Hey all. I just got my HMS Indefatigable hull from Mr. Coles, and it is fantastic. The scale is great and the hull is nice and solid. I have no concerns about this think lasting for many years. He even put the armor plates for the wing turrets that were an interesting feature on this class of ship. Overall I am very happy with the hull. I would buy from him again without hesitation. Ok, back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Hey Cap, I know Ralph and he does a great job on every hull he produces. If he isn't happy with it, then he won't sell it, period. I also happen to know that the Indefatigable hull is the one he feels is his best, You made a very good choice J
Ralph and Bob have made excellent hulls for the hobby over the years. Their work is everywhere in the hobby. I have had the pleasure of seeing their work up close and it's great.
Ryan, I'm glad you saw the light & got a fiberglass hull for your first build... your wooden hull looks like the Indefatigable AFTER Von der Tann got through with her! Mr. Coles has been good to me (I have 4) & for that matter the hobby in general. His work is first class which I'm sure many of you know. Harry Hollins SCRAP
Ok, here are the pics of the ill-fated HMAS Australia that I was scratch-building. Perfectionism is a CURSE, not a blessing...
Is that balsa or plywood? Looks like it was proceeding well, what happened? Or should I not ask? God knows I have enough projects that end that way.
Tug, the frame and decks were made from 5-ply aircraft plywood. The lower portions of the hull that I was beginning to fill were made from balsa that I was sanding to shape. I was doing one side of the ship at a time with the block, and I noticed that the keel was taking on a curve from the pressure between the ribs. So, I cut out a little bit of one of the blocks and tried to bend the keel back a bit. Apparently I used WAY too much pressure and the whole thing failed catastrophically. I think I had too much other stress built up in the frame, as I had to make several alterations to get the scale and shape correct. There were also several weak joints from said alterations, so that just compounded the issue. Anyway, live and learn. I am going to finish up New Zealand, and then I am going to attempt another scratch build. I have a the plans for a few neat ships that do not have glass hulls, so I will probably do one of those.
I must get another of Ralph's Indefatigable hulls. I sold the first I got from him due to too many projects on the go but am ready to have a go at HMAS Australia. I'm surprised Ralph's sold only a few Indefatigables because they're a big improvement on the old SW Invincible hulls in terms of accuracy and have a little more internal room and displacement.
Not sure the armor area at the wing turrets are they way to go. I would move the two ribs closer so that they run up with part of the ribs covering the armor area and the other half covering the un-armor area of the hull. I'm not sure what I see is legal? How wide is the rib at the armor plate?
That plate sticks WAY out from the hull. Visible in any picture close enough to visually ID the ship in. Totally legit to put them in. I skipped it on My Invincible because I'm lazy and don't want to sheet around it. But totally legal.
Ralph has loaned me his Indefatigable mold. I'm waiting for the rain to stop so I can apply the gelcoat this afternoon. Kim won't allow hull making inside (which is understandable) so I have to use the front porch. Indefatigable will replace my 3.5 unit HMS Minotaur. It's about 6" longer but will turn better due to the dual rudders and has side mounts. Minotaur was fun to operate in squadron with Black Prince but BP has gone to Ontario and I need a new capital ship that's easy to transport.
I traded my HMS New Zealand that I was building to get a functional Capitani Romani. In October we are going to swap ships again, so the NZ will be back with me. I am going to finish that bad-boy (girl?) up and get it battling. Does anyone have a good set of plans for the super structure? I can't seem to find any that I think are workable.
There are good top and side view drawings of the Indefatigable Class in 'British Warships of World War I', by R. A. Burt. Variations between ships are shown in the drawings and photos. That's the source I'm using, plus multiple photos on the internet.
I popped my new Indefatigable hull out of Ralph Coles' mold last night. Beautiful lines - will be cutting the hull windows out this weekend.
