Talking me into an RC boat

[dhutch]

I have had RC cars all my life, but have always had a significant interest in (full size) boats and yet never had an RC boat.

Every now and then I have a look on whats selling cheap on ebay in my lunch break, and then continue on with me life, but I think its time to take the plunge!

Will mainly be used in the local canals and rivers when we are at boat festivals and rallies etc with the narrowboat I expect, although there is a local model boat pond in New Brighton as well.

- Dont really have time for a new hobby, so needs to be something which is fairly reliable and durable, although it will get flurries of interest thrown at it from time to time.
- As it will be used in open water, I don't want something really slow, a scale tug with a scale top speed for instance, but also doesnt want or need to be a world record beating titanium and carbon flying machine.
- Intermittent use, so don't really want highlight strung or expensive batteries. Would ideally charge from 12/24vdc and or USB QC although 240vac would be ok especially if the battery life was pretty good.
- Not too fussed about overall size. Max length maybe 3ft? Something you can fairly easier carry/launch alone including down a 2ft height edge.
- Could be an all plastic mass produced thing, but equally very happy to go a bit more left field with a vintage grp/tin/wooden type thing.
- Not at al against buying and plugging together the RC gear, cooling line, fitting a motor/servo onto a mount, etc. But dont want to get bogged down in a frustrating game of trying to match a replacement prop to up to some obscure thread nobody makes anymore! I have a number of 2ch 27meg transmitters and spare servos but not much more.

Budget? Could you do all in £200?

Thoughts and ebay links welcome!


Thanks, 36yo mechanical engineer with too many projects and a 2yo toddler!

[dhutch]

Simpo Two said:

Boat, plunge, very good!

I had just the same thought a few years ago, and was pondering a little plastic zoomabout for the marina. But then I went up into the loft for something, and on the left saw a half-finished project that had I'd abandoned decades before. And so I finished it

Very nice.

[dhutch]

blueST said:

Don't know much about boats, but £200 would seem ample to get you something quite exciting if that's what you are after.

https://www.modelsport.co.uk/category/9900/990030/...

Link fix...
https://www.modelsport.co.uk/product/volantex-rc-r... 446mm long, Volantex, Black £60
https://www.modelsport.co.uk/product/joysway-offsh... 360mm long, Joysway, Orange £77
Both have a 390 brushed motor and 800/850mAh 7.4V Li-ion battery and 2.4g radio.

Should have added, would much rather twin stick than wheel+trigger. This any good?
https://www.modelsport.co.uk/product/absima-sr2s-2...

Edited by dhutch on Tuesday 30th January 17:22

[dhutch]

blueST said:

Absima are fine, they are just budget brand. I believe theyre rebranded Chinese Flysky.

Yeah, I'm not expecting amazing quality but it brings me into the 2.4gig game and saves anymore abuse of my 'vintage' Futaba.

The name of the brand is abysmal however, almost literally!

[dhutch]

blueST said:

They are quite small motor/batteries, I’d go for something a touch bigger of it were me.

Do you have an specific suggestions, guide at to what size I should be looking at? Suitable examples on eBay?

First event is Easter weekend so we have a bit of time yet.

[dhutch]

blueST said:

A lot of them don't list the motor size, but a 540 or 550 size motor would be more appealing to me. For reference a 540 is like the size you get in Tamiya 1:10 car. I should say, this only based on my experience with cars, its' possible 390 is more than adequate in a small boat.

If you are going to change the transmitter, you'll need to check weather you'll need a new ESC too, as some cheaper models combine the ESC and receiver into one unit.

390 Motor
Ø28 x 47 mm

540 Motor
Ø35.5 x 50mm (550 is same dia but 55-90mm long)

https://www.modelsport.co.uk/product/volantex-race...
Volantex 650mm 2600KV water-cooled brushless motor and 20A water-cooled esc. 2200mAh 11.1v 3s LiPo . £160 just add charger. (and more batteries)

https://www.modelsport.co.uk/product/joysway-rocke...
Joysway Hull 550 mm Total L: 620 mm Weight: 740g water-cooled outrunner brushless motor
30A w-c ESC 11.1V 1300~2200mAh 35C LiPo, Lipo charger, pink. £200

https://www.modelsport.co.uk/product/traxxas-blast... £200
Traxxas (only brand I have heard of yet) 603 long 790g, watercooled Stinger 20-Turn Motor, Traxxas 6-cell NiMH battery with iDTM


Up the price to £300 and you get 1000m long... and 4mm vs 3mm flexible shaft?

[dhutch]

tracer.smart said:

Deans Marine do some great scale RC ships, not all were slow vessels.

This is my HMS Javelin WW2 destroyer, based on the Deans K-class kit. Just over a metre long and shifts along nicely.

That does look very nice, and something like the 'Lady Beale' fast launch would certainly appeal.
https://deansmarine.co.uk/shop/product_info.php/cP...

However while a used example would be lovely, even if it was a bit tatty on top, I dont have the time to be building model boats at the moment!

[dhutch]

Simpo Two said:

How about a £4K basher?
http://www.model-steam-boats.co.uk/

I already have one steamboat, and that's more than enough liability for me!

[dhutch]

What are peoples thoughts on this? Would need to negotiate postage, but should be able to get it running quickly and within budget.

I am very keen on steam boats, tugs in general, and a mate of mine is fairly seriously thinking of buying a TID tug pending boiler inspection.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/166616139682?

[dhutch]

woodysnr said:

Just read your post .I was within 30mins drive of Dunbar on Sunday could have had a look for you.

Ha, that would have been amazing team work!

I will ask about shipping.

[dhutch]

Well I got carried away and went and bought this.

Just need to work out what battery and esc I'm going to put in it...

...local club says keep the decaperm and stick in a 6v lead acid for ballast.

...my inner child says it would be fun to buy my first brushless motor and some LiPo.

[dhutch]

tr7v8 said:

Been talking about Decaperms on Model Boat Mayhem website. General consensus is deinstall it & fit a 8xx type motor & flog the Decaperm to a collector. They fetch big money.
Model Boat Mayhem is a good forum for model boats, a few old women on there but generally a good bunch.
No point going brushless on a tug, big brushed motor & a large SLA battery. Will give better speed control as well.

Likewise, although 'Big money' only appears to be £30-50 which isnt much more than the cost of the alternative.

I have heard that brushless can struggle running particularly slowly, which seems slightly surprising. For that it appears you need a sensored brushless setup, which appears to exist in the rock crawler markets, but prices start at £200 for a motor and esc so maybe not for today!

So yeah, maybe a 5## or 8## motor is the way to go, as I don't really want to start the game off basing the boat around a vintage motor. It has not sentimental value for me, gearboxes appear to be the wrong way to go given modern motors and speed controllers, and it would be pain if it died on me too.

Because I wont be able to collect the model for a few weeks (annoyingly, just after rather than just before Easter) I have asked the seller to confirm what the current prop on it is. but from what I can see it appears to be a fairly large dir 4-5 blader fairly in keeping with what the real thing would have had.

It would be interesting to have a go in a boating lake doing a bit of tugging with it, but I think mainly it will get used when I am boat festivals to boat around on the canal/river, so I am not worried about achieving a correct 'scale speed' or anything, and while clearly its not a planning hull being able to run a reasonable turn of speed would be nice in the larger water. I dont know how the hull form will cope with running above hull speed.

Hull speed for a 3ft boat is around 2.7mph, 15 seconds to cover the length of a 60-70ft narrowboat.... Mmmm! We shall see.

[dhutch]

I don't really know how much space there will be inside, or likely more critically, how much 'ballast' it will want or need.

12v 3.7Ah NiMH £33 0.62kg 110x46x46mm
https://www.componentshop.co.uk/12v-3700mah-sc-nim...

12v 5Ah SLA £13.5 1.7kg 90x70x100mm
https://www.componentshop.co.uk/12v-5ah-sealed-lea...

12v 5Ah SLA £23 13.7kg 150x100x100mm
https://www.componentshop.co.uk/12v-12ah-sealed-le...

[dhutch]

I know I have just bought a boat...

...but I have also found this collection of used models, including some in near RTR condition. MMmmm.
https://howesmodels.co.uk/product-category/radio-c...

£175 Wooden Hull Fire Boat 88cm MTroniks 600 Size Brushless Motor, 50 Amp MTroniks ESC, Carson Standard Servo (now sold)
£120 River Cruiser Moonglow 91cm MTroniks 600 Size Brushed Motor, 40 Amp MTroniks ESC, Standard Servo.
£220 Wooden Hull Speed Boat 96cm Aquastar 600 1700KV W.Cooled, Turnigy 120 A Marine W.Cooled ESCl, 25KG MG Servo, Really nice rudder + trim tab setup.
£450 River Launch Stunning Model 130cm 600 Size Brushed Motor, Brass Prop, Standard Servo. Needs speed controller. Not suitable to courier.

[dhutch]

Well, if it helps, I have no bought a total of three boats....

[dhutch]

Max5476 said:

Excellent work, what are the other boats?

I can post some other photos etc later.

But I bought this 30" plywood 'speed boat' for £40 (plus £50 for 2x NiMH batteries)
https://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php/...

And have also bought this 46" RAF 'Crash Tender' for £300 and four used 6s Lipos for £100.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/134977580254

Plus a Flysky i6x and 10ch RX for £50 off amazon. Same day delivery, ordered at Midnight and arrived 7.30 the following morning.

[dhutch]

Just need a lipo charger.

Toss up between the SkyRC S100 neo for £45 and the SkyRC D100neo for £76.

The latter is twin output obviously, to former is half the price and claims to run down to 6v DC input so would run off my vintage car which adds some flexibility.


We shall see.

[dhutch]

Max5476 said:

That's a nice collection, have you been able to use any yet?

Mine has been confiscated by my wife, to be given back as my birthday present in May. To be fair, I'm terrible for giving her ideas, as I typically buy what I want already.

I have a SkyRC twin charger, only the t100 so can't do 6s batteries, but I really appreciate being able to do 2 batteries at the same time.

Yeah I've had the red one out a fair bit, goes better on a 12v drill battery than the 9.6v cells but is that a bit bow heavy! It also has a weird thing where the ESU errors out and looses drive randomly for an indeterminate but short period of time which I haven't been able to get to the bottom of yet.

Collecting the TID tomorrow morning (it is in Scotland so had to wait till a weekend in Edinburgh with friends) and have yet to collect the Crash Tender but hopefully will shortly as I think it will go well. The red one can then be the loaner and or bash about boat.

If only being able to charge one at a time is a pain I'm only £15 worse of buying a second single unit, but hopefully one will be ok for now as I'm already at a point where I've spent way more than planned!

[dhutch]

Simpo Two said:

FMOB said:

Just curious but when it randomly stops in the middle of the pond or does an impression of a submarine what do you do?

A) wade out and retrieve it?
B) go diving to retrieve it?
C) claim on the insurance?

D) Fit it with a steel band round the outside, then have another RC boat with a magnet on it...

A lot are mainly used in dedicated boating lakes, which are compatible with waders, but also often used at club/informal gatherings. People have 'rescue boats' or a flat fender type setup so you can use another boat to push it back!

Plus in all my years with RC cars I don't think I've ever had one die on me, usually you just get it stuck on a obstacle. So with care it shouldn't be too much of an issue. When using it solo it will typically be a boat/canal festival so can always take one of the full size boats to it!

But yeah, I'll let you know in more detail in a year or so.

[dhutch]

tr7v8 said:

Sounds like either you're pulling too much current & the ESC is going into current limit mode OR and following from that, it's going over temp & switching off as part of saving itself.

Yeah, it sort of feels like that. But it's a MTroniks Viper 20 and I'm measuring 7A current draw max on a 10s 12v NiMH pack. 6A at 6.9v. The ESC is cold to the touch even after half an hour, and the fault occurs from the off.

I get same fault using an MTroniks Eco27 car ESU too.

I have also tried reducing the end points on the Tx to 75% and recalibrating and no change.