Should I Get This Old School RC Tug Boat?

[DeepLCG]

I found this at a local consignment shop for $50. REALLY old Futaba electronics, I believe the battery bank is D cell, with an electronic / mechanical speed control. It may be Dumas? Not sure, but looks to be hand built and painted by someone. The prop still spins freely and is still attached to the old DC motor, which is a good sign. I realize I'd need to do some, perhaps a lot, of work on it. Wondering what the community thinks. Is it worth the cash, or time to get back in to working condition? Basically, is the hull and hardware worth $50, minus the electronics, which will likely need to be replaced? I have a few boats, but mainly play with things that crawl and race on land and air. That said, I wouldn't mind adding one more interesting water craft, to the collection.

 

[WoodiE]

@DeepLCG I think it would be a very worthy project to see running again.

 

[Doom!]

Looks pretty cool, I wouldn't even blink at $50.00. I guess the real question is how bad do you want to be a tugboat captain?

 

[Jamr]

Looks really cool Love to get one like this for a retrieval boat.

 

[tntpoof]

Nice Tug. not so sure buy with electronics setup .but again I dont know whats exactly in that . do you think it can take modern batteries?. Its a Buy for me. you can always update The internals workings

 

[WoodiE]

Looks pretty cool, I wouldn't even blink at $50.00. I guess the real question is how bad do you want to be a tugboat captain?

The $50 is a no brainer for sure. My biggest concern would be how much I would want to put into it with all the updates and such.

 

[blaster27]

I think its way cool. Might look good on a shelf as well.

 

[hamz9561]

$50 is no-brainer - Buy it. Upgrades to the electronics really won't be too outrageous.

 

[DeepLCG]

Thank you all for the encouragement. It does seem like a shame to just leave it there, if it's hasn't sold yet. Kind of strange how RC boating isn't a bigger thing here, with all of the little mountain lakes we have around. That said, might still be available. I'll pick it up, if it is, and report back with more pictures.

 

[Tunedfrog]

With the word "Deep" in your username @DeepLCG then to me it's a no brainer, yes you should get it.

 

[H.D.]

That is a piece of rc history , I would get it and add it to your collection for sure , you can always modify n update if you wanna use it , I would definitely be using it , my darn zelos 48 keeps dying on speed runs , I've got the new tug , but that's awsome stuff right there

 

[blaster27]

I would buy it . If you can swing it, do it. If not oh well. With that said, when its gone, it's gone. Get it now, why you can. I would be bummed hard, if I missed that deal.

 

[DeepLCG]

Well, since the forum delivered a resounding yes to getting the old tug.. here it is. I'll show you some of the vintage electronics, share a few thoughts on my restoration ideas and a few questions regarding some of the older RX / TX gear.

Purchased and ready to take home.

On the workshop bench. Taking a closer look. Nice Patina.

Top down, needs some dusting and pieces glued back on. maybe some paint and new decals. Thinking some 1/24th crawler tires hanging off the front for a bumper and maybe working that little rope and reel into an actual boat rescue device.

First look at the vintage Dumas mechanical speed controller, a Pittman Panther 3-6 VDC boat motor and the D cell battery holders, to power the Pittman.

Lots of sloppy glue work and old foam throughout. Not much I can do about the glue / epoxy. If doesn't sink, I'll be leaving it as is. I will be pulling out the foam, to take a closer look. You can see the rescue boat jammed in there. That will need to be glued back on to the deck. Any guesses on how old this build is? I'd like to replace the D cells with a 2S lipo. Of course the motor and speed control are rated for 6 volts, so I'll need to reduce the 7.4v with a buck step-down converter. Let me know if anyone has any other ideas.

A look at the Keel, rudder and prop. Prop and rudder both move freely. I really like the shiny red look. I have yet to perform a leak test.

came with this nice wooden stand. It holds the boat perfectly. Can't imagine how I'd work out the boat, without it.

Another look at the DUMAS MOTORS #2002 6 Volt mechanical speed controller. Please share info if you have it. For example, how strict is the 6v rating on this and the motor. See how the builder had it tied in there on the servo board with twine. Is it possible that this was placed in there before zip ties were commonly available? The servos for the mechanical speed control and rudder are both Futaba FP-S28

The Pittman Panther. What a beauty. It took me a minute to get it spinning, using the MDP-M01 bench power supply, but it works. Also, got it running with the speed controller and D cells. My initial thought was to replace all the electronics, but keep the motor. I may go ahead and try to get it running, restoring everything as is. I can always upgrade later, if it doesn't work out.

Inside the speed controller. Wasn't working at first, everything stuck and oxidized. Freed everything up with contact cleaner and dielectric grease, checked fuse and points with a meter. Seems to still be functional. If I can get everything running with the old electrics, this will be my first RC with a mechanical speed controller.

Zip tied back on to the servo board and cleaned out all the old foam. Receiver is an AM FP-R4F. I can't find and info, at all, on this RX. Not even sure how many volts DC, to run it. I slowly ramped up to 3V on the bench supply and got it running. I am nervous to increase it past that point. Anyone know anything about this receiver?

FP-R4F Rudder servo is strong and relatively quick at 3VDC. Same with the servo for the speed controller. There is a switch on the deck of the boat, for the RX that I temporarily wired in. The switch had two confusing wires / connectors hanging off it. One seemed to pass DC, the other.. nothing. In the old days, there was a battery for your motor and another batter for the RX. I'm hoping to run everything in this boat off the 2S lipo, including this Receiver. Not sure exactly how yet. The Buck converter to convert DC 7.4 to 6VDC for the motor and a BEC (Battery Eliminator Circuit) off of the buck to convert 6VDC to 3VDC for the RX? Let me know your ideas, if you know of a better method. This is the buck converter I ordered. LM317 DC-DC Step Down Converter 4.2-40V in 1.2 to 37V out DC 2Amp

I thought the radio was fried, at first. I took it apart and cleaned up the battery compartment with sand paper and contact cleaner. It is intermittent, but working. Gimbals seem fine and antenna is in tact. 8AA batteries! Geesh! Another first for me, running an RC with an AM radio. Not sure how smart it is in todays congested RF environment. That said, I'll likely be away from any major radio towers when I am running this boat and will likely keep it close to shore.

That's it for now. Hope you enjoy the pics and thank you for motivating me to pick up this cool vintage RC.

 

[H.D.]

That is just a great piece of rc right there , $50 ! Heck the dam boat stand is worth that these days , we have the technology to rebuild and recreate !! I would love to find something like that

 

[blaster27]

You got a good deal.$50 and a lot of fun ahead.

 

[DeepLCG]

Mustered up the courage to test the AM FP-4RF Receiver power input capacity further. I noticed the servos were lagging at 3 volts, so had to assume the system could handle more. I slowly inched it up to 6VDC, sniffing for tell tale DC smoke, no problems. Servos are now nice and snappy.Makes adapting the boat to LIPO a bit easier of a scenario, now that I only need one regulated power supply for both Mechanical Speed Control / Motor and RX, no BEC necessary. On the bench, the boat pulls 1.5 amps max. Hopefully it won't be too much more under load so I can use the LM317 I ordered, which is rated for 2 Amps. If all works out, it will have only cost me $4.37 to get the boat up and running. Fingers crossed. Still have to test for leaks.

 

[Tunedfrog]

Nice score bud, have fun with it.

 

[H.D.]

A pump and fire hose outlets !! Sorry just ng ahead , like it's mine or something

 

[DeepLCG]

A pump and fire hose outlets !! Sorry just ng ahead , like it's mine or something

Oh I like that idea! I still haven’t decided if I’ll do a faithful to the original restoration or go bonkers with the upgrades. My feeling is, if I can get it running with the old electrics, I will keep it original. If not, sky is the limit!!

 

[Chubaka]

Now that I see it, it's probably best you pass on it.

Congrats on the new project.