my feet wet in this hobby. Been spending a lot of time on this site absorbing as much as I have time for and collecting advice. Just now, while perusing the electric hull selections, I spied the Sniper 45 for the first time. SICK! This thing gives me chills just looking at it! Yeah, the EX is fun for lazy Sunday afternoons on the lake, but let's get real. We all know there are six more days in a week that need to be filled too. The prospect of 45 inches of streamlined razor-like beauty, howling under the power of some nasty brushless setup has got me drooling on my keyboard. I want a boat that seperates water molecules! I want a boat that makes chidren cry! I want to drive straight through a duck and eat it while recharging my batteries! So, this is to all of you FE vets and pros...whats the bottom line? What am I looking at here? Gimme the simple A-B-C, 1-2-3 on making this happen. What's the hot setup? What am I spending, all things considered? Exactly what stands between my vision and reality? There's nowhere else I know of where I could hope for an educated answer to these questions, and I can't wait to hear your responses. Lay it on me! Thanks a lot in advance...

[Bill-SOCAL]

Exactly what stands between my vision and reality?

Money, lots of money. +/- $3,500.00

That does not include chargers or other support equipment. Figure $500.00 for that stuff. That would be 2 chargers capable of doing two 5S packs at a time. Unless you want to have a really long time between runs to eat that duck you killed.

And only 1 set of batteries. Figure another $1,200.00 per set up. That way you can take some of the duck home.

So maybe $5,200.00 give or take.

Oh yeah, I forgot the radio. Figure another $200 or so for a good radio, $100 for a high torque digital servo and $30 for a battery. So make it closer to $5,600 all said and done.

Some video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_tDRYzMpwg

The orange boat is a Sniper. Recently ran SAWS runs (straight line) at 76.95 mph.



Wouldn't be my first choice for a second boat.


BTW, here's my equipment list:

Delta Force Sniper 45 hull
Lehner 3060/10 motor
10S2P Poly RC 25C 5,000 packs (4 packs in the boat - I have 4 complete sets - shared with another 10S2P boat)
Schulze 40.160 ESC
Speedmaster hardware
Pachmayer custom motor mount.
x460/3 for oval, 1470 custom cupped prop for SAWS
Hyperion EOS0610i DUO chargers (times 2)

BTW - you could do this as a gas boat with a bad a$$ full race mod Zenoah 260 for about $1,000 give or take.

[smm_cbf]

im getting back into boats and im still learning but i agree and i wouldn't buy it for my secound boat. im more of a car truck guy and we worked up our rc's to gain more exsperience each time, buy a cheap one, then little more advanced model, then more and etc.. but i wouldn't listen to me because i know you want a kick a$$ boat soon, not 4 years from now. great idea but i hope you have the money, skill to drive it,and knowledge to know when something is going wrong. good luck

[Doug Smock]

The prospect of 45 inches of streamlined razor-like beauty, howling under the power of some nasty brushless setup has got me drooling on my keyboard. I want a boat that seperates water molecules! I want a boat that makes chidren cry! I want to drive straight through a duck and eat it while recharging my batteries! So, this is to all of you FE vets and pros...whats the bottom line?

I love it!!!
Good luck out there EX Con!

Doug

[Fluid]

While the cost estimate can be a bit lower than Bill states, it is still not cheap. Not everyone needs a top-end setup, and the cost differences between top-end and sport level in a boat this size may not be huge if reliability is desired.

But to do that you really should have more experience than a single modded Villian. A better choice would be a smaller 4S boat like the DeltaForce 33. Much of the spend for that boat would be transferable to others - radio, charger, balancers, etc. The 33 doesn't have quite the dramatic effect of the Sniper, but it is a good looking, very fast hull.

None of this is meant to discourage you! But in my many years in the hobby I've seen too many guys start with too much boat for their experience and end up discouraged and unhappy. Have the big Sniper as your goal, but start with a more modest - but still exciting - boat first.


.

[Bill-SOCAL]

True, I quoted top of the line, which I feel is the best way to go with a boat this size.

Large fast boats are not a place to start skimping on the quality of the components used. And as Jay said, you don't really save that much money and possibly sacrifice reliability in doing so.

Get a 33" DF or maybe the 32" DF Cyber Storm (same basic hull design as the Sniper). Run it on 4S2P with a nice fast Neu motor (1521/1.5D) and have a really great 50+ mph boat.

[Raydee]

Coming from running all GAS hulls for years I haven't made the jump to larger 40" plus boats for FE yet because of the cost. Brushless and Lipo tech are coming down in price everyday and hopefully I will be able to justify the cost in a season or two. Until then all my big boats will be gassers.

[Doug Smock]

Brushless and Lipo tech are coming down in price everyday and hopefully I will be able to justify the cost in a season or two. Until then all my big boats will be gassers.

You can build TWO gas boats for what one large 10s FE boat would cost you, and still have plenty of gas money, even at todays prices.

Doug

[Steven Vaccaro]

There is more than one way to skin a cat. Not everyone goes out and buys a top fuel alcohol dragster! Some people may be happy with a super stock class.

This is a setup estimate I would come up with.
Not the record setting hull Bill priced, but will run more than 50mph

Hull $240
Neu Motor 1527 $300
Castle 240 hv ESC $500
Running Hardware $300
Spek Radio $250


This doesnt include packs or chargers.

[Bill-SOCAL]

A 1527 might work IF the boat is kept pretty light. Mine in 10S2P and the 3060 weighs almost 18 pounds. After frying two 1527s trying to run a big heavy boat I am not sold on them for this use. But maybe.

There are certainly much less expensive ways to go 50 mph.

[Steven Vaccaro]

A 1527 might work IF the boat is kept pretty light. Mine in 10S2P and the 3060 weighs almost 18 pounds. After frying two 1527s trying to run a big heavy boat I am not sold on them for this use. But maybe.

There are certainly much less expensive ways to go 50 mph.

Bill I'm all about the learning and taking in of information. Can you go into more detail on on the setups that burnt up motors?

[SJFE]

Steven what ever come of that bigger motor you found? I remember it was only 60 amp's max.

[Bill-SOCAL]

Bill I'm all about the learning and taking in of information. Can you go into more detail on on the setups that burnt up motors?

AM Avenger cat. 44" hull. 10S2P and a 40.160 ESC. All up weight 17.5 pounds.

The with first a 2280/12. That died after a dozen or so runs. Temps never above 120 on anything.

Replaced it with a used 1527/1.5Y. 5 runs and it too smoked. Never a temp above 125 or so until the final run. It went like mad until it smoked.

Replaced THAT with a brand new 1527/1.5Y. It went 6 runs, again never over 125 degrees and never a longer than 3 minute run. I got this one back quick. Terminal temp on the motor was 240 degrees, the boat was filled with the magic smoke. Magnet gone (at least all the magnetism).

Basically all 3 motors seemed OK until they let go and turned into inductive furnaces! Magnet loses it magic as the motor cooks off. Not a pretty sight.

The real kicker is that there really was no warning. Temperatures were all fine until the run where the motor finally failed.

So now that boat is getting a 2215/2Y with the same ESC and 10S2P set up. It will be running this week.

Bottom line is I am fairly well convinced that a 1527/1.5Y is a poor choice for larger, heavier hulls. Even Ken Joye, who was running them in 11 pound scale hydros is re-thinking them. The other winds in different application might be OK. But the 1.5Y in a 10S boat, not sure about that one. I might think a rigger with one, but weight would need to be kept down.

Props I ran were 450 to 452 range. Nothing extreme. Maybe propped way down in a lighter boat. But I would be wary of it and careful about set up.

[EX Con]

Hey, thanks for the input guys! Plenty to think about. I have been looking at gassers for some time now because they have turned me on since I was a kid. I guess the main catalyst to jump into electrics was the fact that the vast majority of nearby running locations are restricted to the use of electric motors of any size. Including full scale fishing boats. No internal combustion engines of any kind, or of any scale. These reservoirs feed the public water supply and they like to keep it clean and quiet. Except for the DNR guys, who patrol the water in big Whalers with a couple 250hp Yamahas or Hondas strapped to the back. Anyway, thanks for the input on the large scale FE vision I have...

[ReddyWatts]

Bill, how many amps was it using in the 10S, 1527 1.5Y setups?