i really want to make a bismarck but the hood seams pretty cool to what do u prefer mostly asking Justin Scott and Tugboat
Are you looking at big gun or fast gun? Either way, the Bismarck will have more firepower. They should steer about the same. If you want an Allied battleship, I like the Vanguard or the South Dakota of the hulls that are currently available. Looks-wise though, the Hood is a sweet looking ship.
The WW2 Lion's not legal in a lot of clubs, though, so I didn't mention her. Nice looking ship, though.
They definitelty don't steer the same.Bismarck responds to very little stick movement on the rudder and does it with little effort. It turns pretty good and great for dodging bbs from stern guns. Hood being narrow and longer with a single rudder takes longer to complete a turn.
Speaking as a tubby-boat captain, I've never been all that impressed with a Bismarck's handling to the point that I would say they turn with little effort Granted that all other things being equal, the Bizzy would outhandle the Hood, but like I said in my post, to my way of thinking, they're not really comparable ships. And usually, everything's not equal handling-wise. The advice I was given by multiple Biz captains on driving a Biz is to use it like a big cruiser. Strangely, the same advice I heard about Hood.
My experience with the Hood was that it was the worst turning model I've ever built. It considerably exceeded Courageous' turning circle of about 20-22', partly because speed dropped steadily in a full helm turn. On the other hand it ran a short zig-zag course behind Curt Stoke's Bismarck and turned much better with only short helm changes from port to starboard. Curt's Bismarck had a much smaller diameter turning circle. I tried a high aspect rudder (twice as deep as fore and aft length) with identical surface area and saw an improvement. That rudder extended well below the keel and was nearly torn off in its only test run. The 50% increase in rudder size now allowed by the IRCWCC was never tried because I sold the model. It allowed a rudder of equal area to Bismarck's two combined and should have greatly improved turning. We''l see how that works now that Hood is back in Nova Scotia and the new owner is getting my help in rearming and equipping it. As for BB cannons Hood's got a few installation options. I had side mounts in A and B turrets, a rotating Y turret and duals in X turret. The slow turning made the duals very diffuclt to lay on target and were best used for longer distance sniping. Melee situations are to be avoided with the Hood or other long hulled British battlecruisers. Use them to hit and run from the edges of the battle unless there's a sitting duck target. Bob
Re para 2 in my previous post, Hood turned much better than itself on quick versus sustained helm changes. It never turned better than Bismarck! Bob
Honestly, I don't recommend either for your first ship. I hate to say that, but neither is a good ship to start with, especially on a limited budget. Sorry, but that's what I think.
Sean, I just got a tirpitz and I am doing my first sheeting job tomorrow. The size of it is immense. When I set my VDT hull next to it.. wow. Get a 4 unit ship of some type. You will be able to afford it, drive it, get it off the bottom, and carry it around. I like the vdt as it has only 3 cannons, the superstructure from BC is cheap, and you can get the ship on the water fairly cheap. Just buy one thing at a time like me. I got the hull and ship kit first, then the pump and tank, then the delta boards, then the guns. It has taken a while but I am almost ready to start on it. The number one recommended ship to me was the VDT when I was starting out. You only need about 150 to get the hull and get started. Good luck
Johnny, Where did you get your Tirpitz? I have a Bismarck that is well on it's way. My hull came from Canada. Is that where yours came frome?
I bought Rob Stalnaker's ready to run. It was a great deal and I wanted a ship that was RTR. It uses an alternative solenoid cannon setup. Its a wooden ship and needs a little work but I will wait until the winter for the big stuff. I am still learning carpentry and such.
