Hi, everyone. I’m new to the hobby and would be interested in building a ship (probably for fast gun, as it seems more likely to be UK safe, and I’ll be moving there next year,) I am particularly interested in pre-dreadnoughts. What would I need to build my first ship beyond a hull? Some of my favorite ships of the period; Pelayo, the Maria Theresas, Osylbaya, Chen Yuen. I’m told ironclads aren’t really practical. I assume this also applies to the larger examples? Roanoke, Dunderberg, Yazoo, New Jersey (Steven’s Battery.)
Depends on your skills.. however, for most people, id recommended picking up a shit kit from Will. Once you have one ship under your belt, then you’ll have a lot of knowledge on how to do a scratch built if you’d like. Link to his shop: https://www.southjerseyshipyards.com/products/ship-kits
Thanks. I’ve seen his site, but I’m unsure what else I would need. For example, I was looking at USS Wasp.
Hi there, I'm the aforementioned Will, I run SJS. Wasp is designed as a large convoy ship for IRCWCC combat. It isn't armed, it's basically a large slow moving target ship. During our "Campaign" game that happens twice a year at Nationals, those convoy ships have to go out in the water and survive for 5 minutes at a time with no pump or anything. If they make it, their team receives points corresponding to that ship's size. Wasp wouldn't be built as a combat model, she would not be armed with cannon or anything. My ship kits come with basically everything you would need, minus actual functioning electronics. Ship Kit Details (southjerseyshipyards.com) For a first time builder/potential battler, the Invincible Class or Suffren class would be two of the easiest/cheapest ships on my sites to build. Suffren being even cheaper/easier than Invincible. Suffren is a 3 unit boat, meaning 2x 1 unit cannons and a 1 unit pump. She has 3 propeller shafts, meaning you only power the center shaft (only one motor needed). She also has dual rudders, so she's pretty maneuverable. I am also preparing to release a few more newbie-friendly cruiser kits, if any of these sound more up your alley: DKM Admiral Graf Spee (Probably on website before Christmas) USS Fargo (Basically finished, will be on the website this weekend) USS Oregon City (Before New Years) USS Pensacola (Before Christmas)
So USS Wasp could definitely be armed but you would have tons of freeboard and doesn’t have great combat power compared to a predread or dread most predreads are 3.5 units which means 3 guns and a half into pump the wasp is 2.5 which means one less gun and as I said before lots of freeboard. I would even maybe pick up one of Wills Bulcher kits it’s a Armoured cruiser and would be a decent starting ship. How are you planning to run it brushless or brushed motors because there is a difference and you will need different components for each. Also you would need gun boards and servos and solenoids to fire the guns. You will need a relay to trigger the pump if it is brushed. You will need ESCs. Will at South jersey shipyards has a lot of the stuff you will need. Also you will need a bit of soldering skill to solder wires and connectors. Also what type of batteries would you be running? All these questions need to be answered before we can suggest anything. Now mind you ask all the question you can and want we are a pretty informative group here and want to help as much as possible.
I don't know what ESCs are. I don't know which batteries I'd be running, and I don't know the advantage of brushless versus brushed motors, so I'd be grateful for any information. As for the electronics needed, also in the dark. Thanks very much for the assist. Ahh. I see that an ESC is an electronic speed control.
So ESCs are electronic speed controls they control the speed at which the motors spin so that you make speed and you have variable speeds instead of full forward or full reverse. There are many types of batteries which I am sure other can help you on because that’s not my wheelhouse. The advantage to running brushed motors is they are cheaper and I feel easier to maintain and use less battery power. For the smaller ships I feel brushed is the way to go they as a big slower in the acceleration. Also if you run a pair of brushed motors for drive you only need one ESC for both while for brushless you need an ESC per motor. Brushless motors are more expensive but usually last longer. They do pull more power though. A lot of people use brushed drive and then brushless pump because they are very effective as pump motors. For gun boards and ESCs Will has those for sale and could help you get them with the ship kit. As far as transmitter and receiver goes a lot of the North east guys use the flysky FS-I6-X which is a 6 channel receiver and transmitter. You can get the 10 channel if you think you would need it.
Thank you kindly. That helps a lot! Out of curiosity, I had a three or four follow ups, if I may, - Are RC systems essentially plug and play or will I need fairly sophisticated technical knowledge in that area? - I was advised that surface runners would be a bad idea for a rookie. May I ask why? - Would a battleship like the Virubus Unitas be suitable for a beginner? - Finally, is there anybody offering pre-dreads or will I need to build entirely from scratch when I reach that point?
Most RC systems are plug and play yes but there will be some soldering involved like soldering connectors on motors and solenoids and ESCs and then soldering up a wiring harness. Battleships usually the smaller ones can be decent rookie boats but I would stick with even a battle crusier or like a super dreadnought. I know Will at SJS should have a predread or two in the works. He does have a VDT hull already on the website and I will say owning a VDT(not one of wills) it is a great starting boat you get 3 guns which includes two side mount and a stern or bow gun and a full unit pump as well. It’s a pretty easy ship to keep running and can put out some decent damage for its size and it is fairly maneuverable.
