Hi guys,
I ussualy spend my time crawling about the ground with my tanks but ive decided to get my feet wet, Im looking at building a roughly 1/45th scale CSS Arkansas Ironclad, She will be 44in long 9.5 in wide and have a draft of only 3in, My main question is in regard to motors, Im looking at using the same kind of motors we use in our tanks(360 or 380) & come with a gear set to provide more tourque for the tracks, How well would this work for turning a prop in the water? if these would work that would be great seeing as im hoping on using the airsoft gun and smoke maker from a tank in the ship and the less wiring i have to do the better seeing as i am a compleate newbe when it comes to wring up a rc vehicle...nost i have ever done is reconected wires i cut and so on, as for the speed of the boat I would like the ship to move at a scale speed as the original ships top speed was only 8mph.. Any help would be greatly appreciated
Thank you,
Jonathan

So far ive been reccomended off of my same post over in the Scale boating section, in running a A pair of 15 volt 385s on 6 volts with direct drive..
Jonathan

As an example, in the NTXBG, a 1/144 scale Richelieu (close to 6' long, in the 35-45 lb range) is well overspeed with 2 380's (aka Speed 400s) and a 3.2:1 gearbox. The actual true speed is about 4.9 km/h (which is 49 scale knots under our rules), and has to be dialed back (at 6v) to be within her legal, scale limit.

I am thinking a 280 with a 5:1 gearbox (Tower sells a 5:1 enclosed gearbox for well under $10) would probably be adequate for the ship you are building (many of our much smaller ships get by with a single one of those, and, in fact a 39" Liberty ship, when given more voltage, sill throw out a rooster-tail).

Probably either would be fine, though you will not need as much gearing as in tanks. And some of this depends on the prop size and pitch (think of that as additional gearing).

Cheers,

Wreno

Hi Wreno,
Thanks for the information ill check out the motors and gear box set up at tower hobbies
Jonathan

The specific model we use with 280 siuzed motors is this [link=http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXVY65&P=0]www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXVY65&P=0[/link]

Cheers,

Wreno

Thanks for the link Wreno,
So you could use the Great Planes ElectriFly T-280 7.2-9.6V Ferrite Motor hooked up to this and extened the prop shaft to run out from the hull,? http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXWK50&P=M
Thanks again,
Jonathan

Basically, yes. we normally use a 1/8" prop shaft in a stuffing tube (there is a tutorial on how to build stuffing tubes on the [link=http://ntxbg.org]ntxbg.org[/link] site (along with several other portentially useful how-to's). They are pretty simple, but you can also buy them, props, etc. from [link=http://battlersconnection.com]http://battlersconnection.com[/link] and other places. The prop shaft is connected to the gearbox shaft in one of several fashions. Dumas Dogbones (Tower has these, as does Battlers Connection) or even a simple length of vinyl or fuel or surgical tubing will do just dandy (and is inexpensive). Lots of ways to couple the shafts. Finding some local combat guys might prove useful, so you can see how the ships are set up for 1/144 scale WWi/WWII era combat. You might find several of your future issues already solved. You are in the "general area" of some of the MBG and there are some battlers in Mn.


You can find clubs and captains over on [link=http://rcnavalcombat.com]RCNavalCombat.com[/link]

Cheers,

Wreno

Hi Wreno,
Thanks for the information, the NTxbg.org has a ton of usefull information ill be spending several hours on there , im lookiong at Joing a local RC boat club and i will check and see if theres a NAval Combat group arround
Thanks again,
Jonathan

Johnathan,

Do keep in mind that, while there are Civil War naval combat guys out there (or, as those on the South refer to ti, the War of Northern Agression) , the pickings are pretty slim - few and far between. One of our guys has a copyu of the Civil War Combat rules that are used by some.

The most common (last count about 500 worldwide) is 1/144 1900-1946 era (most people like battleships, and this keeps them in the 3'6' range and mostly under 50lbs). There is also more materials/hulls availability in this scale and, curently 4-4 major formats (Big Gun, Treaty, and Small/Fast Gun which is further subdivided into IRXWCC and MWC). One of the founders of the NTXBG (Big Gun), JM has recently moved to MN.

If you are curious, there is a copy of the Servo Magazine article which discusses the various formats and acts as an introduction to the hobby on the NTXBG site in the In the News section. Sadly, Treaty came about after the article, so it is not mentioned.

Also, keep in mind that you are welcome to come to the North American Big Gun Open (NABGO) this summer, where you can usually see ships and hang out in the shipyard with the captains frequently from as far away as Maryland and Californai (ad representatives from both states last year), even if you do not have a ship yourself (we have a few transports that can be run, for instance). Info is at[link=http://nabgo.org]nabgo.org[/link] The sign-up forms should be available in the next few days - but the last year's schedule and sign-up form are there as an example.

It is a fun time. Last year, one captain brought a hull with the penetration windows cut and a bunch of parts. In 3 days, he was battling her, and won several awards with her. A couple of years back we ad a ship sink outside port, only to resurface in port (no, not a sub, though it did fully submerge and rise 5 times - every time the firing servo glitched and shot CO2 through it).

A captain from the East Coast broke the pond, club, and NABGO record all at once for cargo runs, getting in 67 cargo runs.

Las year, we had a French BB chasing down (and actually running over) a French destroyer, which actually survived the encounter! No, ramming is NOT allowed, but, if you turn in front of a BB by mistake, it is not their fault.

Good luck, and welcome to the obsession.

Oh, and as for clubs, NAMBA (the North American Model Boat Association) is what most combat guys join (for the insurance etc.), as well as a local club, and the NTXBG is actually a member club as well. Oh, and NABGO is a sanctioned event....

Cheers,

Wreno

I don't think so, over where you are. I'm about 425 miles due East of you, with a bunch of ships & nobody to fight, either!

Scale speed is proportional to the square root of the scale. I think you'll find that 8 kts is going to be pretty darn slow, whether it's scaled accurately or not. Realistically, you're going to have to bump it up some TBD amount, just so that it looks right & doesn't get blown to the other side of the lake in even a weak breeze.

JM

Yeah i looked not much arround me lol... as for the speed thing...im just going for the scale look ..i just dont want it to cruise like a speed boat throwing up 10 ft rooster tail...
Jonathan

Hows your Arkansas coming along?

Eek, I havent checked in on this thread for a while [:@] I have not started the build as of yet, I have been working 24-7 and not had time to work on my main build my 1/6th scale Renault Ft-17, however now that summer is comming to a close and College is right arround the corner ill be able to have some free time again to finish my Renault and start my Arkansas lol so much for a summer break, Sorry for taking so long to get back here,
Cheers!
Jonathan