Well the post winter layup shake down continues. I had so far 2 runs with Bismarck, one with Yamato and just yesterday one with North Carolina. Report: Models in the shed full of thick wood dust from various projects father in law and I had going in the fall and winter. I need to get them scrubbed and vacuumed. Some small parts have fallen off or broke off from handling to and from from the shelf to the tables and from the shed to the car and so on. Bismarck.: Needs touch up paint around the superstructure and hull. Patches need to be painted over. Jack Staff need to be replaced. Gun range finder on secondary turret port side needs to be replaced. Life boats on both sides on the deck edge need to be replaced. The hatch pinched the foam lifeboats that many times that chunks are missing from them. BB cannons are firing well except for C turret. It is spurting. Gas cap is loose so that will be addressed. A upfeed hose tube popped off one of the forward straight mags in A turret. Pump had vapor lock from dust sludge that blocked the small vent hole on the side of the pump. Other than that the ship is in good shape. Yamato. Hull and superstructure paint job needed. Firing platform holding the servos need to be replaced. Will be switching her to ESC later this year. Rudder steering linkages will be upgraded and replaced. Need to replace the burned out lighting system . Need to switch out battery harness connectors with Deans connectors. Other than that the ship performed well. Cannons are firing well. Pumpworks well. North Carolina: She was stored in the house so had comparatively little dust on the model. Model ran well yesterday. First encounter with rough water. I FORGOT to completely waterproof the receiver and seal up the Watertight box. It had no lid cover. Water did get to the receiver and shut her down but not before I had a fantastic rough water sail with her. It performed beyond my expectations. Pump performed well. Other than that some minor details broke off. The receiver is drying out and I hope to get it working. Plan is to upgrade the AM radio to the 2.4 Ghz transmitter either Spectrum or other. There was a very large gash that penetrated the starboard side below the waterline. That was patched and will be painted over. Roma. - Still waiting to run this beast and see how it is. Plan on upsizing the rudder and it is due for a paint job. I may remove the BB cannon system and cannons and transfer the system into the Missouri. The plane and ensign staff on the stern will be replaced. Missouri. The ship will have new Traaxxis gear drive installed and new prop shafts. New planes will be ordered for her and the catapults will be repaired reinstalled. The model needs a dusting too and some internal work to accommodate the firing system. More details to be added to the superstructure. Montana - Still under construction. Fell behind due to life interference and bad weather. Budget concerns has me putting the smoke generator on hold and the rotating system for the 4 turrets. Internals are mostly in place and ready such as pump and drive system and battery tray. Rudders and linkages ready. Props attached and drag prop shafts and struts are in place. The weather is warming up slowly so once it warms up enough I can begin waterproofing the skegs and deck hatches and main deck. Meanwhile the other ships in the fleet need my attention.
Update on the post winter shakedown. Well after the rough water ride with NC the AM RX got a little wet. I completely forgot that the NC was not ready for big waves yet. I had tool dipped the receiver but only up as far as the plug ins. Ooops. Now I am trying to get my AR 600 RX to bind with my Spectrum DX5E Tx. That worked but now I need to get the ESC to connect with it. Missouri starboard engine woes continue'd. The model had the old BC gearboxes replaced with Traaxis. However after a short test run the starboard shaft gearbox had issues. Upon further inspection there was a slight bend in the drive shaft and the sleeves were a little too tight. I since corrected it but need to test run it again. If this fails then the MO is going to direct drive with ESC. Yamato had a good run. I had no Co2 to fire the cannons but it needs a paint job and the internals need to be upgraded. Bismarck also had a very good run. My old RX batteries are dead but I was able to get 4 new ones on Amazon and since used them. So far so good. That model too needs a new paint job and some repair as the friend's dog slashed the stern section. NC had a nasty large hole beneath the waterline too but I since repaired it. Unknown what caused it. Wolverine perhaps? Roma has yet to sail but she too needs a fresh coat of paint. Cannons will be removed and moved to the Missouri. I should be able to fully arm Missouri and have it ready for a Nats not this year but maybe the following year depending on the location. Wife owes me that trip as she wanted to go on a cruise again and Disney so that killed my plans for a Nats. However that is 2 for her and only 1 for me so it is my turn to choose the vacation and I want to be at NATS! Montana is proceeding sloolwy. Worse build year I have had yet. Life and weather and new job has certaintly interfered with the building. But I keep pushing forward. I am looking forward to the next projects which is VU and Tirpitz. Side project will be Nagato or the Rodney.
