My new toy from Battler's Connection arrived today. Very quick service. YOU JUST CAN'T GO WRONG WITH BATTLER'S CONNECTION!!! Von der Tann ship kit came in via, Santa I mean UPS. Very, very nice kit. Nice thick hull along with molded turrets and superstructure. Work will begin Wednesday.
The Battlers Connection VdT kit is excellent Bobo. We have one in the local Treaty fleet. If it can stay afloat (it's sunk twice this year due to pump failures) it'll be a great asset to the Axis side. Bob
Thanks Bob. I really feel that it will be a great boat. It will also be very nice on my back. I really want to watch the weight as I build her. A number of years ago I had a Doria and used a type of what I would call, "closed cell foam". It came in sheets 1/4" think, did not need to be sealed with epoxy. You could make a very nice light weight water channel with it. The stuff almost, almost reminded me of the turf they use at sports complexes. It was easy to cut with an Xacto. The only place I needed to use any type of would to build up the channel was where the batteries sat. I am having one heck of a time finding something like this.
I started laying things out tonight. I really want to watch the weight that goes in to the ship during the build. I am going to us the 390 Mabuchi motors, (I think they are Mabuchi. They are the motors that people in the MWC are using for their cruisers.) These are the motors that have the two flat sides. I will be using a ESC to control their Rpm's. I will manage to get a 6 volt 12 amp hr battery in her. Remember, we get to change batteries between sorties so, I basically have a 24 amp battlecruiser. I will go with a 3.5 oz aluminum bottle and a light weight regulator. I will utilize one waterproof box. This will house the gun servos and radio receiver. I will go with an auto turn on pump system. (not that I need it). The rudder servo will be waterproofed. As for a pump, I plan on going with the one I have. It has been reliable for many years, as long as I remember to turn it on. Three guns from Battlers Connection. Why change a good thing? I will replace the subdeck. I should be able to cut the weight in half by using 1/8" aircraft plywood. If need be I can also cut some weight down on the superstructure. I don't think that will be necessary. I will take pictures and post them soon. As Mikey says, "More later."
One thing I forgot about the pump. I am going to use a ESC for the pump also. That should make it much easier to get the pump down to 1 gal. per minute.
Bobo, 1/2" closed cell foam (black stuff made by GE) is what I've used for waterchannelling for nearly 10 years. It's light weight, easy to work with and can be siliconed in position. Bob
