Thunderboat Reproductions

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I've been gone a few days and missed this post.

Here's my 411 on ThunderBoat Reproductions:

Dick can ignore you better than anyone

Dick can make you wait longer than anyone

Dick won't return phone calls

Dick screens his phone calls

Dick's hulls will leave you doing a lot of corrections

Ask Dick not to seal the hull, his floatation is "non-existant", his fuel tanks are junk and poorly rigged and the tubing, well....ahhh.....Mickey Mouse!

Make sure your clear, meaning CLEAR as which hull you want. I ordered the 2003 Oh! Boy Oberto hull in January of 2004. He mailed me the 2002 version of the boat at the end of the race season in 2005.

However, after some great modifications by Roy Munoz it is now an amazing boat, Unfortunately, it looks like I'm done racing for about 5 to 6 years due to my involvement with coaching little league so I'm gonna sell it rtr w/the MAC .67 and all the electronics. Should fetch $2,500 or so. Especially since it's a Virgin.
 
However, after some great modifications by Roy Munoz it is now an amazing boat, Unfortunately, it looks like I'm done racing for about 5 to 6 years due to my involvement with coaching little league so I'm gonna sell it rtr w/the MAC .67 and all the electronics. Should fetch $2,500 or so. Especially since it's a Virgin.

Where's the photo of this baby Rod :D :D :D :D
 
I too have had mixed experiences with Dick C. In some ways he is a wonderful guy to deal with, very helpful and obviously passionate about 1/8 hydros. I ultimately ordered 3 hulls from him, one about 85% RTR, one painted w/floatation & motor-mount and one bare, hull only. The first hull took close to 2 years to arrive and a great deal of pressure on my part. Things did not get better from there although I must admit my lack of experience and perhaps unrealistic expectations relative to level of fit & finish where as much to blame for a less-than-happy experience. I still have one of the two hulls that finally came out of the deal, a painted but otherwise unfinished twin-wing Bud boat. Do NOT, in my opinion, have a hull painted before it's been rigged and you've checked it out to your satisfaction!

I am NOT slamming Dick, I think with the appropriate amount of research, crystal clear communication and most of all patients/realistic expectations; you could end up with a very nice boat. But remember, if you set yourself up for a disappointment, it's quite possible that's what you'll get. Listen to what I think is being said between the lines in some of the previous posts, it is probably unrealistic to expect total satisfaction from a project as complex as a 1/8 scale hydro when you have little more to do with it than placing an order and signing a check. Buying a complete used boat that you can check out before the deal is complete seems to make more sense if you cannot or prefer not to be very involved in the building process. But.... if your standards are high, be prepared to pay VERY well for a really nice boat.

FWIW...
 
I wasn't going to jump in on this since I had not so favorable experience with Dick a couple of years ago. Problem is that I a total newbie with scale and didn't know about ordering from these guys. A few things that I know is don't think you are going to get it right away, be specific about what you want and stay in touch with them. I've ordered or gotten a real good look at all of them. I even got a Fritz before he sold his molds. When I ordered a boat from Dick I was a total newbie and from the I ordered a boat from him to the time I got it (about a year), I learned ton about glasswork from friends of mine from the old days of racing big boats and a buddy of mine that raced scale already. SO when I got the boat from Dick I had issues with what he had done. I'm not going to get into the issues because there can be issues with all of them. The fact if the matter is that if you know what you want and you communicate these things to the builder they will do it for you. Case in point, the first boat I got from McIntire. He puts wood behind the sidewall of the tub for mounting your motormounts. Well I didn't want to do it that way...I wanted to do my mounts through the bottom. If you tell him not to put wood there he will do it and it save you the work of having to take it out. I'm working on a boat now that I got from Troy and it took me a year to get it and I expected that going in. Thing is he and I talked about it extensively going into this. The basic hull was right but he removed the tiplets and shoes from transom and I am doing the rest of the mods to the cockpit. Key thing is communication. I hear a lot of bashing for lack of a better word, mainly because someone orders a boat and then is not cool with what they got. A lot of the time it is because the person ordering the boat is not specific or really doesn't know what to order. This not like going in to the local hobby shop and buying a ProBoat Bud or LLumar. I personally order a boat RTR since I like things done a certain way and would rather do it myself.

So to throw negative comments about a guy up here I think is a bit unfair. Unless you are complaining about the time of delivery....ok well you got me there. Can't argue there. But remember this is a HOBBY guys. All of these guys have a life and a real job too.
 
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jfm said:
I am NOT slamming Dick, I think with the appropriate amount of research, crystal clear communication and most of all patients/realistic expectations; you could end up with a very nice boat. But remember, if you set yourself up for a disappointment, it's quite possible that's what you'll get. Listen to what I think is being said between the lines in some of the previous posts, it is probably unrealistic to expect total satisfaction from a project as complex as a 1/8 scale hydro when you have little more to do with it than placing an order and signing a check. Buying a complete used boat that you can check out before the deal is complete seems to make more sense if you cannot or prefer not to be very involved in the building process. But.... if your standards are high, be prepared to pay VERY well for a really nice boat.

FWIW...
Click to expand...

Mike McKnight said:
I wasn't going to jump in on this since I had not so favorable experience with Dick a couple of years ago. Problem is that I a total newbie with scale and didn't know about ordering from these guys. A few things that I know is don't think you are going to get it right away, be specific about what you want and stay in touch with them. I've ordered or gotten a real good look at all of them. So to throw negative comments about a guy up here I think is a bit unfair. Unless you are complaining about the time of delivery....ok well you got me there. Can't argue there. But remember this is a HOBBY guys. All of these guys have a life and a real job too.
Click to expand...
There's no body here slamming Dick...HAHA..that sounds funny! :lol: :lol:

He was nice to talk to on the phone but if you weren't vey, very persistant you'll never get your boat. I called and called and called which finally paid off for me. Yup, I know he has another job besides building models.

When I got my boat from Casparian there was someone in our NAMBA 9 club that was really pissed off that I got mine before they did because they placed their order well before me. Could be I payed 100% up front I don't know for sure.

As for the communication part that is key. When DC and I spoke I was very specific on which boat I wanted, I had suggestions on what mods I needed (mostly becaue I got feed back from Jim Williamson, Gary Moll and Roy Munoz) guys I ran and raced with who at one time or another bought from him. The bad part was he missed my main suggestion regarding the rear transom and the strut/cowling configuration. Fortuantely, Roy was able to correct that for me. The boat is incredibly beautiful and I'm very happy with it now.

As JFM said you'll really need to know what your getting since you can't be their with Casparian as he's building it for you. I remember watching Don post his Casparian Camel Joe pictures as he went trhough the whole rebuild on it, it was amazing and educational to watch.

Brett, maybe next week I can get pix for you.
 
For what it is worth f41Stryker, I have been running and building 1/8th scale boats since the early 80's, you cannot just plank money down and expect to be able take it out of the box and go run and have fun with a 1/8th scale boat. There are continuous adjustments that need to be made, I have had a boat set up for one running site and think I have everything almost perfect and go to a race and find that I can take me up to 1/2 hrs running to get the boat dialed in to be competitive. Even though you say it is not for racing not knowing what to change can make you easily disgusted, "wishing you never spent the money". Owning a 1/8th scale boat is "labor of love", sure they look nice but, can be a pain in the rear when you want to have fun. As mentioned on this forum, your best bet would be to go to a few races and watch what the guys that own them do and ask questions, find a used boat that has been set up and is ready to run, then you are about 75% of the way there. "If you are not willing to make it a lobor of love", and don't have the time, don't invest in one you'll only throw good money away...........Nuff said.
 
So far I have been very specific with him about the aestethic features I want. As far as painting/detailing and what not. It's is difficult to say how I want the mechanical boat of the part to perform. I already do haev a 1/8 scale and I know they are not the easiest boats to deal with. I have a very finnicky Picco 67 engine it and one day it will run great and the next day I have to total re-work the engine to get it to run right. I know these boats aren't like a gasoline powered where you start it and throw it in and it's off to the races. I like the challenge and satisfaction of getting a 1/8 scale to perform correctly on the water. I just don't have the experience or know-how to build one from scratch/fiberglass hull. In my communications with Dick I've instructed him to use all hardware he has on hand and drill all holes for motor mounts/rudder/strut/stuffing box/servos/pipe and I'm going to purchase the hardware package at a later time. This year I would just like to get the hull painted and prepared for hardware installation, when I have the money which will be in a few months I'm going to buy that. I see a lot of people on here talking about mods to the hull, can someone say what they mean? I want to be able to tell him when I finalize my order, this is what I want done and what I dont' want, if I know how he rigs a hull normally then I can tell him what changes to make accordingly.
 
Hey Don, that was an excellent write-up on building your 1/8 scale and the results are staggeringly beautiful. I'm contacting Dick and going over all the particulars about my T-Plus. Would you mind giving me some pointers on talking to him about setting the hull up correctly? I have a used Doug Shepherd hull and it was set-up very nicely and I have no idea how this hull is going to be set up. Any help would be appreciated before I place the order. Thank you, Chris.
 
f41stryker said:
Hey Don, that was an excellent write-up on building your 1/8 scale and the results are staggeringly beautiful. I'm contacting Dick and going over all the particulars about my T-Plus. Would you mind giving me some pointers on talking to him about setting the hull up correctly? I have a used Doug Shepherd hull and it was set-up very nicely and I have no idea how this hull is going to be set up. Any help would be appreciated before I place the order. Thank you, Chris.
Click to expand...
Which T-Plus are you doing, the full deck or 2 wing??
 
f41stryker said:
So far I have been very specific with him about the aestethic features I want. As far as painting/detailing and what not. It's is difficult to say how I want the mechanical boat of the part to perform. I already do haev a 1/8 scale and I know they are not the easiest boats to deal with. I have a very finnicky Picco 67 engine it and one day it will run great and the next day I have to total re-work the engine to get it to run right. I know these boats aren't like a gasoline powered where you start it and throw it in and it's off to the races. I like the challenge and satisfaction of getting a 1/8 scale to perform correctly on the water. I just don't have the experience or know-how to build one from scratch/fiberglass hull. In my communications with Dick I've instructed him to use all hardware he has on hand and drill all holes for motor mounts/rudder/strut/stuffing box/servos/pipe and I'm going to purchase the hardware package at a later time. This year I would just like to get the hull painted and prepared for hardware installation, when I have the money which will be in a few months I'm going to buy that. I see a lot of people on here talking about mods to the hull, can someone say what they mean? I want to be able to tell him when I finalize my order, this is what I want done and what I dont' want, if I know how he rigs a hull normally then I can tell him what changes to make accordingly.
Click to expand...
If your going to BUY THE CASPARI HARDWARE he makes some good stuff. He forgot I wasn't going to buy his hardware kit and installed these monster lug nuts in the rails that you use to bolt in his motor mount. And when I say Lug Nut I'm not kidding, they were huge! The nightmare created by that was he ran the fuel line right up against it so once I would have boted on the mount it would have cut off the line. When me and Roy opened it (the side rails) we found out that the fuel line had been severed. If I had fueled it the nitro would have spilled everywhere. He also put the hopper tank on the wrong side, basically he reversed both tanks. One was 22 oz and as soft as a sponge. The fuel pick up he used was that really hard tube that comes w/the Sullivan tanks, more like a straw for your antenna wire. It was just standing up right in the middle of the tank, it never would have made more than a lap or two around the course. :blink:
 
I only would like to say that your 1/8 scale Pico hull was NOT built by Doug... I built that hull and it is the same design that my molds are made from. Sorry to jump in like this but I worked to long and to hard on that boat for some one else to get credit for it. My only question is what do you plan to do with the Pico hull? Plus I will not make any comment on Dick C.

Don McKay

Madison In.
 
[email protected] said:
I've been gone a few days and missed this post.

Here's my 411 on ThunderBoat Reproductions:

Dick can ignore you better than anyone

Dick can make you wait longer than anyone

Dick won't return phone calls

Dick screens his phone calls
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, Its true, after some sort of major miscomunication. I have been waiting for my boat since spring of 1994!!!! Just this past January I posted a thread addressing my situation, and shortly after was put in contact with Dick Caspiri. I was promised a boat. I gladly accepted the extemely generous offer. Here we are now July 1st. After many emails about finish dates ect. still no boat. After he admitted that he had gone about things the wrong way he offerd me the boat. As a result I requested that my thread and all comments be pulled from this forum. The last thing I want is to bash someone publically, But please someone tell me what to do. All I have to say is, Dick, are you going to send me my boat or not?

Ron....
 
12 freaking years :eek: Suddenly my year long wait to get a cowl from another builder doesn't seem so bad.
 
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One year to wait for a cowl is also unacceptable. Again I dont like bashing folks, but everyone out there must understand that I dont like forkin out $1500 bux for free.
 
12 years!!! I almost fell off my seat when I saw that!! I knew I wanted to buy a Velasco hull, called him up,told him what I wanted,and the boat arrived at my doorstep less than 2 weeks later!! In 12 years, I could have learned everything Jack St.Clair knows about building scale boats via snail mail and built a slew of my own!! :D I do wish you luck in getting your hull, but that length of time is astonishing to me!

f41stryker, I would definately think about how long you want to wait for a scale hull, I could walk from my house in Fl. to Henry Velasco's in CA. get my scale and walk back in shorter time than some people wait for some of these hulls. ;)

MARK U-5
 
Don, really sorry about that. My dad actually picked the boat up and when I mentioned the name Doug Shepherd he mistakenly told me that was who built the hull. Let me publically apologize because the boat is great. It's currently sitting in my living room on the wall for all to behold. I haven't ran it in about 5 years. I decided a long time ago that boat is going to the grave with me, it's that nice (double-wide coffin). I believe I'm getting the double wing hull. 12 years, wow, that is insane, how in the world does someone put you off for 12 years without you going there and strangling them? I haven't placed my final order yet but I've been given a waiting period of 90 days to get it. I'm fine if it takes 5 months, like I said, I have no intention of running the boat this year, I would just like to HAVE it this year and then campaign it next year. Don, not to solicit here or anything but I know you have a T-Plus hull or at least had one, do you still build boats? This quest to find a person to build a boat is a lot more daunting than I thought it would be.

To Don Ferrette: Twin-wing Hull

To rcboats2: Yes I'm going to buy the Caspari hardware package assuming I order my boat from him

To Mark Walter: Does Velasco still make hulls and do you know if he makes the 1995 Twin-wing hull?

And once again to Don McKay, once again I'm sorry and your craftsmanship on my Pico is impecable, BTW what year is it? :p
 
stryker, Henry Velasco makes a fast hull! 2 choices of cowls to make either the U-4( Tri-Cities,Mark&Pak,Charlies Girl etc..), or the 7474 hull(Olympia Beer,Miss Technicolor,Notre Dame etc..)

MARK
 

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