The Furious hull project has developed some serious problems. I've used a few types of plaster/drywall compound over the last 3 years of on and off work on the hull plug. They have different sanding characteristics and as the most recent skim coats of drywall compound are penetrated during fine sanding the softer plaster underneath sands away too quickly, causing many defects in the hull surface. The second major problem is a warp in the bow that was minor on the Courageous but has increased to a 1/4" deflection to starboard at the keel (compared to the deck). The plywood forming the ram bow lacks lateral supports so there is no way to correct this other than making the ram bow considerably wider than scale below the waterline. I'll have a final go at the plug this weekend but am afraid it won't be up to my standards and will have to be scrapped. Bad Bob
That is real bad news. Sorry to hear that. I've seen your hulls over the years and know that if it ain't right, you don't build it.
Things are looking better today. I spent 5 hours on the hull plug last night, using coarser sandpaper to get back down to the ribs, reskimmed and am getting a nice smooth surface this morning. Also having success correcting the asymmetry in the warped bow ram by widening the ram on one side with drywall compound and sanding the other side a little narrower. The ram will end up about 3/16" wider than scale but that will make the narrow bow area easier to glass. Looks like HMS Furious is back on track. The rain is holding off until tonight so the plug should be ready to seal from bow to stern skeg by this evening. The stern will need a few more hours work. Bad Bob
Shaping of the HMS Furious plug was completed this morning. It isn't as good as my Hood or Vanguard plugs but on par with the 1996 Courageous hull plug. The multiple compound curves on the bulges and the continually curving bottom were major challenges. After repeatedly skim coating and sanding to try to get a perfect shape I realized it was as good as I can make it. When the mold is laid up I'll use an extra thick layer of gelcoat to allow sanding of any minor defects that remain. The hull plug has received the first of 6 coats of pimer/sealer and should be ready to mold in 2-3 weeks. The mold will require some fine tuning so it probably won't be ready for hull production until mid-July. Will send photos soon. Can they be sent directly to the forum or should they be sent to Justin for posting? Bad Bob
Clarification needed: 2007 Treaty Combat rulebook, section H. Warship Classes - Exemptions 5.c): ...Furious will be classified as both an aircraft carrier, and a battle cruiser. The planned version was a battlecruiser, which would be Class 4. The final WWI version and rebuilt WWII version were pure carriers, Class 5. Does the exemption refer to the 'as built' Furious which was a hybrid battlecruiser/carrier with a single 18" gun aft? If so, does it have 4 or 5 units and how can the BB cannons (3 or 4) be installed? Bad Bob
I don't think it's been addressed Bob. I know we had talked about the Ise and Hyuga battleships, and IIRC we decided that they would remain battleships, so for consistency's sake I'd assume that Furious would remain a class 4 battlecruiser. There's also a rule about class 4 or better ships being able to arm a single secondary aft with a 1.0 unit aft. For consistency's sake, I'd say that would apply in reverse to the Furious and she could arm a 1.0 unit gun forward (in the bow quadrant). The Strasburgs I have seen placed the gun in the aircraft hangar, so I'd say if you wanted to add it under the flight deck or superstructure you'd probably be good (remember the rule about placing a gun in the superstructure if the turret is too small is still in effect) So if the above is accepted (as I mentioned, we hadn't talked about or addressed this situation) you'd have 4.0 units to play with. One of them can be split, which I would do. So, 1.0 unit bow gun, 1.5 unit sidemount (rotate because I don't like un-covered quadrants) in the aft turret and a 1.5 unit pump to keep you afloat. I'm just kind of extending the logic behind some of the other rules, so it's all a guess.
Bob, As the Furious was originally completed as a battlecruiser she rates as a 4 unit ship. As Mike said with the 2 Japanise hybrid battleships, we are dealing with them (like the other groups) as battleships, since they still retained 2/3 of their main armerment and wer not full carriers. As with the Furious, when she became a hybrid, she would retain her battlecruiser status. However when she was converted to a full fledge carrier, she actually gains 1 unit based on her tonnage as a carrier. I think that the Furious, Couragous and Glorious are the only converted carriers that gain a unit. 5 units = Battleships - 25,000 ~ 26,999 tons Battle cruisers - 30,000 ~ 34,999 tons Aircraft Carriers - 15,000 ~ 22,999 tons 4 units = Battleships < 22,500 tons Battle cruisers < 25,000 tons Aircraft Carriers < 14,999 tons Another byproduct of this conversion is she actually retains her battlecruiser pump. b) Battle cruisers and fleet aircraft carriers converted from battle cruiser hulls. i. 1 gal./min. capacity for a full one unit pump So looks like she'd be a good ship regardless of her configuration. I hope this clears things up. Eric
The thing to remember, is that as a carrier while she gains a unit, she loses sidemounts...an important distinction.
Thanks for the clarification on combat units - I was wondering what Furious would 'count as' in its hybrid configuration. The hybrid counts as a battlecruiser but has only one gun barrel in the aft turret. If that gun is a sidemount, can it have a bow sidemount sticking out of the superstructure? It would be interesting to build it as the hybrid with 2 sidemounts and a few biplanes on the forward flight deck. Bad Bob
I don't think that sidemounts would be allowed out of the superstructure in that configuration, but that's just speculation on my part.
If that's the case the hybrid version of Furious might be restricted to a bow gun under the forward aircraft launch ramp and a stern gun, which should be rotatable. The 'as planned' two turret battle cruiser version would be more practical. Bad Bob
Under treaty you could have a rotatable 75 shot front and rear just never on the same side at the same time. you are not restricted to splitting just one unit. so 1.5 front 1.5 rear and 1.0 pump would work fine. The courageous is the same way
