Robbe Dusseldorf Fire Boat

[Guest]

Hi Guys [n Gals].

ive just bought a second hand boat [as above] and wondered if anyone had a set of instructions/plans they couold copy/email me. as thisa vessel is a few years old and has a few items visibly missing, but without knowing actually what is or isnt missing I cant be sure.:thinking:

I would like to get it fully operational and back in to the water so any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

[you never know, if you're ever in area, you might be allowed a few minutes with the remote control] Ha ha.:music_too

[Guest]

Greg,

You have picked one of the most complicated models that Robbe do.

Just to get the basic functions moving and working you will need a six channel set, and if you want to go for the full monty, a Robbe F14 set with a couple of extra module boxes and transmitter units will be the minimum requirements. Even the small motors (I think 3 or 4 required) for moving things about on the boat are over £30 each.

When I bought all my radio and extra fittings kits to do mine, I bought them in Germany where they were a lot cheaper, and it came to over £750. That didn't include the price of the basic boat kit.

I fitted to mine fully automatic release and retrieve anchor (that required many hours of work on the lathe and mill), bow thruster, scale becker rudders, twinstick unit on F14 transmitter for independant motor control, seperate operation of lift and turn on the three fire monitors (including slomo units for scale speed operation), moving the ships boat to the true scale position and making a fully working crane for release and retrieve and the list goes on and on and on. and I actually never finished it after years of work, due to becoming disabled. I made a massive 50% loss on my investment, and that didn't include my time.

My suggestion to you, if you are not a VERY experienced model boat builder with very deep pockets, is just to turn it into a basic runabout. For the amount you are liable to spend, you will never get back anything close to what you will have to pay out.

Bogs

[Guest]

Thanks for your reply and honesty.

firstly, i dont wish to get everything fully operational as such, but it is my intention to get a majority of functiuons going.

Anchors - no dont need to move, as it s a water leak potential in the bows! and we dont need that.

the rear crane I will make operational, both swing and lift, but it will not release the boat in to the water.

the fire monitors will be rotatable, all working in unison using 1 servo and some link rods. I dont need them to raise/lower as such.

Sound module, on order,

Lights ! am installing a set of side mounted strobes to the upper superstructure for "side view". I have replaced the main mast with my own silouhette replica, so its got a hollow insides enabling me to fish all the electric cables through for all the mast lights and again 3 strobes at top of mast.

navigation lights and deck work lamps all aquired and must say all lights are "led's" so mega low power useage, so wont drain the battery and leave the boat dead in the water. Im using a 12v 7ah factory alarm gel cell battery, weighing a hefty 3kg's and the hull still sits high in the water, the electronic motor controllers are ok with the voltage.

radio? Im going to use a 2.4 ghz futaba system [6 channel] with an optional 4 channel upgrade off 1 servo channel on the reciever to control the lights and horn, so think all being well, it should look and sail good, plus able to saty out in the water for soem time before needing anothe rbattery cell, for which i do have a spare.

the lights have cost little from hong kong as you can appreciate, plus have numerous spare bulds if one ever does pack in.

the batteries were cheap from an industrial alarm supplier, but readily available and dont cost an arm and a leg, like proper radio batterys do!

no, im no expert in boats, far from it, ive only flown helicopters before this, but modyfying things is not beyond my means and doing it as cheaply as possible certanly is.

i dont simply walk in to the nearest model shop and spend an arm and a leg, thats what the internet is for and its well worth a shop around first before placing an order, been caught out there before, especially on auction sites.

incidentally for all that run Robbe kit, in the Uk that is, Robbe Schluter Uk inleicestershire are on the verge of opening an online spares catalogue, so no more problems with ordering from your local shop!, but saying that Robbe in germany were only to helpful in posting me a full set of instruction books for my boat, recieved within 3 days too! It would take a local model shop a week to think about who to contact, let alone place an order.

I do have some pics of my boat undergoing its refit, they are on the model fireboat website for all who wish to has a look.