LoudEye

Hello,

I am building a Mr. Darby Tug and was curious to see if anyone has pictures of the entire build process? I find the directions supplied a little confusing/lacking in some places and now I am stuck. You would think that for the kinda money you pay for this tug it could have been a little more detailed on how to put the boat together...[&o]

jadeski

Have you seen this page before ?

http://www.rktman.com/rlh/group/group.html

LoudEye

Awesome. Thank you jadeski.

This will definately help.

Tug Fan

Check this out Mr.Darby fans:

http://harbormodels.com/Harbormain/index.htm

jmneissa

I dont know about this superstructure kit $350.00 is alot of money for just some strynne but it depends on the way you look at it

LoudEye

I got mine for 125

jmneissa

Where did you get yours for 125?

LoudEye

a friend of mine owns a hobby store and I was able to get it from him for a review...:-)

jmneissa

Wow it is sgot to be nice having a friend at a hobby store I bet he get you all kind of deals on boats in stuff. I have been building buy mister darby by the book and now i have been doing some calculations and think i will have to add approximental 10+/- pounds of water and i think i will just pour about 5 pounds of lead to the bottome of the boat and then have five pounds of water balast tanks can you post some pictiures to be of you systems you use because i do not want my to take up half of my boat

matt

Shakee

A great forum for discussion. I would just like to share a few pics of my Darby. The power set is not installed yet. If this model need the sailing weight of around 60 lbs. Can I put a car battery in it? Any suggestion for the powerplant layout? I ordered 2 Robbe 1000 motors for this big tug. I think it should do the job. Comments are welcome. ( I 'm new in RC Boat. )

Umi_Ryuzuki

A car battery might do, however for ease movement and convenience look into "Sealed lead Acid" and "Gel Cell" batteries. The can be found as big as any car battery, down to the size of your fist. The nice part is that if you need to lay it side ways, back ways, slant ways or upside down, it won't matter. Automotive batteries will "spill".

subsinker

My Feedback: (61)

I have built two of the Mr. Darbys and am currently working on my third. The first one I built I did use a lawn and garden tractor battery and although it did supply lots of juice it was extremly cumbersome and heavy to transport. I have found that you can purchase sealed lead batteries (I get them from radio shack.com but there are tons of suppliers) that will do the job much more efficiently.

While we are on the subject, I will try to post some pictures of the one I am currently building. If you're like me and find the aft hatch a real pain to get anything in or out of I have the solution. While I was building the decks, I made the rear opening larger. I used the same wood that came with the kit and just re-engineered it. Now, almost the entire rear deck from just under the winch house rearward comes out, making maintenance a breeze. I also used styrene for the decks and sprayed the paint a little "dry" to give it a textured feeling. The results, I feel, were well worth the effort.

Best regards,
Pete

destroyer779

My wife has been pressuring me to pick something for her to get me for Xmas and i have thought for many years i would like to get a Mr. Darby Tug..I have been reading all the posts on this site and am really wondering just how good the plans for construction are???? I am just an average model builder and dont like frustration...to much.so can somebody let me know if the average guy can build this boat with plans supplied..Would appreciate the real story..

Thanks.
Butch

Skute327

Hi,
I have been building a mister darby tug for about three years now and seeing some of the things on this site have given me ideas I wish i had thought of before i had started. I have included many unique features to this tug and I would post pictures as soon as i figure out how to. ( I am not much of a tech wiz) I am using a Robbe F14 controller It has a navy twin stick along with a multiprop (servo) and a multiswitch Module. Altogeather making 24 channels. I am using three air coooled electronize electronic speed controls driving 4 yes four Industrial grade johnson motors; they are belt driven with sdp/si pullies and kevlar thread belts. these motors give out some serious power and is definately overkill. i used a graupner bowthruster ( the third E.S.C. ) I used dozens of led's as lights all over. their blue tint gives them a florescent look.
The secret weapon inside the tug is miniature BB cannons simalar to those used in model warship combat. I have three cannons which work off a co2 tank the same as those used in paintball.
I see many beautifully built darby models here and I am disapointed I was unable to build a superstructure as nice as those. my experience is very limited as i am only 16. I hope to get some pictures up as soon as I can.

Skute327

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Skute327

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Skute327

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Skute327

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Skute327

I finally figured out how to post pictures and i posted lots!
other things I added are:
working winches With kevlar towline
a blocked hull so the decks can be bolted down for easy removal
working nav. lights
interior exterior lights
interior lights turn from white to red with a three position switch on the controller
automatic Bilge pump with warning light the circut can be seen in the picture of the guns in the bow.
I have installed a tow handle because with all that pouer I intend to use it to tow my 15' whaler (hopefully this summer ) if successful, pics to come.

I may not be the best at details but I think i make up for it in cool features

My e-mail address is [email protected] if you want to contact me.

DONS BOAT WORKS

My Feedback: (3)

Good looking tug!!

rhodge

can you tell me where I can get the Kort Nozzle with rudder and a 3.5" prop?
Thanks,
Bob

Kaltag

My Feedback: (2)

Hey guys
Im building a new mr. darby and will be posting pics and some of my thoughts on the new Mr Darby COMPLETE kit offered by harbor models. For those of you who are hesitating on the complete set up, dont. Its a great deal and harbor models has spent alot of time developing their version to help cut building time in half. After inspecting the complete set up from harbor models, I am very impressed with how well desiged the kit is. They have really thought of everything. I opted for the kort nozzle version. I got all the fittings, motors, mounts, and even a 1/4 scale heavy duty servo for the rudders made by futaba. WOW. I am currently getting ready to paint the hull and superstructure but will post my building steps from day one on here shortly. The nice thing about the harbor models version is that they really do give you everything you need. Also the superstructure is molded which saves many hrs there, and the superstructure/bridge is styrene. Now we can all get that nice flat finish. No more wood grain thru the paint as i have seen on some models. Give me a bit of time to organize my pics and ill start posting on my latest MR. Darby. Oh, one more thing,, has anyone seen the new deck on the kit? Its even got deck plates and details molded right onto the deck. Great stuff !

jmneissa

Hey Guys

I am building a Mister Darby and it is my first one I originally bought the dumas motors and running gear but am now thinking of buying the harbor models running hardware. Also I think I am going to have to add much more weight then I thought so i need to get a big heavy and powerful battery what is the best one to buy. I am also thinking of using a water ballast system has any one done this before if so can you take some pictures and post them onto this forum.

Boulderboater

Hi jimneissa,
yes, adding extra weight does seem to be necessary - I am adding about 2 gallons of water ballast by sectioning off the front 12 inches or so of the hull. This seemed like the best place, far away from anything.
I am using four 6Volt gelcell batteries, 12Amp-Hours each, that weigh about 4-1/2 pounds each. However a quick test showed that the weight is too far forward, but I cannot move the batteries farther back because of the motors.
So I have turned the Pittman motors round, mounted them way back on a face plate, and used a belt and reduction gear to connect to the (shortened) propshafts. Same as skute327. This gets the motor weight right back, and they are easily accessable from the rear hatch. Also I can now move the batteries back close to the motors. Hopefully that should do it.
The water tank is not sealed at the top, so I can look down into it where the pumps are. The "fill" pump is set into the hull and draws water from beneath the hull. The "empty" pump is totally inside the hull, at the lowest point. Its output is to a clear tygon hose that is routed all the way to the back, and discharges the water just below water line.
I am still not sure if the center of gravity is right so I have the battery tray fitted onto a slide support so that I can move it back (to the motors) or forwards (right up to the water tank bulkhead).
I will see if I can post some pictures this weekend to make it clearer. Hope this will be useful
Regards,
Paul

jmneissa

Thanks Paul very usefull information and will have to incorporate your points into my dessign I am looking into buying the Pitman 3700 motors because there the better ones but I do not want to buy the rest og the propshafts and stuff because I alreday have all of that. Does anyone know where I can gett just two Pitman motors by them selveswith no other parts. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Matt