I am new to this great hobby and looking for my first vessel! I am just a teenager and I would like some suggestions on a fairly simple but nice first ship. Since I live in Iowa, I doubt there are any clubs arond, so I do not really need to follow a set of rules and regulations. I would like to make a big gun ship and I have been eyeing the Prinz Eugen and the Andrea Doria on Battlersconnect.com. I would really like a ship of that size or smaller (The Prinz Eugen is a little larger than what i want though). I do not have any expeerience in this end of the rc hobby, I only have a few short course trucks. Any suggestions and help for an inexperienced captain would be Great!
Read over the many build threads on this site for hints on how to build. If you purchase a kit from BattlersConnection (or Strike), what you'll get is a fiberglass hull, plans, and turrets. Possibly more depending on which kit & what level you pay for. You really don't want to build anything much smaller than a Graf Spee / Northampton since smaller=harder to cram everything needed in, so either of your listed ships are good choices. Needed items: Radio & receiver Drive & pump motors pump guns. Note, small guns / fast gun bb-firing guns are available for purchase. Big Gun will have to be built by you from scratch. propeller(s) drive shaft(s) rudder(s) balsa for skin wood for subdecks & decks paint wiring batteries CO2 bottle & regulator hose for CO2 to guns fire control, either poppet valves & servos or solenoid (aka "Kips") & firing boards. Hope this helps. Feel free to post any questions
Should my top priority be making a functioning ship with no guns, then work on a weapon system or should I put it all together at once? Could fast gun cannons be converted to big gun by adding a system to rotate them? If you guys have any suggestions on a low cost but good radio and receiver please let me know.
Welcome aboard. The first and most important thing to help you succeed in this hobby is support. What I mean is two things: your parents and your local club/nearest members. Depending on their age and experience, younger members need help with anything from driving to the battle site to operating power tools during construction to financial assistance. When I first started, I was old enough to drive myself wherever I needed to go, and had just started a summer job so I could afford the expenses associated with construction. I had no access to or experience operating power tools, however. This is where the second part comes in. One of the local club members became my mentor, teaching me the basics of ship design, construction, and operation. He also provided access to his shop and training on operation of machine tools. This is important for experienced RC modelers and first timers alike, because the combination of electrical, electronic, and pneumatic equipment can be difficult to sort out without help. As much as we try to help on this board, you can learn much more by seeing a boat in person, holding it in your hands, and learning first hand how it is operated. Step one: find the nearest club or member. If no one is in easy access, consider a weekend trip to see a battle. step two: find out how much parental assistance you need and how much they are willing to provide. step three: do further research and decide what boat you want to build. There are many things to consider when deciding what boat you want to build. It certainly helps to build the same boat as whatever club is near you. I started with big gun back home, but when I moved close to a fast gun club, I started work on a boat to battle with them. It also helps to build a simple boat for your first time. Even with help from experienced builders, your first boat will have plenty of mistakes. Browse through the forum and you can see build threads and discussions of the merits of various ships. edit: started writing, stopped and there were other posts before I made mine. Fast gun cannons can be used for big gun. Rotating cannons are not necessary for a big gun ship, in fact it is simpler to keep them fixed. Weapons systems take space, and you need to plan for them from the beginning. It's not easy to build a ship and add the cannon systems and pneumatics later. Also, the radio should be one of the last things you buy. It's more important to get other things first, like the hull, motors, and pneumatics.
Well I have a lot of bad things to worry about. My dad is willing to help and is pretty good with tools and all of that, but there sure is a lack of rc battle groups in the middle of Iowa. Im not too sure my parents would be willing to drive me to another state to view a battle. I am more "sure footed" when it comes to rc than my dad and I am sure that I could get the ship to run on my own (Might fail with the rudders). I will need loads of guidance with the guns and maybe the deck and sub deck as well. I am looking to make an Andrea Doria. I might end up buying most of the parts since I will have no mentor or experienced person along side me. My budget is around $750 dollars (I have been saving and will detassle).
The best way to have a battle group nearby when there isn't one is to start one yourself! Build a boat, then take it and some promotional material to all the hobby shops in the area. Talk up the hobby w/ your friends. Talk it up with the people who work at the hobby shops. Note I say build your boat first. That way you'll be able to answer questions from firsthand knowledge, rather than "book learning". Now for your budget: A-D kit: $175.00 Hardware kit: $112.00 Cannon kit: $175.00 Pump: $30.00 Total thus far: $492 +shipping In addition, you will be needing a CO2 bottle & regulator (BC is currently out of stock, but Strike has 'em) Tools: To get started you will need a dremel or equivalent w/ cut off wheels to cut your "windows" in the hull, woodworking tools (bandsaw or circular, drills, sandpaper, etc) and two-part epoxy resin to glue stuff together. Later, you will need to order balsa wood to skin the hull, paints, and some material for building the superstructure. Again, read some of the build threads to get a good idea of what is involved. This is a good one for an overview: www.rcnavalcombat.com/Forum/tabid/5...fault.aspx
Can one of you guys explain to me the layout of your run of the mill radio? Like what sticks control what and if something is on a different channel. I would also like to know what type of radio and receiver I should pick up. Thanks for all the help guys.
Oh and I would also need servos, what kind do you suggest? Would is there any place I could get an Andrea Doria super structure? I appoligize for all of my questions and thank you guys for answering!
Radio: Usual setup is throttle is forward/back, rudder is right left on left stick. Right stick controls guns (back for stern, left for port, right for starboard, etc). Pump is often on the "gear" toggle as it's an on/off. Some radios come w/ servos. Check Tower Hobbies for a 2.4Ghz aka "Spread Spectrum". Recommend MINIMUM six channels. Make sure the radio you buy comes with a receiver (some don't). Depending on whether you are going to operate your guns using servos & poppets or electronically, you may use as few as ONE servo in your boat (Rudder)....
Would I be able to find a super structure ir would I have to build one? If I do have to build the super structure, what material should I use?
Would I be able to find a super structure ir would I have to build one? If I do have to build the super structure, what material should I use?
Welcome to the hobby. Up in Minnesota we have Port Polar Bear, a fast gun group. We aren't that far from Iowa. We have a Fathers Day battle coming up on June 15, check out www.portpolarbear.com You can also PM Bob H on this site for more info. I was also looking at big gun until I hooked up with PPB guys last fall and fell in luv with fast gun. There are members from MN,WI,MO,and a group of guys from SD that are coming to check us out. MWC fast gun Nats is going to be in Elk River MN at the end of July and would be worth the trip if you can talk your folks into it.
Fast guns seem more readily available and simple so I will look into that. We go to Minnesota quite often so that would be really great! I will probably not have it ready until late August or later because my funds will be acquired from detassling which is sometime around August and it will probably take us a while to build the ship. If I do go for fast gun, would you recommend to face my stern guns straight back or face them port and starboard?
Straight back, that way the three bb's will hit in a small triangle and allow more water into your target.Triple stern guns on a heavy cruiser can do some damage. We have a young man who just built the PE and its a great cruiser. You can come up anytime just let Bob H know and he will make sure there is a loaner ship for you to use. The whole group is a great bunch and have been an enormous help to my son and I as we get started in the hobby. My son is 17 and he is going to be using the Scharnhorst at Nats this year. He has been busy doing the refit to it as its an older boat that I bought and it was never battled. Make sure to go to the MWC website and read the construction rules and shiplist info. Also check out the Port Polar Bear website, lots of good articles and boat set up walk through's. hope to see you on the pond and trade bb's sometime.
Alright, thanks for the advice. It is now decided that it will be a fast gun because your club looks great and fairly close. Now I just need to know about the bow guns. I still do not have an answer about the the super structure even after I accidentally double posted it from my iPod
The superstructure on my ships are made of abs plastic sheet, pvc pipe, and some parts are made of wood that's been sealed with epoxy to harden and waterproof them. Cruisers really should have their guns mounted in the stern, but some guys will mount a bow gun to try to snipe with, I haven't seen one yet so YMMV.
The way a (model) boat moves, it's far easier to "aim" the stern than the bow. Plus, the bow is usually "taller" than the stern, meaning 1) Bigger target area for bad-guys to shoot at and 2) Your guns are mounted higher, pointed out further. The 2nd point means it's harder to aim accurately and what hits you get will be high. Hits on enemy boats above the deck level mean nothing. Boats sink by letting water in, not air! Superstructures are almost always left to the builder to make. Very few kits include SS. They can be made of any material (wood, plastic, foam, whatever), but recommend keeping it as light as possible to improve stability.
With the Andrea Doria kit on battlers connection, the cannon kit only comes with three guns. Is it against the rules to install more? Also, they are three different kinds of gun magazine in the cannon kit for the Andrea. Does this mean they can not be put in the same turret?
You can install as many as you like. To legally enter battle, though, you will need to disable all of them but 3. Trust me, AD is a small ship and arming 3 guns is plenty for your first ship, even if you get help from someone experienced.
Most people arm three guns in different turrets so the kit includes the most common set up for the AD. While you can try to mount more you can only have three armed at a time. As a first build you would be well advised to keep things simple and focus on getting the basics working before you try for extra complexity. Go crazy on your second build.
