Elco 80' PT Boat Static to radio control 1/35 scale.

[RedArmy]

I've decided to complete some of the past projects I've started but never completed and this PT boat is one of those projects. This kit is sold as a static display model in 1/35 scale. Due to the large size of this kit it was an easy candidate for radio control conversion. It's going to take a lot of work to complete as this is a late war PT boat and they were the most heavily armed of the patrol boats. I have lots of structure and weaponry still to build, it's going to be fun and also a challenge.


Here's some old shots of how this project came together. This has project was started close to 10 years ago and I just never got back to it until today.

My idea for propulsion and control. I used a Robbe gear driven single screw drive system with a sealed and greased prop shaft. It takes any 380 or 540 sized car motor. A waterproof boat speed control and a big Futaba BB steering servo. Currently it has a Futaba AM receiver but that's going to be changed as AM is no longer being used for RC. I just picked up a new 2.4ghz radio for it.

Steering is via a set of brass rudders, three just like the real PT boats had.

Test of my idea for the linkage steering and it ended up working out great.

If I left all that space open then she'd go down like the Titanic at the slightest leak so some structure needed to be built.

I framed the interior out in balsa and then filled it with foam.

It was then sealed over with light plastic sheet for watertight compartments.

Some things don't convert over to scale size very well like the prop and rudders. While my steering and drive system isn't to scale it provides the thrust needed to move this heavy model and the large rudders provided excellent steering. I tried smaller props and rudders before but they proved inadequate.

Rudders cut down to size.

Everything sealed and hidden inside with OD green. Some of the interior can bee seen through the crew cabin so I'm thinking I'll scratch build some of the interior to hide the internals like the battery etc. I'm going to revise this once I install the new radio receiver.

 

[RedArmy]

Test run.

She cuts a very scale like wake.

 

[RedArmy]

Here's what a late war Elco PT boat looked like.

 

[RedArmy]

Here's the actual subject I'm modeling, PT 596.

I need to get a better camera as my cell phone just isn't cutting it. The older photos I took were taken with a Canon 35mm, I'll have to get one if I'm going to start building models again. It sucks to do all that work and then not be able to really show it due to poor photography.

Any way here's where she sits today, I need to get her dusted off so I can figure out where to start. This photo was taken with a 35mm camera, the other photos with my cell, big difference. The cell photos are far too grainy, I'll have to look at some cameras tonight.

Click on photos for larger view.

Unpainted parts just on there for mock up. Nothing on the deck is completed.

To give you an idea of her size, that's a full can of Coke Zero. She's got some weight to her.

 

[RedArmy]

I have a full brass detail kit for this boat. It's going to take me hours and hours to get all this built. I'm not sure how much of the detail I'll end up using in the end, I have enough building to do as it is.

These are manufacturer photos of the brass parts, not my work. Sadly almost everything is OD green on this boat so most of that detail won't stand out.

 

[RedArmy]

Here's what it should look like when completed. Some of the colors are wrong on this example but that's about the way it'll look.

Today I'm going to open up the radio compartment and change the AM receiver over to a 2.4ghz system. I also have a new battery to test. Once I get that done I'll start slogging away on this thing.

 

[Younggun]

That’s awesome. And the paint job looks great.

This makes me want to get back on my USS Iowa project.

Have an RC converted USS Texas also, but doesn’t look nearly as good as yours.

 

[skfullgun]

Very nice!

 

[RedArmy]

That’s awesome. And the paint job looks great.

This makes me want to get back on my USS Iowa project.

Have an RC converted USS Texas also, but doesn’t look nearly as good as yours.

Thanks, I've seen the USS Texas kit and I'll have to pick that one up now that you mentioned it. Show us some photos of your build when you can, I'd like to see. Ships are so much work to build, I chose the PT boat as it's a little less complicated than a full size battle ship. I'd love to build a Fletcher class destroyer in the future, I've only seen two kits that would convert to RC though and they were small so it may be just a pipe dream.

I've been following the drydock restoration of the real USS Texas, I'm so glad they saved her hull. If I lived close by I'd volunteer to work on her.

 

[Younggun]

Some pics of BB35. I left off the rail because I figured I’d end up destroying it. Didn’t buy a conversion kit, made the shafts and stuffing tubes by hand, and made a rudder since the one in the kit was too small to modify. Rudder is made of bras plate folded over and soldered to music wire. Propellers are the plastic ones that came with the kid.

 

[Younggun]

Iirc, it’s 1/700th scale. This is the BB35 in front of the BB61 Iowa hull. The Iowa is about 39” and I think I figured it would be around 35lbs to hit the waterline.

 

[Army 1911]

Back in the early 60s there was a guy who had a PT boat on Lake of the Ozarks. Three Packard engines in it as I recall.

 

[Younggun]

The internals. Please ignore the dusty shelf, lol.

Ballast is 147gr 9mm. Runs on a 800mah 2S LiPo battery.

 

[RedArmy]

Wow, that looks awesome! Yep, I'm going to need that kit, collecting model kits is just about as bad as gun collecting.

I had no idea the Iowa kit was that huge, storing these models will be fun, lol. I already have a problem storing my Tiger tank where the cats won't get to it. Some heavy duty shelves are going to be in order I'm thinking.

 

[RedArmy]

Here's PT 658, a slightly different design than the boat I'm building, they made many different variants. Only two running examples are left in the world, most were tied together and burned and the end of WWII. Interesting fact, they were made almost entirely out of mahogany.

 

[Younggun]

Wow, that looks awesome! Yep, I'm going to need that kit, collecting model kits is just about as bad as gun collecting.

I had no idea the Iowa kit was that huge, storing these models will be fun, lol. I already have a problem storing my Tiger tank where the cats won't get to it. Some heavy duty shelves are going to be in order I'm thinking.

I did have a couple small issues with the BB35 kit. Primarily that the superfiring and main deck turrets near the rear superstructure. Turret 3 with the aircraft launch hits the midship superstructure with the launch rail. Turret 4 has the AA structure on top which bumps the rear superstructure. It’s possible I have the tower leaning back slightly but it really doesn’t look like it.

Otherwise it’s a pretty nice kit, with the only issue being that there are some very small parts to work with. It’s missing a few AA guns because they jumped out of the tweezers and disappeared while I was trying to glue the guards on.

The Iowa is an awesome kit. It’s 1/200 scale IIRC and big enough that I had worked out a way to operate the main gun turrets with plenty of room to spare. Plus there are brass gun and propeller kits, and a wood deck kit as well if you want to go the extra mile.

 

[Younggun]

Here's PT 658, a slightly different design than the boat I'm building, they made many different variants. Only two running examples are left in the world, most were tied together and burned and the end of WWII. Interesting fact, they were made almost entirely out of mahogany.

I was surprised when I learned how heavy those boats actually were. Makes their speed that much more impressive.

 

[Younggun]

@RedArmy Is your tiger at kit RC converted? I’ve only seen a few good RC tanks and the price was…well, I doubt I’ll ever get one, lol.

But I’ve wondered about finding a larger kit and trying to rebuild it as an RC model.

 

[RedArmy]

@RedArmy Is your tiger at kit RC converted? I’ve only seen a few good RC tanks and the price was…well, I doubt I’ll ever get one, lol.

But I’ve wondered about finding a larger kit and trying to rebuild it as an RC model.

It's the stupid expensive Tamiya kit which is why I only have one. I sunk another stupid amount of money into it as well with a bunch of brass and cast parts I purchased from Germany. The Germans love their tank models.

Here it is, I started a thread on it about a month ago, it's 1/16 scale. It's been sitting as a static model in the man cave for years, I built it over twenty years ago. The thing weighs well over ten pounds, check the last two vids of it running in the back yard. You can get slightly cheaper ones from the Chinese but they don't compare to the Japanese engineered Tamiya kit. The thing is a work of art, worth the money in my opinion. That said, the next one I build will be Chinese made, I'm wanting to build a Sherman Jumbo or Firefly variant.

RC Tank Thread

We need one so here we go.:tankman: I'm back in the mood to do some scale modeling again after many years. To start off I've decided to get my old Tamiya 1/16 Tiger I tank running again after it's sat for over 20 years. These are awesome kits, part scale model and part RC that have to be built...

www.texasguntalk.com

 

[RedArmy]

Here's what I'm looking at for the Sherman, still not cheap but I want a Sherman to keep the Tiger company. They have a conversion kit to make either the Firefly or the US made 76mm gun.

1/16 Mato RC Full 1230 Metal M4A3 Sherman KIT Tank Infrared Version Metal Color | eBay

Infrared combating system supports more than two tanks fighting together. Barrel recoil servo. Barrel up and down servo. We have the ability to handle any trouble of the tank. ※The tank includes(This tank is very heavy).

www.ebay.com