Hi,
About 2 years ago i was digging about on internet for info on the
Bismarck part work and found Martins build (what happend there?) on this
site and signed up straight away.During my visits i kept reading about
Dickie work boats,now, having seen the adds for them in the mags i
dismissed them as 'toys'.But what i read here made me see the potential
in this hull.After some deliberation i sent my money off to Howes models
and very quickly received the boat.
As soon as i got it out of the box i set to work with screw driver and
about 1.5 hours later had nice pile of bits sitting on my work bench
,which my mates made much mirth from.I scrapped all RC equipment ,water
cannon,motor,batteries,ballast tank,crane,rubber bow fender,most of the
deck fittings,mast and the ' inflatable' thing,and finally prop and
shaft.
First thing was to replace the prop shaft which came out fairly easily
with a few taps of the hammer after drilling out most of the glue on the
inside of the keel,It was replaced with a m4 brass shaft which was cut
down to 5inch and an oiling tube was soldered on and the whole assembly
epoxied into position with a 43mm prop (4 blade brass) and keeping the
original Kort nozzle.
The motor is a Robbie with a geared reduction (not too sure of motor
size looks to be about 550-600,4:1 reduction.)which i got second hand
off ebay a while back.I cut the top off the ballast tank glued plasicard
plates over the intake grills.The remaining sides of the ballast tank
now became the battery tray in which a 6v 4amp sla battery is a perfect
fit.For speed controll i used a super minicon II which was kicking about
in the spares box a while and as it didn't have bec i had to install a
shelf at the front the ex ballast tank for the receiver battery.The rc
battery is Velcro under this shelf and the esc sits on top.A separate
lead takes power from the main battery to a electrical connector on the
starboard side of the interior and is worked by a pull switch.From this a
plug takes power to 23 lights in the superstructure.
The deck crane came from Mobile marine models,Macks mouldings provided
most of the rest of the fittings and most of the decals are BECC items
which i would reccomend to anyone.The paint is Halfords red primer,satin
black and yellow primer,most small parts are airbrushed with humbrol
paints.
The original tyres seemed way over scale and were replased with Aeronaut
parts,as i wasn't using the original bow fender i used 4 HGV type tyres
on the bow.Mobile marine sell rubber fendering in strips which was cut
into small 'blocks' and glued onto the bow and stern rubbing strake and
which i really think look the part.The hardest part doing the fittings
was the railings around the wheel house which are white metal and which
insisted on bending all the time,if i was doing it again i would use
brass stanchions.The 4 bulkhead lights on the cabin sides are the
original fittings ,to illuminate them a hole was drilled and a bulb was
pushed in until it was flush,the bulkhead lights are made from clear
plastic and where glued over the bulbs and the ends painted this allowes
light through the midlie part.Being a bit lazy i bought a graupner mast
from Hobbies and fitted it out with lights ,the two antenna at the top
of the mast are piano wire.The towing hawsers which are original were
kept and additional hawsers made from venetian blind cord and various
deck lines are made from fly fishing line backing.The chain came from a
local drees jewelry store (i have a couple of local shops which keep
broken items for me for a small donation into the counter charity box)
and is painted humbrol brick red to simulate rust.
The towing post/gog eye is made from brass tube and brass wire and is
fixed to the deck with brass rods and epoxy as i wanted it to be able to
be used for towing.I made the loops on the ends of the towing hawsers
by gluing the end over to form a loop and tidying it up with some heat
shrink.
The radio gear is a futaba 4 channel 40mg with a 3003 servo to the
rudder/nozzle.After early sea trials i wasn't overly impressed with its
maneuverability and the stern was a bit too high so i added about 6oz of
lead to the stern and extended the upright part of the rudder about 15
mm and cut a notch in the front edge of the nozzle as it was binding on
the rudder skeg.This made a big difference now the model will turn very
nearly in its own length,With this improvement i decided to scrap a
planned bow thruster.With the 43mm prop the top speed of the tug is very
scale and has plenty of torque.
The design of the tug is not based on any particular vessel nor is the
colour scheme (i hope Smit don't mind me using their flag and logo on a
tug that doesn't exist) the name Kubayashi Maru was suggested by my
daughter Sarah and is off a fictional ship in Star Trek ,which we both
are a fans of.
Building time was nearly 2 years and was intended to fill in between
periods of work on the Bismarck,but ill health and a motor bike accident
some what delayed the build time.The build itself was very enjoyable i
would like to thank all the members who posted on the workboat pages and
giving me the inspiration for the build.Any constructive criticism
will be most welcome.
Right, now im off to build a steam launch (hopefully)
Author
Topic: mickyrubble - my SEAPORT work boat conversion (Read 4990 times)