Hello! Discovered this forum a while back and was inspired to make the USS Shields (American WWII destroyer) as a first build. Using 1/4 inch Luon (?) plywood, is that too hard? Any tips or tricks that you know please tell me. Also wondering about status of Chesapeake bay battle group (?) or any battle groups near D.C. Thanks!
Shields, Welcome to the group. Do you have a connection with the USS Shields? Since the Shields is a Fletcher class, have you considered the Vac-U-Boat kit? http://www.vac-u-boat.com/Vac-U-FletcherCombat.htm I'm in Rockville and have experience with DD's. Would be glad to help with your project.
No connection, thought that it was a good name the kit does look pretty neat, though. Do you know about any clubs near us
The local club is the Maryland Attack Group. We battle IRC fastgun. The main group meets in Annapolis most Friday evenings. Main battling site for the area is up at Greenbrier lake outside of Hagerstown. In the immediate area, besides myself, there's Kevin in Arlington. Most of the IRC guys are more active in the groups Yahoo page. Go over there and say hello. If more local DMV dudes show interest, I'd be glad to host weekly or bi-weekly build sessions at my shop. http://ircwcc.com/main/ https://beta.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/IRCWCC/info
Welcome! A destroyer as your first build is a challenging project for sure, and not the most combat effective choice on how to spend your scratch building time probably. You may want to look to something larger, but if not, the kit Steve mentions is a great option to get you on the water quicker and still have a DD. Luan is kind of a junk wood to build with in my experience. I used it for a few frames in a cargo ship and hated it with a passion. Ultimately if you want to battle your DD you can't use Luan for the sides and would have to cut it full of windows to meet penetration requirements, and then sheet over that with 1/32" balsa. But stay here with us as well!
Ok, that makes sense. I saw balsa and was like "BALSA? That stuff will break if you bump it!" I will probably buy the kit but wonder how to fit guns in it. In my opinion, destroyers are the zippy hit-and-run for convoy protection. Probably wrong on that Hagerstown is a bit far from D.C., have you guys tried one of the creeks upstream of the anacostia/Potomac? Relatively clean, just block it off and you have a pond! But don't choose tire creek
it uh, does tend to be annoyingly prone to damage. That's why we only use it for areas that are supposed to break Pretty much got it in one I think with the unit allotment on a DD you'll only be looking at 1 gun. @VVaholic has a few pictures demonstrating fitting the gun in, and he's teased us that maybe next week we will see a new and improved gun for it.
Ok, that explains stuff. Have you tried 2 small co2 cans for 2 guns? Or is that not enough rounds? Also is the hobby king T6A V2 good for this project as a remote?
The rules pretty much limit you to one gun. I'd really suggest you at least speed read the IRCWCC rules as they'll answer many of your questions. Rules can be found here. http://ircwcc.com/main/home/rules/ And welcome to the forums!
Ok, I will. Is there a place where you can buy a gun assembly? In real life these were 5" guns. Also how can you make a bilge pump?
Dude, when you start shooting bb's, property owners start getting nervous. Greenbrier park up at Hagerstown welcomes our combatants and is insured by the club for battling. Considering many battlers travel halfway across the country to battle, The DC to Hagerstown run is right next door.
Okay, it is pretty close compared to others. How long are your events? And how often? Do you guys host build times? I couldn't find a lot about MAG. Also is it eaiser to buy from strikemodels or to make your own gun? What about bilge pumps? Eaiser to but or build? Sorry for all the questions, just couldn't find a lot of trusted info.
In IRC, boats are armed on a points basis. Points are either allocated to offense (cannons) or defense (pumps). Read the rules Beaver pointed you too to get an idea on how it works. A DD is a 1 or 1.5 point boat and generally considered difficult to build and of negligible combat ability. They are fun to run though and I built one for the challenge of it. As far as a cannons or pumps, you can purchase from BC or Strike, or build your own. If you want to build your own, I can assist with that. DD build threads: https://rcwarshipcombat.com/threads/fast-gun-fletcher.444531/ https://rcwarshipcombat.com/threads/mogador-build-fastgun.441895/ Hobby Suppliers: http://battlersconnection.com/ http://www.strikemodels.com/ http://www.vac-u-boat.com/
Okay, read the rules and thinking of having a 3/32" pump and one 25 bb cannon. If so, what direction should it be facing? Or should I have a 50 bb cannon and no bilge pump? which one would you use? Battlers Connection is better that strike models by far!
You need a bilge pump. Without one, any minor leak is going to send you to the bottom. The Fletcher kit is designed for a forward cannon. Don't think there's room for a rear mount. Here's one of my custom cannons built for the Fletcher.
Cannons (preferred name) are fixed. You aim by aiming the boat. The yellow tube vents CO2 to the back of the magazine to push bb's into the interrupter (brass t-fitting).
