Dayum! That SS looks good! I think I forgot the cranes though. I'll make up some files for them soon.
Caleb, what are you doing, you know Kevin doesn't put unnecessary details on his boats. A large flat sign that said "COURBET" would have sufficed. If you give him cranes and small boats and extra details his boat might stop working randomly in the middle of battle. Like a certain French somebody I know.
Shush, Will! You'll blow my cover! I want to see just how much bling it takes to kill one of Kevin's boats. Oh wait...this isn't the private chat...
I'd make an exception for cranes A few tips for future prints: It looks like B turret will be a pain to remove with the overhang for the pilot house, consider chamfering the lower front edge. Darn french didn't anticipate quick turret removal I would add a support for the deck level that goes between the wing turrets, just a box or something in the middle. I had to cut off the support at the aft end of that piece to align with deck step Beam on the casement portion that goes on the aft deck is about 1/8" too wide, had to trim it down to be flush with hull Slightly larger hole for the aft stack I cut about 1/2" out from the aft most deck piece to allow it to fit between the turret and deck step, difference is from very minor deviations in plan sizing or measuring from deck step vice from stern for turret placement Overall it looks way better than what I would have done on my own
Back at it this weekend. Got sides on both of the boats, this hull is a moderate PITA to sheet, but that’s the price you pay for stringers and casements All pieces cut for one side Sheeted last night at Marty’s Worked on deck magnets for aft deck, 1/2” magnetic tape. Remove sticky surface with acetone, glue in with e6000 for long term, tacked with CA to hold in place. Use of magnetic tape worked well with the BC deck kit for Seydlitz, copying the idea here Deck layer pieces cut, used seran wrap as glue barrier. Alternate is to glue them to underside of deck one at a time, but getting proper alignment and orientation can be tough (flipping pieces over). Pay attention to polarity, magnets will work better one way (figure out as you go). Trying different method here to see if it works better. It was definitely faster to do Cut out middle to let guns go down Put e6000 on, then deck piece, hope it works out haha Also painted superstructure, will glue and mount tomorrow. Goal for tomorrow is silkspan outside of hull, paint, add superstructure for real, then float test to verify layout plan
Deck magnets came out OK. Might try other method on hull 9 Painted SS test fit Aft mast/battle ensign holder Sillspanned outside of hull, a bit of a pain getting around stringer. Standard 50/50ish MEK/contact cement Painted both, color I mixed for California a couple years ago matched the spray paint I used on the SS Looks good with painted sides and painted SS. Still need to glue SS together Tested on the scale, 17.3ish lbs with all the major items Fore/aft balance looks good too, balancing on a level Float test is next, then finish up inside and sea trials
Well she floats, barely leaks which is nice Initially she weighed 17.5ish lbs with no ballast (not bad for a boat with 6.5 units on board) added about 2.5 lbs, so battle weight will most likely be between 20 and 21 Need to counter the wing dual turret, also my configuration was light in bow, but well within ballast correction range Validated gun impact points at standstill And bow gun, bow itself will be the calibration standoff Need to decide how to configure the bottle to make hose routing clean. Reg pointing forward would be better for hoses, ref pointing aft is better for general layout, I’ll decide and glue mounts in place. Hopeful for sea trials this weekend, need to waterproof receiver, bind, and test, attach SS
I think the French will be eating German pork this year I’ll check the angle, rule compliance doesn’t scare me
We all know Germans fight to the death...well until their airtight decks and excessive internal buoyancy give them another life, then they return to battle at allowed speed (-6 seconds, +0)
For the prying eyes. Angle on the paper is 20 degrees, unfortunately my boat is compliant might want to reschedule the eye exam
Looks good to me, "the closer the better". That eye thing is compensated by a bump, pop, bump, pop pop pop, bump, pop pop pop and repeat. Old guys do that, young ones don't notice much.
Worked through some of the last few steps yesterday and today Coated receiver in e6000 and dry, seems like it could go in an art museum somewhere Superstructure glued together, came out pretty good test switches aft end with hoses and wiring. Need to make up a little mount for test switches and maybe something to hold the receiver forward end with CO2 hoses. soldered two x-fittings together for the distribution hub. still need to pressure test about 18 pounds with no extra ballast Just got back from sea trials. She is 20lbs 12oz in these pictures used motors for ballast, will make up some weights to go in there Overall the boat worked well, acceleration is good, turning not bad. Doesn't sink when going in reverse. will still need to see how the first battle goes, but overall looks like it will be a good boat that hopefully won't require too many tweaks. I have a video I might post in a bit
Some finishing touches on hull 1. Tested guns with no issues, one joint needed a 1/4 turn Printed up a test switch mount and incidental contact protector Painted bottom and added WL Added a few pounds of ballast, spent BBs and epoxy Pretty much final configuration for battle 1 Made a little receiver holder to get it up out of water and out of way
Ahoy Kevin, I noticed you haven't installed flyback diodes on your test switches. I know the BC multi-board has built-in flyback diodes, but that doesn't protect the test switches themselves from inductive kick. I burned up my first set of test switches in my Deutschland after a couple magazines worth of testing, tweaking, and maniacal laughter. Replacement test switches died just as fast. I installed flyback diodes on the test switch board, and the switches stopped dying.
Kevin, not sure if you noticed or omitted them on purpose. The sides of the tripod topper have square openings for wood/metal square rod to make the cross thats very apparent on the WW1 French battleships that were rebuilt.
