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[newbe7]

What materials or products are use for ballasting boats.
Rick

[html]

I usually use batteries, good for the weight and if you need power for lights etc they are already there

Brian

[Andre]

I use lead shot for shot guns. Find a store that caters to the reloader and they will stock lead or steel shot, I then put in plastic sandwich bags, say one pound in each bag and that way I can distribute the ballast as needed. I then subtract the weight of the radio, battery and so forth. What is left I then take 3/4's of the weight reserving the last 1/4 for later, I mix two part Epoxy and pour it in the plastic bag and thoroughly mix the epoxy with the shot so that the shot is well covered, then I cut a corner of the plastic bag and squeeze out the shot epoxy mixture right where I need it. after the model is done I use the last  1/4 the same way but distribute it around the model as needed to get it float right on the water line. Depending how well I estimated the weight I may not use much of the last 1/4 because I always add things that I did not figure on when I was making my weight calculations.

Andre Anderson

[sparkey]

  As Brian says use batteries,but for trimming use lead sheet or lead shot the advantage of lead shot is that you can get it in tight places and I always pour resin to keep it in place,another advantage is you can get it right down low in the boat by the keel which makes for a stable boat,again I say go down the road of batteries first as you can always put bigger ones in and get longer run times as a bonus,Ray  

[CGAux26]

I do it a lot like Andre.  Batteries for main ballast, then lead shot to trim.  Here are my differences. 


Put the estimated weight of lead shot in plastic bags.  Then place it where it can be fastened down later with Velcro.  Once the boat is complete move the shot to vacuum seal bags and seal them so that the bags will conform to the hull shape.  Add Velcro strips (the kind with stickum on the back) to the bags and to the hull.  Leave a little extra length of Velcro so you can adjust if the loads in the boat change.


I mark my bags with the weight and the position they go into.

[CGAux26]

And keep the ballast as low in the boat as possible, to help stability.

[Buccaneer]

Lead has to be the favourite. SLA batteries may seem heavy but they only have a Specific Gravity of about 2.8, i.e. 2.8 gm. per cc. Lead shot works out at 8.4 gm. per cc. (Believe I got that info from this site back in the past!) Lead sheet is about 11.3 gm. per cc.

I too got my lead shot from a gun shop. It came in a 1 litre can, great fun watching people try to lift it up! I also, back in the past, bought a roll of lead flashing from a builders merchant. This was 3M long, 150 mm wide and 1.4 mm thick. It weighed about 7 Kg. It can easily be cut with an old chisel, to any shape or size you want. Ideal for laying big strips on the inside of the hull, and you don't get much lower than that!

John

[NFMike]

I use lead flashing too. A roll lasts forever
You can 'cut' it a bit like plastic card - score with a sharp knife and then bend it back and forth a few times till it breaks off.

[Peter Fitness]

I use SLA batteries, and for any additional ballast I use lead that I have cast into small bars. I managed to accumulate some scrap lead many years ago which I eventually melted and poured into moulds I made from aluminium channel, blocked off at each end by suitably sized pieces of wood. These gave me bars about 30 cm long by 2 cm square, which can be cut to the necessary length and velcroed into position as low as possible in the hull.


Peter.

[roycv]

Hi I remember reading recently that lead shot is equivalent of steel / iron due to spaces etc, 

I have just used in desperation 2p coins rolled up and sealed with electricians tape  2£ gives a good weight.

regards Roy

[TugCowboy]

A bit like Plague I don't exactly use Lead flashing but I use the self adhesive lead-free flashing tape.

It's about £15 a roll from B&Q and is actually slightly heavier than Lead but thinner and more formable.
You can squeeze it right down into the shape of the keel or lower half of the hull and then remove the backing and it sticks right in place.
I bought 2 rolls when they were on offer 3 years ago thinking I'd make use of it..... I've still only used about 1/8th of the first roll on around 6 boats.

I also use Lead shot for smaller boats for anything over about 20" long I go with the flashing.

[newbe7]

Thanks for all the good ideas.
Rick

[Geoff]

Concrete is also good to use provided you know exactly how much weight you need. It is very formable and can be squeezed into all sorts o places. Once fully dry a single coat of enamel paint will stop the dust.
 
Sometimes it's a mistake to have the ballast too low as whilst this does give a very low center of gravity and strong righting moment it can make the models "bob about a bit". Real ships have a surprisingly high center of gravity which is one of the reasons they roll slowly. If too low they will roll very quickly which can impact the scale effect.
 
Always mindful of course we tend to sail in non scale weather!
 
G

[Big Ada]

In my 19foot long Boat, the Bow section has 5 x 4Pint plastic Milk Bottles filled with Pond Water then empty back in the pond before going home,  that way no weight to carry home.

Len.