Having an offer for Hood I spent a couple of hours today cleanng 3 years worth of dust off the model and planned to photograph it. Unfortunately the camera chip was completely full of Kim's ohotos so I have to wait until she deletes or downloads some. I'd forgotten how detailed the model is and decided to hold off on selling it - I spent more time on this model than any other but didn't finish it (still missing the two 15" gun directors) and never got it into optimum condition for competition - not that it would ever be very good under MWC or IRCWCC rules. Mikey's Hood doesn't seem to do too badly in the Washington Treaty club so I may configure it for those rules. I'm going to replace the rudder with one of those high tech ones that seem to have made the Vanguards more maneuverable. Hood's only 4" longer and her aft turrets arer closer to the water.
Heh heh..I knew you would change your mind Bob.It's hard to part with a model you really like because of the work put into it.That Hood in treaty does get sunk quite a bit but so does the rest of the fleet.I think Hood is better suited for BG or Treaty.If I am not mistaken the Hood in treaty is weighing in lighter to allow the Quarterdeck more freeboard. I seen the Vids and that system they use makes ships that do not maneuver well turn much better.However what if a ship like a NC used it? They turn so well as it is must be a Terror to go up against if they used that system. Looking forward to seeing Hood back on the water.
Hi Curt, I've changed my mind again after getting a good offer for Hood and reviewing the model's logbook. I'd forgotten that I'd tried a different gun installation before and it didn't seem like it would help much. That's when I decided to sell the disarmed model to Chris Osbourne. Hood originally had a 180 rotating gun in Y turret, dual stern guns in X turret and a sidemount in A turret. Due to poor turning the dual stern guns were almost impossible to bring on target and there were faults with both sidemounts. In 2004 I installed dual sidemounts in Y turret, a single sidemount in X turret and bow guns in A and B turrets trained 15 degrees off center. There are no notes confirming that I tried the new arrangement at Cannats although I wrote I was going to in a few weeks. I think most of the BB cannons were still faulty so she wasn't used. My latest plan was for two pumps, dual sidemounts in Y turret trained forward (port 60), and dual sidemounts in A turret trained aft (starboard 120). Those sidemount angles gave the best performance for HMS Courageous when equipped with two 1.5 unit guns under NABS rules. Hood's new owner will not use her for combat and will likely complete the details I didn't: the main 15" and 5.5" gun directors and 12+ ships boats. He could add 2 Sopwith Camels on turret mounted flying-off platforms. With Hood and the Vanguard hull sold I'll resume work on HMS Rodney. For the last 4 years I had Vanguard and Rodney at the same stage of construction (hull cut-out, fibreglass deck made, turrets bought) but couldn't decide which to build first.
Go for the Rodney Bob. I am due to build my British Fleet this year starting with Rodney. I am on the fence whether to arm it or not. I like the idea of going to Nats with a Rodney seeing there are not many around .
Hi Curt, I may take Rodney to the next NATS I attend (probably in 2016) but will definitely be taking heavy and light cruisers (Canarias and Profintern). It would be great to team up with you and have a pair of Nelson Class ships. Bob
I think the Nelson Class are under-rated. Nobody bothered with them pre-2003 and I haven't heard of any in use since the IRCWCC rules were changed to allow them dual sidemounts. With dual sidmounts and two pumps they could be a threat to models of equal or lower speeds and with two pumps and a lot of hull volume should be able to handle a lot of damage. They've always been my favourite British battleships.
The main and secondary turrets on the KGV and Nelson Class were of completely different calibers and shapes. KGV: 14" and 5.25"; Nelson 16" and 6". I don't know if Ralph made the main turrets for the KGV but he does have a mould for the 5.25".
