Ships that float?

If properly sealed and weighted for balance, many injection-molded plastic kits can be made quite seaworthy. One has to make sure that all the seams are properly bonded, and of course all holes for display stands need to be plugged. My brother and I had a USS MISSOURI that took many a voyage across a flooded backyard "back in the day" during rainy season.

A friend of mine had one of those huge "Blue Devil" destroyer kits that he rigged with a motor and radio control. He said it performed quite nicely until he took it through an excessively sharp turn. It swamped and now resides at the bottom of a model yacht pond.

Of course, models with solid resin hulls would probably go straight to the bottom. They're too expensive for me to undertake a practical demonstration, though! Those I think would be for display only.

Mike (ODO)

Some do, some don't. It's all up to the builder - one can build whatever they want to. Some people build for display only, while others like to sail using radio control. Some of the "display" models might technically float, but not necessarily be something that you'd want to risk damaging on the water. Some have "functional" winches, lights, radars, cranes, guns, water cannons, & what have you. There are even radio-controlled submarines that can dive.

Some model ships even sink - that's my personal interest:

I'm guessing most of the pupose built floaters would fall under the radio control umbrella. You might want to try rec.models.rc.water, but I'm sure there are some R/C crossovers here in RMS that can answer your question.

As for scale display models, you can make just about anything float once you've taken care to sort out balance, ballast and water tightness. Just ask any kid or former kid that recalls their misspent bath tub youth.

WmB

To reply, get the HECK out of there snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.net

As a kid, I found Revell's PT-109 to be an excellent floater in the backyard pond. Cheap at around $10 and easy to find.

Ken F.

And you have ye old Lindberg models such as The Bizmark that were designed to "play" with... moving guns and geared down motor for the screw.

Loved those Lindberg motorized kits. I seem to remember the little ones coming with a little torpedo-like thingy that attached to the bottom. It contained the propellor and motor/battery.

Last motorized Lindberg kit I remember was the LCVP, LST and a Coast Guard cutter. Bought some of them as little as 10 years ago.

I also have a Nichimo U-boat that has battery powered option.

I recall building a Monogram US Destroyer Ramsey and they gave instructions for adding clay in the bottom of the hull for ballast to make it float properly.

I used this trick when building the former Aurora Skipjack submarine. I tossed that thing in the pool and it shot like a bullet through the water to the other side. Did the same thing with the Monogram reissue I-19 IJN submarine, not as fast but fun to watch. Rob Gronovius Visit my motor pool in the

If anyone would like a copy of the Heller Gorch Focke, beautifully finished, they need only dive into sixty feet of water off the coast of Manchester, Mass.

Some years ago, I built it; weighted it just about perfectly; it floated almost exactly at the waterline; and when I placed it into the water to photograph it, a rogue wave washed over it.

While the hull was quite tight, some of the hatchways were open.

Actually, it went down quite realistically, but it did go down.

Andy - still sad over that one.

Hey, I did that too! It looked very realistic laying on the bottom of the pond!

-- John ___ __[xxx]__ (o - ) --------o00o--(_)--o00o-------

The history of things that didn't happen has never been written - Henry Kissinger

There are both kinds. Most injection plastic kits are not intended to float (though they may).

In floatable ones, some are wood, others fiberglas. Power boats these days are RC.

In sailboats, there are both RC and 'autopilot' types.

Most hobby sh>

i lost a blue devil on the shores of nahant. same exact circumstances.

Well, growing up in Albuquerque, I didn't have that many places to loose mine, had I not lossed the screw.

rich