Personally, it seems very similar to the Iron Duke which is a pretty popular allied combatant that is faster (Orion 28s vs Duke 26s) and also gets more units (Orion 4.5 vs Duke 5) at a very marginal size increase. Same gun layout, very similar visual style, same prop/rudder arrangement. Not sure how many you'd sell, at least personally I would do the comparison and pick the slightly larger ship for its benefits. But hey, who knows, build it and they will come right?
I’m thinking much nicer beginners boat with no casements to cut & skin. Should turn inside the Duker being 3.5” shorter with nearly same beam/displacement and twin rudders.
The casemates aren't the biggest deal when skinning a boat, can be a pain to cut out, but otherwise not a big deal. If a rookie can build a boat at all, he/she can figure out the casemates. My main concern is its very similar to the Duke. If you wanted to build a mini-duke, I'd check out HMS Erin. I have heard of a few of them battling and there was no negative reputation I can recall. It should be an even better HMS Orion, shorter, tubby-er, some casemates to add impenetrable space, etc.
Indeed. Here is HMS Monarch in dry dock. Port rudder is in heavy shade but visible. Rudders are close together in line with center props. Should turn on a dime.
The British dreadnoughts were almost exclusively twin rudder. Notable exception is the Agincourt, but remember she was supposed to be Brazilian...I mean Turkish... 4.5 units and 28 seconds means she will play with the German dreadnoughts but with a larger hull without casemates. Very pretty ship though.
And HMS Agincourt had 7 turrets! But, HMS Erin would probably be more popular with the fast gun crowd. PS. I'm not a fan of the bow on the Battler's Connection Iron Duke and people have re-done it nicely. I'd buy a "repair" kit for it ... Hint : P
I'd probably build an HMS Erin if there was a good fiberglass hull for it. Looks like it could be a pretty nice little 4.5 unit slugger.
I’m not a fan of cartoon model ships period. I’m currently analyzing all ships being offered to this market and frankly am appalled at the lack of very basic details that are so easy to incorporate yet are missing more often than not. In time, I will be offering detailed alternatives for all vessels offered in all classes at far more reasonable prices. Already working on a North Carolina; Seydlitz; DKM Scharnhorst; and R&D is wide open for many more But for now, I believe the Orion to be a solid contender in class 4 and my son has been promoted to project manager for this one. Congratulations to Orion... he’s not your average teenager.
Break this down for me... the Dukers .5 extra units simply gets a bigger pump... which it’s gonna need to pump out all the water from Orion turning inside the Duker filling her with holes. Meanwhile the Duker uses its extra 2 seconds trying to out run the turning radius of Orion’s devastating quad stern barrages. But that’s just a theory.
It's just a theory, you're right. If I was going to build a British DN to sell, I would look at what was already available on the market and either try to do it better, or different. Different could be Orion, sure, but it's very nearly the same to Duke. If you were going to do Orion because it's smaller/potentially more maneuverable, just go all the way to HMS Erin for the maximum size decrease while maintaining Orion's characteristics of 4.5 units, 28 sec, twin rudder. I was offering you an opinion. It's a marginally smaller Iron Duke that loses half a unit, 2 seconds of speed, and impenetrable area for no real gain in my opinion. If you built that boat with a quad stern setup and a half unit pump at 28 seconds you would surprise someone with it once.
I do appreciate your opinion. My “theory” is a bit tounge in cheek... I’m an aspiring comedian. My son is named Orion... he wants to build this boat. I asked if it’s a good boat. Not the best boat ever, just good. That’s good enough for us. It’s the only class that shares a name with my son... Now, had I named him Erin... How about rotating/depressing quad stern guns that are synchronized to focus fire together from two turrets mixing trajectory angles and cover all three allowable quadrants? .... still only surprises them once. Lol The real surprise will be the missing Co2 bottle. Lol
That is a perfectly acceptable reason. Building the boat because it shares your son's name, I understand. Anything else, not worth the debate. That's easy enough Rotation and depression on your quad stern could only ever be in the 30* stern arc. If you left the stern arc with either turret, (Assuming two turrets with two cannons each) you'd violate the rules by having a dual sidemount. And yes, even with a super-secret-non-pneumatic-cannon at 28 seconds with a quad stern and a half unit pump, you'd be a one trick pony. I'd suggest building literally any ship in the traditional fastgun fashion using traditional techniques. Battle it a few times. Then go nuts with whatever gadgetry you'd desire. I'm not trying to shoot down your ideas, plenty of people think I have stupid ideas all the time and I still do them. Look at half the ships I've battled. I'm just suggesting it because you'll understand what an actual battle is like.
Again my failed attempt at comedy. I’ll go back to sniffing glue now. ... thanks for coming, I’ll be here all week.
Sorry, sarcasm is hard to interpret via text. Too many people have suggested similar things seriously for it to be taken as immediate sarcasm.
Yeah, its usually serious. My nephew is named Orion, but alas, he's in to trains and Police right now.
I’m an unusual fellow. Your nephew would love a Dreadnaught with his name on it.... a good uncle would buy him one. (Drumroll....ba-dump bump)