Remote Controlled Conversion Playmobil 4823 Fire Rescue Boat

Hi guys and welcome to my "ible" #48.
If you are one of my followers, you probably know that I'm passionate about rockets, Arduino and remote controlled stuff. In the past, I've built the Rocket Drone as known as the Hawk-1, the Hawk-5 (a rocket that I'll attempt to land propulsively using model rocket motors) and last but not least, the Crane P2 which is a water rocket equipped with 2 electric pumps (I'll publish this ible soon).

Believe me or not, one of the most watched video on my channel is the one in which I put a 1S Lipo battery into a Playmobil underwater motor... This is utterly ludicrous!

It's time to do justice to that video...

I bought an used PLAYMOBIL 4823 Action Fire Rescue Boat with the aim of showing you how to convert it into a remote controlled boat, adding also other cool features.

I haven't seen any RC Playmobil conversion that uses the original underwater motor 5159, therefore I thought I had a reason more to publish this "ible".

PLAYMOBIL 4823 Action Fire Rescue Boat (Bought it used on Ebay for £6)

Playmobil Underwater Motor 5159 (Used)

1.5V to 4.5V Miniature DC Motor - 12200rpm https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-5V-to-4-5V-Miniature-...

DC 3V-6V 5V Mini 130 Vacuum Air Pump https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-3V-6V-5V-Mini-130-V...

PVC CLEAR TRANSPARENT TUBE FLEXIBLE HOSE https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-3V-6V-5V-Mini-130-V...

FLASHING BLINKING 3mm LED Bulb Bright Water Clear 3V https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-3V-6V-5V-Mini-130-V...

SG90 9G Micro Servo Motor https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-3V-6V-5V-Mini-130-V...

Mini Micro Servo 3.7g / 4.3g https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-Micro-Servo-3-7g-4...

FlySky FS-T6 Transmitter https://www.banggood.com/Flysky-FS-T6-V2-2_4GHz-6C...

Flysky FS-GR3E Upgraded 3 Channel 2.4G Receiver GT3B https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-3V-6V-5V-Mini-130-V...

RC 10A ESC Brushed Speed Controller https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-3V-6V-5V-Mini-130-V...

*ZOP Power 7.4V 750mAh 2S 70C Lipo Battery JST https://www.banggood.com/ZOP-Power-7_4V-750mAh-2S-...

*(Be extremely careful when you handle this type of battery as Lipo can catch fire if they fall into the water.

Ideally, you should hide all its connectors "below deck").

Resistors 2K Ohm

Zipties

Glue UHU

Heatshrinks https://usa.banggood.com/DANIU-Heat-Shrink-Shrinki...

Electric wires

*Hacksaw

*Screwdrivers

*Soldering on iron

*Cutter

*Scissors

*(Be extremely careful when you use these tools)

First thing first I've removed the rudder (I'll show you later how I'll steer the boat), replacing the motor because was completely rusted.
I've added 2 long electric wires, because I'll place the brushed ESC (link in the description) inside the hull.

I put a drop of glue in the hole I made to pass the electrical wires.

Using the hacksaw and some plastic tools (normally used to open the smartphone), I've removed the deck of the boat.

I bought a small pump (link in the description), because I want to activate remotely the hose (after all, it's a fire rescue boat, isn't it?)*.
I've attached 2 small pvc hoses (in & out), removing the original ones, glueing the pump inside the hull...

by the way, it fits like a glove.

I've modified an old 9g servo (I previously used for another project), transforming it into a remote controlled switch. After that, I wrapped it out using a heat shrink sleeve.

In this way, I can switch the pump on/off using my Transmitter (FlySky FS-T6).

*In the original version you have to squeeze the tanks with your hand, to push the water out of the hose.

A proper rescue fire boat should have some "blues", I mean the well-known blue flashing light, so I bought a blue LED and I've slided into the blue cap. I've also add another white LED to the spotlight.

Using some zipties, I've started to organise in a better way the passage of the hose for the water and the other electrical wires.
To steer the boat, I'm going to use a 4.5g servo, that I'll connect to the fake offshore motor, creating a sort of "invisible" long rudder (using a piece of transparent plastic).

I've secured the rudder to the motor using another ziptie.

I put back in place the fake offshore motor.

Now it's time to do a bit of soldering, to connect the connectors and the extensions.

Basically I'll have 4 connectors.

3 that I'm going to plug into a 3 channel receiver and 1 into the ESC for brushed motors (link in the description).

I've attached a servo horn to the top of the fake offshore motor and, using a paper clip, I've connected it to the servo.

As you can see, It works like a charm!

I've cabled all the wires inside the hull, using other zipties.
After that, I've connected all the cables to the receiver.

I've also removed the fake antenna, re-placing it with the one of the FlySky receiver.

I've connected the Playmobil Underwater Motor cables to the Brushed ESC (link in the description), installing the switch on one of the "manual" plastic tank*, aside the driver seat.

Using some white electrical tape, I've wrapped the battery to match the colour of the deck of the boat.

*Please note that in the original version of this Playmobil Rescue Boat, you have to squeeze the tanks with your hand to push the water out of the hose.

Testing it.