Hello All, I have been reading and wanting to jump into this hobby for way too long now, but have yet to purchase a ship. When I do finally "bite the bullet" I will be battling with the guys in the OAF in Ontario. I thought that I would want a cruiser to start, but under the IRCWCC rules it looks like both the Clevland and the Des Moines would be 24 second ships. Not sure why the Clevland would be, but that is how it is listed on the site. So I have narrowed it down to the VDT or the Andrea Doria. My question really is how much of a disadvantage are the in-line rudders vs the twin rudders of the VDT? Are there any advantages of in-line rudders? I like the looks of the Andrea Doria better, but if the VDT has a big tactical advantage then I think I would go for the VDT. I will be purchasing just about everything from Battlers Connection and thus why those are the only ships I have really considered to date. Thanks, any feedback will be appreciated. Anthony.
Welcome aboard! I would probably go with the VDT, Doria is a nice ship but I've never seen her battled.
Welcome, its, in the end, up to you and your ideas. Best of luck, and hope you do well with the ship choice( I like the cleveland class).
Cleveland is 24 seconds because she is a 3 unit ship. Class 3 = 24 seconds, class 2 = 23 seconds. For the IRCWCC, VDT is the better choice.
You're correct there was a cruiseliner named Andrea Doria, but the name isn't unique to a single ship. In this case we are talking about the battleship Andrea Doria.
VDT is harder to hit, has better gun placement, turns better and is the ship to pick between these two.
The way rudders work on a model ship is they redirect thrust from the propellers. Tandem rudders, like what the VDT has, allow you to redirect more thrust when moving forward, thus allowing you to turn sharper, quicker, etc. in-line rudders don't increase the thrust that you redirect when moving forward. Instead, one of them redirects thrust when moving forward, and the other redirects thrust when moving backwards. Basically, it's a choice between turning really well forwards, or turning both forwards and backwards. The other thing to consider is how much you like the ship. As you mentioned, the Andrea Doria is a much nicer looking ship than the VDT. You've got to ask yourself whether the combat advantage is worth the skateboard-with-smokestacks appearance of the VDT.
"You've got to ask yourself whether the combat advantage is worth the skateboard-with-smokestacks appearance of the VDT." That's an awesome way to put it!
I have video of a VU using TWIN rudders at 28 sec speed and even at this speed the manuveraility is unparralled. The vid is on YOUTUBE. UNDER PE SEA TRIALS. My handle is 16FEET. There are more vids of the VU class ship on trials. The first couple it was going too fast the other show the correct speed. You can see how well the model maneuvers in the vid .
Thanks guys.... I assume there are quite a few VDT's out there, so building help should not be a problem. I guess I will go for looks on my second ship, or add detail to the VDT once (if) I get it working properly. I do appreciate the input, as I imagine your patience has been worn thin as of late on these types of topics.
It's no problem gilps, we enjoy answering the questions. It's only when you ask the same question every day that it gets to be a bit old. You'll be fine!
Ordered the VDT from BC. Everything but the radio. Will pick that up locally. Will let you know when everything arrives.
The VDT will be my second kit from this hobby in over 20 years. My first was Swampwork's Bismarck. Can't wait to get this ship.
