Temps

Ok as i promised when i started i do a review on her .

The robbe pt 15 patrol boat kit is i would say a slightly stand off scale patrol boat 1/40 .It is based upon a 1975 japanese torpedo pt boat i bought the kit from westbourne model center in the uk at a price of £130.00 included in the kit is hull/deck (vacformed) and superstructure parts also vacformed some fittings and all wood parts there is two other parts needed to complete the kit drive kit wich has motor prop tube gearbox and screw at a cost of £29.99 the other part is a fitting kit wich they call a detail kit including all the rest of the parts needed like rails stauncions ballards torpedo launchers and full lighting kit (yes i said lighting kit wich isnt normally given in a fittings kit) .the price of the detaling kit was £29.99 so the complete price of the kit with all fittings and drive kit was £190.00 a got from the westbourne model center .
www.westbourne-model.co.uk

Temps

the first thing i usually do when i start a kit is a bit of research on the real thing but in the case of this boat i found none so i had to go on my experience only for scaling the boat up .
now the construction begins to start i would say this kit is a easy to medium biuld kit some moddeling /boat expirence nessasery
upon opening the box you find lots of vacformed parts and laser cut wood / abs parts some are numberd but un fortunatley others are not so the best thing to start was to number the the un numberd parts for ease of construction also in the kit i found full scale plans and a multilanguage construction booklet .
The first part of construction was to fit bulk heads and drill holes for prop rudder assembleys so motor kit is needed straight away i also fiited radio tray and battery tray at this point now here the book sais to fit rudder servo and electrics i didnt as i like to be able to get to all parts after model is complete once gearbox engine is installed its time for the deck first of all you need to fit the deck supports round hull then fit deck to hull it sais to use ca here but i prefer two part resin as it can flex the deck is fitted in two parts upper and lower decks .

Temps

Once deck is fitted it was time to fit outer hull rubbing strips and then fill and trim time to get the hull smooth ready for prime
main hull construction complete time to start on the main super structure this is made out of two vacformed parts this part is were expirence is needed as alot of cutting and filing is needed for doors windows once the two parts are together with doors etc placed and cut out youll need to fit internal wooden parts this is for reinforcing for outer rails horns mast etc once all is installed its time for trimming filling and prepping for paint pics bnelow show main hull and main superstructure under painting ive found the coulors on the kit incorrect with experience ive found most under water line coulors on japanese millitary boats are oxide not black so that is what i went for for painting these parts i used a flexiable filler primer to start about three coats then sand then about three coats of grey primer /oxide primer for hull bottom and rudders then about three coats of satin laquer

Temps

more paint pics i instaled the printed numbers before i put on laquer

Temps

Once all deck and superstructuer is done its time to start filling deck / superstructure out i started by fitting out the superstructure here you will need some modeling exp some of the parts shown onm the plan are shown finnished but ther number in the book is a wooden block in the kit so its shaping time to paint wooden parts i used the same as the hull filler prime to loose the grain then top coat this is also were you start needing the detailing kit for ladders stauntions life belts etc once installed its time to make the main mast for this youll need some exp in soldering all these parts where painted seperattley the same way all being satin coated after the satin coat is because the primers are pourase the satin will protect it when cleaning also when fitting port starboard lights and tail and searchlight remeber to drill small holes for the wiring

DocYates

My Feedback: (102)

Very nice. Lets see the underworkings of this beauty. You are gonna stimulate me to finsih my 1/48 scale destroyer.
Tommy

Temps

next it was time to fit out the decks install bollards and railings etc fit hatches handles and ammo crates soldering skills also needed for railings once deck is finished time to make the guns these are made out of quite a few bits plastic wood brass the two guns are identicale so i made mine together these guns can be made to rotate (another fitting kit req) i wanted but i opted not to

Temps

once i had finished the main kit it was time to install elecs now robbe reccomend a mecanical speed controller YUK so i used a marine electronic speed controler with multiple reverse forward controll ithen installed futaba radio using one servo for rudders the forward battery compartment is used for reciver batterys as i was using a electronic speedo there was no need for reciver batterys so i used it for the lighting kit and istalled a seperate switch in the superstructure so it can be displayed lit up without the drive battery in see pics of radio installed before and after note neetness of wiring to many times ive been to the lake and seen people with radio and burn up probs when you look to help its spaggeti every were no thought given i spose they think out of site out of mind till boat is a fireball and sinking or running away with no controll radio cost £40.00 and electronic speedo £29.99 drive battery £21.99 from old town models in the uk
www.oldtownmodels.co.uk

Temps

time to try the working set speedo once done it was time to float test and ballast in the bath it goes check for leaks etc none found also no ballast needed sat staight and to its water line striaght of (lucky git))no charge up and of to the lake for test run
got to the lake and in she goes check all functions yep all ship shape ok open throttle and she sprng to life with a nice deep hum from motor no need for a sound system left and right responce are good ok time for speed run [>:] wow does it go on plain within three feet with no problems full speed turns no probs she ran for about 20 mins on a full charged stick (danm only brought one along ) what a joy this is to run. reverse manuvers can be a bit of a pain with the twin rudder single screw set up but i can put up with it anyway see pics

Temps

heres some more

Temps

Well thats it it took about 4 months in total to biuld her verygood quality parts instructions can be a bit sketchy in places but workable well worth a look nice kit i would give it a rating of about 8/10
power is 9.6volt nicad 20mins on full charge
radio two/three channel (three channel for rotating cannons )
next kit to biuld is Model slipways Trent Class Lifeboat will review when finished .hide decorating equipment for next six months(watch this space )
thanks.

SJN

Exelent work!

It realy looks great.

Kmot

My Feedback: (24)

Yes, awesome build up article!

douggy

Looks great. Thanks for posting this, as it is always a help to see colour pictures. I have bought one of these after much deliberation between it and the S Boot and whilst the instructions are quite good this will also be of help. Incidentally if it helps you and others I got my boat for £90.00 Motor unit was £ 29.00 and fittings I think £29.00 delivery £9.00 from www.amodelworld.co.uk they are by far cheaper than anywhere else for everything to do with boats (will have to see if I can get some commission of them Hehe!) Thanks Again exellent help

Temps

Hi Thanks for that link if you need any more help during your biuld just ask incedentlly since biulding this i ve aquierd 3 9.6v 3000mha nicads and 3 chargers from a guy on ebay for under £50.00 wich is a lot cheaper than the shops

Mr. Morbid

Nice PT boat you have there...

Temps

Thanks a lot nice to get some feedback on a project I know have a video on this and soon ill be uploading it

Mr. Morbid

Its really a labor of love that people who create those works of art like you have... I've seen some nice scale model boats on here...

jchik

Thank you for your colorful photos, I think I will buy one in near future.

Temps

Here is a video as promised
[link=http://www.westbourne.tc-multigaming.com/index.php?s=1f75437f36709b775a3fca276a9eea37&showtopic=42&st=0&#entry165]PT 15 video[/link]
this is also a good forum join in

martno1fan

she looks great mate nice job,im hoping to get one that needs a bit of restoring soon any tips or help on motors etc would be great.a friend has a 800 eco in his and he says its rubbish speed wise so id like a bit more speed.any ideas on this would be a great help.i have been told two motors and props are not possible in this hull or i would install two 540 motors in her.i also have an 18 volt drill motor that i could install and run off 8.4 volts?,maybe more!!.like i said any advice or help would be great thanks.

herrmill

If you haven't already found these, you'll want to review several of the PT-109 threads below for suggestions towards how you want to hop up your new boat:

http://forums.radiocontrolzone.com/s...9&page=1&pp=25

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=475405

http://www.subpirates.com/viewtopic....er=asc&start=0

http://www.pt-boat.com/

You'll be an expert in no time or at least as confused as I am with all the choices you have towards the numerous modifications!

regards,

Chuck

martno1fan

thanks for the links ill have a look,i think CONFUSED is the word lol i think i need a drink after all this reading and researching lol.

Temps

hi all i ran with the motor that was reccomended for the boat and run a 9.6v 3000mha battery and shes quite quick she also gets on plane straight away the only modification i would make is bigger rudders

martno1fan

hi what motor is it? id rather stick to direct drive iff i can though ,less noise!!