R/C Naval Combat

I have Clemson plans on the hard drive, J... If you want to try it   If I did a Clemson, I'd build it 1/16" wider and 1/2" longer to be within the rules but with as much bouyancy as possible,  Adding the 1/32" battens to the ribs on el Almirante will displace roughly 1.4 more cubic inches of water than is strictly scale, which is 0.8 ounces (22g) of extra bouyancy.  If you add the legal 1/2" of length to the midsection, it would be more significant.

My weakness is that my ADD nature 'sees cool ship plans... must build cool boat!'. I acknowledge the pull but must rein in those urges to finish projects. With lil'Scharny battle-ready, I will finish el Almirante, and THEN contemplate my next move. The technical challenge is a lot of fun and very motivating.

Anyhow, new progress pics tonite!

I'm much the same way. I have a collection of plans of "cool ships" in paper and digital form (usually both). With my current Royal Navy fetish I have been pondering the Swift. A bit bigger than the Almirante Villar and no where near as Peruvian. The odd bit is the rudder. It hangs off the back like a 19th century torpedo boat. My weakness is wood working. None of the tools and really no space for them.

Posted By Tugboat on 13 Apr 2010 06:33 AM
Outstanding work, Nick! That's valuable knowledge to have. I did have an idea last night, although too late for the Admiral to take advantage of it... under MWC rules, the scale tolerance on beam is 1/8", so if you're careful, you can cut the ribs 1/32" wider on each side than the scale blueprints, which will add a little bit of hull volume. Maybe when I do a Clemson...

Let's see... 24 ounces is...680g. Hmm. maybe I'll retrofit some 1/32" strips to the ribs. In anycase, the deck seal will be pretty good. After watching Mike Mangus' Verite go submarine at speed (it is such a cool boat!!) and seeing how tightly he had the decks sealed, I knew I had to do that here. All the decks are getting a thin film of RTV, and the fornt and back decks are getting bolted down.
Following Bob's suggestion on the 1/4 unit gun, 1/4 unit pump rule proposal, I will be building her with a 13-shot magazine and a 150psi accumulator with enough gas to shoot 13 shots. That should reduce the weight and space required for the gas system, which will make it more likely that I can fit in a tiny pump. As soon as my experients yield an accum that can hold 13 shots, I'll post the relevant specs on here.

Adding the strips is a really good idea.  Too bad I've already fiberglassed mine or I'd give it a shot.  I guess I could make them a disposable part of the hull sheeting. 

I think if I were to build another one of these from scratch, I'd add 1/4" - 1/2" inch of depth to the hull and 1/8" - 1/16" to the beam.  I haven't done the math, but I think with these two changes youd have enough displacement to be able to carry the weight needed for the full co2 system and cannon.

Was sitting around tonite working inside (if I'm not making a huge mess, the wife allows it), putting some 1/64" ply on the hull which will get 'glassed over later.  It is possible to just tack the glass on with CA glue and it will more or less hold the form, but it'll pull and form convex shapes and I don't like the look nor the loss of bouyancy which that entails.  Some parts of the ply haven't been fully glued down yet, but you get the general idea of what I'm trying to do.  Ignore the full-looking yet empty wallet in pic 2, it was the nearest object the right size to prop up the hull for the pic              **Side note: The May battle in Savannah is going to be on 29/20 May, at which time, El Almirante will make it's combat debut.  So I have a bunch of work to get done!  I will be playing with it some on Sunday after I get back from camping with the Boy Scouts.  But I'm ordering my batteries before I leave for the weekend so that I can float test her and drive her around ASAP.

Posted By El Jefe on 14 Apr 2010 01:44 AM
The latest installment of the Red Menace? Manned by the fearsome Peruvian Navy?

Red Llamas?

That Monty Python bit now makes some sense...red llamas in destroyers!!!

I will have to check. I used a peice of tube that Rick gave me to make up BC restrictors for the micro pump's, so what ever the plastic tube size is that comes with the pump, it will fit.  When you get the pump from BC, it will have a 1/2 unit restrictor, make it fit, and then the one I made for you will fit also.  Since I make all the 1/2 unit micro restrictors for BC.