Having battled a Scharnhorst that belonged to an OAF (Ontario Attack Force) member all of last summer, I decided last fall to order my own. Unfortunately due to college I haven't had much time to work on it until recently. I will be building mine as the sistership Gneisenau, to IRCWCC rules. It will be a 5.5unit ship, with a 1.0 unit pump, 1 x 1.0 unit 50bb cannon sidemount, 1 x 1.5 unit 75bb cannon sidemount, and dual 1.0 unit cannons on the stern (subject to change). This is everything I ordered from BC. The Gneisenau hull, deck kit, rolled plans, main/secondary/aa turrets & barbettes, rudders & posts, props, shafts, 1.0 unit pump, 540 size motors, wiring,some free balsa & silkspan and some other misc stuff. Unfortunately the ship came with Scharnhorst plans, but luckily I have been able to collect a wealth of info & pics on some of the differences between it and Gneisenau (including the hanger, masts, and bridge). The Stern view shows a slight mold seam which will have to be fixed with some bondo-like substance to make it even again. Bow view showing some of the damage received during shipping. Inside the hull... This is where I am at right now, having just finished marking out all the hull windows. I am going with 26 x 1/4" ribs, and a 1/8" stringer for the armour belt.
I looks like you're going to cut out too much of the hull below the waterline. You need to be 1" below the water line. The tape you've marked looks a lot lower, but could judt be the photo. Put about 27lbs in it and mark the waterline. Cut 1" down from there. You don't want to run this ship at max weight 28lbs is the most.
You may well be right, which is why I haven't cut anything so far. The bottom line was based on the "scale" waterline. --Chase
Stupid question, if use a 1/4" marked waterline, do I have to cut the windows 1" below the bottom edge of the waterline, from the top edge, or from the centre?
Before you cut, I'd stick it in a pool or lake, and ballast it to max weight to make sure you can make a non-scale waterline... if it won't make it, you'd have to unsheet it and cut the bottom of the windows more, a real pain. Good insurance to make sure she can hit your intended waterline before cutting
Well, it is marked for the scale waterline already, which is from what I'm told, already too low for max weight. I'm waiting for a nice day to take it back to the pond and remark the waterline.
Isn't that what the blue tape is? It does not run all the way to bow and stern so can't be the waterline tape.
the blue line marks the top of the armour belt, which is where the stringer will be. it is not the waterline.
Subdeck/deck assembly glued together & clamp (some have been removed already). Subdeck/deck has been sanded to fit into the hull, but not yet glued. Also have the hole for the drive shaft drilled out. more pictures to follow when I find my camera again.
Hmmm... never seen them glued together outside of the hull, interesting. Looking forward to the build I still have a Big Scharnie sitting on the wall awaiting refit, also to IRCWCC rules.
well, I understand that a lot of people seem to glue the deck so that it is stuck on top of the rim of the hull, with the subdeck glued flush with the top of the rim of the hull. I didn't care for that look, so i decided to glue the two pieces together outside of the hull, sand them to fit, and I will be epoxying them to the hull, deck flush with the top of the hull. One of the other guys in the OAF does something similar with his ships, and I really liked the way it turned out. --Chase
I alway fit mine so that the deck is flush with the top of the fiberglass, I just do the deck and subdeck separately. The benefit of the way you're doing it would seem to me to save a bunch of time since you don't have to fit two individual assemblies. Might have to try that in the future.
