The FE30 - Built by RCBOATBUILD

**IRON-PAWW** · 04-25-2013, 05:16 AM

INSANE BOATS FE30 - By RC BOATBUILD

PHOTO BY PROPERCHOPPER

Hi All,

I recently went through the process of acquiring an Insane Boats FE30. If you're here at this forum then I'd hazard a guess that Insane Boats http://www.insaneboats.com/ needs no introduction to you. With the FE30, Insane Boats deliver you a bare hull when you order from them, as below. Well, the hull is gelcoated and finished in a colour that you choose when you place your order.

PHOTO BY PROPERCHOPPER

All hardware and running gear needs to be added by you, which is fine if you know what you're doing. But if, like me, you don't know what you're doing then you might have considered an FE30 beyond you. So, I'm doing this write up to tell you about the service RCBOATBUILD, aka Properchopper, aka Tony Heller, is currently providing to interested people.

I came on the OSE Forums asking about Hydro's, and which ones were the goods. I wanted a hydro that would challenge me and also be capable of some speed, plus, be able to handle a little chop. I looked closely at the UL1 Superior and almost had my finger on the trigger for one of those, but then someone suggested I contact forum member ProperChopper and ask about the possibility of him doing a build up on a better hull for me. So that's exactly what I did.

Right from the outset, I'll say that the FE30 is a boat that needs a little experience before you tackle it. It's very fast when built right, and just needs that bit of pre-existing know how with FE boats before going there, even if it is built up for you by someone else. Just my opinion on that though.

PHOTO BY PROPERCHOPPER

So really what I was wanting to do right here is take you through the process of having RCBOATBUILD do you up an FE30, just so you know there's another option out there, rather than choosing one of the Almost Ready To Run boats off the shelf. The first thing I did was send Poperchopper a PM though the OSE Forum. He got back to me, and and said he could indeed help me out!! So then we started conversing via email, and Tony sent me his list of expected costings, which in my view were extremely reasonable considering the work he was proposing to do for me. Then, once I'd agreed to the price list, it was off to the Insane Boats website for me to choose what colours and decals etc I wanted on the boat. I settled on the orange colour that Insane offers, which almost looks red in some lighting situations. Damn cool in any case if you ask me.

Because I was an international order (Australia) I needed to contact Jeff Michaud at Insane via email detailing exactly the hull, colours, decals and hardware I wanted, along with a full mailing address so that Jeff could put together a quote for the boat, and the international shipping required to get it here. Australia is a long way from the US, so, shipping a larger item like a boat hull is going to cost you if you live a similar distance away. But completely doable if you're up for it.

Once Insane boats has the hull ready, Tony will pick it up from them and begin his work. You just need to make sure you let Insane know that Tony will be along to pick up the hull.

Inserting the Strut Bushing

PHOTO BY PROPERCHOPPER

PHOTO BY PROPERCHOPPER

Brass shear bolt added to the turn fin

PHOTO BY PROPERCHOPPER

**IRON-PAWW** · 04-25-2013, 05:21 AM

Servo rod pass through & rudder assembly added

PHOTO BY PROPERCHOPPER

Lining up and setting out internals

PHOTO BY PROPERCHOPPER

PHOTO BY PROPERCHOPPER

Measuring space for batteries

PHOTO BY PROPERCHOPPER

We had a discussion about batteries, because Tony knew that space within the FE30 hull was limited, especially if you wish to run 2 batteries along either side of the hull. Also, Tony advised that too much weight loaded into the FE30 hull could keep the nose down too much and greatly increase the chance of wave stuffing. Stuffing, if you're wondering, is where the nose of the boat catches the surface of the water, and the boat submarines down into the depths. larger waves across a lake surface can cause this, as the wave momentarily raises the water's surface.

I had some 4S 5000mah Thunder Power batteries I was hoping to use. But, the weight of the 5000mah batts alone would likely have caused the issues above, plus they were simply too big to fit where they needed to go. So then it was either a case of sourcing some 4S 4000mah Turnigy Nanotech, or 4s 4000mah Dinogy Nanotech batteries, because Tony knew that those batteries would fit. A little research on the topic quickly had me choosing the Dinogy batteries.

Tony ordered these for me, and simply included the batteries in with the boat hull when it shipped. Problem solved. We agreed to just add the price of the Dinogy's onto the final Paypal bill.

PHOTO BY ME

Setup for battery positioning

PHOTO BY ME

Just going to quote Tony right here.

"The way I configure the layout allows a single 4S 5000 pack to be used in front of the ESC - just between the front of the ESC and the front hatch opening. Trouble is that the 1515 1Y is pretty amp hungry and most racers that have tried that config can't get a 2 1/2 minute heat in without endangering the battery. The conventional setup is to use two 4S 4000 packs on each side of the ESC - plenty of capacity PLUS the added weight helps keep the boat on the water in racewater chop. This creates two issues : the ESC needs to be modded to use 90 degree waterline fitings to narrow it down providing clearance for the batteries (pictured)."

**IRON-PAWW** · 04-25-2013, 05:23 AM

90 degree fittings used to MOD ESC

PHOTO BY PROPERCHOPPER

Tony modded the ESC for me. Initially we discussed what ESC I had in mind, and I just went with the old stalwart of today, the Seaking 180. Tony ordered it for me from OSE, and then modded it with the 90 degree fittings once it arrived. All part of the service if you agree to have him mod it for you. I wasn't so sure I could pull it off with the tools I have here, or the know how. Again, we just added the cost of the ESC onto the final bill.

Anyhow, back to the hull build up.

Inserting the Stuffing tube

PHOTO BY PROPERCHOPPER

PHOTO BY PROPERCHOPPER

Finishing the stuffing tube hull entry

PHOTO BY PROPERCHOPPER

PHOTO BY PROPERCHOPPER

ESC Installed

PHOTO BY PROPERCHOPPER

You can see that Tony puts the ESC up on a raised platform. He builds it that way in case you get water inside the hull while running the boat. The water can slosh around on the floor of the hull while the ESC sits up high and dry. Another little area where some experience goes a long way.

**IRON-PAWW** · 04-25-2013, 05:24 AM

Hatch Retention tab installation

PHOTO BY PROPERCHOPPER

PHOTO BY PROPERCHOPPER

Hull Hardware Installation completed

PHOTO BY PROPERCHOPPER

PHOTO BY PROPERCHOPPER

Almost done!

PHOTO BY PROPERCHOPPER

**IRON-PAWW** · 04-25-2013, 05:25 AM

Package arrived!

PHOTO BY ME

Boxed up nice!

PHOTO BY ME

Even though everything that could be done was done to package the boat securely, some very minor damage did occur in transit. Nothing a little epoxy couldn't fix though. That just highlights the way it is when shipping something like this such a long way. Even when marked fragile as this package clearly was, sometimes it happens. No biggie. I had no issues with the way Jeff at insane Boats packaged up the boat for international travel. It arrived on my doorstep 99.9% as it was when it left the US.

Grinding a flat onto the shaft of the NEU Motor

PHOTO BY ME

Tony built the boat up to the level that I wanted, which in this case was pretty much ready to run. All that was left for me to do was install the motor, servo, and the radio gear. Very simple stuff for boating enthusiasts to do. I also had to solder some 5.5mm bullet connectors onto all the battery and motor leads. Tony offered to do that soldering for me, but I wanted at least some of the fun.

I chose a decent motor. I went with the NEU 1515 1Y, which I bought from OSE. Neu Motors do not come with flats on the shafts, so I needed to grind one in place with a Dremel tool. This took about a minute to do. Very very easy with the right tools.

First Run Load Out

PHOTO BY ME

So here's the completed internal layout with batteries, steering servo, and radio gear loaded. Tony crafts some foam rubber pool noodles to fit most blank spaces and provide flotation should something nasty happen and you end up with more water inside the hull than you wanted. You can see how tight things are with the batteries installed at each side and ESC in the middle. So now the need to modify the ESC with those 90 degree fittings is made pretty clear isn't it. Despite how it appears, the batteries are actually easy to install. You pull that blue pool noodle foam out, and then you get a bendy plastic ruler, and slide the batteries into place on top of the ruler. Then just pull the ruler out when you've got the right position. Easy. To remove, you do the same, just slide the ruler under the battery to break the velcro's grip and pull the battery and ruler out at the same time. Cinch.

You can see I went with the Traxxas 'waterproof' servo and a Tactic receiver. No particular reason for either choice. The waterproof claim of the Traxxas servo sounded good to me, and I have one of those in another boat which hasn't missed a beat so far. With a few Ready to Run boats in my repertoire now I have a collection of Tactic gear. Cheap & cheerful I'll fully admit, but actually none of my Tactic gear has missed a beat so far at all. I have several boats all bound to one Tactic controller as well, which is so easy to do it ain't funny.

First Run Load Out II

PHOTO BY ME

So you can see I'm running the boat on 4S, with two 4000mah Dinogy's in Parallel.

Setting the turn fin Position

PHOTO BY ME

The very last thing I had to do was set the positioning of the turn fin. Tony advised to set it keeping the fold in the fin parallel to the hull. Easy done, 2 minute job.

So all in all - I found this process easy. Tony kept me in the loop during the build at all times - you can see the photo's he sent me as he was doing the work. We discussed all issues via email and Tony always gave me choices about which way I could go with things. Tony ordered all all the equipment he needed in himself, and always presented the costs to me before actually spending the money. There were many many extra's that Tony threw in to the whole package. The running around he did collecting and delivering the boat to insane, the 90 degree water fittings, ordering and collecting the Dinogy batteries for me....... You can make your own decision, but most of us know good operators when we come across them.

I'll also quote Tony again right here.

Here's some of the hidden (or not so hidden) extras I throw in :

all through-hull hardware holes sealed with sealant
anti-seize on collet threads for even torque
strut bushings hand-lapped for smoothness
all major structures adhered with West Systems G/Flex epoxy
ESC platform and Rx box to prevent any slosh from getting these wet
hatch retention tabs in front
brass shear bolt on turn fin
rudder leading edge tip rounded
solid waterline entry tubing to prevent interference with servo arm
birch ply motor/stuffing tube bed to insure proper alignment of motor-to-flexshaft
flex end tinned to prevent unraveling
will provide picture instructions for tape-up procedure (important)

Once the boat leaves my shop I intend it to be as trouble-free as possible so the small details help point it in that direction - that's why I like to do a step-by-step report so you can better understand the how and why of these operations.

I've run the boat twice. It was damn fast, and ran damn well. I had no major issues at all - so what does that tell you. The boat was damn well built.

I have no affiliation with OSE, Insane Boats, or RCBOATBUILD whatsoever. I'm just a guy who bought a boat and had it built up for me by someone who knew what they were doing. My aim is to learn from possessing a properly set up hydro hull and work towards doing such a build myself sometime in the future. In my opinion, Tony's work deserves recognition, hence this write up. I get no benefit from it whatsoever, except letting you lot know that if you aren't so skilled like me, you can still get your hands on an FE30.

Now....... I'm off to the lake.

**TristanJones** · 01-31-2014, 01:21 PM

I currently have one of these boats in the build. I think I should hit up Tony to do the same for me, that's good work!

**kenrid** · 02-01-2014, 12:49 AM

I can attest to Tony's skills with this set up. Inspired after seeing the orange boat fly around our lake, I had Tony build one for me and it is my best FE boat yet. Fast and reliable. Well done Tony and the guys at Insane Boats.

**IRON-PAWW** · 02-07-2014, 01:00 AM

The orange FE30 is still going strong and is still a very fast boat. Been run a fair amount now and I've had no major issues with if. I don't think you'd find an off the shelf hydro built as well as this. Not only do you get a well built boat, you get the hull layout which has been refined by someone who *knows* what they are doing. Added to that.... They simply look good on the shelf. Everybody who comes to my house looks at it and waxes lyrical....... and wants one.....

**TristanJones** · 02-07-2014, 01:28 AM

I got send a pic from Tony today, he picked up my boat from insane this morning. he's got one or two more to do then hes onto mine.
Im genuinely excited and cant wait to get my hands on this boat. Mines orange top, black bottom. 60 - 65mph 4s oval trim is what I'm talking about !!!!