ok so im into helicopters and was just wodering if its possible to make a small light single air cannon that can shoot small paintballs to put into a heli to have battles. i think this is a great idea but my instinct says it cant work. what do you think. what if you use a reusable small co2 tank or something.

Safety rules would prohibit it in most clubs (same reasons our cannons are not allowed to aim above the horizontal). Also, we count holes, not paint splotches - this is actual combat, not a simulation (think battlebots on the water with a WWII theme and 19th century tactics, and you will get pretty close).

And, you would need a pretty large and very high $ helicopter to carry the weight of most of our cannon systems. For a small, single-shot, hand pumped, system, it might be possible, but, again safety issues (not to mention operational issues, including the recoil). The most popular scale/era for Warship Combat is 1900 to 1946, 1/144. What pre 1946, 1/144 scale helicopter, with armament, would you or could want to build?

Believe it or not, I am not trying to be negative here, as it sounds pretty cool. I am just trying to point out the issues you will face. Submarines are also often enquired about, and size and practicality pretty much eliminate them ,and PT-boats as well, in 1/144. 1/144 scale is chosen by many because it is a practical scale for Battleships (they are about 6' or less), and it is a Battleship most seem to lust after, not a destroyer or PT boat. They want lots of guns and turrets, and ships with names like Dreadnought, Iron Duke, Bismarck, Graf Spee, Hood, Nelson, Iowa, Missouri, Yamato, Indefatigable, etc. Those who want cruisers and destroyers often opt for 1/96, or even 1/72 scale, but they are fewer in number. The Big Boys are where the romance is, methinks, but of course ymmv...

There is an introductory article from Servo Magazine on [link=http://www.ntxbg.org]www.ntxbg.org[/link] if you would like some more depth discussion (linked on the bottom of the main page). There are also some videos you might enjoy (I believe they are linked from the Battle Report page). And a couple of High Res videos on the Stage6 Divx site. The Mers el Kebir video is not typical battling, it is just what happens when an agressive and much feared captain goes to take a nap and leaves his ship behind.....[:@]

One nice thing about the warships vs planes or choppers from an operator standpoint Even if something major goes wrong (including someone walking all over your frequency), consequences and/or repairs are usually minor, usually well under $50 and/or a couple of hours to fix. FAR more forgiving. After all, they are designed and built to be shot at, damaged, sunk, recovered, patched, and battled some more.

My son also does helis, (and planes, dragans, cars, trucks warships, etc.). The skills you have in operation there can easily translate into deft control for a warship. Once built and debugged, the warships take as little maintenance as any of the others, pretty much.

I hope that helped answer your question.

Wreno
NTXBG

thx man i might get into warships but im still going to mess around with lighter materials like plastic and lighter metals and try to make a gun smaller to see if its possible. if not to bad if it can happen that would be awesome.