I'm thinking of getting the 55"Dumas scarab, does anyone know about this kit, and how the build goes? It will be my first gas boat, thinking of a 25cc homelite engine from prather. Or would i be better off with a OS 81 nitro engine?

Derek

Derek;

I have this hull. If you are looking for speed its not the perfect hull. Mine completed wieghted in at 16 lbs. I used the Dumas hardware which was a mistake. The stuff is junk. On the upside the boat is solid as a rock on the water. I used an A100 PIP glow engine which puts out about 8 HP (tuned perfect). I am working my way up to a Prather S275 prop. I am hoping to get around 40+ MPH when setup properly. The kit complete with good instructions.

As far as your choise of engines, I would say to go for the best power to weight ratio. This hull can handle lots of power.

Jim

How easially does the build go on this boat?

is there a better hardware kit to use than the dumas kit? what were the un-satisfactory things about the dumas hardware kit?

As mentionned earlier, it is pretty much straight forward
This hull present itself as a good candidate to scale.

Here is the stern of my Scarab 45 while it was still under construction.

The build had no real surprises, from memory the only thing that I did not like was that there was a lot of work involved in building up the hatch frame and the hatch itself. Getting it to fit and look good took a lot of time.

The Dumas running gear (strut and 1/4" flex shaft) is typical to a lot of others available. The strut does not look as good as some others but it works the same in the end.

The dumas rudders are made from a stainless rod silver soldered to a stainless blade. You could make it yourself. I have swapped it out for one made by PIP with a built in water pickup.

If you are starting a new build get a running gear package from another supplier. Here are a couple of typical links. I can not recomend most since I have not used them.

http://www.insaneboats.com/
http://www.mhzusa.com/xtdoc/

I may be getting a Wellcraft Scarab from a friend, but I am not sure about the engine. What kind of engine would I use? Would electric be a possibility?