Hello, I am Chris. I am from Naperville. I realize that because I am 14, I cannot use armed warships in events. However, I am going to begin construction on my first ship. I don't think I will be buying the electronics and equipment, because I am on a budget, so I will only really be constructing the hull. I would like a little advice. First, I would like to either build a battleship or cruiser. Second, what should I use to build it? I will be scratchbuilding it, by the way. Lastly, I need templates for the ribs and keel. I don't know how to get the ribs shape from plans. Thanks
Welcome aboard Chris. A lot of scratch building a ship will depend on the format you intend to use; big gun, fast gun, treaty, etc. This will determine what scale you use. I would look building an unarmed transport as a first ship. There are not a lot of electronics part; battery, associated electrical wiring, motor, possible electronic speed controller and your RC XMTR / RCVR. Probably just as important what is your parents take on you participating in this hobby. What type of tools do you have access to and what is your experience using them.
First of all, 1/144 Scale. Either Big or Fast gun. My parents are fine with it. I have access to plenty of tools. Band saw, power sander, planer, all kinds of saws, tons of stuff like that. I thought about building a liberty ship. Not sure though.
Build a battleship. You can always arm it later plus it's cooler. Try to pick one you really like. Get dad to help build. We have plently of young members who battle. He can always watch let us know if you have any questions on how to, there are plenty of answers.
I agree with Iceman If you go with North Carolina Class or South Dakota Class, free plans are online. I think I have free plans for Iowa but that's huge Tonight, I'm updating Herr von Tugboat's Haus of Linkz, ja! with links to the plans I've found over the years, some free, some not. Today is going to be slow at work, so I'd do it here, but the Army's firewall is a bit... chafing If you look at the warship builds section, I tried to explain how to get ribs from the frames drawing in my build thread on Edgar Quinet.
Are you in Naperville, IL near Chicago? JP, John & Eathan are all in the area. If that's your town I can send you contact info. If you get the cash and time they can help get you started.
Yes, live in Naperville. I actually have been looking at building the Pommern or Edgar Quinet using Tugboats thread.
Here's the Chicago area web site. http://www.mwci.org/chapters/IL/photoGallery_Main.html I'll send you a PM with e-mails for the guys.
I strongly recommend the Edgar Quinet of those two. Lots of room, pretty cheap to get it going, good size (not too big, not too small).
Welcome Chris; I hope that you have fun with the hobby. I hope that you can get you dad involved as well. I am from the Northwest burbs of Chicago myself. I am looking forward to visiting family and friends there in Illinois some time in the future. But yes, just because you can not sail an armed ship does not mean that you can not build a big battlewagon! Sailing an unarmed battleship is just fine! You will be well ahead of the game when it comes time to arm her.
I don't know big gun rules. But in the MWC you can battle at any age with a parent's permission. My son has battled for the last 2+ years, started when he was 7. Currently we have an 8th grader battling with us too, he's been doing it for 3 years. We've had a couple of 15-16 years olds battle in the past. It's the cars/sports/girls that takes them away until they get done with school and get a job.
The 15-16 year olds in Region 3 started much younger. I think Christopher was 8 when he started. Tim Krakowski's son started at like 6 or 7 and I think he's 9 now, captains his own ship with minimal help from adults. Other than keeping him away from his Nintendo DS when he's supposed to be reloading
Update: I am now looking for pattern sets for any ships. I asked strike models, but their printers are packed up until July. Any contributions are greatly appreciated.
You might want to check out Tugboat's SB-101 " Building MN Edgar Quinet". You could easily apply the lessons to other ships plans you can freely download off the Internet, and I'm sure the people here would be happy to help if you put in the effort and want to learn. I'm using that thread to build something for MWC Nats. You should also check out On the Ways: Bearn CV.
Hi Chris, welcome aboard! I'm from the far northwest suburbs of Chicago and until recently have been pretty quiet due to work, work, and other, more pertinent projects. I'm building an Iowa-class battleship, have been for two years, and I've thoroughly enjoyed the project, even though at present I am nowhere near combat ready. With luck, there will be an MWCI Illinois build session sometime this summer. All of us that met regularly last year were building either Strike or Battler's Connection kits; you can see photos of our progress at the MWCI Illinois chapter page; the link is posted above. Looking forward to seeing your build in progress!
