Hi I started construction of my Indefatigable class battle-cruiser -- HMS New Zealand (so much easier to say) I got it on Sunday; Marked it Monday; and Yesterday I cut it it cut out. This morning I made some shafts and this afternoon I hope to install them. Planned setup- - rudders with geared connection - 7 0z CO2 bottle - 1 x 12Ah battery -- (I'll check the internal space to see if there is more room) - Speed controller with 2 x Speed400 on 4:1 gear drives driving 35mm props. - I was planning a sintra deck, but not so sure now since I have heard there have been problems with them. The sintra deck on the Tirpitz has been on for two years without problems, but the ship has only been in the water a couple of times. I am torn, but I already have the sintra and I would have to buy more FG resin in order to make a FG deck. So I might go with it anyway to see if I am right about why the other decks have separated from the hull. - Gun setup - Dual stern and a bow sidemount. Might go with a bow gun since I would like to avoid side-by-side slug fests since there are so many dual sidemounts out there. - The superstructure will be either styrene or sintra. Anyway -- if its anywhere near as maneuverable as the Invincible it will be fun to use. Rob Clarke
You should have no problem fitting in a 12ah battery, I run one in my Invincible which is about 3 inches shorter. The 7 oz bottle is probably overkill, I've run my 3 guns on a 3.5 oz bottle and never run out of gas. I think you'll enjoy the ship
Hey Rob, who has had trouble with a sintra deck? We all here have used it and nit heard of any coming apart. Small screws hold it together and a bit of resin to seal everything up. J
Hmmm....I had heard that the decks were breaking away from edge of the hull. Oh well....all the better!
Yes - but I am trying to build the thing with items I have on hand in order to reduce cost. I suspect that the 7 oz bottle will interfer with the bow mount.
If you want a bow gun, arm the forward most wing turret. You can shoot forward and avoid the flair of the bow, and have the added bonus of running the magazine along the side of the hull and not taking up valuable space in the center of your hull.
When people first started using Cintra plastic decks locally they didn't screw them to the hull deck stringers. Polyester resin does not bond well to polystyrene so the first models to use Cintra decks developed cracks between deck and stringer. That's why everyone screws the decks to the stringers now. Bob
Good suggestions crzyhawk. A wing turret is the best location for a bow gun on the New Zealand. I made the mistake of putting Espana's bow gun/ bow sidemount in the forward turret where it caused clearance problems with the CO2 bottle and regulator. My armoured cruiser HMS Black Prince (soon to join the OAF fleet) uses a wing turret with a straight magazine for it's bow gun and has plenty of clearance from other internal gear. Bob
I agree Bob you should also screw the deck to the hull for added strength. I even put a support from one side of the hull to the other under the deck for added strength. This is a good idea for larger ships.
I installed the shafts today. I know I am going to regret using such large props but they were on hand. I will go with a sintra deck and I will check ways to reinforce it. I always use some brass tubing for cross support. I may not have any choice in my placement of guns. I have at least one coil magazine cannon to use. It could go in as a stern sidemount, but I really need to check what I have laying around. On my old Invincible both stern and bow gun were in the wing turrets, so I know it is a doable thing. I don't think the stern wing turret is in a useful position (too far forward) on this ship however. The bow wing turret certainly is.
If you were to angle that "stern" gun off 15 degrees in the wing turret it might serve as a ghetto side mount. I'm considering angling the stern gun in "Q" turret on my Invincible in just that manner.
