It was suggested to me by a friend that before I encompass myself in the complexity of a warship that I perhaps build a merchant ship or something simpler, to get familiar with the process with a little less loss of money if I fail. What do you think?
Oh, and the term merchant ship is replaceable with other types like troop carrier, repair ship, seaplane tender, etc. If you reply please give a suggestion. I think seaplane tender or troop ship sounds interesting.
Some 'merchant' ships can also be RC combatants. I sell a hull for HMAS/HMS Albatross, build as an Australian seaplane carrier in the 1930s and armed with several 4" guns. During WWII it was transferred to the Royal Navy and thereafter used as a fleet repair ship. As an armed seaplane carrier it would be a 1.5 unit Gunship/Other under IRCWCC rules and as a fleet repair ship would be a convoy (target) model. Really interesting bulged hull of about Liberty ship size. Check out the images of the 1/1250 model sold by Neptun/Navis. Photos of the real ship are easily found on line.
Hrmm, it costs about the same to build an unarmed warship as it does to build an unarmed merchant/convoy/whatever. Hull, radio, mutters, rudder servo, misc bits and pieces such as pump, ESC, wiring, brass bits are common items to both warships and merchants. Perk of spending the money and time on a warship is you can arm it later. Depending on the format you intend to play in, a merchant may or may not be of any use down the road if you travel to a battle. If you spend the time and money on building a merchant, you still need an armed combatant if you want to play, so you still need to build a warship.
The rectangular opening in the upper deck is the hatch for lifting seaplanes from the hangar deck. The round opening forward is the base of the catapult, not fitted yet. The forward of the 3 cranes looks incomplete and the AA guns near the aft pair of cranes are missing so this is probably a very early photo of HMAS Albatross.
@Pop Bottle If it's rookie friendly I'm all for it, sure is a sleek looking boat. I might not buy the hull, just the plans perhaps, but we'll see.
The hull would be $90 US plus shipping. It's short enough to be sent by Canada Post Air Mail, likely for under $30 US - won't know the exact amount until it's boxed and weighed, which I could do this weekend. If you buy a hull you won't need to buy any hull or superstructure plans. There are multiple photos and detailed colour drawings of HMAS/HMS Albatross and its superstructure on the internet. You could print the drawings and scale them to match the 1/144 hull length.
Great hull photo and one I've not seen before. My hull mold was built using Royal Australian Navy plans provided by an Aussie Big Gun modeller. Even as a RC noncombatant it's a really neat looking ship.
And all the portholes! As an old DD sailor, I couldn't imagine working on one of these old boats before forced air ventilation and A/C. I've just lost 5 pounds in sweat just thinking about it.
There was a you mean there are people still alive that remember a time before A/C on ships?! Har har har
