Thunderboat Reproductions

[f41stryker]

Hey, wondered if anyone off here had any boats made by this company? I was thinking about having him possibly build me a 1/8 T-Plus but wanted to see if anyone had any opinions on this company. Thanks, Chris.

 

[shann harrison]

Dick,Does great work but you can count on it being a long time before you recieve your hull.And once you have it you'll need to change the way he has the front cowling going on the hull,Unless he's changed that.later shannon

 

[f41stryker]

What do you mean by change the front of the cowl? If I spend the kind of money these hulls cost, I'd better not have to modify anything.

 

[Don Ferrette]

What do you mean by change the front of the cowl? If I spend the kind of money these hulls cost, I'd better not have to modify anything.

If you're going to run scales get used to making changes. Dick Caspari makes some nice hulls, I have one now & have owned serveral. However, I have yet to own any one builder's scale hull (& I've owned a few ) that I did not make changes to either to make it cosmetically correct or to improve the way something was made by the builder. B)

 

[f41stryker]

I'm looking for a RTR boat basically, and with the $1500+ I'm gonna drop for this thing, I don't think cosmetic changes are something I want to necessarily deal with nor do I have the skill for it, I'm an amateur and I do this just for fun, I'm not even much for racing, I just enjoy a good looking boat making some nice quick passes. I don't have any experience working with fiberglass. What is the problem with the cowlings? Does anyone have any pics of their boats they have from this company?

 

[Don Ferrette]

I'm looking for a RTR boat basically, and with the $1500+ I'm gonna drop for this thing, I don't think cosmetic changes are something I want to necessarily deal with nor do I have the skill for it, I'm an amateur and I do this just for fun, I'm not even much for racing, I just enjoy a good looking boat making some nice quick passes. I don't have any experience working with fiberglass. What is the problem with the cowlings? Does anyone have any pics of their boats they have from this company?

$1,500 ain't gonna get you one new RTR from Dick or any other hull builder for that matter. Caspari gets $1650 & up for one rigged & painted without motor, pipe or radio gear. Good scale hulls pop up on here often & many are RTR or close to it so you might do better that way if you're looking in the $1,500 range.

 

[f41stryker]

I'm just looking for someone who could build me a 1995 T-Plus 1/8 scale and paint the thing for me because I can't paint for anything! I wish I had the skill but I don't. Anyone on here know of any 1/8 scale builders? This is the boat I've wanted since I started in RC but never got, now I have the funds for it and I want to get it! I don't mean to sound like a brat or anything but I'm just don't trust myself with a project this big.

 

[shann harrison]

I have one in the works but,Its spoken for IF I sell.which t-plus are you lookin for??There was two the 2 wing design,and the convectional hull,which was the back up boat????I have plans for the convectional on order,Maybe you should TRY and build on from plans,If you want one really bad.I mention this cause there are not to many builders that have the two wing designs. later shann

 

[f41stryker]

Can someone show me a picture of the difference between the two 1995 hulls? I want the hull with the extended scoop that looks like it ran in Phoenix and San Diego. I wish I had the time/patience/ability to build one from scratch. I work like 60 hours a week plus have all kinds of activities on the weekend and don't have time to build one, I'm lucky to have time to run one!

 

[shann harrison]

Both of those pic's are of the two wing you have.The second picture is the one I'm building now . The picture by my name is the convectional hull.Hey man as far as wanting one get you bloody hands dirty and TRY.You have to start some where.And building it with the salt water scoop no way.It cause's to much problems with handling I already tried that on my coors dry boat not worth the pain in the A$$ to have on the boat.

 

[missbudpilot55]

Hey, wondered if anyone off here had any boats made by this company? I was thinking about having him possibly build me a 1/8 T-Plus but wanted to see if anyone had any opinions on this company. Thanks, Chris.

I just hope you don't get a "Pig in the Poke" like I did, $1300.00 my wife paid him came in 6 months after the promise date and the sponson canoes popped open, 3 years running now and no satisfaction from someone I thought I could trust to build me something good...........beware is all I can say.

And yes I do have a bitter taste in my mouth...........

https://www.intlwaters.com/gallery/displayimage...cat=10084&pos=1 notice the tape on the sponsons I put before the picture was taken

 

[f41stryker]

I've seen people run boats with the extended scoop no problem before. A guy local to me has a Bud boat with the extended scoop and it runs fine. I've been in contact with Dick for a while and he seems pretty legitimate. But all of these bad experiences have me a little worried. Did you guys who had bad experiences contact him and were the issues resolved with any satisfaction?

 

[john22469]

Just to let you know i like dick and he has always returned my phone calls and has always emailed me back. I have paid for a 1/8 scale boat in march. I was told 5 week i'am not mad nor bitter i realize some things take long then expected, and what i have seen from other peoples boats in my club the wait is worth it. I have two boats on order from him. another builder is phil thomas i have not seen his work but i understand he is pretty good i order a winston eagle from him that he will start on the 12th of july phils web site is rc marine design.

 

[f41stryker]

Wow, your boat is almost 2 months overdue and you're ok with that? I'm gonna contact Doug Shepherd, I have a Pico hull I bought off someone else but he made it. I'll put Thunderboat on the backburner, he told me it'd be about 90 days turnaround time, but if I go by that math then I'd be lucky to have it by the end of the year! In the meantime I'll keep dreaming...and looking.

 

[Don Ferrette]

Wow, your boat is almost 2 months overdue and you're ok with that? I'm gonna contact Doug Shepherd, I have a Pico hull I bought off someone else but he made it. I'll put Thunderboat on the backburner, he told me it'd be about 90 days turnaround time, but if I go by that math then I'd be lucky to have it by the end of the year! In the meantime I'll keep dreaming...and looking.

Ok now that I've stopped laughing............

No offense but time for a reality check- 2 months past due ain't sxxt for these guys. I've waited well over a year for a Thunderboat hull before. Doug Sheperd?? Good luck trying to get in touch with him, he's been slammed with his real job the last few months the story goes. If you do succeed, tell him to call me or answer my e-mails. There are guys out there who've been waiting as long as 2 years for ordered & paid for hulls from some of these builders. No difference between most of them as far as un-kept time promises & major delays except one- Phil Thomas. I've bought 2 scales & 4 sport 40's from Phil & he has come thru when promised (usually 6-8 weeks) every time. The down side is he only does a few different hulls but they will do various boats, except of course the Winston Eagle lobster hull he does. So you've basically got 4 choices- find a used hull, order one from Phil & see it in 6-8 weeks, build a woood one from Newton plans or roll the dice & take your chances with the other builders. Don't get me wrong, Doug, Dick Caspari, Troy McIntire, etc all build very nice stuff, my current Smokin' Joe's is a Thunderboat hull, but they will thoroughly test your patience when it comes to delivery times.

And BTW- I don't count the guys who only build one or two hull styles in this mix, with that narrow a choice they don't get swamped with orders.

 

[f41stryker]

It's funny, one minute everyone is bashing one person or complaining and the next it's they do great work and are great hull builders. I'll figure it out when I'm ready to buy I guess, I like Doug Shepherd cuz the hull I have from him is solid as hell and he's local but Dick C. does great work based on his site.

 

[shann harrison]

Who's bashing you asked people to give input take it from there.Sure they do great work Troy,Doug,Dick, its the time waiting that is a kicker I'm still waiting for Troy to deliver a hull but the waiting has became to long 2years sent deposit in April,14 /2004 for $150.00 and he said to send the rest this past Nov cause he was sending it out to me in 2 weeks so I sent him the rest Nov,5,2005.for the amount of $538.00 and I'm still waiting,And Still no reply for him.

 

[f41stryker]

Not necessarily bashing but I would say there are more negative comments up about this place than there are positive and then towards the bottom of the thread their work is praised. It just makes it a little difficult for someone whose trying to decide to use a vendor to have a bunch of negatives and then positives especially when we're talking about investing quite a bit of money in a boat. I think I'm going to place an order with Dick in a few weeks for my T-Plus and hopefully all goes well for me. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[shann harrison]

Do what you feel is right,Dick does great work no problems there,But I would really consider just getting a kit thought.Just my two cents worth.Tackle it on your own or hire it out.There's plenty of people around that could paint if thats what your worried about. B)

 

[f41stryker]

I worry about the whole shibang, my only other 1/8 scale was bought used and it was rigged and everything, I just dropped in engine and raido equipment. The only "kit" I've found is a fiberglass hull and it's not the year I want. Dick does good work based on the photos on his site and he's been excellent in returning emails. I'm just going to go into this with the hope that things don't go awry on me and I wind up regretting it. He wouldn't be in business if someone wasn't buying his products, that's how I look at it. Everyone seems to agree his work is excellent, but he just takes a while at times. No big deal, I'm not planning on running the boat this year anyway, that's why I got my outrigger. I just want the thing to drool over Well wish me luck all and hopefully here in a few months I'll have pics of my T-Plus up raving about how awesome Thunderboat Reproductions is!