No offence to anybody but from what I can see Wallet racing is already ruining this hobbie!
I dont race, I cant afford too! I cant even afford a stock Zen engine let alone one of the purpose built race engines! I make my own hardware from what I can find, Even this stuff adds up once you start getting it all together! And Hulls! Forget it! If you want a competitive race hull you better have deeper pockets than me or any of my friends for that matter!:dash:
Ive seen newbs come and go, Im still one myself! Most dissapear because they simply cant afford all the stuff you guys suggest to buy even if your trying to suggest budget bits !
What I would like to see is a homebuilders listing in the forums! It would be great if there was a forum specifically for DIY, somewhere newcomers can find info on alternatives to buying everything! I think we would see alot more people at the ponds having fun with something they threw together in the shed! Why not even have a junkers class to race?? Nobody is really going to have a hissy fit if thier junker gets a ding or two! Id rather have a $200 dollar boat at the bottom of the pond than a $2000 one!
It would be more fun to watch a heap of junkers banging and bumping at 40-45mph trying to get lead position than watching 3 expensive race boats doing 60+mph!
Would probably be more fun to be involved in too!

:drinks:
Chad.

Chad,
Yes you can build cheap boats. I have 3 boats, a wood whiplash that I traded a pair of nice scroll sawn lamps I did. The second is a wood Mono that cost 25 bucks to build the hull. The whip and the mono I have set up to swap the motor from one to the other in about 5 minutes. I, like you don't have the money for another motor. The third is my wood thunderboat that I started from scratch in january and just finished a couple weeks ago. Just takes time. The hardware, well just put away $5 here, $10 there and you'll get there sooner than you think. For about 3 months I stashed away $2 a day for all times I did NOT go to the candy machine at work!
Ken

I am in the research and planning stage of my first boat,and can understand Chad's point.I am the only one in my area who is interested in weedeater boats(that is until I get mine built)so used parts are impossible to find unless on ebay.It seems for hardware,all the manufacturers I have found,make some fancy shiny part that cost more to mill than the material used.I would make my own but have no tools capable of a nice job,I would just like to see a company make simple basic rudders and struts that are affordable for recreational boaters like me,and helps us get in the water quicker,where we can upgrade to nicer stuff later once we work the kinks out.
CB

There are a lot of articles on this site geared to help newbies on a budget get into gas boating. Just browse through the HOW-TO section and there are several...also some in the Scratch Build section...how to build a crackerbox for example. There are litterally hundreds of articles on the website and many are examples of scratch building stuff. We also have several on how to make your own hardware parts. There is a boat plan in the Ressources section for making your own mono... tons of stuff guys! Just look around. Plus this forum is here for questions you might have.

I very well remember how it was when I started out. Rebuilt 2 old boats that cost me more than they should have, and was swapping motor/pipe from one to the other. Didn't even have a programmable radio so had to adjust settings from one boat to the other...despite all that, it was some of the greatest fun I had in this hobby...actually felt like a little kid when I would run a boat! I started this at the age of 15, that was 22 years ago, and quite honestly, before the year 2001 or so, I had always learned on my own, living so far away from any clubs or any other boaters for that matter. I know the feeling believe me. That's one of the reasons I've always worked extremely hard to keep this site alive...to help other people's entry into the hobby be easier and to try and get more people involve.

I agree, there is way too much emphasis on the "hot" stuff out there many times and we need to not forget about the new guys starting out, and on tight budgets.

Please feel free to ask questions and start threads, we'll do our best to help you out. If you guys think there should be a dedicated section to the sport boaters, or beginers, whatever, let's decide what it should be named and what it should be about and I'll get it setup.

stacker9000 wrote:
As far as good functional and economic hardware goes, it doesn't get much better than Aeromarine and Warehouse Hobbies. I have setup several Aeromarine Boats with their hardware (sometimes with slight modifications) and it runs as good if not better than some of the fancy more expensive stuff out there. Might not be as much bling , but just as functional. I win races with them too!

www.aeromarinerc.com
www.whobbies.com

when you say a basic rudder & strut that is affordable, I am a little confused. a strut & brackets with bolts is between $30-$35 on the (cc racing site) . now that's pretty cheep & they are very high quality parts. and the rudders depending on the setback & number of water pick-ups are priced from $40-$60 w/bolts. this is the one part that you do not want to fail along with the steering servo, and is not the place you want to skimp on quality. so together you will you will have roughly $100.00 into the two main components that control your craft, and you can be sure they are going to last and perform great. I dont think thats over priced at all.

you also said you could upgrade at a later time. why ? my math is pretty simple lets say for example you buy some cheep hardware at half price, (rudder $25.00) (strut $15.00) so you have spent $40.00 plus shipping.
now you want to upgrade to some better stuff, so the low side of the prices from earlier, (rudder $40.00) (strut $30.00) so now you have $70.00 plus shipping in new parts. $40.00 + $70.00 = $110.00 & you payed for shipping twice plus your time to install it and we all know that it would not swap out with the original holes, linkage and drive cable/stuffing tube ect.

I'll pay the $100.00 once.

Let's also not forget that Accu-Tech and Top Secret hardware are on RC Boat Bid and Ebay. They have quality hardware up for auction or special on both sites; and if you shop a bit, you can usually find what you are looking for around your budget. I've had great luck with them and S/M (and of course Aeromarine). Another place to look is Zippkits - very affordable, quality stuff, and they ship for free in a lot of cases (stateside). Although our hobby is not always cheap, with a little time and patience; anythng is possible. Put careful consideration into what you need, and make wise choices. I was able to put together a Hurricane mono VERY cheaply, only recycling the motor, mounts, header, pipe, and radio gear from an older hull - using a combination of ebay and Herzog R/P. Everything I bought was NEW - hull, hardware, radio box, tank, tray etc. Times are tough, support the mfgrs when you can, just not at the expense of your bottom line! One of the best things about our hobby is this site and others like it; we can all help each other! Thanks again to everyone up here, and those who maintain and contribute MGB!:drinks:

Zippkits also sells some pretty nice hardware at reasonable prices. It's not too hard to make some stuff. I don't have any mill or lathe, but I made this drive in my shop using a cheap bench top band saw, drill press, and router. Doug

i agree a homebuilders section would be nice i still love my wooden whackerboats

So how do we call this new forum section guys? Home Builders, Scratch Builders, Newbies Section??? Let's here it. I'll get it started if you will use it and contribute.