Another Beginner...
 

It looks like no one is tired of noobs yet so here I go.
I am interested in this hobby but don't really know where to start. The closest club is a 5 hour drive away, I am planning on visiting them eventually. I am looking for something I can start to build on my own. I want to try a 1/144 scale cargo ship (preferably Canadian [8D] ) that is fairly simple, and could help me prepare for building a combat model. I am looking to build it from a kit, or from scratch if I could get a step by step guide. I would like to build it out of wood, I have all the tools to cut the parts myself. I don't have a big budget (part of the reason why I want to start with a cargo ship). Does any one have any recommendations? (boats to try, where to get kits and parts, anything!) Where is a good (by that I mean cheap) place to buy a radio system? What would be a good kit to try (I can't find many)?
Thanks!

RE: Another Beginner...
 

You're in Canada? That means the closest clubs are probably the North Atlantic Battle Squadron or the North Atlantic Treaty Combat Fleet, right? They are fast gun clubs, and transports are not recommended for beginners in fast gun clubs. They aren't used very often, so you wouldn't get to fight very often.

I would recommend taking a look at the [link=http://www.rcnavalcombat.com/rcnavalcombat/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1289]Rookie Ship Design Project[/link], on the RC Naval Combat forum. Members from both fast gun and big gun clubs selected a ship that would perform well in both styles, and worked together to design a wooden hull that would be legal in all clubs. The plans, patterns, and parts designs for the basic hull are available for free online.

The Emile Bertin selected for the project has good speed in all clubs, so it can escape from danger if necessary. In fast gun, I'm pretty sure it gets one gun and one pump, which should be fairly cheap and simple to maintain. It won't be the biggest killer out there, but it should be a fun boat to play with for a couple years.

RE: Another Beginner...
 

Where is the North Atlantic Battle Squadron based out of? I thought the closest club was the New England Task Force or the Nova Scotia division of the IRCWCC. I can't find their homepage. The kit in that link looks good! I'll have to get my hands on one of those!

RE: Another Beginner...
 

The link goes to a forum. Take a look around there and say hi to NABS, the Ontario Attack Force, and the North Atlantic Treaty Squadron, since they hang out there. You an get information directly from them, rather than me having to look up all the info for you.

RE: Another Beginner...
 

Battlers Connection has a almost all the stuff you will need to build a ship. Get on the email group and introduce your self. they use the yahoo email groups. there is a lot of build talk going on there.
If battling mwc get a class 3 ww2 cruiser, if ircwcc get a class 4 Battle Cruiser. BC has fiberglass hulls of both.
Check out rc naval combat forums all so. there is a 4 sale forum there and good deals come up.