Our next upcoming battle will be at Hanson Ponds in Cle Elum. For those who haven't been there before this is our largest and deepest battle site we normally visit. I recommend that you test your float/recovery systems before you get there. Please try to arrive by 1100 so you have time to set up. The first sortie will be starting at 1200. Directions: Go East on I-90 and take exit 84 onto First Ave in Cle Elum. Turn right (south) on Oakes Ave. (There is a Chevron station on the corner.) This is also marked as the Eastbound access to I-90. Follow the road and go over the I-90 overpass to the Whispering Pines R/V Park on the south side of I-90. Just before the road ends at the R/V park, take a sharp left (U-turn) into the dirt parking lot and continue on the gravel road through the woods. The battle is at the first pond on the left. The pond is alongside I-90 about 1/2 a mile from the R/V park. We usually are at the west end of the first pond but sometimes are found elsewhere. Driving time from Seattle is about one hour and fifteen minutes.
If anyone is interested Nick and I were planning on getting together on Fri the 4th around 1000 for a maneuvering/gunnery practice. We won't be shooting each other since I don't want to patch right before a battle. I will have CO2 available. Plan on gunnery targets, practice maneuvering, and maybe some mock combat. In short its a chance to sea trial, test your guns, and get some stick time before the battle on Sunday.
The karlsruhe is as ready as she will be for the first post rebuild combat... hopefully everything works as anticipated.... See everyone tomorrow, hopefully the rain comes early and passes. _Greg
I'm also ready as can be for tomorrow. The maru has a new rudder to replace the one I broke, the Suffren's prop has been replaced after it had two blades break off last event and it has been patched and repainted. If the weather is good I've got a couple flipcams and tripods to set up for recording the events. If its raining I can't set them up since I have no way to keep them dry. I guess I could take them apart and scotchkote them, the boss probably wouldn' notice....
Had a good time at the battle, we missed you and the Bismark Alex. Was good to finally meet Greg in person and to see some of the things he's cooked up. I skimmed the video from the tripod mounted cameras and am less than thrilled about most of the footage. Either the action was off camera or just generally far away. This really shouldn't be too surprising given their locations above and behind us. I'll see if I can piece together much usable footage from them in the next week or so. Next time I think the tripods are going to go in the water arnd dire warnings will be given to not ram them or spray the cameras with pumpstreams.
Well, you're welcome to plunk down enough cash / collateral at the start of the battle to cover your destructive desires.
Well I wouldn't aim for a camera, but it would be hard to avoid getting one wet during the heat of battle.
I dont intend to put them in the middle of the pond, it shouldn't be much of an issue. I'm more concerned about people who think theyre being funny without thinking about it. A couple hours in the sun can do funny things to our brains. The tripods themselves are pretty stable, it would be difficult to knock one down I think, so incidental bumpings shouldn't be a major concern. I could give them little umbrellas to prevent plunging fire from pumps., that leaves the only risk of someone sailing up under it with a pump running.
I would be more concerned with accidental drenching from a stray pump than from bumping into the tripod. I came close enough to hosing several people down today and I wasn't hard pressed fighting. I would never try to ruin someones camera but I think it ill advised to place a non waterproofed camera in or near the water.
I've always wondered what kind of footage can be had if the camera was mounted on a 20' or taller pole and agled down to point at the battle area. Hmm ... even more cooler, make it remotely controled with pan, tilt, and zoom. Have someone operate the camera and record the action via a remote viewing station.
Of course its ill-advised. However illadvised things generally lead to thinking about ways to make them less horrible ideas. Two thoughts have come to mind. One is that the entire flipcam (with fresh batteries) and tripod mounting plate could be vacuum bagged and sealed. This has the downside that it has to be done at home and I'd have to bring enough flipcams with fresh batteries in them. I have access to the cameras no problem, but it would become a hassle. The second thought is to build a box. Clear lexan for the front, aluminum angle attaches to that and provides an access hole for the tripod mounting stud. The remaining sides could be any waterproof material with an elastic to allow it to close mostly tight around the base of the tripod head. (thinking like a shower cap). The lexan would provide a non-distorting windowpane for the camera and some measure of protection vs stray bbs and the entire assembly should provide sufficient water resistance to drizzle and random pump spray.
Well, the battle was fun, now I need to make some stainless dogbones as those plastic ones just don't last long enough. I also think I figured out what was wrong with one of my two cannons. I think the piston was stuck up. I think I officially went overboard on the tolerances (aka far tighter than necessary) and it bit me in the butt. I put a "defective" piston that I had machined slightly smaller than I normally wanted in the cannon, and now I have to reassemble it, but it passes the "that looks about right" test... I may have to try it without using a spring, as it may not be necessary in these...
Whats up. Sorry I missed the last battle. I cut 4 panals out of the bismarck. I then started school and never got time to fix it. I plan on being at the battle in July.
