Wanting a nitro boat...(Long post, sorry, but need help)

[fs454]

I just saw a guy running his Air Streak 500 a few days ago in the lagoon area of this resort. I was immediately interested and talked to him about it. He was just breaking it in, and i probably only saw it go about 10mph since he was breaking it in, but it was pretty impressive being the first actual nitro boat i've seen running, aside from videos and pics online. He said it was only $130 with engine, prejoined hull, etc. Once he was done I went back to my site and went online only to find that this boat is discontinued, but people are recommending the Nitro Hammer. I have done a lot of research on this boat now, and have searched these and other forums. I've also considered a nitro vee due to the amount of upgrades available(More tuned pipes, TRX 2.5, people with .21's in them, etc), but they seem to be a piece of junk without lots of upgrades, and are a bit expensive.

I have experience with nitro, I have a .21 T-maxx, a 2.5 T-maxx, and a Losi XXX-NT with an OS CV-RX .12(I think, havent used this truck in a bit), so i'm farmiliar with tuning and stuff like that. I just want to know if i will be satisfied with the Nitro Hammer over another boat.

Keep in mind my budget is pretty tight. I was looking for an RC boat about a year ago and was so close to buying an Enforcer Super G gas boat, but I decided on a gaming laptop instead(For the curious, it's a Sager 5680 with a 3ghz P4, 1GB PC3200 RAM, and a Mobility 9600 Pro 128mb).
Back on the subject, I probably only want to spend about $200, but i can go a bit over for fuel and batteries and stuff like that.

Now that I brought that up, what type of fuel should I use and how should i go about getting it? I use Blue Thunder 20% in my trucks, but I know that wont work in boats from the research i've done on this. My LHS is called "RC Car Store", so, yeah... I doubt they will have what i need for fuel. I remember they carry Traxxas Top Fuel, Blue Thunder, and 1 or 2 others I forget. I'll try to find that out though. They do carry the Nitro Vee and that big Shockwave gas boat, but i dont recall seeing a Hammer or anything, but i usually dont look.

Ok ok ok.... i'll summarize this into a few little questions, heh:

1. Will I be happy with the hammer? I like speed and reliability in the stuff i buy usually.

2. My budget is about $200-$235ish, what should i pick up along with my Hammer?

3. What fuel should i use, and where should I get it? My main source of RC stuff is an RC car/truck hobby shop, a nice one at that, but barely any boat stuff, but recommend a fuel and i'll see if they have it.

4. Anything I should know? This will be my first nitro boat btw.

Sorry for the long post, but thanks for helping.

[BoatDoc]

the nitro hammer is a good first boat. it can be a lot of fun to drive and is pretty reliable. it also has a lot of upgrade potential. since you already have some cars, you won't need to buy too much outside of the boat itself. all you need is batteries and fuel. i like to run trinity 30% monster hp fuel. as far as upgrades, nobody makes parts for it. you can use parts from other boats or make your own. if you do a search here for nitro hammers, you'll find tons of info about them, and most of it is good. unlike some boats that just get bad mouthed.

[Watercadet]

I second that on the Trinity fuel. Blue Thunder works fine too, in fact it is recomended by Pro Boat for the Bud and all of their other Nirto burning boats. That said, Pro Boat is the same company as Dynamite (who makes Blue Thunder) they all fall under Horizon Hobbies.
Adam

[fs454]

Hmm, the Blue Thunder has enough oil content for boats? I thought it didnt, but i'm not sure where i heard that.

I'll probably get this boat, i'm gonna call my LHS when i get back from maine(Where i am now), and see if they carry it. If not, i'll get it from tower, but is the shipping a lot of money for one of these? I live in massachusetts.

[Watercadet]

Shipping is not that bad from tower. If your store has Horizion as their primary distributer ( Pro Boat , Dynamite, Losi...) it is not LIKELY they will have the Hammer as it is distributed by Great Planes. Kind of sucks that they are so exclusive that way...
I don't doubt that you heard that Blue Thunder didn't have enough oil content but that is what is recommended by the manufacturer.

[water dog]

I run the CEN AUQUAJET .I got it off E BAY for 165.00 new and I love it .I think its faster than the hammer and I run the trinity 30% with a little xtra castor oil for good measure.

[fs454]

I just did some quick looks around for it and what bugs me is that it has a plastic hull, other than that it looks cool, the hammer seems to have a bigger fanbase backing it up though

[CFRACR]

Being A Hammer Fan-that Would Be My Recomendation. As For The Cen Aquajet. When I First Got My Hammer Broken In I Went To One Of The Local Lakes Where People Run Boats. There Was A Fellow There With One Of Those Cen Aquajet's And He Said That He Had Made Ton's Of Mod's And That It Was Fast!! Well I Was Faster & Handled Tighter With A Stock Hammer Right Out Of The Box. :D I Have Since Made Some Mod's To It, And Have It Super Tweaked! When I Got To The Lake The Cen Auquajet Guy Wants Nothing To So With The :D !

[fs454]

Ok, my LHS has one Hammer left, i just wanna make sure i can use this and i wont be royally owned by some 100mph custom hydro guy at my lake, heh. I do have a lake fairly close to me, but i will have to go check it out to see if it's smooth enough, havent really bothered to look at it since they dont allow (real)boats other than sailboats on it, no big gas boats, but i think that's because its smack dab in the middle of the town i live in, with houses around it, and it's small. I think there are other RC boaters here, but i'm gonna look into it

My LHS is selling it for $249, have one left, and i plan on buying some extra props and rudders just in case i blow a couple...How much are those usually?

[CFRACR]

Well Since I Paid About 200$ For Mine At My Lhs, Your Hobby Shop Is 50$ Higher. No Telling How Much For Props, Plugs Ect. Check Stock Status At Tower, Pick A Color And Order The Accs. At The Same Time. The Shipping Will Be Much Lower Than Your Gonna Pay In Taxes!!

[water dog]

Being A Hammer Fan-that Would Be My Recomendation. As For The Cen Aquajet. When I First Got My Hammer Broken In I Went To One Of The Local Lakes Where People Run Boats. There Was A Fellow There With One Of Those Cen Aquajet's And He Said That He Had Made Ton's Of Mod's And That It Was Fast!! Well I Was Faster & Handled Tighter With A Stock Hammer Right Out Of The Box. :D I Have Since Made Some Mod's To It, And Have It Super Tweaked! When I Got To The Lake The Cen Auquajet Guy Wants Nothing To So With The :D !
The hammer was slower than the cen in the rtr boat review a few months ago.

[CFRACR]

I Was Not There!! Don't Know How Things Were Set Up Ect. There Is Also The Fact That Manufactur's Need Good Rewiews To Sell Product. As Well As The Mags Need Advertising Money To Stay In Business.
I Just Go By What I See Ect. I Have A Local R/c Boat Club About Two Miles From Me. There Are Lots Of Regulars And Newcommers.
There Is Always Someone Showing Up With A New Boat. From The Pool Of Rtr's It Seems That The Nitro Hammer Seems To Be The Most Consistant Boat Out There. Just Because A Mag Says So..........hmm
I Go With What I Have Seen With My Own Eyes. There Was A Cen Aquajet Out There Last Sunday And It Was A Dog!! Eyeryone Tried To Help Tweak It Out With No Avail. :)

[water dog]

Well I guess there is always a chance of getting a bad boat from any manufacture .My auquajet screams and it is 30inches long vs the hammer 24inches ,less boat in the water.

[scorpien boats]

r u shure you want rtr? if you build it urself you can go alot faster for less money.... i built a boat that owns a hammer for $50 less lol

one of the resons i don't like hammers is because of the way they look....

imo looks r important too....

[Baja-Destroyer]

thats cuz u use the same radio for all ur stuff lol o and is the other reason u dont like hammers cuz i beat ur nitro vee with all its mods with my stock hammer lol i have a nitro hammer its ok stock radio box doesnt seal well can be hard to start or it starts in 1 pull i put a macs pipe on mine and put some extra air holes in it all it really did was make it louder which is cool but i can really see any speed increase i think im gonna put some foam or something to make it sit a little higher in the water its a good boat to get and see if u even like boats then if u do u can move on to bigger and better things

[fs454]

I bought a Hammer as my other topic says, just ran it today. I like it, and probably for christmas i will build something bigger.

Havent broken the hammer in fully though, only 2 1/2 - 3 tanks through so far, we went out late so it got dark quickly. I like it though, it takes on a considerable amount of water, and i dont think my water pickup is picking up any water to cool the engine (Temp was about 205 when i brought it in....too hot?).

[Baja-Destroyer]

it runs pretty hot cuz its inclosed with that hatch

[fs454]

I cut two large holes on the cockpits, and its running a little under 2 1/2 turns out on the HSN

[BoatDoc]

just had a thought...some of that water in your hull may be coming from your cooling system. if it's not getting to the head, it might be leaking into the hull.