SHARK TEETH?!?! Thats really cool. I tacked everything with a little CA glue. I put the fore tripod in the wrong stop the first time, so I have an extra hole that needs fixin. What I'm having problems with is figuring out where the smaller foam and balsa blocks go. Do the balsa blocks go on the top of the tripods? Or is that where the two smaller foam blocks go? Or do the square foam blocks go up there? Will I ever stop asking questions?? Find out next time, on the next episode of...
Try the game "Distant Guns II: Jutland" by Storm Eagle Studios. It's a great game, but most importantly it has a free trial and a highly detailed model of the Invincible. Download the game, start a battle, and take a good close look at the I-boats. They've got superstructure, secondaries, masts and rigging, etc. They even pay close attention to details like refits between 1915 and 1916.
Here's some info for you. http://www.internetmodeler.com/2004/february/ships/Invincible.php http://www.steelnavy.com/IHP%20Invincible%20G3.htm Check out the instruction pages on the link above, way on the bottom, should help. http://steelnavy.com/CombrigInvincible.htm
Sorry about the way late response. I've been pretty busy lately. I did take a peek at those websites thou, and can already tell they will be very helpful. I'll also have to check out that game whenever I have time...
Sorry for the delay, I'm looking at the i-boat pictures of our local one, it looks like much the same superstructure kit as you have. Lookign at this, Im thinking your remaining pieces are for the forward SS levels 3 and 4, and the top pieces for the tripod masts. I would think the square foam blocks would be the tripod tops, but I could see the balsa pieces being there too, maybe they're redundant? I really don't see a place on the ship for 4 similar sized square blocks. Have you tried emailing Stephen and asking him about it (assuming you got the kit from him)?
I have emailed Stephen and he sent me a few pics of other Invincible ships. They show pretty much where everything goes. All accept for one of the 1x1 inch balsa blocks. Which isn't a big deal. It's not going to battle ready for a little while. At this time I have all that is needed to turn my ship into a working model. Battery, hardware, and controller. I am just aiming to get it out on the water and go from there.
How do I go about cleaning up the area where the stuffing tubes and rudder post come out off the hull? Do I epoxy some fiberglass cloth over it? And to waterproof the battery, could I coat it with some Plasti Dip instead of Scotch Coat? I'd much rather spend 10 dollers for the Plasti Dip as a pose to 25 for some Scotch Coat.
The problem I see with Plastidip and liquid rubber tape is that water can seep in between the rubber and the stuff you are trying to protect. When that happens, the moisture is trapped inside and can actually promote corrosion. IMO, Scotchcoat is a better solution as it tends to fill every crevice and not pull away from the surface it is sprayed on.
The answer to question 1: putty and paint. I use wood filler on my ships, because I mostly build wooden ships. Apply wood filler, sand smooth, repeat until desired shape/finish is achieved. Other people use bondo or sandable epoxy. Lots of choices there, but the basic idea is the same. The answer to question 2: THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR SKOTCHKOTE. Warship skippers have been trying various surface-coat solutions to protect electronics for years, and the only one that has proven reliable is skotchkote. You get what you pay for, and if you buy the cheap stuff it'll cost more in the long run because you'll be replacing your electronics soon enough. Buy skotchkote, and your electronics will outlast than the energizer bunny. To give you an idea, I coated an old 8-channel Futaba receiver in skotchkote when the stuff was first discovered several years ago. That receiver has been sunk dozens of times and still works as good as the day it was made. Just let the water drain out, and it fires right back up. Same thing with the other receivers I coated in Skotchkote. All my other old receivers died from water damage and got replaced. And the replacements got painted with skotchkote.
I'll probably order some Bondo and Skotckcoat tonight. Another quick question. I was wondering, would the port side offset turret be a good spot to put the power switch? I was thinking about mounting it on the deck underneath the turret and just put some Velcro on the lip of the barrett and on the bottom of the turret to hold it in place. But figured I'd ask first to be sure. Oh, and Is this the Bondo you were talking about? http://www.amazon.com/3M-Filler-262-Repair-Material/dp/B000WZCNBC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1307669778&sr=8-2
for the stuffing-tube / hull area, i use the a clay-like epoxy thing, comes in a tube, you slice off what you need and mash it up in your hand and then form it into place. its fileable, sandable and bonds well. Shoudl be able to find it in the glue / 5 minute epoxy area of your local hardware store. Works great for building up those areas.
how far down from the deck is the waterline? It looks like you're not running with much freeboard (not that that's illegal, I'm just curious).
Unless you're in love with power switches, dont put one in at all. Plugging the battery in should be your "switch." Here's a couple reasons: switches can corrode, causing nasty surprises. Switches, no matter how you hide them, can be shot and damaged, or most hilarious of all, shot "off." While not likely, it has happened before. I also noticed your windows aren't cut deep enough. Even at max weight there's no way you have a full 1" below the waterline that is penetrable. Although it may be possible in other rule sets there is a different standard of penetrablity. I suggest West-Systems epoxy. It's totally waterproof, mixes easy (pumps pre-portion, it's awesome), and is relatively cheap and easy to find. It's used to repair full size boats and I figure something designed for water applications should do the trick for our boats too. Hope that's helpful!
I agree with Renodemona on the (not) use of switches. I only have a power switch in one of my boats, and that is only because I have no other option. For all my other ships, plugging in the battery is turning on the ship. I have seen too many other ships get in trouble because of power switches getting blown off or even getting blown up. Just make sure you don't have to remove 40 screws in order to access your battery and you'll be fine.
I'll just nix the switch. The least potential points of failure the better. Am I off? I had some trouble finding the water line, so I gave Stephen a call, and he gave me the measurements. He said the the water line is 3.2 inches from the bottom of the hull. So I went an inch down from Sothat, 2 1/8 inches on the nose is where the bottom of the penetrable area is. Does that sound about right? Do I shave it down a little just to be safe? After reading your posts, I went to check my measurements and at the stern according to the plans, the waterline should be 1 1/4 inches from the bottom of the hull. If that is the case, the bottom of my penetrable area is just a quarter inch below the waterline at the stern. Do I go off the plans and adjust it accordingly? If I do go off the plans, then the everything else should be correct. Oh, and what is the freeboard? If it helps, I could post some more pics of the hull. Just let me know. It sucks not having someone to help me out in person.
Freeboard is the area of the hull that sticks out of the water. Looking back on your other photos I'd say you're close on the bottom of the window. It's hard to tell in photo's. The last window or two might be 1/8"-1/4" off. Getting the bottom of the window just right the first time takes a little practice. My suggestion is to finish your ship, get all the stuff it will carry into battle put in it. Make sure it's at or under the legal weight. Then instead of sheeting it for the first time "sheet" it with duct tape. Then you can put it in the tub and trim it out. Make sure it sits level, is not too bow or stern heavy. Put some water in it and turn on the pump to make sure it sinks level. Then mark the floating waterline. Make any window adjustments and sheet it for real.
Bottom of the windows is from the floating waterline, typically. Sometimes it is easier to measure from the deck down (since it's flat). Remember that all the measurements are vertical, not conformal to the hull. Like Bob said, dont worry about it too much right this second, get the stuff that goes into the boat into the boat. Can always trim some fiberglass later if you need to.
/rcnavalcombat.com/Portals/0/ /> It's been quite some time since I was last on. But here is a boat load (pun intended) of pics of what I have done so far. For the main decks, I bought some of those little magnets things from Michaels and they seem to work VERY well. Almost too well. It's actually kinda hard to get the decks off. I also got the dummy shafts in, filled in the areas around them, and installed motors. I'm hoping to get it on the water this Sunday and see what she can do. I was aiming for Saturday, but we have some major shopping to do. As fun as shopping all day might sound, I much rather be working my ship.
