I think their goal with this is a "turn key" boat. OTOH, the recommendation to steer clear of DD's for 1st ships may be mainly because of the difficulty in building / maintaining, but is also because a larger ship with more reserve buoyancy and stability is more forgiving in battle. I'd see these as good loaner boats for someone to try out, but I'd still recommend a large cruiser or battlecruiser for a true first ship. Lots of room, stable, more than one gun, and can get shot up without immediately turning into a sub
Yep, these are loaner boats for the more experienced captains, and for a newbie a truly great first boat to get you on the water. EVERYTHING will be available so no excuses to not show up with a functioning boat. You will NOT be able to go toe to toe with other functioning ships (ships that are disabled or sinking are fair game), but you will be able to snipe and run around looking for the captain that is not paying attention. As to destroyers, in the past weight is always the issue. The plastic hull resolves that issue, and if it is too damaged, just drop the internals into a new hull.
Weight, weight distribution and layout are all major issues for rookie builders. @VVaholic and his group are attempting to address that by providing a true kit. Pre-designed, so you just have to put the bits where they say. A boat that can get you on the water and hooked, but to truly get involved you'd need to step up to a bigger ship.
I know it's early in the development, but is there an estimated purchase price? I'm extremely interested. I'm willing to wait patiently if not.
Still working that out, but it will be very affordable. Goal is to get more captains into the hobby, and then get them to build their next ship (but still have this starter ship so they can battle).
Motor mount, piece on left is attached to hull and piece on right goes to motors. Attached by 4-40 SS screw Motors on All together
Pump hold down Pieces on top removed from print holder Pump inside lower housing Top pieces on (loosely)
Motor mount in, and the shafts are aligned and glued in. Picture is a little blurry, will take a better one.
Reinforcement of ribs using bamboo sticks and the flexible adhesive, all ribs are backed. Idea is the hull/sticks/glue will flex before it cracks, also keeps weight to a minimum.
This picture is a shot of the underside of the sub-deck, cross braces have been given the same treatment as the ribs.
Had to cut a hatch to see the top of the rudder, will need to think how to do this next time. The rudder comes with a post that fits the depression in the hull, makes it easy to locate.
I've had great success using drywall tape and shoe goo to reinforce cheap plastic bodies for my RC car. Anything shy of max speed impacts (40mph) it soaks up just fine.
this is awesome, and awe inspiring too .... may have to line up just to have one even if I never get the chance to actually shoot at anyone else with it!
Nice part is you can travel with it, just ship the batteries and buy C02 when you get near the battle site.
After several attempts to get into this hobby, all of which were rebuffed by the congressional budget committee (wife) during a major economic recession (her going to nursing school plus the births of both of our daughters), I see this as my best bet for getting a ship.
I think the product is very well done but am curious about why a larger class of destroyer or a light cruiser wasn't selected. Destroyers are very vulnerable to battle damage and at risk of 'unseaworthy sinks' in in rough water. If the Fletcher is a success perhaps a larger model with more reserve buoyancy could be a future project. Other types of ships can be good loaners to introduce people to the hobby. When NABS was active 4-5 captains entered the hobby after using my loaner ship, 2.0 unit monitor HMS Terror (longer than a DD (~34"), wide beam (7.5"), stable, lots of internal space, and decent weight for a Class 2 ship). Nowadays people have access to hulls for the Class 2 WWII British monitors with dual rudders and the Class 1.5 WWI Glatton Class monitors, all of which are slow but can turn in a 4' diameter circle and are great fun for potential recruits to operate. (Class 2 monitor HMS Roberts was another NABS loaner ship.)
