Depends on which format you're building for, and how well-equipped you want it to be. In Big Gun, torpedo-cruisers are generally less expensive than battleships, but gun-cruisers are more expensive than battleships. I'll let one of the fast gun guys summarize pricing for the various fast-gun formats.
A good (But not top of the line) cruiser in fast gun will run around $800. That includes a radio ($150) and batteries ($120). There are things that make it cheaper like popits instead of solenoids (-$90). But there are not too many of those items. There's more ways to raise the price. Team Delta switches, not servos +$30. NIMH not SLA batteries +$120. A battleship like Washington with 5 guns will run about $1200. You can take out about $95 per gun to drop to a 4 or 5 gun ship. After you build your first one your get hooked and want another one. If you did things right the first time you can reuse your radio, radio box, bottle (Maybe), batteries... A bunch of other bits that will make the second one cost less. There is a VDT for sale with almost everything you need for around $500. Check the for sale section: http://www.portpolarbear.com/For%20Sale.htm
Depends on the size of your tank. Typically we use for fast gun (MWC) 3.5 oz for cruisers and 7 to 9 oz for battleships.
Also depends on the valve type at the top of the tank. I believe the regulators at BC work with the on/off type only, and the tanks used on paintball guns usually are pin type. --Chase
I have a 12oz paintball tank that I plan to use once I get the vavle changed over to the on/off type. It will be going into my Gneisenau, where there isn't that much concern for space. If it fits in the ship you plan to build, there probably wouldn't be anything wrong with using it. --Chase
I have a 20oz tank in Bismarck and Yamato, a 9oz in Roma, 3.5 oz in Warspite but it can carry a 70z just a little nose heavy at the bow.
There is some crazy Frenchy out there with a 20 oz bottle in the stern of his Richelieu. heh. The 20 oz tank easily lasts 3 sorties shooting 250 bbs between 5 cannons for each sortie ... and still have some gas left over. But I'm a little crazy and tend to go overboard with things like that. More is better! Woot! Lol. Frankly though, a 7 oz bottle will easily last at least one sortie in fast gun. You can always refill between sorties too.
In fast gun a general rule of thumb is roughly 100 shots/ounce, you get a few more than that in my experiences but its not a bad place to start. Of course it depends on how your system is setup and how long you hold the valve open among other things.
In my Big Gun Dunkerque, I find a 20oz tank lasts about the same as the two 5" magazines (I would estimate about 100 shots, or 800-900 rounds downrange). No need to go bigger, but recently put in a 24oz tank as I had a fresh one handy. USS Missouri, in our club had twin 12oz tanks on a manifold for a wihile, but went back to a single 20 oz due to convenience. Graf Spee has had a 7 or 9 oz tank at times. Basically, you fit it out with what will fit (physically and within the weight allowance), from 26 gram to 24 oz. Anything more than the capacity to run your magazines dry is a waste that could be used for other things. But, if you have the space/weight to waste (like in the beamy French ships or the even beamier Yamato), there is no reason to not oversize. Cheers.
The rule of thumb for CO2 bottles is put in the biggest one you can. There's nothing wrong with reloading your magazines twice for every CO2 refill. And if (oh no) you spring a leak, having a larger CO2 bottle will mean you have that much more time with working weapons to get someplace safe. Same thing with batteries. And ammunition, while we're listing things it's good to have a lot of. Better to have more batteries, ammo, and CO2 than you can use than it is to have less than you need. Remember, the one day that someone forgets to refill the club CO2 tank, you'll still be fighting when everyone else is out of air.
One thing that was suggested to me: Start by arming only one turret. Later as funds are available, arm others. Nothing states that all turrets must armed from the start.
Very true, Knight4hire. I have fought ships with only a single turret before. They are very scary because the skipper only has one gun to think about, which usually results in higher accuracy. You can also go the other way. If you find a turret isn't contributing much to your combat effectiveness, due to reliability issues, location, etc. you can remove it. I recently removed one of the turrets from my Viribus; the gun required a 50PSI difference between accumulator and firing actuator, driving up my costs and reducing reliability. It is being replaced with a RC hero videocamera on a rotating plaform, and opening the possibility for torpedoes in the future.
