My review of the "sworder" outriggers from TheBuildRC.com

[Namba328]

TheBuildRc.com sent me these two sworder outriggers for free to test and review and give a honest review on these boats, just part of the products that they carry. When I received these boats I was astonished by the craftsmanship and quality of these boats. They are full fiberglass hull with solid carbon rod boom tubes and they have a really nice laser cut wood motor mount and radio gear tray that is already setup to accept almost any standard size servo. These boats also come with all machined aluminum hardware that is the best I have seen come from China. They are very light weight but very solid and rtr they both ended up almost 1/2lb lighter then the boat I currently race. Which not only made me excited, but made me want to strive to make these two boats run as fast as possible.

Now there was some modifications I had to do. I had to add wider ride pads onto the bottom of the sponsons due to the stock ride surfaces being too narrow. I honed the strut to a larger diameter to allow a .187" or 4.76mm flex shaft to fit to accommodate the power of the 2030kv aquacraft motor we used in my district racing. I also had to carve the stock wooden motor mount so that my motor would fit due to its size and cooling jacket. I also had to add a 90 degree bracket to the right side sponson to allow me to mount a turnfin of my choice, which I used a aquacraft turnfin from a ul-1 superior hydro which I took off my current boat. How I mounted the bracket is I drilled through the sponson and epoxied in two pieces of brass tubing that was slightly longer then the thickness of the sponson where the bracket was going to be mounted so that when I tightened the mounting bolts it wouldn't squeeze the sponson it would squeeze the brass instead. I also have since removed and added a more conventional style strut and will post my results after I get to test it.

But all and all these outriggers are a very good option for someone who is looking for a affordable option to go race outriggers and I have plans on building these up as a pltd hydro and a full phydro and racing them here locally and hopefully at the 2016 Namba FE Nationals this year. To be honest I was able to do almost all of the modifications within about 3 1/2 to about 4hrs worth of time and that was taking my time and trying things before making them permanent.

If you want to go check these out here's the link: http://thebuildrc.com/rc-boats/arr-w...gger-boat.html

Once again they have lots of other products so go check out what they have and I will post results of the conventional style strut testing asap.
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[Namba328]

More photos:
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[785boats]

You will need to strengthen the boom inserts in the sponsons. They pull out very easily.
I also added a 1/8th rod from the tub wall to the turn fin bracket to take the strain in the cornering.

https://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/...ger&highlight=

[Namba328]

They pull out due to the aluminum not being sanded im going to pull them out and rough them up and re-epoxy them in place. And the turn fin on mine is actually pretty solid tbh but i thought about a brace and may do one if i see a need for it after i fix the sponson mounts.

[785boats]

I've no doubt that the turn fin & bracket are strong enough, but the wire brace isn't to strengthen the fin. It is to take the strain off the boom inserts in the sponson so they don't pull out. Especially the rear one near the fin where all the force is applied in a turn.

[ray schrauwen]

These were half the price when they were called R2 Hobbies. After they changed warehouses and website name all prices doubled. Of course before they were almost giving them away and quality may not have been as good either. Nice review.
Watching...

[Namba328]

Ray r2 hobbies never sold these. TheBuildRc is its own brand. R2 is seperate. TheBuildRc bought molds from r2 and mold there own boats. The quality of these hulls are top notch.

[Namba328]

I've no doubt that the turn fin & bracket are strong enough, but the wire brace isn't to strengthen the fin. It is to take the strain off the boom inserts in the sponson so they don't pull out. Especially the rear one near the fin where all the force is applied in a turn.

Did you roughen up the aluminum before you reglued it back in place?

[Namba328]

I've no doubt that the turn fin & bracket are strong enough, but the wire brace isn't to strengthen the fin. It is to take the strain off the boom inserts in the sponson so they don't pull out. Especially the rear one near the fin where all the force is applied in a turn.

Also i noticed your using a fin thats way to big. I use a ul-1 fin and it works like a charm. Im also going to make up the fin from kep's plans and also try a jae12 fin that i recently recieved to see which performs better. But currently the ul-1 has been my go to fin.

[ray schrauwen]

Ray r2 hobbies never sold these. TheBuildRc is its own brand. R2 is seperate. TheBuildRc bought molds from r2 and mold there own boats. The quality of these hulls are top notch.

Thanks for setting this straight.

Good to know the real story.

[Brushless55]

So do we have to fab our own turn fin bracket for this rigger ?

[785boats]

Also i noticed your using a fin thats way to big. I use a ul-1 fin and it works like a charm. Im also going to make up the fin from kep's plans and also try a jae12 fin that i recently recieved to see which performs better. But currently the ul-1 has been my go to fin.

Hi there.
The fin I'm using is the fin designed for the Keps rigger off the plans.. It is slightly bigger than a Ul-1 fin. But it was designed specifically for the Keps hull & sponsons.

Did you roughen up the aluminum before you reglued it back in place?

I did roughen the aluminium before gluing them back in. But I also drilled & tapped a short wafer head bolt into the inserts from the outside of the sponsons. There are some pics of it towards the end of this build thread.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2566209

I only did the inside sponson at the time. But since then I've hit a buoy & the front insert on the left side sponson has also broken loose now so I'll have to give that aponson the same treatment.
I hope you don't have the same problems with yours, but the glue used by the manufacturer is very brittle & was applied very sparingly, on mine at least.
Cheers.
Paul.

[Namba328]

Hi there.
The fin I'm using is the fin designed for the Keps rigger off the plans.. It is slightly bigger than a Ul-1 fin. But it was designed specifically for the Keps hull & sponsons.



I did roughen the aluminium before gluing them back in. But I also drilled & tapped a short wafer head bolt into the inserts from the outside of the sponsons. There are some pics of it towards the end of this build thread.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2566209

I only did the inside sponson at the time. But since then I've hit a buoy & the front insert on the left side sponson has also broken loose now so I'll have to give that aponson the same treatment.
I hope you don't have the same problems with yours, but the glue used by the manufacturer is very brittle & was applied very sparingly, on mine at least.
Cheers.
Paul.

Yea mine on all 4 broke loose when i cartwheeled it but im going to remount them with west systems so it'll be solid and im going to dimple the aluminum as well as rough it up.

[Namba328]

So do we have to fab our own turn fin bracket for this rigger ?

Yes. But its easy. I just went to home depot bought some aluminum angle, i will post the size later tonight, and i explain how i mounted it up in my review.

[Namba328]

So do we have to fab our own turn fin bracket for this rigger ?

Yes. But its easy. I just went to home depot bought some aluminum angle, i will post the size later tonight, and i explain how i mounted it up in my review.

[grsboats]

Nice to see an entry level rigger and all the necessary fix for it....JB Weld is a good glue for this purpose.Gill