so this summer I'm wanting to start building a large scale war ship to sail, but not to battle, i'm also wondering how much it would cost to buy the materials needed to build just the hull. any sugestions and tips would be very nice, also as i'm new to the hobby i'm in need of a lot pointers.
Well that really depends on the size of the ship you plan on building, and what kind of materials you plan on using (Wood or Fibreglass?). Then the quality of materials can also play a significant part in that as well. If you'd care to provide more details on what you'd like to build we would be able to better help you.
ok, well i wanted to build a ship from wood, and glass it, only issue is i have a limited budget with witch to acquire said materials, and the type of ship is a cruiser, because i'm really hoping to mount automatic airsoft guns, my friends and i have been looking into this for a while, i think the cruiser hull would work best for what i have planned, which is using it mainly as anti-personnel ship to use off shore, maneuverability is a must because i'm going to have 6 or 7 people firing back at me.
As someone who recently attempted to build the Bismarck from scratch I can tell you that the actual cost of materials CAN be low as long you take your time and do it right the first time. For a wood source try National balsa: http://www.nationalbalsa.com/birch_plywood_s/58.htm I do not know if they are the cheapest but the quality is excellent. If you take your time with the hull, ask a lot of questions on the forum the hull will be the cheapest part of your build. Now the real question is what format do you want to build it to and is there a club near by with guys who can help (typically your best source of know-how ) I ask format because that will determine a lot of the coast due to cannons. Big Gun can run you more $$ for cannons because there is not a vendor yet. Fast Gun Cannons are cheaper due to the fact that they can be purchased from Strikemodels.com and other sources. Do you have your plans yet?
Also I would highly recommend reading through the build threads listed in the post above in the topics called building a wood hull. I found the Bearn one to be the most helpful for my needs
i'm not looking to battle with others just yet, also as i'm 16 and don't have a drivers license i don't want to have to drive to often, but i've found the hull i want to build it's German, DKM Scharnhorst, since i don't want to battle yet, i'm going to sheet the entire hull then coat it in glass. By the way i have looked at the Bearn build, really impressive and very helpful. No i do not have plans as of this moment, but come may or june i will.
Are you planning on making it a funning model with intent to battle someday? If so I would suggest building it as if you were building for battle and then just not put the guns in. If you glass the whole ship you will have to cut windows into to it later on once your ready to battle. I would build the hull and glass the bottom (like in the bearn build) Then sheet the sides. Do this and you have a nice working model ship that can be easily converted to combat later on.
it's going to be in 1/72 scale, so i think battling a almost 11 foot long model will be rather hard, but yes i agree with what you're saying, for the purpose of battling.
what thickness of wood should be used to build the hull frame, and what would be the best to sheet the hull with?
1/4" ply is an common and easy to get size wood that works well for the framework. It can be stacked to make thicker pieces if needed. Price is usually reasonable. Since this is not intended as a combat model, sheeting can be whatever is easy to work with, such as strips of thin wood laid across the ribs. After the gaps are filled in with a wood filler and a layer of glass put on, the ship will be nice and durable without adding that much weight.
11 feet is possible, but definitely a bit big for a single piece. At that size, you'll probably want to do a multi-piece keel. Some of the other warship build logs on this forum have excellent demonstrations on how to do a multi-piece keel, that becomes an excellent water channel later in the build. One piece for the bow, two parallel rails for most of the hull, then drop back down to a single keel for the stern. The two parallel rails are good mounting points for batteries/co2 bottle/etc and also can form your water channel, good for damage control.
that will be doable, i won't have to worry to much about having long sections of keel to deal with, so i'll use that, one thing i had in mind in is making it to were the hull will split in the center and be transported in two sections, that will probably present some sort of issue with alignment of the hull pieces, but i have that somewhat figured out, i got the idea from a Australian builder who built a 1/72 USS Long Beach and had the hull split in the center to make it fit in the trunk of his car.
since you're not adhering to any sort of rules package anyways.. build a solid bulkhead on each side of your split hull, so the two pieces could float independently. Then you can bolt the two halves together at the pond without worrying to much about precise alignment for sealing the hull itself.
ok,that i will, would having dowel rods act as perment alignment pins and then bolting the hulls togather work well? i've seen it done but don't know how well it would work
+1 to Hovey If you needed electricity or radio wires to pass between the hull sections, you could run them up over the 'dividing wall' under the superstructure, so that watertightness isn't compromised.
