I feel like as time has gone on, my boat build thread prose has decreased in quality significantly. Pretty sure my last build thread was like "Here's a boat. Insert pictures". Anyway, Here's a North Carolina. Picked up the hull in July @ Nationals for a solid deal. Wanted to add an NC to my fleet as it provides a unique playstyle vs my other ships. 24 sec, dual rudder, overgrown Des Moines that has vestigial sidemounts back from when US battleships weren't just giant cruisers. I drove an NC for 2~ years when I was new in the hobby, then I left for a little bit, had an identity crisis, and came back French. Figured might as well go back to the start. Bart 2.0 received basically 90% of my attention, so NC got about 4%. The plan for NC was for a "free" boat build. I recently scrapped Dunkerque and Mothballed Courbet, so I had 2 ships worth of used internals added to my inventory that I figured I could use. The build specs: 1.75" 4 blade Kort props (off of Dunkerque) on 5mm stainless shafts. My standard 3d printed gearboxes 2:1 gear reduction 900kv 35mm brushless outrunners (out of Courbet) 60? Amp Hobbyking Car ESC's (Also out of Courbet and bricked in Epoxy so I have no real idea what they are) @SnipeHunter gun board for sidemounts (out of Courbet) and a Pololou board for trips Old brass Regulator out of Bart 1.0 BC Solenoids (From Courbet + 1 from backstock) My standard issue pump (BC black base, 2400kv Tenshock inrunner, 80A ESC, heat sink, glug outlet) Guns are 50/50 new/old parts. Salvaged interrupters/tees with new tubing, breeches, and barrels. This recycling step saved a ton of time that would've normally gone to setting up the interrupters. Big tube feed, no breech bypass, but with big tube mag feed. All 1 diameter tubing where possible, simplifies replacement parts. Plus the big woosh of gas to the mag end will let these feed at almost any angle. Trips have tanks and check valves. I was advised I could run into icing issues using big tube to the trips....I will test and adjust. I know I can feed big tube duals (Duke, Courbet, Bart 1.0) on 1 regulator so worst case I dual reg the boat and run 2 smaller tanks. Superstructure is ABS printed from the files here on the Forum. Thank you @darkapollo for your NC superstructure, @rcengr for your Baltimore superstructure, and @NickMyers for your US 5/38 files. Now, I don't want you to get the idea that this NC was built sub-par. In fact, it has some new fanciness that I'm testing for future builds. I never liked the copper refrigeration tubing that many use for their gun parts, myself included. Bart 1.0 I used steel brake line, but as you can imagine that rusts and makes a mess over time. I resigned myself to flimsy copper that kinks and bends poorly until I remembered that there are steel alternative brake lines. So I grabbed a 25' spool of cupronickel brake tubing to try out. This stuff is awesome. Very hard to kink, bends beautifully with a hand bender (like for brake lines, if you are mechanically inclined), could make 1.5" diameter coil mags with ease. Best part? It's basically the same price as copper @ Home Depot. ($1/ft). The second new thing we are testing on this boat is the @Beaver magazine cap. 1/4" compression cap with a hole drilled in it for a barb fitting for the magazine gas supply. Tested for about half an hour just loading and dumping a gun with this mag cap and I have to say, I'm convinced. This saves a ton of time vs cutting up and soldering fittings to mag tubes. Probably wont use it everywhere...but will use it where I can. Anyway, enough wall o' text. Here's some pics. The hulls at our campsite during NATs. Example bend right at the end of the cupronickel tubing. Normally this would cause the tube to deform...no issues here. NC triple spaghetti underway Almost done... Mmmm....spaghetti.... Definitely not as pretty as Bart...but still need to add 40's and such. Plan to paint her in USN Measure 12. If I'm feeling particularly fancy, might do M12 Mod and apply some sort of tiger-stripe camo job like Alabama had circa 12/1942. Internal layout sneak peak. Left space for a 16oz co2 tank so we should be good on the gas supply side. Pump isn't in the velcro cradle yet as glue was drying. Nobody likes gluing the pump to the boat bottom.
Steel brake line I got at any auto parts store. The copper refrigeration tubing is Home Depot. The cupronickel you can get on Amazon or speciality auto parts places like Jegs or Summit Racing. The exact stuff I bought: View: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BMZBT3Q?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details
Nice. Can't wait to see it! I hope to have an NC one day, when I'm ready for it. I got good memories touring her over the years and drinking beer with her in the background.
NC is a surprisingly easy build. The issue becomes cost vs the commonly recommended smaller ships for new people. Extra guns, extra solenoids, etc. If you can build a 3 and 1/2 unit cruiser like a Des Moines, you can build an NC easier. I'm hoping to bring it with for the Feb GA battle in 2~ weeks if BC can get me my order. All I need is silkspan to sheet with and she's done.
