Has anybody ever tried using the free Digital Navy card model at Visit this site and modifying/scaling it up for use in 1/144 or 1/96? If I'm not mistaken, it would be something around a mere 17" long in 1:144 and a little under 26" in 1:96.
V108 is just a little bit on the small side... Something bigger would be easier to build: http://www.westernwarshipcombat.com/gallery/album02
I would really love to find plans of the V-116/S-113. The French took one of them as the Amiral Senes. I keep waiting for it to show up on their archive site.
I take it that something in the 60 ton range, such as a PT boat would definitively constitute crazy then to attempt to arm (even using spring-loaded torpedo guns).
It has been done here, with the downside that every time the torp was fired, the PT boat flipped over backwards.....
I got a tad carried away after intending to spend no more than a half hour looking at the design feasibility of building a V108 for big gun. Here's the visual version of the results: Assuming that I could get all the electrical to run on 4.8v, without incorporating superstructure weight, barrel weight, wiring, bellcranks, 1/32" balsa hull sheeting, and some small bits of hardware, the key components just barely fit aboard. Better yet, it all appears to fit at just a little light from scale waterline with the current list of components and a hair over 3/8" added depth. The calculated center of gravity is fairly close to the center of buoyancy (about 1/4" below) so what the real stability would be if I attempt to build it is an entirely different story altogether. I'm guessing one hit would sink the V108 and it'd be likely that rib hits would require rib replacement. To keep the structure light, there are no provisions for a separate caprail and deck in the model; it might be possible to run a 1/32" caprail and either use double-stick tape or a light bead of wax as the means of attaching the deck to the hull. Alternatively components could possibly be serviced by stripping off the hull skin.... (I guess I'm going to have to give the idea a sanity check in the morning.)
Nice work, Chewie! Interesting note (Battlestations-wise), starting ith V-106, the torpedo boats of this class were armed with only two 52mm cannons, to make room for a 3rd torpedo launcher. With 52mm being beneath our cannon sizes, they don't have to be armed, so you could build V-108 with spring-powered torps and save the weight of a CO2 system... So, Wook, when are you posting ribs?
Wow, at that size, wouldn't it be like someone trying to shoot a popsicle stick in the water? Don't forget to add in some extra weight allowance for a light beacon or something-- just so you can see where it is on the water!! And don't pass too close to someone elses' pump outlet[:0] Looks too cool though. Is that enough equipment I see in there to arm both torpedos??
Those are accumulators for each torpedo cannon to fire a single shot, non-reloaded and charged using an external compressor. It could actually prove prudent to build the deck with a single sheet of nitrate-doped 1/32" balsa instead of styrene and for the builder to keep a set of sheet aluminum templates on hand so as to be able to make replacement parts for the hull on a regular basis. The internal components you see in the image are two Eflite S60 sub-micro servos, receiver and ESC tucked into the forecastle, two torpedo cannons, two motors, and two twin-cell battery packs. Moving the ESC to just above the amidship battery pack would hypothetically lower the CG by just under 1mm. In case it's not already been noticed, the model is in 1/144, not 1/96 so I can imagine it'd be only easier for Battlestations. Spring loaded torpedoes would need to have the mechanism below decks in order to preserve the low CG; without knowing a specific weight for a known-working spring-fired system, I'm not sure exactly how much they would affect the CG position.
Damn you Sir! You have rekindled my torpedoboote fanaticism! My have to add V-99 to my costruction list[]
Geez, the more you explain it, the more it seems like something that should(!?) be done. What are the actual dimensions??(Length, Beam) Since a well placed shot would surely require rib replacement, what is the feasability of molding them, the caprail, and the inpenetrable parts of the hull from a solid piece using one of the "squish mold" techniques? Maybe then they would be easy enough to make to be "disposeable" after a battle. Just move the mechanicals to a new hull. With a build process like that, all of the cradles for the motor mounts, battery trays, accumulators, ect. could possibly be integrated into the molded hull, and the mechanicals held to it with either "snap in" techniques, or hot glue or servo tape or the like, to make swapping the components easier. Heck, it could even probably be skinned entirely with tape, since any balsa thin enough to use on it wouldn't afford any real armour effect anyhow.
I was just contemplating whether or not waterjet-cut kevlar composite board would be durable enough to be able to use on such a design to make the frame able to tolerate direct impacts. In the meantime, I figure that I might as well have a rapid prototype shop quote the design in the coming week as a frame minus decks since it's certainly small enough. As long as the person molding the impenetrable frame and hull bottom is able to keep voids to an absolute minimum and the material has a low enough density, I don't see any reason somebody couldn't mold them in large quantities. Here are the 1/144 drawings in .pdf; there are so few parts that it wasn't a terribly time-consuming bit of work to generate the drawings. Visit this site Anybody planning upon building it will need to print out scaled copies of the drawings from digitalnavy for the superstructure and any detail bits that may be desired. Here's a solid model of the design: Visit this site Drawings in dxf: Visit this site The packaging of the design is, of course, based upon an assumption that a pair of one of the following (or motors with similar size) would be sufficient for propulsion: Visit this site Visit this site Visit this site Visit this site
Oh heck, why not just cut the frame from laminated carbon fibre? It'll take a hit and still be very light.
It's strong but more brittle than going with an aramid-reinforced composite. While it's possible that carbon fiber could work just fine, my experience directs me toward the toughness of kevlar over carbon fiber anytime impact strength is important.
A torpedo boat like V-108 would be an excellent small ship in a larger scale, Its guns are really to small and weak to arm in any scale, and they have only two torpedo tubes. A ship with Propel powered torps wouldn't need any kind of gas system on board. A similar sized ship for an opposing fleet would be HMS Velox, which also has plans readily availible, they come free with a book called "The First Destroyers" which I picked up for $15.
