I'm trying to decide wether or not to buy a fiberglass hull from BC for my first ship. I don't want to spend 150+ dollars on the hull alone, unless not doing so would result in an inferior ship. I'm pretty good at building up fusalages for gliders out of wood, but a ship hull might be different. What is the difference in the end cost?
From my understanding, its quite the debate that for the most part comes down to preference, time and upfront money. A fiberglass hull will cost you more upfront (assuming you already have all the woodworking tools) but is quicker to get in to the water. A fiberglass hull can in theory last longer, as an improperly sealed wood hull will rot out. In smaller ships with less internal volume, a fiberglass hull will afford you more space for components.
Nick pretty much hit it on the head. Fiberglass = more expensive but quicker build. Wood = less expensive but more time to build. Theoretically, a fiberglass ship would last longer, yet there are 20+ year old wood ships still on the water and battling today. I built my first ship out of wood. In my opinion, it probably added around 10 days to the time it would have taken to build a fiberglass ship. I'm still building wood ships, but have also went with fiberglass hulls to cut down on build time to get a ship on the water faster. Like most things, you're decision will be made based off how much time or money you would like to devote to building a ship.
Dave, a WELL-BUILT wooden boat is better than ANY fiberglass boat. There's just so much more that you can do with a wooden hull to get you a nicer end product. However, it's also not hard to screw up a wooden hull really badly, so many folks choose fiberglass. A well-built wooden boat is a work of art. Have you ever seen a model of a wooden sailing ship that's been planked, and the planks on one side are perfectly symmetrical with the planks on the other side? Have you ever seen a beautiful piece of wooden furniture that's been polished and stained to have that "old wooden" feel, yet still serve its purpose well? Have you ever seen a piece of machinery that was truly beautiful in its simplicity and function? A well-built wooden boat is all of that, plus it works reliably and (in the hands of a good skipper) kicks butt on the pond. It's rather difficult to put into words, but when you see a truly magnificent wooden ship, you'll know it. A well-built fiberglass boat is a machine. It's possible to build some elegance and beauty into it, but nowhere near as much as a wooden ship. Clean, simple hardware mounts, an elegant equipment layout, etc. But you can't build stuff in from the start, and it's just not physically possible to plank the bottom of the hull, the most difficult and rewarding decorative part of wooden shipbuilding. Performance-wise, fiberglass is actually a tiny, itty-bitty little bit nicer, in that you get a hair more internal room and it weighs a little bit less than an equivalent wooden hull. However, I don't see it making any noticeable difference on any battleship I can imagine. Submarines, destroyers? Yeah, the internal space issue is important, but battleships are very roomy. If you NEED the extra space a fiberglass battleship hull affords, you're doing something wrong. The most significant benefit of fiberglass is time-saving. A quality wooden hull takes several months to build, when you're doing it right. A fiberglass hull turns those few months into a few afternoons, getting you on the pond faster. In summary, a fiberglass hull saves time on construction. A good wooden hull takes a lot more time than a fiberglass hull. On the other hand, an expert wooden boatbuilder will ALWAYS build a better boat than an expert fiberglass boatbuilder. If you like the building process, then build a wooden ship. If you want to get past the building part and start battling ASAP, then go fiberglass. Personally, I love building ships as much as I love battling them, so I prefer wooden hulls. Other folks don't like building, so they choose fiberglass. Still others don't know how to start building a wooden ship, so they have no choice. I can't judge your level of skill, so I can't suggest which you'll want, but it's a good idea to take a look at some of the ship-construction threads on this forum to take a look at the different shipbuilding styles, and compare both wooden techniques and fiberglass techniques.
The biggest factor for me is money. I don't mind building the hull, I think its fun, but I don't know how well I'd do. I don't know how to size the bulkheads off of plans or build a good keel...
If you have scratch built a plane, then you should have the skills to scratch build a hull. I'm going to try to post a link to a scratch built hull I did a while back. The thread goes through the steps of building a hull, from planning all the way through assembly. It should give you a good idea of what is involved if you would like to go that route. http://www.rcnavalcombat.com/Forum/...fault.aspx
A fiberglass hull gets you on the water faster. In the time you took to make the hull you could have the whole ship done. If you order it now you could go to NATS, right in your back yard. might not get there with a wood hull. You will also spend about as much money on the wood & epoxy sealer as you would on a fiberglass hull. But you do have some wood scraps left over to start another build. Unless you have wood laying around you can use the cost is not that different. I like to make my own deck & subdeck. Then I can chose where the cross braces go and where the deck sections are cut. I'd guess the BC kits are pretty close to where I'd put them, but I've never bought one.
A fiberglass hull is MUCH faster than a good wooden hull. I've heard of one or two people knocking out a really rough wooden hull in about a week, but the result was the same quality of hull as fiberglass for a lot more effort. Good-quality wooden hulls take a lot longer. You may seriously consider doing a fiberglass ship first, then start experimenting with wood. There's a lot of hardware that goes into a combat ship, and it's a good idea to get to know this hardware somewhat before you start building a wooden ship. If you don't know how to plan out the interior layout before-hand, you may find that one of your ribs is directly in the way of your motors, or your cross-braces are in the way of your turrets. Once you know basic layout theory, you can then start building wooden boats.
I guess I will probably order the hull for my first ship, just to get the idea. I'd like to build one in the future though. How much should I buy from BC? Should I get the hardware kit, cannon kit, deck kit etc? If I buy it with the deck kit, it says it comes with plans. It sounds like this could really help with the superstructure.
i think your 1st ship should be fiberglass so you learn how things work in a ship then make a wooden hull. that jest me tho. my 1st attempt at a wooden hull will be a convoy ship next year still have alot to learn and or copy
Here are my thoughts on the subject. I am leaning towards fiberglass. In reskinning a wood hull, I found that I had a hard time with removing the old glue. It turned out I was grinding out more that just the old skin and glue! With a fiberglass hull it is easy to see what is skin and what is rib.
What all do I need to start building once the hull comes? It sounds like the first step might actually be installing the hardware, then working on decks and superstructure. Should I buy the running hardware kit from BC?
The first step would be to mark the windows, then let you Tech officer inspect it. This is a VERY important step. If you have your spacing wrong, and you cut the windows. UGH! time for a new hull and to start all over again. After the fun of cutting the windows, it is time to make the water channel and set the prop shaft(s). That should keep you busy for a while. I found that building the superstructure is one of the last steps.
I would highly recommend building at least one ship on your own. You really need to learn the steps and skills in the construction of an R/C ship, if you are to really appreciate the hobby you are involved with. All of my boats, with the exception of my DKM S-38 are built from scratch and out of balsa wood and glassed over. The oldest boat is now about 17 years old.
I am currently working on making a fiberglass hull. The reason is because we will be construction two Bismarcks and one tripitz.
Well, im going to try a wood hull for my first ship. My dad and i are good woodworkers, and anyways, we have a surplus of wood so if we mess up badly we can just start over again. We are also planning on glasssing the hull.
