Im in north east jersey, Where are you? I'm just getting started too. Just need to wait til after christmas to start building.
Hey Ron, Im from Dover, NJ so im right down the road from you. Ive been battleing for about 5 years and moved to NJ about two years ago after I graduated. Around here Ive been battling with the NYBG, one of the guys, Rob, has a pond in his back yard that we use and its less than 2 hours away so thats pretty close. Actually we just had a battle there saturday. We had to spend some time breaking ice before we could battle and then the floating ice bergs were pretty dangerous but it was still a great time. As for clubs in NJ, we might have to start on in the future since there are a number of people here that have or are building boats. I think what has kept a club from really forming here is the lack of a good battle pond and the questionable legal status of our ship's cannons. I dont think they are illegal since they are on the level of paintball and airsoft(which are legal) but I dont know for sure. Anyway thats probably why we dont have a club local to NJ. The two small gun clubs nationally are MWCI and IRCWCC. This area is mostly IRCWCC guys, but the rules are very similar so its possible to build a ship that battles both formats, thats actually what I do. Do you have any idea of what ship you want to build or even what side you want to build? Thats really the starting point, Id recommend staying with something smaller for your first ship, its easier and you tend to be less of a target. Depending on what you want to build there may be a fiberglass hull you can buy for it, check out Battlers Connection and see if you like anything they have to offer. There are a few other places for hulls and if you can find someone selling a used boat you can go that route too. If there isnt a hull for whatever ship you desire if you can get decent plans you can always scratch build the hull. Thats a good deal harder and more time consuming but its the only way to get some boats. It also depends on how good you are at building things and what kind of tools you already have. Generally its easier to build your first ship from a fiberglass hull. Basically what all this boils down to is welcome to the hobby! Look around and ask questions and figure out what ship you want to build(for a rookie i'll recommend a battlecruiser probably class 4(but build something youll be happy with and enjoy building/battling, having fun is really the whole point anyway)), we can offer advice and guide you along the way so feel free ask any questions you might have.
Rob does have that VU (Virbus unitus)hull. Class 4, but i don't know if its a battle cruiser. If thats what darticus wants.
I was looking at a pt109 boat or maybe I can't use that. I have a lake about 300 feet from my house but I don't know if the neighbors would mind. I don't think so its our private lake for the home owners. I'll have to check it out. Need some get going stuff info. What do you mean by classes? I saw a 1/25 model ship at a hobby shop yesterday is this usable?
The scale used in IRCWWCC is 1/144, which is the scale NYBG uses. In that scale, a PT109 would be about 6 inches long. A class is relative to the size and type of ship. CLASS 7 7 1/2 units Battleships >= 60,000 tons. 7 units Battleships >= 44,000 tons to 59,999 tons. CLASS 6 6 1/2 units Battleships >= 40,000 tons to 43,999 tons. 6 units Battleships >= 33,000 tons to 39,999 tons. CLASS 5 5 1/2 units Battleships >= 27,000 tons to 32,999 tons. Battlecruisers >= 35,000 tons. 5 units Battleships >= 25,000 tons to 26,999 tons. Battlecruisers >= 30,000 tons to 34,999 tons. CLASS 4 4 1/2 units Battleships >= 22,500 tons to 24,999 tons. Battlecruisers >= 25,000 tons to 29,999 tons. 4 units Battleships < 22,500 tons. Battlecruisers < 25,000 tons. CLASS 3 3 1/2 units Heavy cruisers >= 12,000 tons. Pre-Dreadnought battleships. Armored Cruisers built before 1922, >= 14,500 tons. 3 units Heavy cruisers built after 1922, 8,000 tons to 11,999 tons. Light cruisers built after 1922, >= 9,000 tons. Armored Cruisers built before 1922, 11,500 tons to 14,499 tons. CVAs in Lexington and Akagi classes. CLASS 2 2 1/2 units Heavy cruisers built after 1922, < 8,000 tons. Light cruisers built after 1922, 6,500 tons to 8,999 tons. Armored cruisers built before 1922, Other CVAs 2 units Monitors >= 7000 tons. Light cruisers built after 1922, 4,500 tons to 6,499 tons. CLASS 1 1 1/2 unit Monitors < 7000 tons. Light cruisers built after 1922, < 4,500 tons. Protected cruisers built before 1922. Destroyers 2500 tons and above. Submarines 2500 tons and above. CVLs 1 unit Destroyers < 2,499 tons. Submarines < 2,499 tons. Gunboats, CVEs and all other ship types not listed above.
Hi Ron, The 1/25th scale sip in the hobby shop won't work in most clubs. The most common scale is 1/144th scale ships. There are larger scales used in some clubs, but none are 1/25 and most are far from NJ. The PT boat may be a little small in 1/144th scale. Perhaps you should look at something the size of a cruiser or larger. It looks like cruisers can average anywhere from 40" - 60" long. Pre-drednoughts are neat little short ships that can still pack a wallop. I think the best place to start is to find out what clubs are closest to where you live. Someone else mentioned that IRCWWC is common in your area. You may want to visit the IRCWWC web site and take a look at some of the rules and the ship lists to get an overview of the hobby. Once you have an idea of what the sport is like, you can decide on what ship you would like to build. If you have any questions, please come here and ask! There is literally hundreds of years of expirienced people on this board. Mike in SC FRN Richelieu
Thanks Guys I saw a pt109 on http://www.barnstormerboats.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6&products_id=53 and thought it would work. I'll buy what you say is a good starter ship that I can use cannons on. Tell me where to go to look and pick one. Whats the battle ship that they talked about in Jaws that sunk and sharks ate the crew?
The ship from Jaws was the cruiser Indianapolis. For a first ship choose what you want. Smaller is cheaper down to a certain point, then it gets more expensive. I forget what that point this. Smaller is also easier to transport.
Thanks for all the class listings. Now I'm learning. Whats a reasonable good size starter ship? Where would I find a good ship? Christmas is coming.Than I need cannons. Anyone have a list of a complete ship with everything I need radio servos cannons etc.Now you got me going?????
Try Battlers connection Visit this site They sell everything you will need. A class 4 or 5 is a great ship to start with. The Von der tann on the axis is a good one, and the Lion on the Allied side. Email Rick for more info. Visit this site
For rules and shiplists and other various tidbits check out www.mwci.org or www.ircwcc.org On the MWCI website the links page has a ton of info spread out among the links. Check out the commericial links, Battlers Connection has the largest and widest array of hulls and parts, I dont think they make an Indianapolis hull but you may be able to find one, I think swampworks used to make them but he just did a run of hulls so i wouldnt expect another run for atleast a year(he closed down but makes hulls for people if there is enough demand).
It seems like the you tube video's show the ships fireing from close range. What is the distance the cannons can fire?
In fast gun they can go out to 30 ft or so, and will skip out to about 100 ft. But since you want the BB's to go thru the balsa and rip large holes if possible, most large ships get up close, while the cruisers stay away, since they cannot take as much damage as the BB's, and use the longer range shots..
