Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length.

[jonny shoreboy]

I would like to use lead sheet as ballast in the bottom of my model boat. It's a plastic 1/72 Revell Snowberry and I am using a Spektrum radion set. Is this o.k.? Will it interfer with the radio equipment or anything like that? The lead I want to use is roofing lead, in the sheet form.

Can I go ahead and use it or do a need a plan B?

Sorry if this is a silly question, but I just had a moment of doubt and figured you lot would sort me out pretty quickly!

[CERES]

Johnny,
I always use lead ballast and the majority of our members do too.
I have never known lead to interfer with the electronics
Ceres.

[dodgy geezer]

I would like to use lead sheet as ballast in the bottom of my model boat. It's a plastic 1/72 Revell Snowberry and I am using a Spektrum radion set. Is this o.k.? Will it interfer with the radio equipment or anything like that? The lead I want to use is roofing lead, in the sheet form.

Can I go ahead and use it or do a need a plan B?

Sorry if this is a silly question, but I just had a moment of doubt and figured you lot would sort me out pretty quickly!

I can't see why it should. You will surely keep the two somewhat separate, anyway?

The lead will be right at the bottom of the hull, below the waterline. That would be a very bad place for the receiver aerial, because 2.hGhz will not go through water, so you want the reciever to be as high as possible. I think that water, rather than lead, is going to be the main attenuating issue....

If you are still concerned, you can put a lead sheet over a reciever and do a range check. Incidentally, where are you fitting the lead? I found my Snowberry to need quite a lot of weight at the stern, because I mounted the motor centrally and then had to put the batteries forward. If I was to do things again, I would mount the motor as far aft as possible, so that I could ballast by shifting batteries rather than have a dead weight....

[jonny shoreboy]

Thanks chaps!

I'm new to this model boat stuff so sometimes it's good to double check things. The only silly question is the one I didn't ask!

[Peter Fitness]

Sheet lead is a good choice in your case, as it will allow you to keep the ballast low down in what is a fairly small model.

As Ceres said, most people use lead for ballast with no effect on electronics.

Peter.

[DickyD]

Have lead ballast in my Corvette, no problem.

In fact have lead ballast in most of my boats come to think of it.

[jonny shoreboy]

Thanks again everyone for their replies. It's help like this that makes MBM the great site that it is for newbies like me!

[Ghost in the shell]

lead will interfere with your signal IF you encase your rx in a lead box, but simply laying it in the boat wont do a thing.

[elvis]

hi there.
always used lead in boats.
just cut it into small strips never had a problem with it.
thanks

[debssnal]

Save money go to your local tyre fitters.Most will give you the old wheel weights for FREE.
Kind regards
Alan

[jonny shoreboy]

My friend is a roofer and when I asked if he had any spare lead knocking around (as a roofer I know he did) he brought me round a whole roll of the stuff so I'm sorted for lead for my next hundred boats or so.

[rem2007]

..handy to have a roofer for a neighbour, especially after the weekend we just had. I used about a kilo to bring mine down to the waterline, very easy to work with and held in place with some runny epoxy which adds to the strength of the plastic hull, for any collisions with submerged uboats.

Robert

[alan colson]

Lead is fine, but whenever possible I go for a bigger battery, if you need the ballast make it useful ballast.
Alan