"I'll Be Back" The Wiesel overhaul 2026
Well, I finally decided on my next project: Overhaul the Schnellboot Wiesel.
I bought this Graupner kit in 1975 in London while we were doing some European travelling. Started working on it until "the kids" came along. I placed it in my attic (bad choice with the heat in Florida) then decided to resume working on it again in 2003. By then there was a lot of new information and photographs on these Zobel Class type 142A Schnellboots. So I decided to rip it apart including the conversion to four motors and shafts. That required making a large part of the aft under hull off.
At this time I decided to change the interior access cutout. This was a massive rectangular cutout leaving long seams with hold down levers. I decided to re-cover the deck and make several individual cutouts avoiding almost al seams and making the deck/hull stronger. The down side is that it makes it harder to access the inside components.
Skip forward a few years and it was complete. The first run was in January 2012. The boat looked great but the performance was pathetic. Those little conventional shaped propellers would not make the boat move very fast. For the next few years I would bring it to model boat meets (back the the Bay Area Electric Boaters). I had only two RC boats back then, Wiesel and my Standard Oil tug. As I built more boats the Wiesel dropped out of the picture.
How could I do that to my best looking boat?
In 2018 I got my first 3D printer. Upon finding a photo of what the real Schnellboot props looked like I thought that the model needed this upgrade. But with scale boats and tanks I had no time to complete the mission. Even my upgrades fell behind and my "to Do" list grew.
So, yesterday I had to make a decision: Which would be my next project? (Last month was the 51st anniversary since I bought the kit,) So the Wiesel won the lottery and I am going through everything, stripping out all of the electronics. It will take a little while in converting from the old style to the newer, more compact and direct wiring.
The first thing I am working on is getting the Loran turning again. The modified servo stopped working and it was embedded into the superstructure.
I am attaching a few photos for you to view.
Sorry US Coast Guard Cutter, Fireboat, Towboat, and Frederic Mistral tug. Sorry King Tiger, M26 Pershing, M10 trailers, M1 Abrams, second King Tiger, Deuce and a half, Semi- lowboy, and boom crane. You will have to wait in the queue.
I also have more on the Wiesel in my harbor here on on my web site (see link).
Lew
https://www.rcflorida.org/lmb/lmbwiesel/
I bought this Graupner kit in 1975 in London while we were doing some European travelling. Started working on it until "the kids" came along. I placed it in my attic (bad choice with the heat in Florida) then decided to resume working on it again in 2003. By then there was a lot of new information and photographs on these Zobel Class type 142A Schnellboots. So I decided to rip it apart including the conversion to four motors and shafts. That required making a large part of the aft under hull off.
At this time I decided to change the interior access cutout. This was a massive rectangular cutout leaving long seams with hold down levers. I decided to re-cover the deck and make several individual cutouts avoiding almost al seams and making the deck/hull stronger. The down side is that it makes it harder to access the inside components.
Skip forward a few years and it was complete. The first run was in January 2012. The boat looked great but the performance was pathetic. Those little conventional shaped propellers would not make the boat move very fast. For the next few years I would bring it to model boat meets (back the the Bay Area Electric Boaters). I had only two RC boats back then, Wiesel and my Standard Oil tug. As I built more boats the Wiesel dropped out of the picture.
How could I do that to my best looking boat?
In 2018 I got my first 3D printer. Upon finding a photo of what the real Schnellboot props looked like I thought that the model needed this upgrade. But with scale boats and tanks I had no time to complete the mission. Even my upgrades fell behind and my "to Do" list grew.
So, yesterday I had to make a decision: Which would be my next project? (Last month was the 51st anniversary since I bought the kit,) So the Wiesel won the lottery and I am going through everything, stripping out all of the electronics. It will take a little while in converting from the old style to the newer, more compact and direct wiring.
The first thing I am working on is getting the Loran turning again. The modified servo stopped working and it was embedded into the superstructure.
I am attaching a few photos for you to view.
Sorry US Coast Guard Cutter, Fireboat, Towboat, and Frederic Mistral tug. Sorry King Tiger, M26 Pershing, M10 trailers, M1 Abrams, second King Tiger, Deuce and a half, Semi- lowboy, and boom crane. You will have to wait in the queue.
I also have more on the Wiesel in my harbor here on on my web site (see link).
Lew
https://www.rcflorida.org/lmb/lmbwiesel/
Liked by EdW
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I will follow this with interest as I recently bought a Wiesel on EBay and it requires a full overhaul
Regards
Ed
You might consider going to my pages on updating the Wiesel to look more like the real one. Lots of photos, information, drawings, instructions, etc. I have never gone into so much detail as this. I plan to make some videos as well. The old videos on YouTube are too grainy.
Lew in