Hey out there,
Just thought I'd post a couple of pic's (I hope
) of my rebuild of he Imex rtr "New York Harbor Tug". The model come complete with 2.4 radio, minus drive battery for about $450.00 (too much in my opinion). I picked it up for quite a bit less
. My plan was to "backdate" the model from a 1950's diesel tug to a "late steam period railroad tug". I disassembled the major components, repainted, changed the diesel stack to a steam funnel (a pvc plumbing piece), planked the upper decks to match to printed main deck, purchased aftermarket doors and portholes, made scupper doors, shortened the skylight to position the funnel, repositioned the vents, and H bits, added the bow fender, and tires, etc. I stayed with the stock drive train (wished I had replaced their esc), fitted a 12v, 7 amp gel sell battery, added a Harbor Models steam engine sound unit with 3 horn sounds. In the end I didn't have to add any ballast, and she sits right on the waterline. Am I happy with the end result? quite. Was it worth the effort? I think so, now I have a one of a kind "atypical" late steam period railroad harbor tug.
Mark