Couple of questions

[CaptJack]

Hi all

Just signed up here and this is my first post, I hope its in the right place.

I have a couple of questions that I am hoping to get answers too, one is a boat question and the other a general RC question.

One of those ni cad batteries, yellow, about 15cm long looks like two fat pencils joined together with plastic wrapping (hopefully you know what I mean)
How long do these hold a charge, can I charge it on monday and use it on saturday for instance?

2nd is the boat question.
I have never built my stuff, always brought it but I want to build a model of a Destroyer (or other military ship) at least a metre in lenth and have it RC'ed as well.
I don't think building the top of it would be all that difficult, time consuming yes but still doable, I am worried about the hull so I need to find either a kit that I can assemble myself or buy a prebuilt hull.
Can anyone point me to a place I can get the hull or a hull kit, I don't even know where to start looking.

I live in New Zealand and our range of model boats is severely limited which means I have to buy this over the net, bare that in mind when you make suggestions please.

I know I am starting my building with a ambitious project but if its too easy I will lose interest, this may take me a year or more but it will be done :D

Look forward to your replies

[Massey]

First the battery you speak of could be namy different things but I will give you the basics. First it is considered a "sport" pack it is 6 cells and wether you can charge now and run later with a full charge depends on the type pf cells used.

Sport packs mean that the batteries are not the highest quality around and were pre assembled at the factory. Great for playing around but not the best thing if you are going to be in some serious racing. The other option are Pro grade batteries that have all cells matched for similar charateristics and you assemble them yourself in whatever configuration you need. These cost in the upwards of $80-$100 USD.

Now for the charging, If your battery is a NiCd then it will hold a charge for quite a while before draining itself. But NiCds do not like to be stored with a charge in them it will shorted the life of the battery. NiMH have a high internal resistance and will drain themselves over time (a week could drain 1/4-1/2 the full charge) those batteries tho like to be stored with a charge in them (does not have to be full) but will need to be recharged right before use. Now for the length of time the battery will run, this depends on the mAh rating (milli Amp hours) a 2000 mAh is the average sport NiCd today and if you are not running a speed boat at full throttle the whole time you should get about an hour out of the boat you are asking about. Obvously the higher the mAh rating the longer the battery will run in your boat but not the faster. the speed depends on the motor and the ESC.

As for the boat I would look into the Blue Devil destroyer. It is made by Limburg and comes motorized and is not too hard to convert to RC. The Destroyer is a Fletcher class from WWII. here is a link to some info about it

http://www.hobbyworldinc.com/plast69.html

I hope this helps you

Massey

[LtDoc]

CaptJack,
Nothing wrong with a 'sort of' ambitious project. Just keep in mind that paying attnetion to instructions/plans is a very, very good idea. Sometimes understanding the plans/instructions is harder than actually building the thing - lol. The secret is to take your time, understand what it is they are saying, or that you are supposed to be doing, and read it again before cutting/gluing things. I would suggest looking around for a kit that you particularly like. Lots of them around, military or otherwise. I'll make one suggestion as to who'z the 'best' kit maker (but you had better that that with a large dose of salt, and be sitting down before looking at the price!) and that's "Model Slipway" in the UK. If you should have problems with any of their lits just tell them. You will not believe the help you'll be offered. [Commercial finished]
Batteries. 'Ni-cads' and 'Nimh's both can be stored without a charge. Any lead-acid battery, gell cells, etc, like to be stored with a charge. When the 'l.a.' type batteries go completely dead, they really are dead. As in forever, 99% of the time. How long could you store a charged battery before use? Depends on the particular battery, because they all have internal resistance which will eventually run them down. Could you charge a battery and wait a week before use? I'd have to say that's probably a very definite 'maybe'. How long will a particular size battery last? Depends on how quickly it's drained (that's helpful, isn't it? lol). The "mAh' rating of a battery is like the size of the fuel tank in a vehicle. Bigger means lasting longer. How long it lasts depends on how much current the motor(s) draw (and the lights, horns, etc.). Find out the maximum current draw of a motor, divide that into the number of 'mAh's of the battery and you have a sort of slightly optimistic number of minutes everything should work. 'mAh' means 'mili-amp-hours', one 'mili' is 1/1000th of an amp, so 2000 mAh is the same as 2 Ah. If a motor draws 20 amps, then 2Ah/20A = 0.1 hours or about 6 minutes. (That 20 amp draw for a motor is a high one and only for an example.)

Having repeated almost everything 'Massey' said, and having told you more than you ever wanted to know, I think I'll quit while you're ahead... Good luck!
- 'Doc

PS - Model Slipway is NOT the only company that makes good kits! Take a look at all of them.

PPS - Not responcible for correct spelling.

[tim slocum]

Hello,I would suggest contacting Loyalhanna Dockyard.They carry a huge assortment of kits,semi kits,hulls,fittings,motors,batteries,etc,etc and they have good customer service.Also they are knowledgable about the hobby and can steer you in the right direction.They welcome phone calls weekends and nights...who does that?

I know you want to start ambitous,but too difficult and you will get frustrated and quit.RC modeling should be a learning process-learn as you go.I've been doing it for most of my life and Im still learning.First impressions are important,so you want your first model to be a success.Id start with something that is interesting to you,but not extremely difficult,then increase the difficulty as you go.Use the internet,its a great place for info.Look at sites like Warship Models Underway,Modelwarships.com,SteelNavy etc.for info and inspiration.Theres alot of step by step build threads to help you learn also.

The first RC ship I built was the Lindberg Blue Devil destroyer.It was a great learning experience.The model is about 3' long and wont break the bank.If you have any questions please ask me,Id be happy to help.

[Ray Farina]

For a complete list of suppliers go to google search "The Dromedary Ship Modelers Center" and scroll down to Ship Modeling Faq. Question 101-B and this will give you a complete list of kit suppliers, and hardware both in USA and overseas. Please print it out and keep as a reference as it is a 11 page report.

[CaptJack]

For a complete list of suppliers go to google search "The Dromedary Ship Modelers Center" and scroll down to Ship Modeling Faq. Question 101-B and this will give you a complete list of kit suppliers, and hardware both in USA and overseas. Please print it out and keep as a reference as it is a 11 page report.

I looked here but unless its named something else or I am at the wrong URL its not there.

Dromedary (http://www.sailingmodels.com/dromedary.asp)

Nevermind
Found it :)