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[Nick-R]

I am currently building a Billing Smit Rotterdam.  Hull is complete and currently in the paint shop!  For anyone who has previously built this model, I am looking at buying some lead ballast and would like an idea of weight required.  How much ballast did your model need?

[rhavrane]

Bonjour Nick,

For my boats, I go to a large sports store. There, I find 500g diving belt weights for the largest. I attach strings to these weights so they can be easily moved, ²for example: https://youtu.be/AX9gSulLzS8

For fine adjustment, I use fishing lead pellets and place them in small plastic bags.

When I'm satisfied with my settings, and if necessary, I glue the weights and bags together with wood glue, which is sufficient to hold them in place and easy to remove if necessary (being able to remove them from the boat makes handling easier because the boat is lighter).

Otherwise, I also found pieces of lead and cast my weights: https://youtu.be/mYJolp8xpNQ and https://youtu.be/B_662AxL5ic

I hop this will help you.

[1967Brutus]

I am currently building a Billing Smit Rotterdam.  Hull is complete and currently in the paint shop!  For anyone who has previously built this model, I am looking at buying some lead ballast and would like an idea of weight required.  How much ballast did your model need?

Either the box, OR the building instructions should somewhere mention a finished weight for the model. That is, the weight it should have to achieve the proper water displacement.

Easy enough to keep track of the weight of the model when it is finished (RC, motors, batteries included), and the difference is what you need to add.

[Mark T]

For ballast I have always used lead shot and it's really easy to come by.  The nice thing about shot is that it fits into the most awkward places and if you want it there permanently just pour some epoxy resin over it.  You can fill all of those really low down hidden recesses and adjust it to the gram if you like

[dodes]

Or do what I do, when the model is complete, I put it in the bath then add weights to get it down to its waterline. That way I have a model with a similar stability and handling to the real thing, though not completely the same as most of the weight goes in the bottom making the models stability stiff to the original. But they do look better than model tugs only half down to thier working waterlines and the model bounces every where and rolls badly. The weights being lead sheeting cut up to small strips, strategically placed and then glued in the hull afterwards.