Hi all, Justin was nice enough to put up our own forum so I can stop hijacking other peoples threads.So just wondering who is actually committed to 1/96 scale,doesn't matter if you have a boat under construction or your boat is still in your head(being planned).Just trying to get an accurate count of who is serious and who the curious onlookers are. I'm also going to be sending a few messages to the Battlestations list,to see who's still around and to direct them to come check out this forum. -SRF
I'm in, Mark and I have been working on the groundwork for a 1/96 club. We've been working out a modified version of the Battlestations rules (changes mainly to the submarine rules, plus a few others). Mark's got a 1/96 Yamato (not doing anything halfway! under construction. I am in the process of closing on a house, after which I will start construction of my ship. Still deciding, but will likely be building axis. Tirpitz, anyone?
Honestly, we thought that Battlestations was dead, and were trying to come up with a name for our "new" club so that we wouldn't be stepping on anyone's toes. Am I correct to assume that you are/were a member?
If you can get the rights, it would be better to keep with the namesake rather than create yet another club / ruleset. It would be better for advertising too. Also, what about branching off QO? They are 1/96... What do you not like about their rules?
Hi Tugboat, Technically speaking Battlestations had no firm rules.They had the basic rules on the website however nothing was set in stone.As I stated before they were just trying to get a rough framework to build ships by,then complete all the rules after they actually had ships and a battle(I know they were hoping to hold a battle where everybody could get together and try out different ideas on for the rules to see what worked and what didn't) I guess Battlestations is "dead" as the website is out of date and nobody actually battled,paid dues etc..... I sent an e-mail out on the list directing anybody still subscribing to it to come over here and join the forum.So hopefully some are left and will come. As to the rights,toe stepping,the website,name, etc... hopefully Joe K will put in an appearence,then you guys can clear all the up amongst yourselves. I was a member(although technically nobody really was as it didn't get to the point of membership applications,paying dues etc...)I jumped on the bandwagon back when it was first formed and have been on the e-mail list ever since. SRF
Justin, The Queens Own battles 1/72, not 1/96. As far as their rules,nothing really wrong with them as they're kind of a cross between fast gun and big gun.However in that scale Only Escorts/Destroyers are really workable.A cruiser is HUGE and a battleship you'd need a crane to get on and off the water(not to mention if it ever sunk).I have talked to a 1 or 2 of their members however and they say that even the cruisers aren't battled much anymore as they would typically take 200-300 holes a battle(and who would want to patch that much)and were basically unsinkable.
Justin, QO is 1/72 We were going to use mostly unchanged rules from the Battlestations website, but didn't want to use the name without asking them if it was okay. As SRF says, maybe one of them will pop up here to say hi and we can talk about it. It wasn't really so much that we were hell-bent on creating a new 1/96 club in competition with BatSta... it was that their website hadn't been updated in years, so we figured they had gone away. Mark has some guys up in MA working on their ships, and I'm recruiting here in the south. Hopefully having a ship to float and show the flag will help. SRF- our modifications to the rules are based on some small guns and big guns experience, nothing too radical (except subs don't have a penetrable top deck, which is bound to annoy some). We also decided that in a ship as big as a 1/96 model, 2 1/8" stringer are not a problem if the hull shape requires it. Some ships with torpedo bulges can't sheet their hulls with only one stringer. In smaller scales, 2 stringers is too much, but we figure it's okay with bigger ships.
Tug, the stringers are 3/16" wide to any depth (thought I'd just point that out As for contacting Joe K. I've sent e-mails but never got a reply back?? Something I noticed, at Warship Models Underway, is that there is a quite a few people out there that have built or are building in 1/96 scale perhaps we should start trying to contact them?
Good idea. I forgot the stringer width had changed. With sheets of blasa this big, it's probably a good idea
maybe we should post all the changes here? you still got all of them (stringers,sub, and new 5/16 caliber)? If not I can find them in the paperwork I have.
Mark,Tugboat, You wouldn't be competing with Battlestations.Battlestations hasn't been updated in years,and traffic on the mail list almost non-existent.I know Joe K is still around somewhere as he posted a message on the list a little bit ago.Basically everybody came on board gung-ho and the mail list was thumping,lots of members,then as no boats really got completed and no battles everybody just drifted away(as I said earlier I think a lot were lurkers waiting to see ships done and battled before investing money in 1/96) As far as Warship Models Underway, lots build in 1/96,but most ships are very detailed and are meant to be just plain R/C. You could try contacting them however most people on those forums are well aware warship combat exists.I think most of them think we are half crazy for doing what we do to our boats, lol. If you could post the rules you guys modified I'd be interest to read them. Scott R. Foster
I've forgotten one thing,there were 2 BS members from New Zealand.Art and Stuart.They actually had a battle between a convoy ship and a USS Gearing.Theres a link to their page from the BS page.The NZBG page hasn't been updated in years either.I know shortly after building his Artemis,Stuart took a job in Australia and now battles with the 1/144 AUSBG guys. As far as I know Art went back to 1/48 scale warships,which was his interest before he got into 1/96th BS. He still posts sometimes on the Warship Models Underway forum.
Just got an e-mail from Tim @ Barnstormerboats, he says he's willing to make any of the boats in 1/96 scale as long as someone makes the plug for him so he can make a mold (he'll send a finished hull back in return at no charge)Might be a help to have another sourse of ready made hulls in the hobby.
It'll be good to have Barnstormer willing to make hulls, but if I go to the trouble of making a hull plug, I'm going to make the mold and crank out hulls He's got plenty of business with the 1:144 crowd, and I'm likely going to be specializing on 1:96 (Brian Koehler and Pete D. will be doing the 1:144 after I finish projects I'm committed to). I'll cut-and-paste the rules changes into a new topic in this section. Give me a few minutes Scott: If they think we're only HALF crazy, we clearly aren't putting forth enough effort Clark
I would like to see some life in the concept. I have fondness for the smaller ships and they are just not practical in the smaller scale. Pax, A.
There is life in the concept Mark's made a lot of progress on his Yamato, and more ships are coming. Where are you located?
Sent a message to the Battlestations list. Have got a few replies back. Carl in Texas still has his IJN Shimikaze and is planning on finishing it.Mike Deskin still has his Strasbourg,and it now has guns installed.As well Bob Amend plans on laying down a ship as him and Mike are good friends. Also Joe replied with a couple messages and he is still interested. I told them about this forum so hopefully they will all come and join in. SRF
Hello! I'm Carl, and I've been on the Battlestations list since around 2000. I've been working on a 1/96 IJN Shimakaze, but haven't gotten it done yet. Art, from the New Zealand group, made the Shimakaze hull for me. He did great work, but doesn't make hulls anymore. Art and I are both IJN fans. I just love those big pagoda bridges! Battlestations has practically died out. Mikey's been the only one to really finish a boat. Joe started the club a while back, but never finished a boat. Looking back, I made a big mistake by starting with a destroyer. They're just so hard to do because of the size and weight limitations. I'm seriously considering moth-balling the Shimakaze and scratch building a cruiser or small battleship. I've been eyeing a Conte di Cavour, but haven't made up my mind yet. I'm glad to know others are interested in doing 1/96! I'd almost given up hope on 1/96, and actually bought a 1/144 hull to try and start battling. I'll have to read thru your ruleset and see what's changed. I do have some other 1/96 hulls for future projects. I have a 1/96 SSY Gato, I have two of Art's USS Artemis class attack cargo ship hulls, a SSY Liberty ship hull, a Benson/Gleaves class DD hull, and a USS Sumner class DD hull. I'm willing to part with one of the Artemis hulls, if anyone's interested. Carl
Carl, if you have a particular Japanese cruiser you want to do, I have frames diagrams for all of them.
Thanks, Tugboat! I actually have plans and frames for nearly all of the IJN cruiser classes from WWII, some of them I have before and after they were rebuilt. My favorite is the Takao class, mainly because I love their bridge superstructure, but also because they were heavily armed. That might be a little ambitious for a first ship, so I might go with the Yahagi instead. She's a small cruiser with an interesting history. As I said earlier, though, I'm still very tempted to do a Conte di Cavour, because I think it'd be a great first ship, too. A battleship the size of a cruiser is just so appealing...[] I will still finish the Shimakaze someday, but I think I'll get a ship done quicker if I just go ahead and do a cruiser. Carl
