what to get???

[-Rossi-]

hi

im wondering what boat i should get. its between the shockwave 36, mean machine 18, or the thundercat 31. im not going to race or anything, just for fun. im gonna be running in calm water and pretty rough water.

thanks

[-Rossi-]

anytime now.

lol

[BoatDoc]

the general opinion around this little place is that proboat=bad. aeromarine= :D . although i have no experience or 1st hand knowledge of the 3 boats you're looking between, i would lean towards the MM18, based purely on aeromarine's reputation. sorry you were waiting a week to from anyone...but it's been slow around here for a while.

[-Rossi-]

yea, ive heard a lot of good thing and a lot of bad things about proboat. i dont plan on putting anything special in what ever i get. i just want something for fun. the reason i put the shockwave in there is because of how rough the water can get where i live, and i know going 20-25mph with a catamaran in 4-6in waves would be very hard without flipping. anyone else


thanks for the info

[Ron Olson]

The ProBoat boats do have some minor issues but not anything expensive to fix or serious.
One thing keeps popping up is the flex cable. Replace it and use the original one as a spare. The T-Cat has had some problems with a loose radio box, make sure that it is secure if you decide on that boat. The rudder linkage on both of the ProBoat boats should be upgraded to 4-40 linkage instead of the supplied 2-56 wire. Leaks around the cap are common also.
There hasn't been much in the way of info on the Mean Machine 18 yet but it sounds like it is underpowered as they are using the same hull dimensions as the .21/.45 Cats.

[tbaysal2000]

Is that a common experience that a RTR Cat like TC31 will flip after 25 mph at 3-4 waves? What is the limits then for a deep vee like Shockwave?

Is there any hardware improvement on RT31 compared to Shockwave?

Finally I understand that both are capable around 35 mph out of the box, true? If so then with propeller improvement maybe better speeds?

[CFRACR]

Hmm, alot is going on in your mind.
Decide on a boat that you like and are willing to spend the money for. In other words the more $, the better the boat and setup.

Also water conditions where you plan on running most. Thats because if the waters rough alot, and you have a hull that needs calm water. You won't be doing much boating. Your boat will become a shelf queen.

The Shockwave is pretty decent for the money. It does run 30-35 out of the box, & with the minor changes/upgrades that are needed, not a bad boat. Also can handle the rougher stuff that will have some of the hydro's. ect. on the shore.

Hope this helps

[Killerush]

Just my opinion, but I bought a Shockwave 36 new and it was traded off in 2 weeks. The flex cable is definitely crap and the boat is highly prone to "chine walk"(becomes VERY unstable on a wide open run). I also thought the boat was fairly difficult to get tuned, but that was my first experience with a marine engine. If I were to do it again I would go with aeromarine.

[Ron Olson]

Memorial Day weekend I finally got a chance to do a little tweaking on and seeing two T-Cat's running. We went through my prop box and got the best speed, 37 MPH out of an Octura M-445 on radar and 65% in the tank.
A few tricks is to get a good flex cable for it and use the stock one for a spare. The prop of course, sharpened and balanced, lengthen the pipe a little and use a good replacement tuned pipe coupler.don't use the stock fuel tank but instead mount an 8 oz. tank in the right sponson towards the stern to lighten up the front.
Add floatation to the hull and especially the hatch!
On the rear, replace the stock rudder linkage with 4-40 threaded rod. The rudder can be shortened up to 1 inch. Drill a hole in the rudder bracket for a 2-56, 3-48 or 4-40 brass or aluminum nut and bolt then toss the bottom stainless steel nut and bolt. This will work as a shear pin in case you hit any debris in the water so whatever you use, carry along spares. A lot of T-Cat owners have already lost rudders from hitting junk.
Check all nuts and bolts. Lock-Tite them if you need to. Make sure that the radio box is secure, some have been loose from the factory.
Compare the waves or chop as if they were also scale compared to a full-sized boat. Some water conditions are simply too rough to run any R/C boat in as they are with the big ones.

[tbaysal2000]

CFRACR and all

My decider will be the one capable of the most speed against smaller waves (of about 10 to 15 inches which even my oldie Villain IV was capable. This was my first and only RC boat and I upgrade by adding water cooling system after starting the system got to overheated because I started to use 2 batteries in a way to get 14V. I achieved very good speeds for an electric boat of it's time though.

I will not race against other RC boats but I will actually race against my friend's 36 ft boat with 2x230HP (Volvo Penta diesel) :cool: . This boat is capable of max 30 knots (abt 35 mph) and I will race while I will be on board of this boat. So electrics are out due to run time issue even though they are easier to maintain for newbies like me. I will stil buy a RTR electric (again abt $350 level) as my secong boat to add my fleet. My best option here is the up coming SuperVee 27 RTR from Hobbico. I will need to see some on hands reviews of course.

Let's get back to the subject:
Both TC31 and Shockwave are within my target budget of $350 and spend a few bucks on modifications listed below. I don't even know what most of these means as a newbie but my research shows that below are must to do (thanks to all contributors and esp. Ron):

- rudder linkage on both of the ProBoat boats should be upgraded to 4-40 linkage instead of the supplied 2-56 wire
- Replace flex cable (what is the choice here and which specs?)
- Better propeller for additional speed (Octura M-445 seems to be the choice)
- Anything I forgot? :confused:

So which one of these finalists, Thundercat 31 and Shockwave 36 should be my choice?

Sorry for the length of my mesage but this could be a guide for all confused guys like me. :o

EDIT: After reading Donny's good news on improved speeds of Lamborghini, the very cool looking crap material Kyosho, I've added back to the finalist list waiting for Donny's report this weekend. His comments on harsch sea conditions is also very important to me now.

[LuvEvolution]

I'll tell you my story...............my friend had a shockwave 36(which I now have) and also has a t-cat31. the shockwave does chine walk quite a bit and the more you stay in the throttle, the bigger those occilations get. so back off the throttle and re-apply power smoothly. the other thing with the shockwave is that it will spin out quite happily and readily if you are aggressive with your steering wheel, so dial out some steering or learn a bit of control feel. as far as that flex shaft goes, it is crappy and the alignment of the stuffing tube, it makes you wonder if they hired a blind guy at pro boat to do this job. LOL. just get another brand of flex shaft(same diameter/length)and you will have more success. pro boats shaft is just weak and will break. the good thing with the shockwave is that it can handle some big ass waves. we play on Lake Ontario in Ontario, Canada and I'll tell you what, we can get some decent chop. sometimes up to 2-3 metres. obviously we aren't going out in those conditions, but we've been out in up to 3 footers just for the blast . granted, she fills up with water pretty good, but can handle it. on average, there are always one footers on our shores and she will handle those like a champ. the only concern you should have here is that if you are turning and you catch the top of a rolling wave at the same time, she will barrel role and if you don't stay on the gas, she will flip and sink. trust me on this one. LOL.
now for th t-cat. the thing we both like about this boat is she's fast. quicker than the shockwave. we have a friend(cop) who bought down a radar gun. the shockwave was right there at the claimed 35mph, and we clocked the t-cat at 41 mph. now I will say this. the t-cat comes with a smaller prop than the shockwave and with this prop, you get 35mph. even sharpened and pollished, we only saw 37 mph. with the shockwave prop, sharpened and balanced and blades slightly modified, we hit 41mph and I think with some playing around with setup and pipe length, I don't see why 45+? would be out of the question. with the right setup, this t-cat is gonna be a great little boat for people who just want some fun. NOW, here's my pet peeves. the alignment of the stuffing tube....sloppy at best and puts the engine just in contact with the hull bottom......not good. the tiger drive..........I much prefer a pull start. the thing with a tiger drive is that if you apply too much torque, your one way bearing suffers. let's not even get into the fiasco we had with proboat over that one. let's just say we're not impressed with customer service at horizon hobby. all I'll say is that if you buy the t-cat, I would go with a pull start.....it's just less grief. also, the radio box is not quite as waterproof as I'de like it to be. we've been thinking about trying a cork gasket or some other material to see if we can get it more leak proof. the tabs that hold the front of the cowl down are plastic and will break if you flip the boat a few times......this is from experience. make some out of stainless steel and glue them on in place ot the plastic ones. also, the design of the hull itself is way more unstable in chop than the shockwave......it flips quite readily in chop and it will even flip on calm water. a different type of hull requires different driving styles. so this is something to get used to. it will spin out easily too.....we put on turn fins from the shockwave and this seems to have helped quite dramatically.
anyway, to kinda answer your question.......as far as fun factor goes, these are both pretty decent boats for the money. it's really just your choice as to which one you get.......which is more aesthetically pleasing to you. one is a boat that is pretty stable in chop, but has some chine walk issues, but is also a rocket ship for someone with little or no experience with nitro. the other is a cat style that is even more of a rocket ship than the shockwave on calm water, but can't handle the rough stuff as good. both boats will be better with mods, but don't lean the engines too much.......the front bearing on the Dynamite 32 is not the strongest and likes a lot of lubrication........don't stray too much from factory spec and you will be okay. plus you don't gain any more than 1 or 2 mph out of that......you get more out of prop and pipe mods. so save your engine and go with other mods. if you want my advise, the shockwave(though not the fastest ot the two)is the best of the two boats if you want something for all water conditions.
as far as the Lambourghini cat......I'll say this.......I have a Kyosho nitro boat and if the cat is like mine......stay away. the motor is mounted directly to the plastic by a threaded, expansion plug. after a while this wears out and you have a problem. I went to start the engine one day and as I pulled the starter chord, the engine came out of the boat with it. kinda funny, but a pain in the ass at the same time. I would bet that the cat has some kind of engine mount or something, but if it's a plastic boat, you will have some kind of issue with engine mounting, regardless of what kind of mount is utilized. if the boat is fibreglass, then you'll be fine, but if it's plastic, take my advise and leave plastic boats for the electric guys, not nitro. too much vibration.....that's what the problem is.....you don't have that with electric.
anyway, hope this all helps at least a little, but I think you'll be better off with the shockwave. plus, now that the t-cat is out, you should be able to pick it up a little cheaper also. ttyl.

[-Rossi-]

thaks for all the info everyone. ive done a lot of thinking and i decide considering how rough the water gets near me that i need something bigger with more power so im thinking about a gas boat. the only problem with that is im only 14 and most of my money is going into my monster gt. so a gas boat would take me awhile to save up on. the other thing is nitro is expensive and i dont want to buy 2 different fuels. so i started a new thread so plz give ur input ( manta ray v shockwave ss. thats again for all the help.