II. CONSTRUCTION

A newly contructed ship will be checked by the club Construction Officer for compliance with club rules. If said check is at a battling event, and it fails, the boat may be given a waiver to battle if 3/4 of the attending Captains approve. Said waiver is good for that event only or as long as the Construction Officer specifies. If the boat can be made to conform to the rules, no vote is necessary.

A. SCALE & TOLERANCES

1. The boat shall be constructed to a scale of 1/96 of the actual warship. All attempts should be made to be as close to scale as possible.

2. The hull size tolerance +/- 1/2" in length, +/- 1/4" in beam (width),

3. Gun barrel length measured from where the barrel exits the turret to the end of the barrel is + 1/2", - 1/8".

4. There shall be a scale number of shafts and props, and a scale number of rudders.They should be mounted in their scale locations

5. Size of props are scale +/- 1/8".

6. Not all props have to function, but all have to be similar in appearance. The pitch and number of blades of the props is up to the Captain. Non funtioning props must be free spinning. Drag props/devices are not allowed.

7. Rudders must scale in size and shape. No enlargement is allowed.

8. The waterline should be marked with a 1/4" stripe the length of the hull. The center of the marked waterline of the model must be within 1/8" of the floating waterline of the model. If tape is used, it must be able to past the 'drop test'.

9. The paint scheme should be one of the wartime paint schemes used by the country of the ship modeled.. If unknown, then paint above the waterline battleship grey, below the waterline red, and black for the waterline.

10. To enter an event, all ships must have all superstructure parts in place which exceed one cubic inch in volume. Barrels and turrets must be installed for all guns 3" and larger.

 

 

 

B. HULL FRAME

1. The boat may be constructed of any material with the exception that balsa is used to cover the windows in the hulls. The balsa thickness and hardness is defined in the Armor section. The balsa covers the area from the deck to 1" below the waterline, and lengthwise from bow to stern.

2. The Bow+Stern may have a combined hard area equal to 8% of the overall length of the hull as measured longitudely from the centerline of the hull from the extreme point of the bow to the extreme point of the stern whether above or below the waterline. Of this 8%, roughly 2/3's should be the bow hard area, 1/3 the stern hard area.

3. Rib spacing is a follows:

a.  1/8" ribs have a minimum spacing of 1" on center.

b.  3/16" ribs have a minimum spacing of 1.5" on center.

c.  1/4" ribs have a minimum spacing of 2" on center.

d.  3/8" ribs have a minimum spacing of 3" on center.

 

4. Penetrable area must extend to 1" Below the floating waterline

5. The maximum thickness of the deck and cap rail is 3/8".

6. Stringers may be necessary if the shape of the hull dictates. A stringer shall be defined as any solid material that hull skin is attached to that forms the shape of the hull

a. No stringers shall be used unless the shape of the hull dictates. i.e. when the hull skin changes direction because of a torpedo bulge you could put a stringer at the crack to have something to glue the balsa too.

b. The surface of the stringer which is against the penetrable area of the hull skin shall be no wider than 3/16" but may be any depth.

c. There shall be no more than one stringer between any two ribs in the penetrable area of the hull (on each side of the hull).

d. The stringer may not be on the floating waterline.

7. The hull skin immediately around the prop and rudder shaft exits may be impenetrable material. Also if anchors are installed, the area in attaches to may be impennetrable, but not more then 1/8" from the chain exit hole.

8. Penetrable hull areas shall be non self-sealing.

9. Foam or other flood control methods/materials may not extend above the bottom of the penetrable window.

10. Any form of positive hull pressurization is illegal.

11. No water belts, double hull areas, watertight compartments, or other construction advantages may be taken that are attempts to defeat the scope of construction intent.

a. A watertight box(es) may be used for the purpose of protecting electronic equipment. This box(es) shall not have sufficient buoyancy to prevent the model from sinking (sinking is defined as a model that will completely submerge).

b. No interior box(es), bulkheads, or other interior construction shall subdivide the hull into separate compartments or that will affect the penetrability of the hull skin to bb entries or affect the free flow of water into the hull.

12. On ships which have casement mounted cannons, the cupolas may be constructed of impenetrable material. A 1/8" wide strip on each side of the cupola may also be made impenetrable. If the flat area between cupolas is inset more than 1/2" from the edge of the gunwale the entire casement (cupolas and all flat areas inset greater than 1/2") may be made impenetrable.

13. Maximum model weight shall not exceed the heavy model weight (as listed in the ship list) plus 5%.

14. If a model is designed to be broken in half for transportation, then the joined halves may each have a 1/4" rib when bolted together forms a 1/2" rib. The distance to the nearest rib must be 3". Normal rib spaces occurs after the 3 inches. The halves must be able to separate.

 

 

C. ARMOR

1. Armor thicknesses are based on the thickest part of the ships belt armor as listed in Conways and shall use the following table.

2. Armor must conform to both thickness and pass the corresponding drop test..

Belt Armor	Balsa	Drop Test
0.00 to 2.9" (0mm to 75mm)	1/32"	A
3.0" to 7.9" (76mm to 202mm)	1/16"	B
8.0" to 11.9" (203mm to 303mm)	3/32"	C
12.0"and greater (304mm and greater)	1/8"	D

a. Drop test for 1/32" balsa is....

b. Drop test for 1/16" balsa is....

c. Drop test for 3/32" balsa is....

d. Drop test for 1/8" balsa is....

3. Hull skin must penetrate in 2 out of 3 locations on first drop. Test locations will be : 1 above the water line, 1 one the water line, and 1 below the water line. The testor determines the locations to test..

4. Hull hardness tests may be done at anytime in the ships life as directed by the Construction officer or the Contest Director.

 

D. PUMPS

1. A pump shall be defined as a one, one half, or one quarter defensive unit and shall not be of a positive displacement design.

2. A one unit pump shall have one round 1/8" inside diameter discharge port, a half unit pump shall have one round 3/32" inside diameter discharge port,. and a one fourth unit pump shall have one round 1/16" inside diameter discharge port. The port diameter must be measurable from the outside of the ship. A pump may be subdivided into two smaller units. Two halves equal one whole. Four quarters equal one whole. Likewise two quarters equal one half.

3. The pump motor shall be electric.

4. Maximum current draw for a 1 unit pump is 120 watts under load.  Maximum current draw for a 1/2 or a 1/4 unit pump is 80 watts under load.

5. The maximum number of pump units per the ships heavy tonnage is as follows:

a. 1/4 unit of pumps for ships <=2499 tons.

b. 1/2 unit of pumps for ships >=2500 and <=4999 tons

c. 3/4 unit of pumps for ships >=5000 and <=9999 tons

d. 1 unit of pumps for ships >=10000 and <=14999 tons

e. 1 1/4 units of pumps for ships >=15000 and <=19999 tons

f. 1 1/2 units of pumps for ships >=20000 and <=24999 tons

g. 1 3/4 units of pumps for ships >=25000 and <=29999 tons.

h. 2 units of pumps for ships >=30000 and <=39999 tons.

h. 2 1/4 units of pumps for ships >=40000 and <=59999 tons.

i. 2 1/2 units of pumps for ships >60000 tons.

6. Pump exit ports will be checked by attempting to insert a rod .005" over the required size. If it goes in, even snuggly, the pump will not be allowed to be used without changing the exit port.

7. Pumps will be wired with a plug type connector so they can be hooked easily to an amperage gauge.

E. BALLAST TANKS for SHIPS

1. The purpose of a ballast tank is to fill it with water for battling and thereby reduce the dry weight. .

2. The ballast tank should be contructed such that it is a free-flooding system, with no means of evacuating the water on demand. Holes in the bottom allows water to enter the tanks and holes in the tops of the tanks provide venting so the tank will fill up.

3. The ballast tank should be contructed so it is full when floating at the waterline.

4. No form of List Control may be used in conjunction with the ballast tanks. i.e. You are not permitted to have a system to move the water from one tank to another to compensate for list or other reasons.

F. LIST CONTROL for SHIPS

1. No form of list control is allowed for the hull of the ship..

2. Counter flooding is not allowed. This is a form of list control.

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