bjldiver

First time starting a thread. I thought I could let everyone know how my Italeri PT boat build is coming along. Progress has been slow. I have a 14 year old son who had the lead in his schools musical and who also runs track. Haven't had much time for the boat.

My son and I have built two of the Lindberg kits. Compared to this the Lindbergs are a snap. For the Lindbergs we used the Lindberg power drive conversion kit. The conversion was very easy. With the Italeri kit you really have to do a lot more fabricating and testing to see what will work.

So far I have the running gear mocked up and some basic assembly done. I decided to run two props off of a single motor. I tried running two motors but it was way too heavy. With what I have in the boat now it sits a little high but I still have a lot to add to the deck. I did use one of the motors from the Lindberg kit along with the speed control, prop shafts, stuffing boxes and props. The gear set is from Dumas. I am using lexan bulkheads to seal off the area by the ends of the stuffing boxes incase any water gets in through them. They are set at a very low angle.

Brian

Dude631

Looks good so far ! I, too, have the lindberg 109 and had it powered for R/c use - did this about 1986- and re-fitted it a few months
ago with new equipment... I'm thinking about getting a Italeri PT and going the R/C route with that as well - Am I correct that the Italeri is 27 1/2 inches in length ??

David

Dude631

Oh, I forgot to ask, what type of speed controller are you using there ???


David

bjldiver

Hi David
27.5" is correct. The width is also less and greatly reduces the weight allowed for RC components.
The speed control is a mechanical control from a Lindberg power drive conversion kit. I have extras lying around so I thought I would start with it but will switch to an electric if weight gets to be an issue or if the twin prop setup does not produce the speed needed. If the boat is two slow I will switch to twin brushless motors with twin controls.
Brian

bjldiver

some additional info. This is a 1/35 scale, the hull length is 27.55”. This kit from Italeri contains 322 parts molded in gray plastic, plus one clear acetate sheet for the windows, one photo etched fret containing 86 parts for torpedo fins, rocket launchers sides, 37mm gun ammo conveyor, gun sights, main mast aerials, instruments panel, deck lights. The one piece hull and single piece deck have good detail. There are many tiny parts that can be difficult to work with. The deck skylights are a challenge to get in cleanly. The detail of this kit is far superior to the Lindbergh kit. From what I have heard the hull of the Lindberg kit is closer to the design of the Higgins PT Boats. The Italeri hull is truer to the Elco design. So far the build has gone fairly smooth the fit of the parts is good. I have not needed to use much filler at the seams. The instructions can be vague at times but are workable. It would have been nice if they would have included some crew men. There’s a nice reference manual included with the history and actual photos of the full size boat.

The motor I am installing is the 3150 Model Marine Motor by M.A.C.K.
This is the motor used in many MACK Products conversion kits for Dumas, Lindberg, etc. Running at 12 volts net 12,000 plus RPM's. The rudders are from PMB rc parts in England. I might cut them down and reshape them to look more like the original PT rudders. The gear set is from Dumas and consists of parts from the Little Shelley Foss kit. I am planning on trying different props but for now I will use the props from the Lindberg kit. I will also determine from test runs if I will stay with the single motor set up. If I can not get the proper scale speed I will refit the boat with twin brushless motors and electric speed controllers.

I will have some free time this week end so I hope to make some progress and will up date as things progress.

My Dry-dock consists of two running Lindberg PT's one under construction and two for parts. I am also working on a 1:32 landing craft and 1:32 Tank that my son and I are going to put into a diorama with one of the PT boats. That’s next winters project.

martno1fan

nice boats do you ever build from scratch? i built my very first higgins boat for my sons xmas present last year from balsa from free plans heres a pic or 2.its still unfinnished but i cant get it away from him to finnish it he loves driving it.it runs on a single 540 car motor on 7.2 volts and has acooling coil.speeds very good in fact too fast at times,but its great fun.