help me boat makers

[rcmadness]

hi there im new 2 boat building i have been looking at boats and how they work for years and i have made my own little boats that are rc but i have been wondering wat 2 make my hull out i dont want 2 use fibre glass any suggestions please

[Climate]

You have 4 standard choices of material to build a boat hull.
Wood
Fiberglass
Plastic
Card or paper.

Each has their own pro's and con's.

You can even build a boat out of cement if you want, building materials are unlimited, it all depends on what you want.

Peter R.
www.climatemodels.com

[rcmadness]

cheers climate im think im going 2 make it out of wood but wat wood should i use something cheap and easy 2 get hold of

[martin richards]

There's a choice of wood from balsa available at any hobby shop or plywood of various thicknesses from timber merchants. Ply is good for frames but unless you can get a source of thin (1/16" approx), you'll have difficulty bending it to shape.
What kind of boat are you thinking of?

[Sackie]

Hi Rcmadness, my suggestion if you would prefer to stay away from fiberglass is to use model ply (available from may hobby stores and online suppliers) in thicknesses from 1/64" up to over 1/4". Suggest that you cut out ribs out of ply and then use balsa to form the shape of the hull, once finished, though you did not wish to use fiberglass, I would then suggest using a single layer of the lightest fiberglass cloth (i think it is .25 oz) with epoxy and cover the outside, once complete you can paint it to suit yourself. There are some kinds of wood that you may be able to purchase to use as planking but even then you still will need to seal it from water or if you are truly adventurous you could try calking with string (not for me).

[martin richards]

Most warships had fairly simple lines and you could get away with making most of the hull box shaped with only slight bending from 1/4 or 3/16 sheet balsa with some additional shaping at the stem and stern. Electric boats don't have to be built to withstand the vibration typical of i/c motors and you might not need reinforcing with f/g. You could use tissue or nylon to cover with dope to provide additional strength and sealing.
A ship made in such a way usually needs ballast to make it sit a little better in the water.

[rcmadness]

cheers 4 dat MARTIN RICHARDS and SACKIE im taking in the ideas i think i mite use the fibre glass on the outside to seal it but where can i get this fibre glass from also do u no a rough estimate of wat it will cost 2 buy it

[rcmadness]

also does any one no what warship i could build its got to be somethink easy for a begginer

[martin richards]

cheers 4 dat MARTIN RICHARDS and SACKIE im taking in the ideas i think i mite use the fibre glass on the outside to seal it but where can i get this fibre glass from also do u no a rough estimate of wat it will cost 2 buy it
Have a look at http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=329811 on how to do it. Where to get the glass and what the price will be depends on where you are. The suppliers of resin usually do the glass as well. So, do a google on "west systems".
There are several sites for model warship combat and as these fellows do a lot of building (they have to ;) ), there should be plenty of links. Here's on I got from google

http://www.nwlink.com/~pfleming/Plans.html

[rcmadness]

cheers for that martin richards

[rcmadness]

cheers for that martin richards

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

First you should decide what warship you want Destroyer Cruiser Battleship...

Then how big do you want to build. Will it fit in your car?

Plans for most American warships can then be purchased from Floating Drydock. http://floatingdrydock.com/

Be sure you are getting "hull sections" or frame plans.