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[sean Half-pint works]

Hi all,
I know this has probably been done a thousand times over, but I am on a budget (who isn't?) and being a novice to true R/C boat modeling it seemed logical to start with what I had rather than spend alot of cash on something new..
OK, so the plan is to modify my older Dikie (I hope I spelled that right) tug, I am not sure about colouring yet, but I want to make something a little more realistic looking, I intedend to retain the working fire hose, but re-position it onto the bow of the boat, several other bits and bobs are in the to-do list, I really want an increase in power, so i can tow some barges of varying types as well (when she is out of dry dock of course) from what i have read on here, the best way forward is to replace the excisting reseaver unit, and seeing how my transmiter has gone AWOL anyway, so that is a good excuse to get hold of a transmiter/reseaver set (I hope i got the terminology right there!) I would prefer to retain the NI-CAD batteries, but would I need bigger batteries to match the more powerful motor?
 
My starting point is my Dickie tug boat, which I bought on EBAY about 5 years ago, as something to occupy me with after an injury, one thing in another she has been laid on her stand on my shelf for the past 4 years... alot of the original plastic paint work (especailly the super structure, which is white) has discoloured with age and neglect. Mechanically she seems fine and dandy, the motor turned over with 12V current applied to the connection for the battery I have no means of testing the rudder servo at the moment, but I am assuming it is fine, the pump works as well (for the hose) all be it the grille in the bottom of the boat for the water tank is clogged with dirt, so that is another area to work on.
OK so now to some photos, Im not sure if this is the norm on here or not, but going on my experiance on Model rail forums, photos of progress are the norm, so, without further ado, after a good clean, showing the new yellowed plastic super structure, my starting point.

off come the tyres

 
Next up the aft deck, showing the dust of 4 years of shelf life still,

after a littel work

after a little tweaking and tinkering i removed the deck and super structure, and turned my attention to the mast, which is something I am not to keen on, so i decided to start the renovation work there and work down!

after a little attention, i will be sparying the top coat on the black work later on, also Metcote gunmetal was used on the 'metal' componants, just to make them stand out a little

Oh, I almost forgot, when all is finished and she is back in the pond, my little tug will be named Penelope...
 
OK guys, thoughts and critisisums please, also any advice regarding more potent motors, control gear ect would be welcomed!
 
sean
 

[sean Half-pint works]

could one of the mods move this to the propper place if I have put it in the wrong one please?
 
Sean

[casta]

Thanks for the pix Sean, I'll be watching with interest ... I too have one to modify when time permits...


do you have a particular vessel to model in mind at this stage?

[sean Half-pint works]

HI Casta,
Your welcome, its nice to have a model I can actually get hold of with my two hands and manipulate and detail alot more than my usual 1:76 (4MM;1ft) railway models... she will be staying as a tug for definate, but weather i go for a naval one, with some light armorments, or a civilian one, I have yet to decide. I think the hull is a nice size for a novice to learn with... as i get past the stripping and mechanical aspects I will look further into a spesific type of tug to model, I think (at the mo at least) i will stay with a diesle powered tug... 
 
Sean

[Martin (Admin)]

Hi Sean!

Welcome to the Mayhem and the home of the Dickie Seaport conversions!

I've move the topic here, so it should be easier to find.

..... you can't have enough conversions of the Dickie ... and everyone is different! 

[sean Half-pint works]

Thanks Martin, I apresiate it,
Also I am slowly looking at the other Dickie conversions on here, it looks to be a sturdy little lady, and some very impressive results come out of them, also i love a good chalange, and the larger scale appiels to me.
 
Thanks to all who have replied and made me feel welcome here!
Sean

[sean Half-pint works]

OK guys I need to bounce some ideas,  first up, did the R/N ever arm its tugs during the second world war? if so waht sort of thing would have been used? also does anyone know how to work out the upper weight limit of a hull? I.E. how much you can add before it sinks....

I had another question but have forgotten it HAHA

Sean

[plug]

Interesting, keep going with it, been pottering about with one of these myself but being new to model boats it's slow going. Iv'e posted some pictures to show my version, using a planet t5 transmitter, servo for the rudder and a micro servo to work a micro switch to work the water pump already fitted in the boat. the plan was for it to pick up water from the bottom of the boat and pump it out of the hull side as in the pic but it's plan "b" as the pump only works intermitently

regards Jack.

[sean Half-pint works]

OOO now that is a fine looking tug! May I aks where the mineture Maps came from, or are they a googled image shrunk and printed??
Thanks for the replys so far
Sean

[plug]

Hi Sean, yes googled the maps and the instruments then got my son to shrink them for me, map table is just a bit of plasticard and the wheelman out of an old toy
regards Jack.

[sean Half-pint works]

Awesome, thanks for that,

Right, I really don't know enough to make a decision, I am looking for a transmiter/receaver set for my Dickie, and price is a huge constraint, any way, hunting on Howes, There are several I am interested in, if anyone has any thoughts on each one please let me know,

http://howesmodels.co.uk/RadioControl/viewProduct.php?ProdID=5152

http://howesmodels.co.uk/RadioControl/viewProduct.php?ProdID=8560

http://howesmodels.co.uk/RadioControl/viewProduct.php?ProdID=5033

http://howesmodels.co.uk/RadioControl/viewProducts.php?SubCatID=238

Any and all thoughts will be listened to...

many thanks lads and lasses!

Sean

[plug]

Have a look at the link, that is the speed controller i use with a planet t5 transmitter and receiver
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mtroniks-Viper-Marine-15amp-speed-controller-bec-for-model-boats-low-price-/220945104178?pt=UK_ToysGames_RadioControlled_JN&hash=item33715abd32

do a search in the radio section for giant cod, they do a radio for about £26, not used one yet myself but i think some of the forum members may have
regards Jack.

[Mad_Mike]

Hi sean i know all to well the pressure of building to a budget, however once you got the transmitter and receiver out the way most builds can be done pretty cheap. By the way a lot of people on here call the transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) they just type it as tx/rx. Not important just some terminology for ya to save typing it all out   
It was suggested on your posting earler by hellboy paul to go with this tx/rx from giant cod.
http://www.giantshark.co.uk/giantcod-24ghz-4channel-mode2-transmitter-p-403779.html
I would go with that myself. Its not fancy but does the job and its 2.4ghz which will save you a whole lot of greif. Another upside is that the receivers are cheap too so if you decide to build another boat you dont need to spend a lot of money again on radio gear.
A cheap source of forwards/reverse speed controllers is on ebay. Dont go for the new cheap chinese brushed ones though but rather go for the second hand stuff. A lot of people these days are going brushless and listing there old brushed stuff. A lot of my boats use car esc's. The only real difference between car and boat esc's is that car ones brake before they reverse. For example your driving forwards then go into reverse on your stick. The brake comes on first, to go into reverse you have to go back to the middle on the stick then backwards again to go into reverse. Sometimes a bit of waterproofing is needed on them but usually they are ok for things like tugs and stuff.
nicd batteries are ok but they need to be fully discharged before being recharged otherwise they get a battery memory. Basically that means that if you used the battery say 5 mins last time and didnt empty it. Then next time you come to charge and using it again itl only run for 5 mins. NI MH batteries are they way to go and maybe even lipo but you wont need them for this.
 im looking forward to reading your build. Have fun

[sean Half-pint works]

Thanks for the link and advice Plug, I shall order one of those speed controllers when I get paid next...

Right, I found I had a few hours free this evening, so I made the difficult (not) desision, between watching TV or playing with my Dickie! I have now really fallen in love with the larger scale model, and the fact you can actually get to grips with it without shattering it!

so where were we, Ah yes, tonight I have had a tinker with the super structure, I have decided to shift the whole structure forward by about 3 inches, as well as modifying it in more of a freelance warship than a true tug (for the moment at least)

So hear we go, after a short argument with some of the screws, which had seezed up over the years of storage, this is what i was presented with...

After tidying up the main controll room

and another half hour or so of fiddling with Match sticks lead to this


Now I turned to the roof of this section, which by now was looking very battered!

and inside is worse (at the moment)


Since my camera died 

I will explain what I did next (probably going a little overboard for a Dickie, but hell in for a penny in for a pound!) I backed the inside with some medium card (140GSM) and filled the holes with car body filler, so next time i get to my little boat, it should be ready for sanding, I hope, with car body filler, do you need to waterproof it after finishing? or not? (sorry for Model rail I am more used to using Household filler, which ain't waterproof!

Also my re-assembled mast, awaiting its final painting ect..



Also a rough idea of where the super structure will eventually sit, it may go a little further forward yet...



As always thoughts and advice are welcomed...

Mike; I am quite enjoying budget building, and it is nice to have a hobby again. (long story) Thanks for the heads up regards the Tx/Rx.
The endorsement of two mbm members is always encouraging on a part I have always been one for reliablity over fancyness, and as long as it will controll my tug/warship/whatever-it-ends-up-as, and a sound unit I will be more than a happy modeler...

I know enough from model rail never to touch the really cheap electrical components, there never as reliable as there even budget priced counterparts, and as i mentioned I am very fond of reliability! I will aim for a bespoke boat speed controller, as I used the reverse alot back when i was using her reguarly, especailly in a small pond with several speed boats around, they used to really love 'buzzing' my little tug... so the snap reverse, as I called it, often would shorten my stopping distance (although I think with her original rubber fender and much sturdier hull the Dickie would have more likely crushed the speed boats!)

I did not know that Nicads suffered Battery memory, Thanks for the heads up on that to!  do NI MH Batteries have the same connector as the Nicads out of interest?

Sean

[Mad_Mike]

Well Id just like to point out before you take my word as gospel i do not own one of those tx/rxs from giantcod. However i have on many occasions ordered supplies from them based on previous customer recommendations and the results have allways been satisfactory. If i were to buy a cheap stick type, 4 channel, 2.4 ghz radio gear I would put my money on that.
batteries have all different kinds of connectors, you just need to look for the right one that suits you. look at this link youl see some of the different types. At the top is a large tamiya, next is a traxxas and bottom is a deans:

[Stavros]

As regards filler read my post in paint section


Dave

[sean Half-pint works]

Mad_mike, Thanks for that photo, I have ordered the right connecter to suit my wee tug, (well she is little!) I will look at the Giantcod Tx/Rx

Starvos, I will have a looksee in a while, thank you!

Ok not to much happening at the moment, just tewaking with the consmetic side of life really,

the possition of the super structure in its final resting place, shortened and the end plated over with some scrap plasticard and box section for strenght



with how tightly the replacement deck section will fit (even with just two guide pieces in place) you can lift the deck but the super structure alone, Also I have been adding to the roof of the control room, these (hopefuly) reoresent cable trunking to the radar screen... I know it is basic, but still..


As always thoughts and advice are always welcomed!

Sean

[sean Half-pint works]

OK guys and girls, after a little searching on the interweb, I have decided I am going to loosely base my dickie conversion on the Adept class tractor tugs used by the RMAS from about 1985, in RMAS yellow with black hull from water line up, red from waterline down...

Anyone got any links to a good photo of these little ships please?

Sean

[kmmbcwebmaster]

Its looking good sean ive finaly got round to start converting the winches into fully working ones
Ron

[Norseman]

http://www.rfanostalgia.org/gallery3/index.php/RMAS/Tugs/Adept 

Serco's now have an SD prefix I think.

Dave

[sean Half-pint works]

Ron; I am glad you like the odds and ends and am glad to hear you are having fun with them...
Dave; thanks for the photos, I am modeling Pre Serco, so mine will not have the SD prefix...
 
Sean