As revealed in the recent torpedo thread, most of us (apart from a certain Strasbourg captain) have been talking and not building. I challenge myself, and the rest of the aspiring Battlestations! captains, to post a picture in this thread showing their progress! I don't want this to come across as a threat or ultimatum; it's a friendly encouragement to all of us to get building. Mike M has stated that he's going to bust his butt to have a battle-ready ship at the IRCWCC Fall SE Regional battle so we can stage a demo battle and see how it goes. I am picking up the gauntlet that he so bravely cast and building USS Georgia to combat the French Menace. I will be selling most of my 1/144 hulls (got too many anyway) to enable the 1/96 hulls to progress, and I will rework the members thread to post a pic of the current project for each captain. To arms!
Still kicking around Swift v. Clemson. Swift is actually easier to arm than Clemson and with centerline tubes I don't think it will be as tippy. It may be trippy though. Swift also has a much more interesting rudder layout which I think should enable it to turn like a cow. Historically speaking Clemsons were not much better though.. Hull wise, Clemson is a much easier build. No forecastle and a very simple hull. Also has more of a punch with 4 triple torpedo tubes. The intention is to arm only 4 of them 2 port and two starboard. Guns are a wash. Swift as built has 4x4", Clemson as built 4x4" My Swift is the 1917 version. 2x 4" and 1x6" in the forecastle. Speed is a wash. Both are 35 knotters. Swift was designed for 37 but never reached it. Swift is slighty larger. I'll probably start both, then the dissertation will get in the way,. until von Tugboat hits me on the head with a mallet and makes me finish one or the other.
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h237/kotori87/DelftshipBarbettes.jpg and it will probably remain in that condition for a very long time. It's on my wish list, though, so some day... some day...
Indeed. I think I have settled on HMS Swift. 5.95 lbs, 44" long. Should be a good size for me. Armament will be both TT's. Bow gun. .177. Stern gun 1/8". If I can squeeze it all in. Listed at 35 Knots (32.1 seconds/100 feet.)
That would be mainly a plumbing problem, but having the different rof's for the 12" and 8" guns could be tricky. Not unlike the historical Georgia.
I'm already planning a delay circuit to do gun timing for me. Goes between the firing card and the solenoid, senses the firing impulse, and starts counting when the impulse goes away; it will interrupt the circuit to the solenoid until the count is up. That way, I can get as excited as I want on shore, mashing buttons on the transmitter, but the guns will only fire as they are allowed to.
I already have one of those, installed in my Rodney. It's paired with an LED on my controller which shows green for clear-to-fire, and red for not-clear. Neat little bit of kit.
You might be interested to hear that Stephen has a cannon ROF enforcer that will be ready to sell soon. He has one version to use with servos and another version that will drive two solenoids. Quite aside from the ROF issue, those superimposed turrets are going to be a major technical challenge to build if you want them to fire independently and rotate.
An old photo of my Strasbourg. I have not been working on her for quite a while. But she has been out on sea trials. And the main cannons have been dry-fired. She could probably be battle-ready in a couple of weeks. Mikey
Another old photo of the Strasbourg on sea trials. Trying to get Vance interested in the boats. It seems to have worked out. Mikey
I now have Phil's Russian Tashkent, and also my Mogador. Both hulls are partially constructed. But there has been no further progress in a couple years. However.. Matt is somewhat interested in the 96th scale stuff. So his participation in this scale might in time get the ball rolling again around the Dayton area. Mikey
I've been relatively quiet this week because I'm studying to renew two medical certifications this weekend coming up. But the Georgia hull proceeds apace! If Stephen brings the gun timers out then I will certainly go that route, easier than engineering my own when I have other projects to work on One of my Boy Scouts who battles fast gun (Stefan, for those who have battled with him) will be dragged into 1/96, if only because I'm letting him work on a second ship for me with my money, and he gets to drive it Hoping to have a WWI destroyer as consort to USS Georgia for the Fall battle with Mike Mangus...
Wood has been acquired ... plans are nearly completed ... the build will commence after the Brouhaha ...
