markswihart

this is directed to all individuals out their interested in 1/96 scale combat, myself and several others in the western MA region are forming a new club using the old BATTLE STATIONS web site as a guide. maybe in a few months from now our new web site will be up and running but untill then all those who are interested you can contact me through this forum.

coby5

Hi, i'm from South Africa and i just want to know hot to start with a new club! My friends and i are very interested, but we don't know how to get going!
Ps. If this message is a bit out of order, it's because i'm sending it from my cell phone.

Wreno

You might want to start by getting your Site listed on RCNAVALCOMBAT.COM. They will also host your site as a subdomain and provide some content management tools. He is trying hard to make it a club/information finder for both Big Gun, Small/Fast Gun, and cover all the popular scales (1/144, 1/96, and 1/72).

Just a suggestion.

Wreno

Wreno

Coby5,

Best way to start - check out any local laws that might apply (discuss it with your local law enforcement) to make sure you don't run afoul of the law. In Australia, as I understand it, the way the gun laws were written, a 2 meter long battleship defined as a "concealed weapon" (due to the length of the barrels). Some gun laws would define a turret as an 'Automatic Weapon", as they fire more than 2 projectiles with one 'pull of the trigger". The Aussies were able to get a waiver. If airsoft and co2 pellet/BB guns are legal and readily available, you may be OK, but it is best to check.

Next, build a warship and a freighter. Lend the freighter out so someone rkse can play, and so you have something to shoot at. Soon, they will want to fire back. If the freighter is something like the German Commerce Raiders (Kormoran for instance), they can later be armed. Even if you have a friend starting with a warship, have him build a freighter, too - then you can get more involved in the battle, and have more "strategies" and "scenarios." In the NTXBG, we built 6 club Liberty Ships (and later a Cimarron and Altmark), and they have seen a ton of use. We also built a shore battery. Guests could drive or they could shoot. Want to do both? Join and build a ship! Not much draws people in more than being able to play.

Above all, treat safety seriously. Watch the pressures and velocities. Enact and enforce safety procedures. At the minimum, safety glasses at all times when a ship has pressure enabled. The first player or spectator that loses an eye can ruin everyone's day. Oh, and make sure you have insurance.

You will find a lot of additional information (and help) over on Yahoo.com, in the Groups section, in the [link=http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BigGunsModelWarship/]groups.yahoo.com/group/BigGunsModelWarship/[/link] for Big Gun, and
[link=http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ircwcc/]groups.yahoo.com/group/ircwcc/[/link] for Small/Fast Gun.

There is also an introductory article that might prove useful here: [link=http://www.ntxbg.org/servo20051rcmw.pdf]http://www.ntxbg.org/servo20051rcmw.pdf[/link]
And, many of the club sites have tutorials, help, etc.

Good luck, and welcome to the fray.

Wreno

markswihart

Wreno,
thanks for the heads up about the gun law issue that might arise, but that happened to be one of the first things i looked into and there is no problem with it. the only stipulation is that if anyone under 18 wants to be involved they need a parent with them (or an adult). as far as getting listed on RCNAVALCOMBAT.COM, i'll look into it, but i don't think we'll use it as a host. several members are computer programmers, web site designers and such and are insistant on doing our own site. something i noticed is that there isn't a lot of 1/96 scale clubs out there, why is that?
it would seem to me to be more practical, allowing a greater variety of ships to be used. for instance in 1/144 destroyers, subs and other small boats are an engineering feet to make viable and on the other end of the spectrum you have 1/72 scale which practicaly eliminates capital ships like heavy cruisers, battleships and aircraft carriers, due to their size. just a thought.

kotori

Well Mark, I think the shortage of 1/96 scale clubs is primarily due to the shortage of 1/96 scale clubs. As you may have noticed, there are quite a few clubs that battle 1/144 scale ships. When people want to join or start their own club, the first thing they notice is the 1/144 scale clubs. The second thing they notice are the number of suppliers for hulls and equipment for 1/144 scale ships. The result is that most newcomers buy a 1/144 scale hull, build it, and either join a local group or start their own. Then they get ideas such as visiting other clubs, hosting invitational competitions, and generally meeting and fighting the rest of the community. A larger awareness of 1/96 scale clubs would certainly help correct this issue.

coby5

Thanks for the help Werno

Any air gun is legal without a licence here so that wount be a problem. One thing that is a poblem is finding hull plans!!! The thing is that I can find nobody in South Africa that have plans. I can find many on the internet, but then it is a huge hussel with the shipping of the plans ect. Some people also emailed me and said that they would email me some plans if i deposit a sum of money into their bank account, but that is to much of a risk and because of our weak currancy it is verry expensive. Do you know where i can find free hull plans? Any scale is fine

PLEASE HELP!

Umi_Ryuzuki

Dang it took me almost an hour to search my bookmarks and old posts, and then the board times out my post and deletes all my text and hyper links... that is so annoying
Here are the pages that were easy to link again.[:'(]

Here are a few free plans... [8D]

http://www.mo-na-ko.net/plans/index.html

This is an old site that may still have some good links.
http://www.modelismonaval.com/servic...rga_planos.htm

Maybe Google?
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=ship+plans

http://www.battleship.org/images/linedraw.gif

There was one site in particular that I was going to post, but I can't find the bookmark.
Had a whole bunch of German boats and other builders shipyard plans...
I will ask someone tomorrow if they recall the site and if they have it more clearly bookmarked.
[&:]


Here it is... Plans....
http://www.dreadnoughtproject.org/

Homeport

Hello.
I am in Eastern Mass and we have a club called the Marine Modellers club of New England. We do not do combat warships that shoot, but we do have a few warships that are detailed like the real thing. I build some of them myself, and have a little business of selling some of the detailed parts, like the decks and structures of selected modern ships. You can see my stuff at http://www.sputnikk.com/homeport

Let me know if I can help you with finding people to sail with. And if you have an even, please let me know and i will come out to sail with you guys. Just no shooting at my ship please.

Happy sailing.
Eric
Homeport Model ships

markswihart

Eric,
its good to hear from people in the area. I took a look at your site, and I must say you guys have some nice looking ships. Since you already build in 1/96 scale it should be easy to convert over to warship combat. The boats aren't too difficult to build and if you can't find a part that you want, you can build it. I first started out with rc nitro powered race boats but when I discovered rc combat, it was all over. Currently I'm scatch building the Yamato as she was in 1944. Already have the frame together and starting on sanding it before I plank the hull, another one of the members is building an Iowa and is waiting on the pattern set and plans to arrive. The other four are still desiding on what types of ships they want to build, most likely a cruiser and 3 destroyers. I might start building a sub and a transport to mix it up a little. It would be good to have some more people involved in 1/96 scale combat in the same state, so let me know you think.
Mark

Homeport

Mark.
Im sorry, i am not looking to build a ship that really fires. I am into building the ships with all the details. But I would like to see how your ships work, and watch them in combat. It would be fun to be out as you guys are in full combat. Maybe get some photos with them.

Do you guys have a club out there, or just meet on the fly? I can let you know our clubs schedule when I get it, and email it to you. Our first meeting in mid Feb, but its a indoor Show and Tell, and no pond.

Eric
Homeport Modelships
http://www.sputnikk.com/homeport

markswihart

Eric,
I think once you see the ships this spring/summer in action you may reconsider joining us, but if not thats ok. Perhaps you know of any others out there that may be interested?
Mark

Umi_Ryuzuki

It is always nice to have a Non combat modeler come and sail the transport ships.



It keeps more actual combat ships on the water.[8D]

chiefvta99

Is there a site that you have found that you could do this in western mass? I see that you have listed Easthampton your location, I am from chicopee but am in Easthampton all the time. I don't have a boat yet, but I have always wanted to start a group. Is there already a number of people with ships in western ma?

markswihart

We are just starting out, building the first boats this winter while the ponds are stil frozen. As for a site there are several ponds in Easthampton, one of which I live right next to (lower mill pond) There is also a group of non-combat modelers out in eastern Mass (by the way, this is a 1/96 scale club, the boats are considerably larger than the 1/144 variants) who I might be able to pesuade to become combatants that said they want to come and sail with us this summer. I'm working with a few others to get a web site put together for our club, if you are serious about getting involved you can e-mail me @ [email protected]
always looking for more members
P.S. If you want you can take a look at the Yamato I'm building at this lynk

markswihart

oops, forgot the link, here it is:
http://www.rcnavalcombat.com/rcnaval.../PhotoGallery/
once there just click on "veiw all" and the yamato pics should be some of the 1st ones up

markswihart

Its been a while so here's some pics of the progress on the Yamato:

HoaRC

Please let me know about your warship club in MA.

markswihart

we're a 1/96 scale version of big gun style with some minor differences. you can get alot of info off the old BATTLESTATIONS.org site and for more updated info go to the rcnavalcombat.com forums (thats where a few of us hang out). so far there's an Iowa being framed up, a Massachusetts on the way, a liberty ship, an Artemis convoy ship, an I-400 sub about 1/2 way through compleation (I-401 and I-402 hull frames already cut), a Yamato that has undergone sea trials and is awaiting the CO2 system to be compleated. Near future projects (have ship plans in possesion) include Musashi, Shinano, and Shimakaze. If you're interested in checking out this hobby I live in the Easthampton area (near Lower mill pond) and put boats on the water on the weekends, and/or build sessions at my house, you can contact me on this site (I don't check this one often) or for better results join up on the rcnavalcombat.com forum to contact me.
Mark