That's great to hear about the old boats still out there. There what the hobby is so great about...longevity for your investment.
Hey Bob, I think the QE is up in the rafters at the Michigan shipyard (Chris and Dave) where they're sort of leaving it. The MWC has decided to finally ban 1/150th scale ships so her days as an active battling ship are probably drawing to a close. If you're interested and the IRCWCC hasn't banned 1/150th, you may be able to purchase her. The last time I saw her she was in excellent condition having recently gone through the "zombie process" where a wooden ship is soaked in West System marine epoxy. Adds at least a decade without good maintenance and several with good maintenance to a wooden hull.
That is great to hear. I built her with quality aircraft plywood and other materials. Still the same it is amazing that they are still around. Thanks for the info. That was a good boat.
The hull of the Mutsu was 8 when I bought her. That was at least six years ago and possible eight years ago. Internals didn't come with the purchase. The superstructure is coming apart again but the basic wood hull is solid with regular maintenance. She may hit 20 before I get the new hull built as it has sat on the shelf for five years with no work so far...
Curt, I think I completed the Warspite you're refitting in 2000 - will have to check its log book when I get home. I'm sure I had at least 2 years at the helm before it battled at the Rhode Island IRCWCC Nats in 2003. Warspite was my most successful combat model with medium speed but great manuverability. Every combat model I've built since 1996 is still around except for the first: monitor HMS Terror. Terror was one of the first NABS ships and remained in action for a decade before being retired and scrapped. HMS Courageous first battled in 1997 and is now a Treaty ship in the U.S. (12 years old this month). Espana is 11 years old. Though a nice little combat ship it's seen no action since it was sold in 2000 - it's owner wouldn't sell it back to me. Spanish heavy cruiser SNS Canarias was built in 1999 and is still battling in the U.S. it was the best cruiser I've built and was a lot of fun to operate. With it's high reserve buoyancy it was never sunk in combat and due to its speed took reatively little damage in most battles. Bob
Doesn't it suck when a fine fighting ship gets sold, and the new owner won't battle it? In 2007, the battleship Normandie was sold to a new member of the WWCC. Normandie had one of the finest combat records in the entire club, and was delivered in ready-to-run condition (just charge batteries, fill CO2 bottle, and go). The skipper and ship have not been heard from since. Attempts at communication get a "I'll show up soon" but nothing else. offers to buy back the ship are declined. It's a real pity, that was one awesome ship.
I was disappointed that the second owner of the Espana never used it. I tried to buy Espana back but he wanted to sell everything he had (12+ hulls and incomplete models) in one package. It was the first Espana Class hull from my mold, turned very well and had lots of impenetrable area with 20 casemates. It was such an effective little ship that no one would come near it after the first few battles. Unfortunately it was the only 28 sec ship on the water and couldn't catch anything except the 30 sec monitor HMS Terror. By the end of the first summer (1998) I knew I had to build something faster so I'd have targets to shoot at. SNS Canarias was finished by spring 1999 and was followed by Warspite in 2000, at which point Espana was sold, never to be seen again in the NABS fleet. Bob
KT in our club has a Espania, the few times I have seen it out it was nasty, so many guns in so small a ship is just........WRONG..... And someone is always silly enough to go past at least one or more of those guns in their high speed runs around the pond.
Bob your right. Warspite was made in 2000. I was there when you launched it for sea trials. Got the video of her first trial run at the Grove. I remember we were all very impressed with it's looks and handling. Then it went on to become Bismarck's Nemesis. The best action over the years was between Warspite and Bismarck slugging it out. Excellent combat ship. Espana another excellent Battling Ship. I saw it sink once and that was from a pump failure.Got video and a picture of that. Canarias was an excellent Cruiser. Nice handling and the large freeboard made a good target area but it was very seaworthy and could take damage well. I liked the unusual funnel shape it had. Courageous was an interseting ship. Very difficult to battle with but always challenging. It sinks great too. Loved pounding that ship. The format I desinged woud have made Courageous more effective with the limited 2 turrets. Good to see it's still in action. Warspite was your best ship Bob. It had the best all around capability of performance function and balance. You haven't built anything to date to come close to Warspite's combat effectivness and respect on the water. The mid range size battleships seem to work very well for your style of battling and Tactics and you proven many times that a smaller battleship used correctly can go toe to toe with the bigger ships and deal with the smaller ships. Maybe you should rethink your next project. It's not the same without you battling your usually Cunning and Tactics. I'm sure you can give the Axis there a hell of tough time. Warspite is still here partially gutted and need of battle damage repair and a refit of the cannons. Curt
What I find dissapointing is when I bust my butt to get a ship ready for the Captain and it ends up hardly used or sold shortly thereafter. It's turned me away from giving help or offerring assistance. This has happened to me many times. I will offer advice and some assistance as long as the Captain is willing to try and learn and help. These days I dont' have the time for that kind of assistance anymore.
