Hey guys, been out of the water and heavy into rc aircraft for a very long time. Last time I did any combat was almost 20 yrs ago. If there's anything going on in or around the Birmingham Alabama area please let me know. Thanks.
Hi there, welcome (back). You're not all too far from the folk (such as @VVaholic ) over in Atlanta -about 2 hours. @mike5334 is about the same distance west of you.
I guess I should ask, are there any active clubs in the general area of me? I'm actually about an hour northwest of Birmingham Alabama in a little town called Double Springs. Think I will start out by building a Liberty Ship to get back into building boats, then once I have that on the water, I'd like to do something with guns on it. Back when I was messing with this stuff, I was fighting a friend's destroyer in 72nd with the Queens own club in northern California, and the one I always wanted to build was a German Z boat. If I could get my hands on a decent set of builders plans I'd be tempted to start with the Z boat and do the Lib ship later. Any suggestions?
I'd first warn you about building before determining what clubs are in your area. It will do you no good to build a 1:72 anything if the only clubs within reasonable distance are 1:144 ones. Same w/ building to big gun rules if fast gun is what is around.
Thanks, but that's why I wanted to know if there were any active clubs in the general area. Lol. I'm leaning towards 1/144th scale and fast gun as that seems to be more prevalent than anything else. Please, correct me if I'm wrong.
https://rcwarshipcombat.com/captain-locations/ Looks like you are surrounded by people who do 1/144 scale IRCWCC fastgun. I've been to a few of the battles in Georgia which are always great fun, you might want to check out their website at http://www.southeastattacksquadron.org/ for upcoming events.
We do small day battles in Atlanta (mostly cruisers), and head over to Statesboro for the weekend battles. How far of a drive it is for you to get to Atlanta? We should have some Fletcher class destroyers as loaner boats this spring, you are welcome to attend once we pick the dates (usually a saturday - 9:00 to 1:00 or later) Lou
About a 3 hr drive to ATL depending on traffic. I am a truck driver by trade so I get through there pretty often.
Been a long time, and only did a few battles so you guys will need to school me on current tactics ect.
Been looking at the strike models kits, seems like a good way to get all the major components in one order. As I am unfamiliar with the glass hulls I was looking at some build pics and such, noticed they don't have any ribs/formers, are they not needed? Or are you required to cut and fit them yoursel? May seem a dumb question, but remember I built from plans from scratch as there were no kits when I was messing with combat years ago.
Yes you lay them out. Rib calculator can be found on Southeast attack squadron. http://www.southeastattacksquadron.org/ribcalculator.shtml good example on how to lay them out can be found in the build articles of Port Polar Bear. http://www.portpolarbear.com/ Keep poking around the Warship builds on this site. There are lots of examples of laying out and taping the ribs. Drill the corners and use a Dremel with a cutoff wheel to cut out the windows.
there are also several good laser cut wood kits out there by rcengr and Myself (both now sold through strike but not on the website yet) if you are more comfortable with wood. See any of rceng's or my build threads on them. I think there may be one or two others who have done some laser cut kits as well. -greg
3 hours is not that bad, you should be able to get in a few battles this year. Have you given consideration to budget and how you will transport (small car, motorcycle, etc..) as this would dictate the size of the ship. If you can wait a few months and come to a local atlanta battle, I have a few ships for sale and we have the loaner boats. I suggest getting your feet wet before purchasing anything and talk to us on what you want to accomplish (slugger ship, sniper, survival, etc...) and you can see the internals and make a more informed decision. Lou
At present my only vehicle is my Harley. I can make up a trailer for it pretty easily. Plan is to be getting a van or pick up by spring. Thanks for the invite, I'll just have to take you up on that.
Are you talking about formers running beamwise made from wood like I am? I don't see any in the builds of glass hulls I have looked at. I see gaps between the "windows" are you referring to them as ribs? I build plane's so to me ribs are a structural part.
For fiberglass hulls, the convention is to call the solid areas left after the windows are cut out "ribs". These are what tie the 1"-below waterline solid area to the top of hull (and any other horizontal solids like casement decks). For an extensive build thread of a fiberglass hull with a lot of complex curves, look over this one: https://rcwarshipcombat.com/threads/ijn-mutsu-the-beast-from-the-east.442367/
Yup. Just under 2 hours from me in Columbus MS. We could do a build session if needed to get you into a ship. Expect to travel for battles. It is not uncommon to travel 5 - 10 hours for a weekend battle. Luckily, the Atlanta guys are relatively close. The Southeast region usually battles in Statesboro GA, which is probably around 6 or so hour drive for you. It is worth going to the battles.
Been traveling to flying events for years so that's not an issue. As far as the building goes, I can do everything just would be nice to get some advice on layout, equipment choices, and I really don't have any idea about the gun systems.
As much as I like destroyers for their fast hit and run ability, I am thinking a cruiser may be the rite place for me to start. I know the DD is hard to keep light, as well as my big hands won't fit well into the tiny spaces for maintenance so that will have to wait. I need to find out if there are more axis boats or more allied boats in the area as I would rather be able to help balance the fleets somewhat if that is needed. I do like the axis boats better than most for looks, but performance will definitely be a factor in my choice of boat for my first combat ship. I am open to suggestions. While I am capable of building from plans, I am thinking a glass hull will greatly increase the speed of my build. Once the first one is on the water I can then start one from plans and not be in a hurry to get it done and tempted to take short cuts.
