Ian and I spent a couple of hours tonight assembling the sub-components of the pneumatic system and checked out some of my spare CO2 cannons for use in Hood. Ian decided to build Hood as a Treaty warship model, as it will be more effective under the Treaty rule set. Though it has 0.5 less units than under IRCWCC rules the gun installation options are good and Hood is one of the fastest capital ships. Hood achieved 32 knots on trials (fittingly I'd built the model as Hood upon commissioning), so has a speed of 28 sec/100'. It has to be slowed down only 4 sec/100' from its IRCWCC speed. We discussed my experiences with the Hood model under IRCWCC rules and concluded dual stern guns would not be useful under Treaty rules either due to the large turning circle. With 4.5 units available for BB cannons it was decided to install sidemounts in A, X and Y turrets and a bow gun in B turret. One will have a 75 rd magazine. We plan to get together in a week or so after Ian has made 2 copies of my brass gun servo mounts and bought a few remaining pneumatic components plus regulator and 7 oz CO2 bottle. There's a slim chance Hood will be ready for the Oct. 19 battle. Bob
Someone in NABS has a disc with the entire contents of the old NABS website hosted by Frank Pitelli. The site had a couple of dozen photos of the Hood under construction and after completion. Hopefully whoever has the disc will post some photos. If not I'll take some after we finish rearming her. I made the fiberglass hull in 1997 but didn't finish the model until 2003. (It's a scale model so the superstructure took a very long time to build.) It was disarmed and sold to Chris Osborne in 2005 after a few unsuccessful battles. Chris ran it as a non-combat model, then sold it to Craig Nash who returned Hood to Nova Scotia. It was offered to me but I declined and Ian McMillan bought it. I have Hood's original pneumatics and guns but the pneumatics are going into HMS Rodney so Ian and I spent last evening copying them. We'll need a 75 rd coil magazine from BC for one of Hood's original 1.0 unit guns. The geared rotating system I'd installed for Y turret was missing when Ian bought the model but may be duplicated after Ian has some combat experience. Because Treaty allows hypothetical ships we were discussing the possibility of building one of Hood's cancelled sisterships which would have had a different bridge design, or building another HMS Hood model as she would have looked after the planned reconstruction in the early 1940s. Hood would have looked very much like HMS Renown. (Several alternative designs are shown on the HMS Hood website.) Bob
Right you are. I don't know where we'd put a fifth gun. Dual stern guns are of little use in a model with a large turning circle and dual bow guns seem a waste. I suppose we could divide the 5th gun unit and have 2 x 1.5 unit and 2 x 1.0 unit cannons. Bob
We are going to have a battle of the denmark straits next year. I think mikey is building a hood and would love to have a wing man If you could come. He has loved that ship ever since I met him.He had one early on in the IRC but was frowned upon by his own team members because it was not on the approved killer ship list.In treaty I think it will shine and he will have back a ship he always liked.This time I think his team will welcome his ship this time.
Honestly Bob, if I were setting up a Hood, I think I'd go with a "death x": 1.0 unit sidemounts at 45 degrees covering all the corners and 2 1.0 units pumps, one forward and one aft.
I ran Hood under IRCWCC rules with bow sidemounts at 45 degrees, dual stern guns in X turret and a 180 degree rotating sidemount in Y turret. The problem with 45 degree gun angles in Hood is that the bow and stern turrets are an unusually long distance apart. This produces a safe zone over 4' long where an equally fast and better turning ship can tuck in unmolested. Under Treaty rules very few capital ships can equal Hood's speed but I'd still mount the sidemounts at 90 degrees to decrease the size of the 'safe zones' to port and starboard. I had a worse 'safe zone' problem with HMS Courageous, which had only 2 turrets. When it had 2 x 1.5 unit sidemounts they were trained 45 degrees toward amidships, each covering one flank. That was the best of several gun configurations. I'll let Ian decide if he wants two pumps versus two 1.5 unit sidemounts. I think we could squeeze in a second pump aft, but not in the bow. That's where the radio components are located - several feet away from the pump and drive motors. Bob
Thanks for posting the pics Rob. After the effort that went into making it an accurate model I regret selling it so cheaply - should have kept it for my office. Bob
I really look forward to getting a new Hood on the water. My old one was probably the most un-reliable ship in R/C combat at the time. I sank at pretty much every event I attended, but I sure did have fun running that boat. I originally intended to build her just for the Excercise Rhine in 2009 event, but I am pretty certain that I will love running her again, and she will most likely become my primary ship. I also considered building her in the planned refitted version, but I will just build her as completed, or as she was at the Denmark Straits battle. Just for historical accuracy. Mikey
Mikey, I really look forward to you getting a Hood back on the water. It will be like the old days. Me and you shooting at each other. "Hey Mikey, Can I have my barrel back?" Those are some great pictures of a great looking model. Well done to say the least. Thanks,
I've been away since the 16th helping to care for my mother through her final days. On returning last night I had an email from Ian re his Treaty conversion of the HMS Hood I built. We'd nearly finished re-installing the pneumatics last fall but Ian still needed batteries, CO2 bottle, regulator and BB cannons. Last time we were in touch Ian was undecided about the gun installation but was considering a simpler set-up without a rotating Y turret, and only 4 guns: 2 x 1.0 and 2 x 1.5 unit. I don't know if he ordered the rest of the internals but due to his naval career he won't be able to resume work on Hood until mid-March. If he has everything needed by then the model's rearming can be completed in a weekend. Hood should join the Treaty fleet in time for the first battles of 2009. Bob
