with light cruisers and destroyers, they only have one cannon that fires. My question is, how do you aim at a ship when all you've got is a songle shot cannon in the stern?
I am recommending in the strongest language I want to use to someone under 18: DO NOT TRY TO BUILD A FREAKING DESTROYER! NOT FOR SEVERAL YEARS!! There, simple and to the point. If you build a cruiser, aim the guns out 5 or 6 feet, that gives you enough room to not get into a trap. But honest to God you have no IDEA how hard it is to get a destroyer working in this scale. Do something "big enough", but not "too big".
Hi there Tugboat, Please excuse my recent post. i wrote it, not him. I personlay like smaller ships such as destroyers and light cruisers. My son Has Told me before that these are not good starter ships. They have a narrow beam and are difficult to Build. He wants something bigger and a bit slower, such as a Des Monies. or his personal favorite: a North Carolina. Sincerely, Jorge
Hi Jorge, no problem. I think it's safe to say that the prevailing opinion is that a heavy cruiser or battlecruiser would be the ideal beginner's ship. That's not to say that it's inherently lesser than battleships. A fair number of very experienced guys run battlecruisers and cruisers, and do a lot of damage. If he's dying for a North Carolina, then go for it, just understand that you'll need to help him a lot with it. They're good ships, and do a lot of damage and handle reasonably well. Cost-wise, they're a bit more. The running gear isn't significantly different, mainly the cost difference is the hull (a little bit more) and the guns and gas system (2 or 3 more guns, plus valves for them). Finances-wise the good news is that building one of these the right way takes a period of time (working on weekends, it took me 4 months to build my Vanguard from scratch. Using a fiberglass hull would speed that up). The money gets spent over the course of that time, not a whole bunch all at once, which is good. The radio will run from $160-$200 if bought brand new. Valves aren't too bad, the cheapest method will probably cost around $200 (~$130 for a cruiser), batteries for a battleship that size probably between $30-$50; for a cruiser heavy enough to run lead-acid batteries they'll run around $15-$20. Figure between those extremes for a battlecruiser. As for speed, I wouldn't really think of a Des Moines as "slow" per se... They're faster than the fast battleships (like the NC). They are one of the best beginner ships around. The battlecruisers are good, also, but not really any hulls available for American ones (we didn't build many of them, which is probably a good thing given that half of Englands BCs blew up spectacularly from "lucky shots" in battle. They do much better in our hobby, though. Lack of explosives probably helps. If you want to build a light cruiser, there are some that are more friendly than others for builders. Which one(s) do you like?
Well Tugboat, I'm very intrigued with the Mogador And The Captain Romani Light Cruiser. Im A fan Of italy itselfy.
Those would both be tough, Jorge... I'd go with the Capitani, if only cause it can weigh a little more @ 5.5 pounds. It'd be tough to build that light, but possible. A Palmer Pursuit "Rock" regulator would be $50 and weighs 3 ounces, and you screw a CO2 cartridge into it (instead of the huge and heavier CO2 tanks that bigger ships use). I'd buy a 400-size motor and one of Greg's cruiser gearboxes (the link is on the suppliers page... Basin Shipyards). I have 3 of them and the are ARTWORK. Nice and light, and they let you drive both shafts with one motor, saving even more weight. If you guys can make one of the Orlando battles, you'd not regret it. There are people there who have been doing this for years who love to show off their work, and help avoid the mistakes they've made
My son has told me before that this Des Monies thing is a really good ship. But he says that the North Carolina he would enjoy much more. Should i let him buy the NC? And With The cruiser, you're saying that thry're just not good ships to start with, correct?
The thing with the Des Monies class is by our rules it is almost 16lbs as compared to the 5lbs of the other 2 ship u said. Another good thing about the Des Monies is that is a 3.5 unit cruiser so it can have lots of good setups. You could so things like making it a dual stern gun and 1 unit pump or u could have a single stern and a single bow gun, or u could make a triple stern and a .5 unit pump. That’s the nice thing about the 3.5 unit ships is that u might decide that since say u have had the ship for a while and u have been using the 1 front one back set up for a while and want change it. All that you would have to go is to buy and few need valves and bam u got a dual set up. Then again u might wana go up from having a dual stern to a triple buy a gun and the valves that u would need for it and bam there u go again an almost new ship, the only down side to an triples stern is that you can only have a .5 unit pump. Right now I have 3 ships on the go I have a Von Der tann that is ready to go it is a very good rookie ship as with a unit 4 ship u can now have sidemounts the only problem here is that its cramped inside the hull I also have an new jersey on the go witch is a huge ship and I will not be fighting with it till I get some practice in on the VDT, and lastly im building a Admiral Graf Spee witch is a 3.5 unit cruiser that im gona give to my dad to get him started. So I would say the factors to look at for your sun is first what ships he likes (If he doesn’t like that ship then it’s a total waste of time and money) second how well it performs in combat (some ship just don’t perform in combat as well as others) third is construction (the bigger the ship the more work but most ship 10lbs and smaller ull start to find that ull be having trouble getting all ur stuff in the ship and not being over weight)
If he really wants a NC, and you'll be there to help him, then go for it. The Des Moines is a better beginner ship, but having a ship he really wants is important too. No point in building a ship he isn't happy with. Another factor is, with all due respect to your son, up till last night, we didn't know how involved you were and willing to help Having you involved makes it a slightly different proposition. If you want to build a cruiser, I'd recommend building a bigger ship with your son, first, to get a feel for construction techniques and get some ideas for your own ship. If you like Italian, the Andrea Doria is a good choice. She's speed 26 which sounds slow, but then the enemy has to come to you If you want an Italian cruiser, the Zara class has potential, but there are no fiberglass hulls for that ship, so it'd have to be built from scratch. Not impossible, just takes longer.
Well One thing With having A feel For a ship and then buying one is that i dont want 15 different ships on shelves in our home. HE's told him mom about this hobby and she's limiting him to... One ship... That's why he wants that particular ship ( the North Carolina ) Because He likes it, Its got a good speed, and he thinks It just looks cool overall.
If thats the case and ur willing to learn and help him then he should get the NC it will be a bit steeped of a learning curb but i will work out in the end.
ya i think that might be the batter idea in not a "bad" new ship i think that hardest thing is that the gun system is a bit harder to make but not that much. and if Its his one and only then ya I would get that one Might as well get a ship he likes like is said if he dosent like the ship then whats the point.
Yeah you're right, He wont have another one for a while... so might as well give him a ship that he will enjoy.
