New local battler in the ATL bought this ship second hand and it needs some TLC to get it ready for the Memorial Battle. He is bringing his own electronics guy, so no shipboard or shipyard fires during the refitting session. The plan is to get it reliable, looks can come later. 1. Plans ordered from Floating Drydock. The deck has seen better days, going with an all new lightweight fiberglass deck. Tongue and groove on one side, magnets on the other. 2. New BC gearbox 3. New subdeck (fiberglass of course) 4. Dry box, the one currently in the hull is less than ideal. 5. Drag Props (brass and cast) 6. Clean up any leaks on the guns. 7. Batteries (no idea yet) - open to suggestions 8. New balsa and silkspan 9. Brackets to hold the guns 10. New rudder servo and bracket/gears Superstructure is made of foam, will see if it needs to be lightened any, ABS will work if necessary. Already has a williams light regulator. Viper Marine 20 for a 550 motor, good enough? Kips came with the kit, will test to make sure they are still good. BC large pump with 550. So, this will be a quick rebuild but let the discussion begin on a heavy cruiser and what we can do to make it a decent first run for this new captain. The suggestion box is open!
Here is what we have to start with on this build Number one requirement is reliability, and judging from these pics we have a little work to do. The original list still applies in this case if we want a good outing for this ship. Boat came with an SLA, he has his own batteries (has been sailing ships for years) so we are good with power. Staying with brushed motors and 550's, so no new tech (future upgrade possibly). Will keep the shaft and prop combo (another area for future upgrade- could go with a bigger prop). Same with the rudder (better shape/placement). Going to remove the majority of the water channeling, not needed in a cruiser other than a few key areas. If you are fighting this cruiser in a regular fast gun battle, you should not be taking a ton of damage (unless you lose power). Batteries will be placed in the hull with Velcro - simple and effective. Looks like we need a hold down for the bottle as well. Will do a bracket to elevate the bottle (to help prevent freezing) and use Velcro straps. One area that is throwing me off is the barbets, they look over sized in relation to the turrets. Or it could be the turrets are undersized. I like to use a WTC for my electronics, suggestions on a box for this ship? I was thinking a pelican box (I think a 1010). http://www.pelican-case.com/pelmiccas10.html
I know he's done RC boats before, he drove a beautiful Arleigh Burke DDG model around at our last battle. If he's got the time, then by all means. I'll still try to get the Foch battle-ready as a backup. From the pics I've seen, the barbette does not extend past the turret's edges. So I guess you guys will measure that and figure it out. Since you're doing a new deck, that makes fixing it easy.
I know he's done RC boats before, he drove a beautiful Arleigh Burke DDG model around at our last battle. If he's got the time, then by all means. I'll still try to get the Foch battle-ready as a backup. From the pics I've seen, the barbette does not extend past the turret's edges. So I guess you guys will measure that and figure it out. Since you're doing a new deck, that makes fixing it easy.
Plans came in from the Floating Drydock, very nice and lots of detail. Will get them re-sized and ready for tomorrow's build session.
Hooah! There will be a parallel build session in Statesboro, going to work on getting the parts into Zack's von der Tann in time for the battle
Great build session, as this is a build log for the Prinz we will just stick to the pictures. After deciding where everything should go, the bottle holder was created out of fiberglass board. Old deck, this just was not going to cut it so the decision was made to replace with a fiberglass sub deck and top deck. Using 1/8 board to keep the weight down. The large circular objects are magnets, great method for holding down the deck, just not that great in execution on this boat. What's left of the sub deck. \ Dry fitting the sub deck, as the hull and plans were not exact, a reasonable compromise was achieved. Found one of the old AR196 that I am donating to the project.
Support rails added to the bottle holder, this view is from the bow looking aft. All sub deck has been removed. The stringer is balsa that was never epoxied, that will have to wait for another refit. Time to make the aft deck step, this helps in stopping water from passing the pump and rushing to the aft part of the ship. This "Knuckle" causes the water to pool near the pump. Same idea applied to the bow, there was already foam in the hull, I just covered it with 1/32 fiberglass board. Still need to add the blast shield, will use 1/8 fiberglass to prevent through the bow shots. Back to the stern, I prefer to use foam-it 10 as it is closed cell and will not absorb water and is easy to cut with a serrated knife. Filled and cut/sanded. This area has a positive slope to the bow to help promote water flow to the pump. Covered with 1/32 fiberglass board. This stuff is so thin it is easy to cut with scissors. There is still a lot to do in this area, the rudder servo and rudder post need to be installed so this flat sheet will get cut up a little bit. This is the filler I prefer to thicken the west system epoxy. makes it into a paste and this helps it hold it shape when attaching the board to the hull. Make sure to rough up any of the fiberglass hull so the epoxy has something to "bite" to.
Bottle hold downs installed, a Velcro strap on each side will help hold the bottle in place so there is no fatal shifting of weight. Note that the bottle holder has the bottom cut out to help water flow, don't want to water stop and add weight. Bottle in place. Sub deck cut out and tacked in place with super glue. Do not need access to the bow area, so that part will remain solid. Clamps to hold down the stern water channeling while it sets. Deck epoxied in place, next is to work on the top deck. Water channeling will be at a minimum due to time constraints, this could be added back in future rebuild.
Dry fit of the deck Cutting out the rails One section in (stern) All sections in, epoxy and filler used to fill the gap. Internal bow blast shield in place.
Nice! Do I want to know what the large sheets of fiberglass panel cost? On McMaster they're pretty pricey.
Cut the barbets and installed them to the deck. Will dremel out the inside and reinforce with epoxy and fiberglass cloth. The material is Lexan, should hold up just fine to BB hits. Deck sanded and a primer coat freshly sprayed to see the defects. Rudder post re-installed, new servo holder made with aluminum angle and the gears mesh perfectly.
Clark, Nice! Do I want to know what the large sheets of fiberglass panel cost? On McMaster they're pretty pricey. http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/119/3606/=muyhdj 1/16" Thick, 12" X 24" - It's 9.28, considering you don't need to waterproof, I think it is great for the build.
