I am a new to this hobby and have many questions. I have seen where subs are sometimes used and was curious about their ruleset. I see the difficulity in cramming all the required electronics in such a small ships hull. What if one were to build a buoyancy nuetral power pod that would sit below the hull. This pod would contain the needed electronics for operation (Thrust, Navigation, batteries). The actual sub body itself would be responsible for buoyancy, and would be constructed much like a surface ship. Damage would effect buoyancy and sink her. Again this is just an idea. I have no idea if its legal, or even possible.
Generally speaking I think most rulesets have some form of requirement of scale hull based on the original 1:1, and hanging a pod beneath the submarine would probably violate that, in addition to basically needing to be nearly the size of the submarine to fit everything. Ultimately this is a game designed around surface combatants. Subs are a footnote, a technological distraction and dreams of them have doomed more rookies than anything else probably. In 1/144 they are incredibly difficult to build and operate with extremely limited utility. In any other commonly used in this hobby scale they're still a tight build with limited utility and a complete lack of their most important weapon - stealth.
Thats what I figured. I was just curious. It may be a fun project to play with at some point. I have messed aroundwith some pretty small rc aircraft and the components continue to get smaller and smaller. Perhaps someday.
Yup. Backburner thinking is where subs belong until you've gotten your feet wet with a ship or two. I've been mulling one for years and it'll probably be years more before I actually make a serious go at it.
1.25" diameter SubDriver for small r/c submarine models - YouTube The things you research during a slow night at work.
At some point they will figure out how to make a 1/144 airplane fly, then you can have the sub deploy a plane
1/72 surcouf is the same size as a 1/144 Shimakaze. i had a hard enough time fitting everything in the shimakaze let alone something smaller.. but subs are alot of fun to build.
Since the only sub I will be building in the near future is the foot long Subway variety I need help in picking a good beginner boat. I am not afraid of balsa and have some experience in rc aircraft. Perhaps an aircraft carrier? Any ideas?
4 unit WW1 Battle ship either Axis or Allied you can't really go wrong. Easy to fit stuff inside and a able boat to battle for a while. Also not too much super to build (easy).
carriers are rather complicated to build as all that above waterline structure is a pain. also look at rcengers laser cut kits. they give you a nice introduction to wood hulls design and construction and just look good.
I considered then abandoned a Surcouf project as impossible, then built a semi-successsful I-400 from a slightly deepened and now OOP Battlers Connection I-400 hull. I was able to install a CO2 diving system using saddle type ballast tanks and used the same capsule to fire a specially designed light weight 1.5 unit spurt gun that was installed in the hangar, shooting aft. Steve Crane of NABS shot a video of the I-4oo doing static dives and resurfaces and the BB cannon fired reliably after dives. One problem that prevented the sub from being effective was instability on the surface unless the water was millpond still. Submarines real or model are inherently unstable when near neutral buoyancy. My I-400 was not much lighter than the weight to make it neutrally buoyant even when floating at scale waterline, so the least ripple or a sharp turn would cause a 30 degree list that could not be corrected. At that angle the range of the BB cannon was just past the stern (i.e. useless). I was gradually modifying the center of gravity to make it lower and the sub was getting a little more stable when I decided to sell it and build a deeper than scale I-400 hull. A few other NABS members collaborated on the CAD design and early part of the hull plug build. I completed the plug and molds (upper and lower hulls, conning tower and hangar). A big mistake I made was to use a small gel cell battery standing upright between the ballast tanks. (There ws no room to put it on its side.) That made the centre of gravity too high so a battery pack of AA cells along the bottom of the hull is planned for the next attempt. A working I-400 is definitely possible but requires advanced design and building skills and in the end will just be a novelty. Another problem is that it makes no sense to build a sub under current IRCWCC rules. No bilge pump is allowed and with very little reserve bouyancy a single BB hit will quickly sink a sub. I proposed a completely different construction rule for subs on the IRCWCC forum more than a decade ago (while building the I-400). All of the lower (pressure) hull was to be impenetrable except for the sides of the ballast tanks and any free-flooding areas. This gave the sub a better chance to survive, but a ballast tank penetration was still likely to guarantee a sink. The upper hull (ie. above the waterline) was cut out to be penetrable according to IRCWCC 'window' rules.
Franks i400 is i believe within the specs of the IRCWCC rules and works very well, and does not suffer from the problems yours did bob as far as I can remember. Technology has come a long way.
Greg and I were discussing this point the other day. If you have impenetrable ballast tanks whose reserve capacity is sufficient to surface a wet hull sub, then you have an illegal ship. By a word for word reading of the rules, ballast tanks themselves could be considered illegal. If your ballast tanks are penetrable, blowing them could be considered positive hull pressurization and illegal. If your ballast tanks are penetrable they could be considered compartmentalization of the ship, and illegal. If you use a pump to pump out a ballast tank that is penetrable, you've just used a pump for damage control, oops, illegal. If you use a positive displacement pump to shift water and/or air for your ballast system, also potentially illegal by the rules. Ultimately subs are a fun little diversion, but that is about it. Sure a bunch of work could be made to modify the rules to accommodate them, and a bid could be made to let them arm their true main battery rather than the deck gun, but in the end they're still a novelty, and I would wager that the moment someone manages to make one into an consistent and effective combat weapon is the day the process will begin to have them removed from the rules.
Stick with a 4 unit BB. Viribus Unitis is a great boat, Von Der Tann is as well... A good 5 unit boat would be the Konig.. All great easy boats to build...
I would recommend against an aircraft carrier for a first build. They tend to be top heavy without some proper forethought on how to control it, and excessive weight topside on any ship tends to plague the newer builders until they have a build or two under their belts and have learned what they can and can't get away with. An unstable, tippy ship that is constantly trying to capsize it's self is just no fun.
HMS Invincible is a great boat to build as well, Good handling, relatively easy to build and reasonable firepower.
