USS Iowa WWCC Big Gun build

So I'm going with building the Iowa from scratch and I'm getting ready to start construction on her, I've bought the plans from strike models and I'm just trying to decide what thickness to go with for the ribs and keel. I believe the final length needs to be 73.9in and not sure if I need more then 1/4in ribs because I've mainly seen them in fiberglass hulls and not to sure how I'm gunna do on weight.

For sheeting having a maximum armor thickness of 12.1in on the full scale ship I'm able to sheet it with 1/8 balsa and have a 1/8in impenetrable strip through the penetratable window areas

Also been looking into motors and running gear, the WWCC rules from my understanding limits me to a max 34.09 seconds over 100ft with the full scales ship max speed being 33kn, I'm not to sure what motors or gear ratios should be, I was looking at a 2.5:1 ratio gear box for running dual 1"props, but hopefully with some input I'll have all that figured out by the time the hull will be complete.

Regarding Arment WWCC rules I believe allow any guns over 3in to be armed.
Having nine 16in main cannons
And twenty 5in cannons
Allows me to arm the 9 main cannons with 1/4 ball bearings
And the twenty 5in cannons with .177BB's
I'm doubting I'll be able to arm all 20 but I would certainly want to arm it as much as I possibly can.
And not to sure how to regulate seconds in between shots seeing the main 1/4" cannons are limited to a rate of fire of 8 seconds, and the .177 cannons at a 4 second rate of fire.

 

So the impenetrable strip can only be as long as the armor belt.

Also the cannon rate of fire is usually regulated on the honor code. As for speed I'll have to look again but that seems off a little at 34 secs. You really won't have to worry to much about it being to heavy. You're probably going to end up having to add a lot to get to the waterline the Iowa class are big girls after all

 

Ok so I'll have to research alittle more on her armor belt to figure out how long I can make the strip, I've got alittle bit I guess til I have to start worrying about speed so that's not to much of a worry. But do you think 5 ply 1/4" would be be appropriate for the ribs?
And should I do the keel thicker then 1/4"? I'm thinking of doing the keel out 1/4" walnut to give alittle more strength then it would get out of the 1/4" ply but not sure what is recommended.
And thank you for the response and tips, I read the WWCC rule book no less then 5 times and it's still alil confusing on some stuff and just want to make sure everything is compliant.

 

Thanks for the advice! And would you suggest doing the keel and ribs at 3/8" or is it common to go thicker on the keel?

 

Ditto to what Nick said. She's a big girl so the 3/8 ribs are nice and seem to be standard.

 

Ok so not much progress, had a really long weekend at the Sonoma Grand Prix and didn't really get anything done other then go pick up the wood so hopefully I'll get to start cutting ribs soon.
My cat decided to admire the plans while I was reviewing a few things

 

At least you are making progress. As long as you keep moving (even if it is slow) you will get done.

 

be careful i think cats are related to gremlins! and when they make you make a mistake they just Shame criticize ridicule...not necessarily in that order!

 

Any progress? I know you last posted only a few days ago but I'm impatient and have to live vicariously through you and your build until either 1) my new hull arrives from strike or 2) now that I'm back in the states I am able to find time to drive around and reassemble my fleet which was spread to different locations for safe keeping while I was away haha

 

Good Morning, how is it going? How is your build coming? Can you post some pics of your progress? Looking forward to it. Rob and son.