I have a very thick glass hull by Ralph Coles. I was thinking about cutting it with one inch windows (1/8" ribs). Have any of you tried using 1" rib spacing with a fiberglass hull? How did it work out? I am wondering how much strength the ribs will have if they are cut so thin. I am planning on reinforcing the ribs with a think strip of aluminum goop'd flush to the back side of each rib.
Is it for small gun or big gun? I would think that in either one if you take a few hits there the rib would shatter, I have seen 1/4 ribs with wood back shatter afte rtakeing 4 direct hits. Also have seen 1/4 ribs bust after accidental ram.
The ship is being built for big guns. We have been reinforcing ribs in fiberglass hulls by epoxying braided wire to the back of ribs. It seems to have worked pretty well for a couple of years with 1/4" and 3/8" ribs. I've not seen 1/8" ribs on a glass hull so I don't know how much weaker they are. My concern was that at 1/8" there simply was not enough material to get any strength at all out of the ribs.
I wouldn't want to do it, just for all the cutting! I did a standard ribbed hull in 1/4" with 1" spacing once, & vowed I'd never do that again! Way too much work, & no real benefit. JM
I don't mind the cutting... and with Big Guns we use much larger rounds so they hit ribs a lot more often then with fast guns. The closer rib spacing dramatically effects the likelihood of a shot being a non or barely penetrating hit on a rib than a clean hole through the skin. Closer ribs also drastically reduce the length of tearing shots along the length of the ship. So, no one is using 1/8" ribs in fiberglass... ?
Only for areas of the hull where where there is an armour stringer. In fast gun the width is 1/8 but they can break too unless you back them.
