Im new to RC Naval Combat, and I live in CT. I'd like to know where i can get good plans for an Alaska-Class cruiser. Best case senario would be cheap, but id like to know. Also, is this ship commonly used? If so, how does one use cruisers in RC combat? How does it face up against battleships, other cruisers, ect? Also, how much time could i expect to either buy a new hull and make a shiop, or buy a old/used one and fix it up? Note: I would be in a Fast gun club.
Alaska is little used. An Alaska has less manuverabilty than cruisers and battleships. If fighting against a fast battleship that worked, it would be at an extream disadvantage. In the common vernacular; It both sucks and blows. I would suggest something else, that would not cause you endless frustrations. Smaller class 4 boats, such as Invincible and Von der Tann are good starting boats.
Hey Visit this site has Alaska plans, not sure on the quality since ive never seen them but the other plans I have from them are good. Its not a common ship because its very under gunned for its size and tends to turn rather poorly. Cruisers are typically used in a harrasment / run&gun role, they dont slug it out with other ships but can do a fair amount of damage if they catch a ship off guard or otherwise occupied. You would be up against whatever the other fleet has from battleships to destroyers and everything in between. Time wise I would say anywhere from 3-4 months to a year for your first ship. That mostly depends on you so its a hard thing to estimate not knowing you. And they are rarely ever done, there is always some thing to fix or upgrade. An old ship would of course be quicker, but they arent always available and ready to run ships are very rarely sold, they almost always require a fair amount of work to make them battle ready. Also building a boat gives you a better understanding of how they work and what the rules are, also how to fix things when they break. Where about in CT are you, we have some small battles in NY right off of the Hudson (Esopus, NY), I think we are going to have one sometime next month(not sure of the date yet) so if you can you should come to that.
I would truly prefer to do a U.S. cruiser, and the alaska seemed good. But if what ur saying is true, what cruiser would u advise? I also like the USS North Carolina if i were to choose a battleship, is that a good choice? Im trying to figure out which warshhip i'd like to make before i really get into it. I live in Hartford county on the western edge.
Also, truth b told, i like Good Ole American Muscle the best, even if they arent necessarily the best. It may limit my choice my of ships, but i wont do the Axis, and im not a fan of the British warships.
Usually the best first things you can do is visit a battle... Think about it this way; if you were the US Navy you would want to see what kind of ships Germany is making before you start your own right? Additionally, while you are waiting to see your first battle... The best thing you can do is talk to people about how they fight, learn the ship classes (both by sight & by strengths / weaknesses) So when you get to a battle you know what you are seeing. That was one of the hardest thing for me during my first battle; people were saying now watch what the I-boat does... see!? Seee!? Did you see that? ...& I'm like ..uuh what's an I-boat? By your ID, you are a US submariner? What boat? Is size/weight of the ship an issue or why a did you want a cruiser? (Cruisers are a great type of ship, I'm just curious.)
Yea, ive heard that its best to visit a battle first.And i thought it would b best to learn from those who actually kno what theyre doing, so until my first battle, which, may not b for a while, ill talk to those on this site. I can see how that would b difficult, and even though i think i can ID some boats(most american though), i dont know most of them. And no, im not a sumbariner(i can see how that would b confusing though, living in CT with a Sub base and the name, but im not). Im only 15, but im not considering the military anyway. And no, the size and wieght arent real issues. ill b getting a job soon, and i have free acess to a novice wood shop, where, i think i can make most parts, and have friends with better machines that could help.i also have some wood working skills, so i kno i can do it. And as too why cruisers, i guess i wanted something fast, and with reasonable guns, but i didnt want to go the same route as most and go for a battleship. But i would also consider a battleship, esp. a North Carolina class.
What is the best? Like everything else that's up for debate. I like any of the 10000 ton treaty cruiers with the step decks. New Orleans, North Hampton, Portland, Indianapolis... They are all about the same size and weight. They are all 3 units. That's two stern guns and a pump. They all have lower stern decks cutting down on the area to get shot and getting the guns low to the water. They turn really well and are all the same speed. The Cleveland and Brooklyn class are almost the same as the above classes. But they don't have a step deck so there is more to get shot and the guns are a little higher off the water. Then you move up to the Baltimore and Des Moines. Both very large ships that do not turn that well. but you get to have 3 guns and a 1/2 unit pump. They also have a lot of hull to shoot at. In other nations the french Glorie & Tourville are both good. The German Karlsure & Lutzow are good. There are others that are good. Most of the Class 3 23 second cruiser are pretty much the same.
Well since you put your pitch in for the Cleveland crazy I will throw mine in to the ring go with the Baltimore Class like Bob said gives you 3.5 units more hull to soot but that makes more volume to sink. She Maneuvers better and is a little shorter than DesMoines. As well as you have 14 names to pick from Baltimore Boston Canberra Quincy Pittsburgh Saint Paul Columbus Helena Bremerton Fall River Macon Toledo Los Angeles Chicago Truth be told Bob hit it on the head a cruiser is a cruiser to a point you will be the deciding factor. Spend some time and research the ships and look at the pictures when you find the one with the curves you like marry her. A good link to look up ships and compare Visit this site Good luck
Thanx PowderMonkey, but, its not like i have much money right now, so any builing would be in a few months. And if i can say, i think the Alaska is the best looking cruiser. Since im not well versed in how size andspeed translate to RC combat, i can only go by Wikipedia. And by that sourse, i like the Alaska the best. How much would Tugboat's mold go for? How much could i expect to pay for the rest of a ship? And ive seen somethings, but is the Alaska a good beginner's ship? Is a 4-shaft, 1-rudder boat an easy build? Is it easy to fight? How does one use a cruiser against other big ships? Thank you in advance for answering any of my questions, im new to this, and any information is truly helpful.
The mold is used to make fiberglass hulls. You put fiberglass in the mold, let it harden, and then *pop* out comes a hull. You then build the ship using the hull. The mold itself is re-usable, so that Tugboat can make and sell hulls to other skippers. I'm not sure how much Tugboat plans to sell Alaska-class hulls for, though. I'll let Tugboat answer that. Moneywise, you'll find that most of the cost is spread out throughout the construction. That makes it a lot easier for poor college students like me to build quality ships with quality components. At the very least, it's easier to sneak under your wife's (or parents') budget radar []
If you take an Alaska out in the IRCWCC (the local small gun club in your area) you will get annihilated. You'll have a Yamato on either side of you pounding the crap out of you. That's the reality of the Alaska in most small gun formats. As for an overall choice, the Cleveland rates up there among the finest...here are a few reasons why. - hull readily available from battler's connection - only 3.0 units to maintain, which makes it simpler to build and keep reliable for rookies, as well as cheaper - a good turn of weight to work with - Turns better then Des Moines and Baltimore - less target area then Des Moines or Baltimore - 27 names to choose from in the Cleveland class. 2 ships in the Fargo class which use the same hull but have a much cooler looking superstructure, some call them part of the Cleveland class, others Fargo class. - the hull is close enough to be used for the St Louis class, Brooklyn class, and Wichita class cruisers, which have the same basic characteristics as the Cleveland, but different superstructures and gun layouts. That opens up 2 St Louis class names, the Wichita (a one off 8" cruiser) and 5 or 6 Brooklyn names. So in conclusion, the Cleveland is one of the very best ships a rookie can build. She's got a good turn of speed, respectable firepower, and won't draw a lot of attention from the big boys. She's easy to build, easy to maintain and shouldn't take a lot of damage to patch. It may be hard to say she's the best American cruiser out there, but that's my opinion, and you'll be hard pressed to make an arguement that something ELSE is a better ship. Here is a link to a website I really like which has pictures of most just about every US ship out there. Here is a list of the major US cruiser classes of WW2: - Pensacola - Northampton - Portland - New Orleans - Wichita - Brooklyn - St Louis - Cleveland - Atlanta - Oakland - Omaha Completed after the war but still legal: - Des Moines - Oregon City - Fargo - Worcester Here is a link to Battler's Connection's hulls: http://battlersconnection.com/html/combatships.html As you will be able to see, they manufacture hulls for the: - Des Moines class - Cleveland class (and by extension Brooklyn, St Louis, Wichita, and Fargo classes) - Atlanta class (and by extension Oakland class) Hope this helps.
Well boomer I'm new as well been around RC stuff long enough and I’m some what of a history freak love tactics and such. I did a lot of research years worth of watching these guys from the shadows and just reading there info than they passed the dam stocker laws and I figured well I might as well just do it so here I am take the time and research every thing these guys are great for help . Just watch out for crazy I think he is a cult leader and he is waiting for the invasion of Cleveland class ships from another planet [] For the Alaska I don’t think there are many out there I have only really read of one so I don’t have any idea on how it would work and I didn’t look at it personally They say cruisers are a good place to start, hence my Boston so I say go for it. As for battling I have been told to be smart patient and wait for your shots Run and Gun As for price to build what I did to make myself feel better go to http://www.battlersconnection.com/index.html and price out what you think you need I would probably for now price any thing for the DesMoines as that will probably be the closest to Alaska being a bigger hull As for price of hull go to the link I posted in other post for tugboats hull and ask him tell him you know me he will charge you more [] This is fast gun rules link speeds and such are found in there http://www.ircwcc.org/Rules/part2.html So with that said it is what you make it. Hope this helps Monk
LOL so I did. I had a sneaking suspicion I was missing something when I typed that up this morning, but it was early and I couldnt put my finger on it exactly. As an alibi though, I DID list the Oregon City class ships which were modified Baltimores. As for the Clevelands, I'm personally kinda "eh" about them. I recommend them because they are good ships to build if someone doesn't have a preference. The hull has the benefit of representing the other ship classes (Brooklyn, Wichita, St Louis, Fargo), and I think that variety is a good thing for new guys who don't have a favorite ship already. If I were building a cruiser for ME (that wasn't the USS Salt Lake City, my all time favorite cruiser) I'd go with USS Portland or USS Helena. I could build the Helena off a Cleveland hull. If the history of the ship wasn't factored in, I'd say USS Fargo, which I think is one of the sweetest looking cruisers of all time.
I think ill go with the Baltimore-class.Which one, im still not sure of. Where can i find the kit/plans to make this? I dont think BC has them. How much will it cost(not including the plans and the kit)? And thank you Powder Monkey, ill lokk out for the crzyhawk, u might b right about his "abducted by Clevelands" thing. I think ill check out the contruction forum to see how its done. Thank you again.
Well I would spend some more time look at all the ships we mentioned first. like I said find the one that you like trust me every ones eyes catch a different curve but if you do settle on the Baltimore class I made mine from scratch I got my plans from George (The Plans Master) Goff for $15 plus $7.50 shipping http://my.att.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=16&groupid=231663&ck= And my wood from National Balsa Co. around $45.00 http://www.nationalbalsa.com/hardwood-ply.htm\ When and if you get to that point I will send you what I ordered most of the rest I got from BC $280.00 and counting []http://www.battlersconnection.com/index.html Regulator mine was $75. For a palmer rock the boat And than you will need CO2 bottles and radio if you don’t have that stuff on hand as I did and here is the Baltimore class build the Boston http://www.rcnavalcombat.com/rcnavalcombat/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1468 Hope this helps but research reasearch research
