Just when you thought it was safe.....

MORE STUFF!!!! AND MORE AND MORE!!!!

 

WHO DOESN'T LOVE STUFF?!?!?

 

Hal Jordan approves.... he is the two year old mascot of the new fleet! Kinda looks like he is thinking-
"Shoot these boats and see what a good clawing will do..."
If cats thought in human terms of course.... he was really thinking this is a comfortable place to sit, leave me!

 

Anyways.... that was my afternoon.... now.... to begin on Graf Spee! lol.... the ship yard is closed until next weekend hope you enjoyed the picks.

 

Awesome pics Captain, hope it was the lack of glasses that made those awesome Axis boats look like Allied scrap!!!
Graf Spee is a good boat, Steve always had fun with Lutzow.
Never know, there might be a sister for her here.
J

 

Hmm....interesting photos.
I see one of Ralph's mid-1930s era QE Class hulls, some of my QE turrets, and a forward superstructure that could be Valiant's post-reconstruction but isn't a match to the mid-1930s hull. It appears to be the same QE that was started in the Valley several years ago. It'll be good to have a QE back in the fleet.
Is that a Swampy North Carolina hull? Maybe Peter's best battleship being resurrected? And a Tennessee superstructure on the shelf??
Bob

 

Actually the superstructure i from the Sodak that I sold to Craig over a year ago.

 

Wow. Looks like the Stokamoto shipyard. A few projects to get going there. Looking forward to seeing these beasties finished.

 

So much for my ship recognition abilities! I thought something about the "NC" hull looked different.
Bob

 

Good to see you building up some ships Craig. I have to say, I would be going for the SoDac. Iits a great ship and it looks likes it is structurally finished already.

Tom

 

LOL
Good Eye Doc! I had actually hoped you'd jump in once you saw the pics! lol Yes you are correct about the QE. It is the one that has floated around the club the past several years. It has gone by QE, Malaya and Valiant.. but I think it has not made it to a battle yet. I plan on starting it as a runner and then decideding which format to build it under, IRCWCC or Treaty.... lol she will unfortunately be a later next year project , but, depending on the work that I can do on the others, the timetable may change. Yes the turrets are your design. OF COURSE! You made them for Chuck years ago.... now they are here... I'll pick your brain if you don't mind about the advantages and disadvantages with construction as you had great success with Warspite and I would love to duplicate some of that with this model.
Unfortunately the US hull is not the NC. I wish it was. I still regret selling that ship. There are a lot of fantastic memories there. That is a SODAK hull and superstructure. Also on the shelf for later 11'. The GS is the man focus for the winter. As is the large unknown project (can't show pics don't have it yet.... lol) but those will be on the water first. I plan on having a car shortly so trips to the grove will be a thousand times easier and less expensive.
Once again a thousand thank-yous Bob for your response! Hope to chat again with you soon.

 

Thanks for piping in Piper!
The SODAK is a good ship.... not quite axis enough but meh! I do want to see if it handles better than NC did.... I do miss that ship..... it is my Black Pearl for sure!
Hope you are well pointy-stick-ed-one! You running he military in Ontario yet?
lol
talk to you soon!

 

Yes Stokomoto! I will be getting the fleet moving shortly! I am not as ... ambitious as some.... lol but I will be getting things ramped up as the space is ready and my work allows me my weekends free!

Go Stokomoto Go! love that pic of you with the flag.... lol.... did I give you that btw? I can't find it..... oh well....

 

Craig I don't have that pic. About the fleet you got plenty of time. My goal is to get my entire fleet on the water at least and running around. Got till NATS 2012 to get Mo ready. Lots of time to get the ship ready , tested and battle ready. Craig get the dremel Oscilator. It works great and you can remove all of that crap off the hull ribs and deck with it without creating dust. You dont' have to kill yourself to scrape off adhesives and caulking.

 

Hi Craig,
I thought it was Chuck's QE. Tom Cromwell and someone else (John?) owned the hull before Chuck bought it. If I were you I'd build it as any of the QEs in the mid-1930s. That would give it the trunked funnel but otherwise the superstructure would be much like it was at the end of WWI. I can provide you with detailed plans of the ss for Warspite at that time. The model would look very much like Norm Wasson's Barham, which was a beaut. (You didn't acquire a fluorescent and sequined Mogador too, did you?)
One problem I have with the Washington Treaty rules is the very wide range of ship speeds, based on real ship speed. That makes nearly all of the WWI battleships and armoured cruisers far too slow to effectively engage faster WWII ships. If there are no enemy ships in the same speed range you can't catch the faster opponents and they can easily run and gun you. Rob found this with his Konig and with about the same speed my HMS Minotaur was ineffective against Jay's Scharnhorst and Steve's Nagato.
I decided not to build Rodney as a Treaty ship because of it's low speed. The QEs are in the same speed range so are better used in IR/CWCC competition. Gorgon is OK in either style; because of it's exceptionally good turning ability it's a hard target for faster ships that try to run and gun it and it can catch convoy ships. IJN Ibuki is my next Treaty ship. It carries more guns than an IRCWCC light carrier and has decent speed.
Either GS or SD could be built for conversion between Treaty and IR/CWCC specs. Their speeds in the two styles are only a few seconds apart and easily adjusted with an electronic speed control, as Steve did with Nagato. Change speeds and pump outlets and you're set for either style.
I'd concentrate on the Graf Spee. It would be a faster build and the class has an excellent combat history in NABS. Good seaboats and teamed with another heavy cruiser can beat a fast battleship on points.
Bob

 

Graf Spee would be my choice too Craig. Get that running first then go with QE or Sodak. Both are excellent choices. I was thinking of arming my Graf Spee with tripples and a single bow gun for fun to see how it would work out. It's turrets are large enough to hold triple stern guns. Course I could build Graf for Nats also . Be nice to work as a pair of raiders and peck at the Sodaks.

 

Thanks for the advice guys! Curt I will have to look into that dremel bit.... sounds like a wise investment. You are right Bob it is that QE! It went from Chuck to a guy in Fredericton and I swapped him some comics for the whole thing, he had moved and had no space! Good deal for me! Paul brought me the Sodak which was originally Piper's and GS was one of the first hulls popped off Ralph's molds. I'll take your word for the Treaty conversion of the QE and that looking at the pics I have it would look sharp as the 1930"s version. As I said it may not be til late next year, I have to see how much time I have after christmas for building. The plans though I would be very interested in, I'll take you up on your offer to borrow/copy them as I don't have any plans yet, Thanks again Bob!

Oh yes. GS will be the first one off the line. Crappy Tire has a sale this weekend and I will see if they have the tools I need to continue construction. I also need some sintra as I am out. Conversion with a tweak of a speed control and a pump outlet eh? interesting......

 

Hey Craig if you need GS plans I can blow up the set here to 1/144 scale. Send it to ya. Makes a great Christmas present. Course if your bad I 'll have to smudge it with coal.
The plans not only include the line drawings and profile but it breaks down the entire superstructure and every little detail into seperate parts so it will greatly make buliding the superstructure a breeze.

 

Ahhh man thanks for the plans!!!!! very nice sets!!! I am getting inspired here!

 

..............Wow....................... has it been that long?

Time to get some rum and get posting.... where to start first..............