Hey everyone, Newbie here, hoping to start on my first build soon! Had a couple of questions regarding prefab fiberglass hulls: Are there any sources for detailed instructions for taking a prefab hull from start to finish? Does anyone know of a place/person that sells a hull for the Spahkreuser? Does anyone have a list of hulls that Ralph Cole and/of other independent hull-makers have? Any help would great, thanks in advance!
For start to finish Bob H. was a video that is a light cruiser build, note this is a fast gun ship. http://www.portpolarbear.com/ At the bottom of the "For Sale" link. As to a list of hulls the best that I know of is: http://www.scrapcombatships.com/hulls.html Has lots of hulls and links from a number of manufactures. As to the Destroyer that you listed I don't think anyone has a hull for that ship as some clubs require a ship to be commissioned before it can be battled. There is a Battler's Connection hull for the Z Class. I have not seen this hull in person as there are very few Destroyers that are battled due to how difficult they are to build. My recommendation is that you try a light cruiser as they are a little larger, still fast, there are a lot of hulls out there to choose from. They will be much easier to build. I have a scratch built fiberglass Gearing (tiny and very light) it is a real challenge to get and keep operational, the Z boats are a little longer and a 1/2 pound heavier so they might be easier to build, but for a first ship they are difficult.
Thank you for the links! I definitely agree with you about a cruiser being a good choice for a first build. I have really been looking at the torpedo cruisers as many of them are very fast and pack a lot of punch with the torps. From what I've read them seem to be a relatively easy/cheap first build and a good place for one to start. I've been looking mostly for ones that I can get a prefab hull for. I am strongly considering the Mogami at this point, just found a guy putting out the fiberglass hulls. As for the Spahkreuzer, seems to me that it is almost mis-labeled as a Destroyer as it is quite a bit bigger than most. It's quite a bit larger than the Z class or Capitani, and almost as big as many of the cruisers I have been looking at. Here is a link to a great video of one in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSU8nQ7o0u4 Thanks again for the reply!
Bowning Shipyards in Australia carries a fiberglass hull of the Spahkreuzer. It is listed as SP-1: http://www.ausbg.org/BSY/BSYdimens.html Interestingly enough, the ship in that video you linked to is the original wooden hull from which Bowning's mold was made. The wooden hull has undergone extensive modifications and now carries an unsightly bulge in its belly, but I believe the mold still maintains the original fine lines of this excellent ship. Classification-wise, the Spahkreuzer is hard to name. Its name literally means scout-cruiser, but its hull clearly reveals its origin as an enlarged destroyer. It's kinda like trying to classify the Atlanta: its origins as a destroyer are clear, but its size and role say differently.
