Hello all, Looking to get into this hobby (Posted my introduction over at the GLAS forum). I am interested in either a Northampton or Moltke kit as a first ship. At the moment I'm concerned about build ease, as I have little RC build experience. I plan to try to make it to one of GLAS's battle sessions or NATS if I can. In the meantime, I'm perusing this site for information. According to strike models,a 3 unit cruiser is the easiest to start with, but I stumbled across some threads recommending a battlecruiser instead due to a bigger hull, more stability, and more weight reserve to work with. I looked up the IRCWCC rules that WillCover sent me, and it appears the Moltke has a max weight of 20 lb vs the Northampton's 11.5 lb. I personally like the way the Northampton looks (Ive always been a sucker for the American treaty cruisers), but I'm wondering if I'm better off starting on a Moltke, since it has 8.5 lb more to work with, albeit having an extra cannon. Also, since I would likely be ordering from Strike Models, are the battling kits, which include all the major components needed except radio/ batteries a good option? It's a tempting option for me, as I would have most of the necessary components all at once, and save on shipping. Thanks for your help! PS, I like the way the Moltke looks too, not knocking the ship or anything haha. I'm open on other ship recommendations too, like the Invincible.
I'd say stick with the Northampton. It's a perfect learning boat and Strike makes an excellent kit. If ease and speed of build are important, the battling kit is a very good option.
Mark Roe(he does not use this forum) is close to you he is a wealth of knowledge.he helped Jack (Jackpkt) get started last year. I'll pm his contact info
I would go with the Moltke because it is much easier to build compaired to a Northampton. More weight, bigger hull (wider), more forgiving in balance, and generally easier to battle. Cruisers are tippy and hard to fit all the stuff you need. Your first boat should be built with help from a vet, GLAS has plenty, use them!
A cruiser will get you into the game. Most want to get into sidemounts. Then you are building a second boat. If you start with the Battle Cruiser you will have a boat you will enjoy battling for many years. Keith
Hello I am with GLAS One of our captains has already built a Moltke. You are on the right track as far as boats. Class 3 or 4 are good starts contact us directly kgaigalas@charter.net kas
Thanks for the responses and especially the contact info everyone! I anticipate having my first ship as my only combat ready ship for a few years, so as of now I'm leaning towards a Moltke. Still have some research to do, but this is all exciting to me.
As an update, I'm probably leaning away from cruisers. I absolutely love the Northampton's looks, but the inability to do below the waterline shots/ lack of sidemounts is a drawback for me. Maybe as a second ship down the road. Looking into Invincible, Tennessee, and Arizona right now. Already talked with a couple veteran battlers near me, and saw a ship in person. Planning to see a battle; that might be what I need to make a final decision.
Moltke is a good battling ship and will give you plenty of learning and options to learn different gun setups. A good sidemount learner ship.
I see you're going for a BC but it isn't impossible to get below the waterline shots with cruisers. Northhampton has a low quarterdeck so if you have dual stern guns they'll be relatively close to the water and can get 'belows', but not at point blank range. You have to determine their range for water impact and fire from that or a little further away. I battled with a heavy cruiser (SNS Canarias) and a 3.5 unit armoured cruiser (HMS Minotaur) and could get hits on or below the waterline with practice. It was harder with Canarias due to the higher deck, but it just meant firing from a longer distance compared to Minotaur. I'm going to finish HMS Suffolk this summer. The ship had a cut-down quarterdeck immediately aft of the rear turret so I can get very good down angles on the double stern guns. I'm also building the WWII Russian CL Profintern/Krasni Krim which can have main armament guns in bow and stern casemates. The casemates are relatively close to the waterline and make it easy to get a low angle on the BB cannons, especially if they're trained out a few degrees to the side. Test fitting and measurement has shown they'll be able to get 'belows' within 18" range.
