Don't know if anyone minds me posting here again after this long but here goes. Took the Z out to the lake today ( working ) and went for a run. The boat worked great and was as close to speed as I can get it without reworking everything. I must say that it felt good to run again and If no one minds I could get use to this... sent a email to strike to request a quote on enough parts to build a new Bizmark, but have not heard from them yet and will call ralph to see what he has left to work with. So we will see how this goes but I may have to rebuild the axis fleet in the city and see who comes out to play
well John I have 1 axis ship ready to go. Or at least close to it. i jut need to sail test her to make sure everything run correctly. The Allied side of the shop has the Tennessee getting closer to completion. I am hoping to have it ready for sea trials by the end of may/ early june.
Why don't we say that we start with a battle on the 17th or 24th of June to give lots of time to get our stuff together and battle at the grove again. Be lots of time I hope to get an order and finish my boat. What do ya say, anyone want ta put hulls in water an holes in balsa?
Welcome back John! I'm glad to hear you have the itch again. You may have to give Strike a bit of time, thay are moving from California to Seattle Washington in May/June. There was also a fire adjacent to their warehouse and they are having troubles accessing their stuff. J
Thanks for the info Jay. Kind of itchy yes but have some stuff now for it. Stopped at Ralphs today when I drove by and he was out in the yard. Had a talk for a bit and ended up with 3 hulls. One for now and two for later. for now its a bizmark, also have a Nelson and another Strasburger just because. I will have one ready to go before the battle date and if the parts come it will be biz, if not the strasburg is an easy build as I have a part ss from the last one. will have to try battlers for stuff if stike is out of commission for a while.
What is it with everyone getting Bismarcks, you see them on the water more then anything else, Jeez !!! I love that boat ! Nikki
Its probably one of the most famous battleships of all time. I wanted to build one too, until I found out that there was already three in my local club.
Well going with the bizmark was an easy choise. I have built 3 of them in the past so that part is easy, the ship is the size and look that I like, and it was the only hull ready to be cut out that Ralph had left. The other hulls need a bit of work so Biz is the one. Also up here there are no active bizmarks, and one Tirpiz that has not seen action yet. With only a few people left to battle with this is also the ship that causes alot of interest for people looking at the hobby. So Biz it is
Glad to hear your interest is back. I miss reading your builds and seeing the new ship projects. Always fun to read. Can't go wrong with a Bismarck. I am going the extra mile on mine to attract interest and it will be nearly ready to hit the main lake where the greater population goes too . It makes a great flagship for any club to start with. What happened to Rob Clarke's Tirpitz? He did a really nice job on that model.
Nikki, It may be the history behind the ships. It may be that everyone loves a bad guy (think Darth Vader) and Biz was the ultimate expression of Nazi Germany on the water. It may be because they had some of the neatest cammo paint schemes on the water. Or it may be that Bismarck / Tirpitz are some of the most beautiful battlewagons ever to put to sea. (Not that I'm biased or anything)
It may be because the Bis was designed to be sunk, and we are a scale hobby after all. Plus he was sooooo pretty! I personally like Bismarcks, and there are many beautiful examples of the most famous axis ship. However, I wouldn't own one myself. IMHO, they're too much ship for too few guns.
I don't know about that depending on the format. IRCWCC allows 6 cannons for Bismarck as opposed to 5.5 cannons. Having Dual Sidemounts on such a large ship certainly helps.
Yes, I can see how it isn't such a big deal in Fast-Gun, but I sail Big-Gun, and 8 1/4 guns in 4 turrets is a far less economical setup than 9 1/4 guns in three turrets. A Sodak, NC or even a Jean Bart is sudden death for a Bismarck in our format. (Skippers skill levels notwithstanding). Even my old Rodney can chew a Bis to bits, as it well should do. It's all about density of fire.
That makes sense in BG. I can see how that would be a problem. Bismarck would have to be used more tacticaly to offset it's disadvantages where it's armament is more spread out then concentrated in one small area of the ship.
Hey guys, I'm still kicking around, still have all my stuff, haven't done too much boat work the last while, Little Rock is still ready to rumble, Whisky has all the parts on hand, just need time to work on it.
