R/C Naval Combat

Getting a fiberglass hull would certainly get you on the water in less time.
Mainly because building a hull from wood takes a while, and it needs to be sealed.
Even if you would rather build the hull out of wood, it would not be a bad idea to go ahead and
go with a fiberglass hull for your first build. As most folks often start building a second boat as
soon as their first boat is on the water.
The first boat is the hardest, as one must go through a leaning curve, and mistakes will most
likely be made. And the second boat generally goes much better.
There is the option of getting one of the wooden kits from the folks that are making them.
A lot of the hard work is already done. And one can learn a lot from assembling one, and
they won't take as long to build as a wooden hull (from scratch).

As to the plywood question.
One can generally purchase the plywood from the local hobby shop, but you will probably pay
quite a bit more than you would if you order it from one of the places like Lonestar. I think BalsaUSA
also sells plywood.
I like the aircraft-ply, with 5 or more layers. Mainly because it cuts well.
Some folks use the light-ply.
Some folks get the interior grade ply from the local home-depot, or Lowes.

Thickness would depend on if you decide to build the boat for the combat or not.
And if for combat, which format, or scale. The differences between formats are not huge.
But enough that although your boat may not actually be illegal in one format if it was built
for another, but it might be at a disadvantage as you may end up with extra target area.

Your best bet would be to consider building a boat to a particular set of rules for the combat,
and if you decide to join (or start) a club to battle with, you will not need to build a new boat.
Mikey

I've built several from cheap-arsed sand pine 1/4" ply. The deck can be made from several things, either ply, or plastic sheet, or one friend makes a deck by sandwiching a sheet of balsa between layers of hand-laid fiberglass.

Ok, I will look at experimenting with some smaller ships (basically throw aways", but will also order a fiberglass one just to get one going quick. I am doubtful I will make it into a combat model but any suggestions on if I should put in any ribs or just leave it be right now until I can decide which combat format to go with?

Hi Jacob,

Like you, I am a long time model aircraft flyer/builder (30+ years and counting). Many of the skills learned from building planes transfers nicely to building a ship. I actually prefer to build wood hulls versus using a fiberglass hull.

Birch ply for model planes works nicely for wood hulls. I've ordered it from a variety of online hobby sources and from the local hobby shop. Larger sheets like 4' x 4' or 4' x 8' can be ordered from full size aircraft suppliers too.

Wood size really does depends on the format you plan on building to. I'm a fast gun format person, so tend to favor 1/4" sheet size for the framework ... although 3/16" sheet is fast becoming my favorite size to use lately due to replicating curved decks in 3/8" thickness. 1/32" or 1/64" thick ply is useful for sheeting the hull bottom.

Welcome to the hobby! If you are like me, building a ship will be as much fun as battling it.

Hi Jacob;
I also am a flyboy turning to boats.

You said that you would most likely not build this ship for combat.
Sounds like you are doing this for pure enjoyment, then scale and rib placement is up to you.

There is a guy in Maine who built a 1/20 scale Graf Spee!
Two people can sit inside of it as he sails around the lake.

One thing is not clear. Is there a club near you? If there is, ask the club where they aquire their building materials.

I have heavily considered StrikeModels hulls for ease of construction, in addition to wood. I live near ALBQUERQUE NM and I have not found any combat club near me. I think there is a model ship club in ABQ but I am 2hrs away from it, so I am fairly rural. Heck, just to get to a lake is an hour drive for me. So thats another reason why I have been only converting 1/350 scale ships to RC, instead of diving full blown into a 1/144 scale ship. This is currently in a research stage for me and no decisions have been made.. thanks

So you are just going to have some fun on the 'High seas' .

You are free to build what ever ship you want in what ever scale you want to use.

I recall reading about a guy who built an Iowa Class a number of years ago that was about 12 feet long. The turrets were armed with water cannons.

So when you decied on what ship and what scale to use, please post pics of the build!

Have fun and keep us posted!

Aaahh.. Albuquerque. My submarine in the Navy was USS Albuquerque. We enjoyed getting the annual goodwill visit from some officials who brought us food from the city

If you go with the little tiny boats, make sure that you have a good deck seal, as the real waves are a lot bigger than scale waves would be