Hello, Before I get into the details of the ship construction, I want to give a background. I purchased the USS Iowa hull + kit from Swampworks back in 2005. I had to put the project on hold, and finally, I have started to pick it back up. I had been learning a lot about the hobby, construction techniques, and the different materials. Unfortunately, I have lost a lot of the knowledge I gained, and I am now fairly lost. So, now onto the ship. When I had purchased the hull/kit, I had bought several other things like motors, batteries, etc. Right now, I am inventorying everything I have, but for most of the devices, I forgot what they are for or what they do. I am hoping as I complete each step of the build, I will be reintroduced to the different parts. The last thing I did before putting the project on hold was to tape the windows onto the side of the hull. I have not cut the windows out yet, but the taping it still there. I used 3/8" tape to mark the ribs, detailing 3 inch wide windows that go 1 inch below the waterline. And that is pretty much as far as I got. I attached pictures of the taped hull to give you guys a view of it. Let me know if anything stands out! However, my question to the community on this forum is where do I go next? I feel like I need a high level step by step process that will get me through the build. For example, Props/Rudders>>Cut Windows>>Mount motors. Once I establish this list, I could then learn everything I need to do in each step, hopefully resulting in a finished product! So if anyone with a lot of construction experience could put their 2 cents on where I should go next, that would be much appreciated. PS. How do I get the pictures to show as thumbnails that link to the full picture so they not so blown up? Thank you!
Your picture size is fine. That's a mighty project there (I know, I have an Iowa hull hanging from my rafters...) and I look forward to seeing your work progress! Some people start with the windows, some pople put in their subdeck and deck (some folks call the subdeck a caprail) first.
The taping I did was to the Big Gun Rules that WWCC uses. As there is no club in my area (the closest being NorthWest who use IRCWCC i believe?), I just stuck with those rules. I don't really know the major differences, maybe you could give me a run down . Thanks
As a driver of a now retired Iowa, my primary advice is to invest in a back brace. They get mighty heavy especially when full of water.
As someone who is going to be building a Strike Models Iowa at some point in the next year (all things going according to plan, of course), I applaud your effort and cannot wait to see this build progress!
Before you cut anything or glue anything, I would suggest that you double-check your measurements. Rib spacing, bow impenetrable, stern impenetrable, bottom edge, etc. It looks good from the photos, but it's always a good idea to double-check before you do anything permanent. Same thing with fitting the subdeck, etc. I'm also not sure whether to do cut windows or glue subdeck first, because I've never built a fiberglass hull; all of my ships are wooden. I would figure that cutting the windows comes first, because that provides easier access for epoxying the subdeck in place, but again I haven't tried either way. One of your highest priorities after the hull itself is going to be cannons. The cannons have to go where the cannons have to go, and everything else (motors, batteries, servos, etc) get arranged after that. As such, having your cannons and knowing how you'll mount them is very important. Big Gun cannons are hard to come by nowadays, unless you make your own, but Strike Models is hurrying to start producing them if you don't have the lathe and mill necessary to make your own. You may want to send the owner an email to find out more about that.
Ya, I was thinking of double checking the measurements one last time. I want to make sure the bow and stern impenetrability are as close as I can get them. As much as it would suck to retape, it needs to be right! After I recheck (and maybe retape), I will probably drill the holes in the corners of the windows and start cutting them out. I'll try and get pictures up soon, but University starts back up tomorrow so who knows!
I have a quick question regarding materials to use. On the bottom on the hull, there is a little "scratch". I was advised to put epoxy on and sand it down. My question is, what type of epoxy should I be using and is it a universal epoxy I would use everywhere in my ship or is it only unique to this situation. I have provided a picture (sorry for blurriness) below.
West System is pretty good and the epoxy most people use once they get fed up with the hobby store stuff, get the mini pumps with it too. You can use it for any epoxy work on a boat.
I have a question about your bow area tape. In small gun the 2" solid area follws the shape of the bow. Is it different in big gun? Thanks I'm working on a Strike Models Iawa also. I have pictures posted on the Treaty Yahoo site.
After reviewing my taping, I had a few questions. Bow Impenetrability I had originally measured the 2 inches of bow impenetrability from the raise lip at the front of the Iowa. Going off of the ruleset for Big Gun on WWCC website, it looks like I should have measured 2 inches from the start of the waterline, not the raise lip. This means that all my ribs will move back 1 inch on both sides. Is this the correct thing to do? Stern Impenetrability Also working off of the ruleset for Big Gun on WWCC website, it says there is 2 inches from the rear where the waterline lies, not at the deck height of the hull. I had thought it was only 1 inch of impenetrable space on the stern? Is this unique or the standard in Big Gun? Waterline Lastly, if I am going to have to redo the tape, I may as well check my waterline again. Any tips on an easy way to do this? Thanks for the epoxy, I will check it out.
bow impenetrable: correct, this is measured from the waterline, you are allowed up to 2" back. Also, according to WWCC rules, you do NOT need to follow the profile of the bow. This is especially important for wooden hulls, which could not meet rib spacing requirements while matching the profile of the bow. Since you measured from the tip of the bow, you've actually got extra penetrable area. This isn't a problem, so you don't necessarily have to re-do everything. Only if you want to. Stern impenetrable: again, this is measured from the waterline, and does NOT need to follow the profile of the stern. This can get confusing on some ships, but we also have the 60-degree rule to help, and the permanent waiver rule if no good solution can be found for a specific ship. The Iowa has a fairly simple stern shape, though, so you should have no problems there. Again, since you measured from the tip of the stern, you've actually got extra penetrable area. This isn't a problem, so you don't necessarily have to re-do everything. Only if you want to. waterline: First, compare the waterline on your plans to the draft listed in Conway's. Not all plans show the correct waterline, so it's important to check. Next, set your hull on a very flat surface. If it's a decent hull, it should sit flat across the bottom, and not rock side-to-side. Then pick several points along the hull (stern, bow, and several other important locations) and compare both hull height and waterline height, as measured from the bottom of the ship, to the same measurements on your plans. Once you're confident the hull and the plans agree, mark the waterline at these locations, and also mark the bottom of the penetrable while you're at it. If you really want to get tricky, you can make a jig to hold a sharpie at the correct height, and then use that to trace the waterline and bottom of impenetrable across the entire hull. tip: if you're planning to re-do your rib spacing and impenetrable, throw on a little extra penetrable area. Better to have a little more space between your ribs than too little, and same thing with the bottom of your impenetrable. For example, when I build wooden ships, I use a solid aluminum block that's 3.1 inches wide to locate my ribs and ensure they're square and vertical. That's more space than I technically need, but it guarantees my ship will be legal no matter how you measure it. Same thing with the bottom of the penetrable: I put my bottom edge at 1.5 inches, instead of the usual 1 inch. The odds of getting a hole down there through heavy armor that deep are next to nothing, and NOBODY questions my penetrable area. Also keep in mind that, the more ribs you have, the more ribs you have to clean when re-sheeting your boat. I know a few skippers who actually used 5-inch spacing with 3/8" ribs on a certain Montana-class battleship, simply to make resheeting easier.
Thanks for the clarification Carl. I keep hearing reference to Conway's. Is this online or is it a book I should be buying? I think I will look at re-doing the tape, but I will keep the extra penetrable space in mind. Also, I redid the angle near the stern. I had originally done it using a 45 degree angle, but I have switch it to a 60 degree. I noticed that in the last half foot of the stern, the 60 degree level was exactly the same as my waterline. I have attached a picture of each side. Starboard Side 60 Degree Port Side 60 Degree Also, because it has been so long and I do not have much experience, could someone help me Identify the motors and batteries I have and if they will do the trick to run all the things I have. Motors Written on the sticker seen in the picture is the following: CAT# DCM-229 3-12 VDC Motor REF 984318 LN#1 LOC L8-3 Batteries Although the picture only shows 1, I have 2 identical batteries. They are 6V 12 Ah Sealed Lead Betteries. Also, could anyone give me a crash course on electronics and tell me the meaning of the volts and Ah?
Conway's is or was a publisher in Great Britain that specialized in Naval books. The main reference books used are Conways All the Worlds Fighting Ships. 3 volumes. 1860-1905, 1906-1922, and 1922-1947. Predreadnoughters like me use the first one, while most find the third of more use. There is now an edited version that just covers Battleships from 1906 to 1947. It is in its second edition and is well worth having as a reference. I have not heard if they are going to do volumes on Cruisers, carriers and the rest.
Well, Micah, electricity is easy (says the electrician)... Volts can be thought of as the force that pushes the electricity; more voltage, more electrons are gonna flow. Amps represent the number of electrons flowing through the components. So, voltage pushes amps. An Amp-hour (also written AH) is a flow of 1 Amp for 1 hour. It represents a capacity, when applied to a battery. For lead-acid batteries like you have in the picture, the advertised AH rating is usually for a slow discharge (like 20hours), which means that the battery above will yield 12AH if discharged at the '20-hour rate'. A 20-hour rate is the current flow rate that will fully discharge the battery in exactly 20 hours. In theory. For an Iowa, I'd run 3 or 4 of those batteries at once. I was going to keep going, but I want to draw some pictures in paint, and this discussion should probably fall under tip and tricks:electronics anyhow
Given that you're building for Big Gun, I think those two batteries will be plenty enough power for a day's worth of battling. On the other hand, there's no harm in using batteries as ballast for a ship the size of an Iowa.
Tuggy, your out of date, electrons do not flow, holes flow. You being a electrician and all, LOL. JK guy The first theory is the electron flow theory used by Electronics engineers. The second theory is the conventional current flow theory or as it is also called the hole flow theory as used by electrical engineers. In the electron flow theory the electrons flow from the negative terminal to the positive terminal. In the convention current flow theory the current flow from the positive terminal to the negative terminal. But in the conventional theory it is not electrons flowing it is the holes left by the electrons as they drift toward the positive terminal hence the term hole flow theory. Notice the electron movement is still from Neg to Pos in both examples. Just the current changes direction. The negative terminal is the terminal with an excess of electrons. The positive terminal is the terminal with an excess of holes where electrons used to be until they were forced to drift through the power source to the negative terminal. A charged battery, sounds about right? That is what gives you your potential difference. between the negative terminal and positive terminal. Actually you shouldn't say negative current flow because current is either flowing or it isn't. It doesn't make any difference which direction down the wire it is going. In a DC circuit current is always flowing the same direction from negative to positive if you are using the electron flow theory. If you are working with the hole flow or conventional flow theory the current is flowing from the positive terminal to the negative terminal. Since I work in the electronics field, all kinds of communication systems, for a major power company, we can have some nice arguments going back and forth. But more people now agree with the hole theory, surprisingly, most that still think of electron flow, usually have never heard of the hole theory. But who knows, the holes could be wrong. But the holes have it by my thinking. Hope this clears it up for everybody.
To be honest, it's a little over my head. As long as the batteries I have will do the trick. I saw that Strike Models have new batteries, so just was not sure if the Sealed Lead were still used/appropriate for the model, and if I would need to purchase any more to power this beast. Maybe I will come back to this topic when I need to work on electronics and servos and such.
