You asked about 'the rest'.
While building the boat you will need a propeller, prop-shaft and rudder. Here are a couple of big providers:
http://www.westbourne-model.co.uk/http://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/Alternatively, your local model shop will provide. You should go there anyway - there'll be lots of little things you need - glues, for instance...
You will also need a motor. You're probably thinking about electric? If so, you can have two types, brushed or brushless. There are discussions elsewhere on the site about the difference. You will also need batteries - again two types - Lipo or Ni-Mh. In general, if you want the boat to go faster, chose brushless and Lipo, but I'm sure a lot of other people will have something to say about that. Giant Shark are a good cheap brushless motor and Lipo supplier :
http://www.giantshark.co.uk/brushless-motor-c-25.htmlFor the radio, you need to know that:
You only need a minimum 2-function radio for motor and rudder. A lot of pistol-grip car radios are 2-function, aircraft ones tend to be the box-shaped 4-function, up to about 10-function. The more functions, the more individual actions you can make happen. But you'll find 6-function and above getting more expensive. Two or four are quite cheap...
Radios come in different frequencies. You select these by buying a pair of crystals for Tx and Rx. You can't run two different models on the same frequency, so you usually need a selection of crystals. But see '2.4Ghz' below....
27Mhz was the original frequency - this can be used in the UK for cars, boats or aircraft. Toys also use it, so it may be a bit prone to interference...
35Mhz is allowed in the UK for aircraft only. Don't use this for cars of boats.
40Mhz is allowed in the UK for card and boats. Because this is quite a small market, 40Mhz sets tend to be a bit expensive. But second-hand ones might be available..
2.4Ghz is DIFFERENT! There is no need to pick a separate frequency - the set effectively does this for you, so you don't have to worry about interference from other models. In fact, 2.4Ghz is quite good at rejecting all forms of interference. You can run cars, boats and planes on it in the UK. And because the market is large, the sets are often quite cheap. That's why everyone is advising you to use this frequency - many people are changing to it at the moment.
There are two common cheap 2.4Ghz sets which are used extensively, the Planet and the Radiolink. The Radiolink is incredibly cheap (£26), as it's sold by a low-cost Chinese kit importer. He is very open about the fact that he is a 'pile-em high, sell-em cheap' setup, so he provides very little support - you are expected to get this from the various forums. But his site is well worth browsing through - he has servos under £2, for instance.
Here is a link to the cheap radio -
http://www.giantshark.co.uk/giantcod-24ghz-4channel-mode2-transmitter-p-403779.html This is a 'combo' - a transmitter and a receiver.
Finally you will need a servo to work the rudder (see the Giant Shark servo pages, or your local shop, and an Electronic Speed Control (ESC) to control your motor. There are two types, one for brushed motors and one for brushless, and you would usually buy the ESC at the same time as the motor, making sure it is the right size to take the motor power.
That's all for now....!!
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Topic: Completely new to model boats (Read 21702 times)