looking into the hobby

Welcome to the site. A general suggestion to save you and everyone else some time.

Don't spend time asking questions about ideas you might have for rule / format changes.

Most people checking out the hobby fall into the same trap, they ask a series of rather out-there questions somewhere along the lines of 'why can't ship XX have 10 guns with rotates and elevation and real torpedoes, and be part submarine / battleship/ aircraft carrier? Boy that would be great and would make the hobby a lot better!'

There really isn't a point to asking those questions, since the hobby has been around for a long time and most parts of the rules (in the IRCWCC at least) have been thoroughly thought out and tested by those who actually spend the time / money / resources to build a ship and battle. I'm not ruling out the chance that someone new could have a legitimate good idea, but 1) I've never seen that happen, and 2) The rules really don't change much, and there is typically a lot of inertia to change even the smallest detail in the rules.

Now your other question about batteries is the type of question you should stick to.

I hope you do make an effort to meet up with the guys in Michigan, and you actually buy a boat, start building the boat, finish building the boat, and show up to more than 1 battle, and then maybe attend a Nationals. At that point I would be happy to discuss any ideas you have about rule changes

 

Check out the build logs, you will get all the answers you need (there are a lot of choices on batteries).
I have a destroyer, you don't want a destroyer as a first ship. Also, smaller ship equals more money.

We need a "beer room" forum where captains and potential captains can ask the questions of "why not arm everything" and "I have a rock, may I throw it at the guys with mustaches".

 

Yes

 

I was just wondering why destroyers, by the rules, are cut down even more than their real life effectiveness because of the lack of torpedoes. I'm just trying to say that if something could be figured out to work in place of a torpedo, it would give them more value to the game, and would possibly see more of them built by experienced members.


but I won't mention them again. let's move on from the subject.


I'm going to try to go out to the memorial day battle to watch one happen.

if I like it and want to start building, I think the Des Moines would be the ship I build. I would do the 3 cannons on the rear, and a half unit pump. I think the extra firepower would help me out in the beginning.

and more questions about the Lipo batteries. would 2 s packs work fine? and what size (mah) would they need to be?
I would buy an esc with low voltage, and also a bec. I'm assuming a brushed system would work enough for these? I was thinking the evx 2 system out if am emaxx. I'd have to use 2 batteries. but I have some really nice 4000mah matched pair I could use. put it all in something that can't be shot through.

I've been scrolling through the builds when I get time. any builds I should look at that are pretty good on showing the inner workings?

 

This hobby has comprimises. In order to make the game playable certain aspects of reality have to be ignored. Destroyers don't pack as much punch as they might have had in real life because (just one reason of many) if we were to give them the extra armament, every class of ships would have to be bumbed up as well and some of these ships (destroyers included) can barely outfit their current allotment of weapons. Besides, who wants to drive a tin can around when you can have a batllewagon instead? I know which one I'd choose.

 

Hey bro, check out my fast gun texas build page. Kevin and the rest of the guys went all-out answering the battery questions for me. it may help. they posted a bunch of super-helpful links and even some cell links for me.

 

was actually reading that right now. I'll have to finish tomorrow though, as I need to get to sleep to be back up in 4 hours for work

 

Glad to see you weren't put off by the grumpiness we all exhibit when it comes to the rules. These types of "discussions" have degenerated into club implosions and worse over the years so it tends to be a taboo subject like politics or religion in some circles. Nobody wants to intentionally be the guy who runs off potential fresh meat er um members.

 

I do have a question on the ruling about the years. Since I'm I am looking at the Des Moines class of ships. The USS Salem, which is the same class of ship, is 3 months outside the range by launch date, but the Des Moines is in range. I guess what I'm getting at is it by launch date of the class of ship, or is it specifically the ship you are modeling has to be in the date range? The ship list lists class, so just want to confirm how that works. Being that they launched only 6 months apart, I'm assuming there isn't anything different between them that would give one an advantage over the other.

I think the history on the Salem is unique, as it was the last heavy cruiser to be commissioned, and the class was also one of the last all gun heavy cruiser as well. And the Alaska Class is the only class bigger than the Des Moines as a heavy cruiser. It's also still around in a museum, so that would be pretty cool to go see it.

Either way the ruling falls on if it's when the class launched or when exact ship launched, I'll still be probably going for the Des Moines class.

 

we build class of ships as long as it is of that time period you can call it Princess TooToo if you want. also fyi Jack in Livonia has just bought a Des Moines.

 

NO.

 

gotcha. lol.

I'll have to watch for a build thread then.

I'm pretty set on the Des Moines class. I have thought more about what was said earlier about building a bigger ship and not using all the units though. if not the Des Moines, it'll be a Mississippi, or depending on more information I'd gather from going to a battle, a South Carolina.

 

2S batteries are good, most ships run a 6V nominal system.

Des Moines is pretty big for a cruiser. The simplest battery option would be to get four of these, run two at a time, per battle (typically two battles a day)

http://www.batteryspace.com/lifepo4...h-10c-rate-64-wh-6-0---un38-3-passed-dgr.aspx

They are 20Ah which should be plenty. I tend to oversize battery capacity since the implications of over discharging are not desirable. I like to have at least 25% capacity beyond what I think the max discharge would be

You could also get cylindrical LiFe cells, they have 15Ah version and 10Ah version. 15Ah should be fine, the 10Ah might be less fine

15Ah
http://www.batteryspace.com/LiFePO4...150ASurge-Rate-48Wh-with-6M-screw-Termin.aspx

10Ah
http://www.batteryspace.com/lifepo4...gerate32whwith6mscrewterminal-unapproved.aspx

You could string your LiPo packs together. 8000mAh would probably be OK for one sortie, but we run at least 4 sorties per day which is why I recommend the larger cells above.

To prevent internal damage we use 'internal armor' directly inside of the balsa to stop BB's from hitting anything inside. There are pictures of various methods in a number of build threads. Some battlers have built 1/8" ply extra shields inside the boat for the battery location.

For ESC, I would recommend the Hobby Wing 60A brushed ESC, it can be purchased from BC, is already waterproof
http://battlersconnection.com/hobbywing-60-amp-brushed/

 

Oh, and Mississippi is pretty small for a first boat. Larger boats are easier because there is more room. South Carolina is slightly better, but an Invincible class would have a good deal more room. Kas has an Invincible

 

gotcha. my charger wouldnt be able to charge those, it only will go up to 7500mah batteries. and I was planning on the evx2 esc, so that is the 2 batteries for the voltage to the 550 motors. I was going to use them with a gear reduction box. I guess I really need to see fully done ships in action.

as for ships, I was looking at more, and have settled. Des Moines class or Wyoming (Arkansas on the ship list) class

I would either build the Des Moines fully loaded, or the Wyoming starting out with 2 guns and upgrade slowly with another 2, as it is a class 5, I would also have a full unit pump. How would I split those guns? probably 2 rear facing and one on each side?

 

if you already have that esc then it should work, otherwise it looks overkill for our needs. you want to make sure it has instant reverse as well, being able to change direction immediately is very important, even a 0.5 to 1 second delay is noticeable.

With your charger it can probably handle those batteries fine. If you reach the mAh limit just reset the charger and start charging again.

Ship selection is limited (typically) by fiberglass hull availability. Battlers connection sells the Des moines, but there are no hulls available for the Delaware class BB. Ralph Coles in Canada has a mold for the Florida class (Utah) which is the next class in the sequence of US BB's. Strike models sells the South Carolina class, they may or may not still have them available (they are closing down and selection is limited by remaining inventory)

 

Welcome to the hobby. If your charger has a charge profile for LiFe cells then it can charge a LiFe battery (no matter the AH of the cells). It just might take longer. FYI, 6v boats are certainly the most common but you don't have to limit yourself to that. I'm running 24v in my current boats (considered bleeding edge but it works freakin great). When looking at drive system options, you need to look at the whole package (not just voltage). You need to look at prop diameter, motor rpm, etc. Generally, you want the largest diameter props that you can fit. This gives you the best accel and deccel (important for battle). Bigger props work better at lower rpm and higher torque. Low rpm and high torque at the prop can be achieved with gear reduced high rpm/high amp lower torque motors or direct drive lower rpm/higher voltage higher torque motors. Another consideration is lower voltage systems require more amps for the same amount of output than higher voltage systems. This will require beefier wiring and ESC's. Hope this doesn't muddy the waters up to much for you.

 

No readily available Arkansas hulls either. A battler in my area made a mold and made two ships, but they aren't actively producing hulls. Better options are the Maryland from BC or the Tennessee from strike. They are slightly longer and can go faster than Arkansas (26sec vs 28 sec). Typical gun arrangement would be two stern guns and one side gun per side.

Here is a link to my Tennessee-class build thread to get a general idea of the construction. Pretty much every step is detailed, there were some re-do's but it could be a general guide
https://www.rcwarshipcombat.com/threads/uss-california-ircwcc.444786/

Steve is special with his 24V set up, it is impressive but probably not the best starting point for a new person.

 

So special I rode the double short bus!

 

the Maryland isn't out of the question. I just really liked the extra 2 turrets of the Wyoming, even though they would be dummies. When I put side guns in, I'd put one in the bow section shoot g one side, and one in the middle shooting the other way.

really I want something with 2 guns in the turrets and not the 3 gun turrets on a ship with side guns.

how hard would is it to fiberglass a hull?My dad has done a lot of fiberglass work, and I am probably going to need his garage as I don't have room in my tiny apartment. He could also help me, i.bet he could fiberglass up a hull.