Hi. I joined the site a year ago and i collected info for a while. So now i decided to begin my first ship. But i dont have a club near me in fact im starting a new one with my buddies. We choosed big gun. Now i need to choose witch ship to begin with. Im thinking about a des moines or a schranhorst. Which one i should choose? Also: where can i find depressable and rotateble turrets
i think i can go with schranhorst becouse i like it more than des moines but in battlers connection it says intermidate for schranhorst and beginner for des moines.
Battlers Connection tends to make suggestions based on fast-gun armaments. The same considerations don't necessarily apply to big gun. In the case of a big gun Des Moines and Scharnhorst (ww2), the Scharnhorst would be an easier build by far. Des Moines requires that you cram all the same stuff as Scharnhorst into a smaller hull, and you end up with smaller guns as well. Scharnhorst is a very sleek boat, which I really like. Her stern is pretty narrow though, which will make installing steering gear a bit more challenging. She also has 7/32" guns, rather than the heavy 1/4" guns. She's got torpedoes, which are a nice touch if you have space (DON'T try to put too much in your ship!). She has thick 1/8" armor, and a nice 32kt speed. My experience with Scharnhorst and similar vessels is that her speed gives good mobility, her armor gives good protection, her medium-caliber guns can still do plenty of damage, and there is plenty of room to work with. If you want some comparable boats, take a look at Dunkerque (French, two quads provide concentrated forward firepower), King George V (British, two quads and a twin provide more balanced firepower), and South Dakota (a bit slower, but carries three nasty triple 1/4" guns). These provide different combinations of gun size, arrangement, armor, and speed, so you can choose which one you like most. I can also provide a more detailed comparison of these ships, if you want.
There's also the Alaska from Strike Models which is comparable to Scharnhorst should you want an American ship.
well. I would like to have a german ship of WWII era.They are my favorites. I would go for a easier ship but it will take me a lot of time to refund for a new ship. I would go for a bismark but i dont have the skill and i cant afford a 4 cannon ship becouse i want them all depressable and rotetable(also:is that possible?) Can i arm the battlers connection des moines hull with big gun cannons or is it imposibble EDIT: just checked strike models. Seems like they dont have a schranhorst hull. Thats pitty... Where can i found a scharnhorst hull for big gun or a fast gun hull would be okay??!?
The BC WW2 Scharnhorst hull is just fine for Big Gun. I promise! The WWI one would be fun to do, but harder to arm due to the small size.
Cozger, the hulls are the same for both big and fast gun. What's different is how you would build it up from there (window spacing, balsa thickness, guns, etc.) and how you would run it (speed, pumps, etc.). It's the differences between the two ways of play that make the same ship easier in one ruleset but not the other. I'm with Strike Models, and most of our recommendations on the ships, when they have a recommendation, are also aimed at fast gun. If you're in Turkey (per your profile), have you checked out local gun laws? In some countries, even BB guns aren't allowed, much less a big gun turret like on the Iowa that would shoot 1/4" ball bearings. It's worth looking in to before you get too far into this.
there should be no problem since its okay for real BB guns. So i think i will go with a scharnhorst. Battlers connection hull,and all the other stuff except cannons. Cannons from strike models.
Ok i decided which ship ill build but with which rules. As im starting a big gun club what should be my balsa thickness and gun caliber?
Balsa would be 1/8" thick, as her armor was more than 12" thick. Ammo would be 7/32" if you arm her with the 11" triples. Of course if you opted to arm her with the twin 15" guns (as the Gneisenau was being refitted with), then you get 1/4" ammo. You picked a really great ship for big-gun. And you could add torpedo tubes later if you want to. Mikey
If you're in the process of starting a club and can pick your balsa thickness to put into your rules, I'd change the thicknesses just a little to make it easy for yourself. In australia we started with the Midwest battlegroup rule set as a basis and had balsa thicknesses based on the US ones but in the closest metric equivalent which was 3.2mm (1/8in for 12in and above armour), 2.4mm (3/32in for 7in to 11.9in armour) and 1.6mm (1/16in for 0 to 6in armour). the thicker balsa, 2.4 and 3.2mm was good for keeping shape but now we're only able to get 1.5mm, 2.5mm and 3.0 so the thinnest armour loses out as do the BB's and the middle thickness gets an advantage. If I was starting again I'd use 2mm for thinnest armour on cargo ships, DD's, and CA1's and CA2's, 0 to 6in thick. then 3mm to replace the middle thickness on the scale, 6.1in to 11.9in thick and 4mm to replicate the thickest armour 12in and above in thickness. Why? 1 they are easier to get consistently (admittedly you may be able to get it in imperial thicknesses but we can only get metric now). 2 The 2mm allows merchants to keep their hull form without developing that ugly corrugation you sometimes see and it's still whackable by everything out there but it also resists accidental rams better too. The middle thickness, 3mm can be penetrated by all again but gives good protection for battlecruisers against destroyers and lighter cruisers but they can still drag you under and the thickest balsa, 4mm on Battleships and scharnhorst class can still be penetrated but the little guys have to get close and stoush it out if they want to take you on, makes it more realistic as the big bb's with thicker balsa have more chance of balsa swelling to block small holes for damage control and not being taken out by a little cruiser too easily. Just my 2 cents worth. Scharnhorst as a first build, Couldent pick a nicer ship, better than Alaska as she has 2 rudders not the single one Alaska has. We had a Scharnhorst run by a guy in Newcastle here in Australia and in 1 battle we told him to hunt merchants while we took care of the BB's and he swept the pond clean in 30mins of all their merchants while the others chased the nasty scarey battleships around, most fun he'd ever had. Go forth and sink em all!
