Pretty much where I am now… 
and not complaining at all. Rich in a lot more ways other than fiscal. 
And as the mighty bare footed Jack Johnson said…
"Look at you out to make a deal,
You try to be appealing but you
lose your appeal.
And what about those shoes you’re in today?
They’ll be no good
on the bridges you burned along the way"
I’ve learned to be be happy with less… do that and life’s never disappointing. 
Some good words there @Friendly_Fire
Today got to thinking about batteries for these boats and dug around to see what I had leftover from the Gelbaster hobby that might be suitable.
These will come in handy and be awesome to actually use them instead of sitting around at storage charge for a couple of years now, except the top two are less mAh than the supplied 2500/2600mAh batteries that come with the boats… but the quality and C ratings would definitely be higher than the stock 25/30c batteries though… which equals MOAR SPEED… but less run time except that TURNIGY 3k.
Couldn’t help myself to research a couple of new sets of both 2S and 3S batteries that I can play around with different setups in these boats.
Can use these hard cased 2S wired in series each side of the hull to get me a nice balanced boat with 14.8V 4S power with 5200mAh at 100C rate
Or do the same with these soft shell batteries either side of the hull, but wired in parrarel to give me 11.1V 3S power, but with larger 4400mAh and 120C rate for higher speeds and longer run time than a single 3S battery can put out.
Or can just use all of the 5 different 3S 11.1V individually so I have plenty of charged spares to extend an afternoon on the water. 
Using twin battery system because from all the reviews I’ve watched about these boats, there’s issues fitting large single 4S 14.8V batteries under the waterproof cover and also heavily unbalance the hull, whereas these are smaller in size and give even weight distribution when used in pairs instead. 
Got a pile of Deans and XT60 connectors, so just gotta find some quality proper gauge wire and make up some cables to plug into the boats to run both series and parallel setups.
eBay tells me they should arrive between 14th-23rd April, so better start searching for some quality 12 AWG wire!
Haha that’s the go, told ya you need MOAR POWER! Solves all problems 
Then it’s all up to you on the trigger. I put 3s in my classic TXT-1, it goes alright but twists itself so bad I have to lay easy on the throttle. The Kyosho USA-1, fk me put 4s in that just wheelstands until yeah any sort of back tailgate is shredded haha. I need a bigger wheelie bar.
The 2 stroke Baja, now that shit is crazy, it is really tough, I blew the diff eventually from chinesium shit, bunged the motor same, but man I have wiped out fences with that thing and done somersaults and it smashes over everything it is the ultimate. All wheels must be beadlocks, had it for years now and still keep morphing it. Plus I love the smell of 2 stroke in the morning 
I’m an idiot!
I hate the fact that my health has affected me so much mentally that I can’t even plan stuff anymore. 
Have spent weeks working out what parts I need to find to get this smaller scale lightweight Balsa Wood model boat up and running.
Have spent countless hours researching, adding many different parts to many different shopping carts from many different global suppliers… which isn’t as easy as it sounds.
The majority of the RC Speedboat hobby is like 1/10 scale large heavy stuff, so trying to find smaller lightweight scale gear is almost impossible, especially considering looking to fit to an old extremely lightweight Balsa Wood fragile hull and not modern ABS/NYLON/FIBREGLASS high strength modern designs. 
The grand total of so many individual mechanical and electrical parts to suit was pushing the costs out to $500+ in just a standard system to be able to get this old boat into the water, let alone the combined weight of everything making it a VERY real possibility that it wouldn’t even float, let alone perform without turning into a Submarine! 
Then dickhead me has an Epiphany!
“Just find a similar RTR Boat of the same size and hull shape that already has EVERYTHING required instead.” 
So 5 minutes later, found and purchased an EXACT same size/weight/Pontoon Hull design modern RTR model boat that I can strip EVERYTHING out of to chuck in my Balsa Wood Boat to get it in the water for $100 instead of $500!
So yeah, already deleting hundreds of dollars worth of stuff that’s no longer required once this cheap “parts bin” model turns up to be able to start stripping out all the gear to fit into my Balsa Boat, but also have the opportunity to fine tune/modify/upgrade anything that is required as well
Basically gonna get the WHOLE TX/RX/ESC, Motor/Motor Mount, Drive Coupler, Stuffing Tube, Flex Drive, Stringer/Outboard, Steering Servo, Water Cooling system and EVERYTHING else that I can raid out of this modern RC Boat and jam into my old Wooden Speedboat. 
Ah you got a light bulb too that flickers now and again
Is that the original outboard you got there?
I know all about 1/10th, 1/8th and 1/5th, the cost can go from mild to wild and break in to your super fund due to extreme circumstances dear. But can be done on the cheap… err.
I work on them over years. Benefit of those 1/12th smaller trail trucks are very cheap entry and only upgrade what you want to.
Look forward to seeing some progress on this boat and the other you had coming, that will be a hoot!
Cheers mate, yeah that’s the same model MERCURY Outboard that I had with the old boat, so had to find one to complete the whole retro original looks
Not good for much apart from running around in the bath tub, but that’s not what I wanted it for anyrate!
All the gear on the new version is all removable with a few screws, so with just wait until it gets here and see if the parts will fit the wooden boat size/weight wise.
Have you managed to steal the LandCruiser away from ya Dad yet? 
Yea he’s got a short attention span.
My Injora Sunraysias have landed, just got to go big smoke and get them. Taps, 1080pc screw kit, and nearly the 2.6" mud bogger beadlock rims for the Cloddy.
Scored a job today clearing some interior 4wd trails on a 1100 acre block next door for a good fella. Ah no rest for the wicked, couple of dollars come in handy. Hmm what can I buy next
Still waiting to get to the big smoke myself and get some boxes/packing tape to get your rims/tyres to you along with all the other parts I gotta send off to QLD. 
I’m not driving and my housemate has fecked off to Kalgoorlie for work, so gotta rely on other friends and family to be able to get around at the moment.
Great to see you’re able to pick up some extracurricular activities to keep the Toyshed stocked as that’s gonna definitely keep ya busy!
Whenever you get round to the Clod wheels, no stress, you’ll get some more funds to buy more stuff yourself
Extracurricular alright, them fkers like their red wine, jesus christ Cut myself unhitching the yakka hoop today, oops there goes some claret
Speaking of buying stuff…
I know that I only just previously stated that I haven’t purchased anything lately, BUT that doesn’t mean that I still had stuff coming in the Post that’s been on the slow boat from China beforehand!
A few seemingly random bits turned up today, and will expect to have even more show up in the next few weeks as they eventually find their way here.
4 Channel RX/TX so I can fit to one of my Crawlers to be able to operate the 2 speed gearbox:
Stand alone 30A ESC to suit getting rid of the original combined RX/TX/ESC unit and requiring a stand alone ESC to run the individual new Receiver system:
Bulk bag full of various sized heat shrink to use on my variety of upcoming customers Crawler/Boat projects:
Crappy yet good quality OVONICS hard cell batteries for my RC Speedboats when they eventually arrive:
Being a pedantic bastard as always, coming from a long line of Electricians and having a lifetime of working on Electronics… taking base standard readings and marking/recording specs of everything I receive:
As I’m writing this, currently running through 7 different TURNIGY batteries for their regular 3 month discharged and storage balance charge exercises to keep them in the best condition as possible
That TURNIGY 2200 Nano appears to be fckd😕
One cell is showing massive .24 resistance and won’t balance with the other 2 cells at .03/04 resistance.
I will still bash the shit out of it and keep an eye on its individual cell performance, but its not looking good at the moment, even though it’s showing very high voltage retention count on one cell, it’s not a good discharge/charge/resistance balance number equal to the lower levels of the other 2 cells.
On the other hand, the TURNIGY 3000 is absolutely PERFECT in its resistance ohms per cell and discharge/charge voltages, definitely a VERY stable and high performance battery pack
One of the brand new OVONIC batteries already gave an unbalanced ohms reading between cells, hence the details written on the box and each battery pack numbered and identified before I’ve even used them… purely for future testing measures to keep a close eye on safety and performance.
Just an example of how cheap these parts are for this hobby.
Those Top 3 items (RX/TX, ESC, Heat shrink) were a grand total of $24.70 delivered.
The large hard cased Ovonics batteries were only $36.84 after sales/discounts for the PAIR delivered… or $18.42 each!
So just over $60 for all the items above, which is equivalent to a single cheap short handguard back in my old Gelblaster days!
More stuff arriving today, so will back with more later! 
Few more bits for various projects…
Water cooled Brushless 2800KV motor and 50A ESC for the small lightweight boat on small 2-4S 1200mAh batteries should be plenty of giddyup over the standard 30A system and 1800KV Motor.
Different experimental 80mm off-road rims/tyres to see if they suit the C-64 HILUX.
Another pair of OVONIC batteries, but 3S 2200mAh this time, but the same low Sales price
Same as usual, marked, dated and tested.
Got some 12AWG Wiring as well, but not happy with the quality of the insulation, so has been thrown in the toolbox for other projects
All I need now is two working hands to try start building stuff! 
Can’t wait to see them mate!
Those motor/ESC/TX RX/Battery packs I ordered are planned to get swapped into this little thing.
Plenty of room inside to upgrade and many videos on YouTube of people having insane success doing the same thing.
Oh dear, how are these little 4S batteries going to affect the performance of this tiny little lightweight WL 915-A Cateraman Prawn Trawler combined with my aftermarket 50A ESC and 2800KV motor?
Crap!
Just got notification that the little Wl 915 Speedboat that I’ve been eagerly waiting for has been cancelled and automatically refunded. 
Sad to be so disappointed, yet still amazed at how quickly the whole process works in the background, looking after the money I’ve spent being managed properly, without any input or chasing up from my side for my purchases… simply sent me a text message to let me know what’s going on and that they are sorting all this out for me automatically!
They state a longer time frame for the refund to hit your bank account, but from previous experiences, it’s in your account within 24 hours.
On the bright side, this refund allowed me to hit the “buy now” button on a much larger and more expensive Speedboat that I’ve had my eye on for quite some time, and is currently on Sale until the 21st of April, but was looking at having to hold off until the end of May to be able to afford it AND then have to pay non-Sale prices to get one.
Now that this prior purchase has been refunded, it’s basically halved the cost to purchase this beauty while its still on Sale…so would have to be mad not to jump on this opportunity to save around $140 over current market prices listed anywhere else in Australia/Online/eBay etc.
Will still try to aquire the little 430 x 170mm WL 915 Outboard style Speedboat in the future, but for the moment will have to settle on this big jigger instead!
Plenty of upgrades available for these, and even a simple Prop change and fitting a 6S battery running the standard 3S electronics can reach 60+ MPH😯
BASTARDS!
Got another email this morning.
AliExpress offer to give discount on securing a WL 915-A direct from the Manufacturer for me, as there’s a supply issue with pretty much all the Sellers trying to keep up with the orders, which is why my original order was automatically refunded.
There’s a MASSIVE demand for these particular models throughout SEA, and have whole RC Speedboat Clubs dedicated to every single member running these boats and nothing else!
That’s like having a whole Gelblaster field where everyone is running ONLY Gen8’s!
So yeah, refund already spent and now broke again after taking up their offer for a discounted model with guaranteed availability and shipping, but leaves me broke again until next pay… but happy that it seems like I’ve finally managed to get hold of one!
2 min Noodles for the next fortnight for you Come and grab a few sheep, rabbits, few goats and other things around too. Smorgasboard
Would be awesome to do some extracurricular activities like yourself to get some extra coin in the skyrocket, but just putting on a pair of boots is a struggle at the moment 
Eye test is about 8 years overdue, hence the need for using a Scope just to shoot myself in the foot these days
Doing my head in trying to compile all the bits for all these different builds!
So have a Brushless Motor mounted to a WPL 2 speed gearbox,
but the TX is a 2 Channel combination Brushless ESC and RX in one… (4CH RX in pic is for the TX in the next pic.)
meaning that it can’t run the brushless motor AND provide the extra 3rd channel to operate the Gear Shift Servo as well!
So even though I have spare 3/4 channel RX/TX units, I don’t have a stand alone brushless ESC to plug into them.
I have spare brushed ESC 's on hand that will work with the 3/4 channel RX/TX’s,
but that means removing the brushless motors that I’ve already modified and fitted, only to refit brushed motors back in their place to be able to use the brushed ESC’s that I already have, sorta defeating the whole purpose of building them as Brushless in the first place!
So not going down that path, am ordering some lightweight small brushless ESC 's and just being patient in following through with the original plans for these builds instead of compromising as issues present themselves.
Now have to rethink on which model Crawler I can fit the simple 2 CH combined brushless ESC/receiver into a single speed gearbox for a bit of 3S high speed brushless motor fun!
Definitely flashbacks to the old very early Gelbaster hobby days and highlighting how dull my brain has become since!
