Motorising a Playmobil boat
Motorising a Playmobil boat
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After finding a highly collectable Playmobil boat in a skip, I decided to take it home, do it up and motorise it
After finding a highly collectable Playmobil boat in a skip, I decided to take it home, do it up and motorise it
(11th June 2020 to 29th August 2022)
Background
Background
You can see the sorry state the boat was in when it was found. If you look in the bottom right you can see there was a hole in the hull where the propeller and rudder should have been, the super structure also had a few chunks missing from it.
This Playmobil set is specially as it's the only Playmobil boat ever to have a full hull under the water line, and apparently parts of it were modelled from a real model boat which makes sense given its very realistic proportions. There is an excellent article here where you can find more information about the set Playmobil Review: ¡El mejor barco de Playmobil! <3 - Klickypedia
The restoration
The restoration
The first step was to use Milliput to fix the areas where the plastic had broken away. Then, I had to remake all the parts the boat was missing when I got it. I crafted a new mast out of balsa wood, as well as a new cargo hatch and superstructure roof. The anchor chain was handmade by soldering rings of gardening wire, and all the pulleys for the rigging were made by bending and cutting zinc strips. To make the fenders, I used the tube from a bicycle pump. The arch that the fishing net goes through, as well as the crates on deck, were made out of lollipop sticks. Quite a few parts were made out of cardboard, painted with acrylic paint, and then sprayed with a waterproofing coating.
To try and make the rigging a little more realistic, I looked at plans of similar model boats. The rigging is fully functional; you can lower and raise the sails as well as adjust their angle.
The final and most fun step was adding all the weathering effects to the boat, turning it from looking like a toy into a realistic model.
Makking it RC
Makking it RC
The model uses standard, AA rechargeable batteries because they are cheap and I didn't want to deal with charging LiPos. These batteries power a Speed 400 motor, held in place with a motor bracket I made by bending and cutting a zinc strip.
I also fitted it with a buzzer for the ship's horn that can be remotely operated. I made this work by fitting the buzzer to the control board from a broken servo. The red and green lights for port and starboard light up whenever the boat is turned on.
The on/off switch is hidden in the cargo hold, meaning you can turn it on and off without opening the boat completely up.
Sailing the boat
Sailing the boat
Title goes here
Title goes here
(12 July 2026)
The model is based on the Grosmont coaling
tower built in 1989 which was based on the towers built at LMS sheds. It was designed at Grosmont by the then Shed Master Peter Smeaton.
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