Putting together a Wild Thing

[Kinetikx]

I tried contacting OSE though their email form last week but haven't heard back yet. Hopefully they'll see this and lend a hand.

Background info:
I'm very new to FE boats. I wish that I didn't have to ask for so much help but there are just too many options out there and I really don't know enough to pick and choose from all the hardware/electronics available.

I'm close to completing a build of a 24" Wild Thing made from balsa/ply. It is built from scaled down plans from http://www.modelpowerboat.com/forum/...ads/file-6.htm As it sits now, with just a few small things to add structure-wise, it weighs 647 grams (almost a pound and a half). I'm going to need advice for pretty much everything I'm going to put in/on the boat besides radio gear/servo. I'm not looking to break any records with this boat, but speeds above 30 would make me happy- the bigger that number can get with the budget I have the happier I would get, of course

I'm hoping that I can put together a package using mostly parts I can get from OSE if possible to make things easier. The budget I'm working with is around $300. That's not set in stone but I would like to keep it around there.

As far as what I'm almost decided on for the transom hardware:
Either the Speedmaster monosytem: http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...od=ros-monosys

or the Octura offset system: http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...t-oc6str-130da

I really like the look of the speedmaster system, but that eats up nearly a third of my budget in one shot. Has anyone out there used both that can give some insight as to why one would be better than the other? Is there something else out there that I haven't seen yet that would be even better?

I'm going to hold off on trim tabs or turn fins for now until I find that I need them.

Regarding the motor/esc- About the only thing I can offer here is that I want brushless. Other than that there are just too many damn choices out there and I don't trust the small amount of knowledge I've gained by reading about this stuff for the past couple months. I don't have enough practical experience with this kind of thing to make an informed decision. What would you put into this boat if it were yours? (I'll also need a motor mount and a cooling system but I think I can handle that decision- if you've got a favorite method/product for either feel free to share it).

Batteries: In order to keep costs manageable I'm sticking with NiMH on this- the higher cost of LiPo can be added later when I want to juice things up a bit How many cells should I go with? How big of a difference between 12 or 14 would there really be? Sadly the battery selection at OSE is kind of slim so I may end up shopping elsewhere for those

I know, I know- am I going to ask you guys to install all the parts in my boat next? I wish I didn't have to ask people I don't know to basically give me a shopping list but that's where I'm at. I was kind of hoping that OSE could put together a package deal (with package deal pricing if possible ), so if you can do that please contact me privately and we can work that out.

Or should I just forgo all this silliness and buy a SuperVee 27 and use it as a donor? For some reason that just seems like it wouldn't be an optimum solution. It would probably be cheaper though. Would it work?

Sorry for the length, but I figured the more info I put in the OP the better. Thanks for any insight you can give me, I really do appreciate it.

[Doby]

Cool looking boat, Great also that you did it yourself;

Use this for power, should move it quite nicely;

http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...=dh-aqcom-1800

Also, if you want to save some money, all of the SV running hardware is here and fairly inexpensive.

[motoxbob11]

Nice work on the build and I agree with Doby for that size boat an SV power system would by plenty and not too costly.
Other than that you might think about getting a good condition used SV and use the parts. 300 dollars doesn't go far in this hobby and the hardware on the SV should work well on that hull. If you bought all the SV parts you would need (including some OSE parts that are better), you would be well over 300 dollars. A used SV would be half of that if you are lucky. As you said you are just looking for a fun ride so maybe spending top dollars on top of the line hardware isn't the best thing.
One thing you should really consider is going with Lipo batteries. You may save a little with Nimh but you WILL make the switch so you might as well do it right to start with.

[Kinetikx]

Thanks to both of you for the input. I seem to be getting that same advice from more than a few people so it looks like the hunt will begin for a Supervee. In essense I'll end up with two boats that way- I don't mind that at all.

Hey, and if I get lucky maybe I'll end up with enough left over to get a little parkflyer that I can fly into trees in my front yard :D

And I agree with the sentiment about the lipos- too bad decent chargers are so pricey. Especially since most of my charging will be done at home and I would need to buy a power supply for it as well (or I could risk trying to convert one of the many computer power supplies I've got laying around). I'll see how things go.

Thanks again.

[Kinetikx]

I've searched everywhere trying to find this but have had no luck- does anyone have any idea how much a bare Supervee hull weighs? I'm curious to see the difference between mine and the SV

[motoxbob11]

Don't know about the weight of the hull but a good charger that doesn't need a power supply is the Hyperion 0606i for 140 dollars. I guess that isn't really inexpensive but it works well.