Seeing the fiberglass deck at first I thought this was the HMS Roberts I started to build many years ago. The deck was constructed the same way I make them for my RC combat models. My HMS Roberts was the first hull from the mold I made in the early 2000's and later sold to Strike Models. The design of the deck is almost identical to mine except for the rudder access hatch, but my hull was cut out with the ribs in a slightly different pattern. I might have sold the hull to Marty in 2001 or 2002, along with the fiberglass octagonal barbette; the 15" turret looks like one from the mold I made for 15" monitor HMS Terror. Marty had seen the NABS HMS Roberts in action during Cannats competitions in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I'd sold my Roberts with most of the internal gear installed because I decided to build the smaller Class 1.5 monitor Gorgon, which has a stern gun and about the same diameter turning circle as Roberts (~4'). Roberts was owned by several NABS members and is rumored to still be in the area though I've been unable to contact the last known owner. Marty bought one of my fiberglass kits for HMS Gorgon/Glatton after Gorgon defeated his WWI Prinz Eugen in 1:1 combat at Cannats; he defeated Gorgon in a rematch the next year. I don't think he ever built the Gorgon. The kit included the hull, 6" and 9.2" turrets, spotting top, armored control tower, and first two levels of the superstructure. All of the Gorgon molds were also sold to Strike, something I regret now that I'm almost ready to retire and could resume hull production - about 15 of the hulls sold by Strike came from molds I'd made. Yesterday I bought more plans from Profile Morskie and plan to produce more heavy and light cruiser hulls plus carrier HMS Hermes after retirement in a few months.
I always appreciated your hulls Bob, so I look forward to seeing what you come out with. Predreadnoughts are popular now because they can mount 1 sidemount, so there would probably be a decent demand for some of them. Hopefully you can make a battle in the US soon. I got the Roberts out on sea trials round 2 today. Additional weight on the bottom helped, still rolls a bit. Just a few finishing touches remaining until she's battle ready View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msKTh6KiMcs
Looking good! Rob Clarke, a former NABS member, sent me many plans including predreadnoughts last summer. I have plans for two Italian predreadnoughts and a few Austrian and Russian ships. I need to finish the plug for Java/Sumatra before starting anything else but have incoming plans from PM for HMS London and Kent (Counties with bulged and unbulged hulls), and a Spanish CL.
The 3 monitors that got the 18" guns made for HMS Furious had a pair of 12" guns from Majestic Class battleships as the original main armament and those were retained. The 18" gun could only be trained a few degrees to each side so would not be allowed to fire aft or forward as I understand our rules. This Class of monitor is very small so I didn't make a hull mold for it. Even the 9.2" gun monitors HMS Gorgon and Glatton have more internal room and displacement, and would turn far better (the models have a 4' diameter turning circle). Lord Clive and her many sisters and near sisters had extremely poor steering due to the blocky hull shape and reduced flow over the rudders.
