Has anybody tried building one of the British Monitors? They might be hard to hit due to their low profile, but then they are also very slow, which would mean a sitting duck. Maybe having the gun low and close to the waterline would offer some advantage.
There have been two big gun monitors in the WWCC that I know of. The first was HMS Roberts. Her first battle she blew out an airline in port literally thirty seconds after the call to commence firing, spun around like a toilet bowl, and dropped straight to the bottom. Very amusing to watch. I believe it was caught on film by another member, but I have not seen the footage. The boat was sold down the line and wound up in Firepower Dan's hands, and he installed an air compressor system rather than the traditional CO2 bottle. He ran it in combat a few times, and people found it difficult to attack due to it's low freeboard and the torpedo bulge (which looks smaller than it really is, making people shoot high). The high gun could get a lot of depression, which made torpedo cruisers think twice before attacking. The second was a larger one built by Firepower Dan, I believe HMS Erebus. She also has an air compressor, but has not seen combat. She may have been built with the cannon from HMS Roberts. I believe there are other members of this board who have built and operated monitors in fast gun.
Yea, especially Bob Pottle, he used to make some nice molds and he has some nice pictures around, you just gotta search a bit or ask for them.
Both Bob Pottle and sinkin321 have run or are running monitors now. Either would be able to answer questions but I can tell you from experience they turn VERY well and are hard to sink, but they will go down...eventually. J
Yeah, I think HMS Roberts is on my wish list of projects in the (most likely very distant) future. Though slow and weakly armed, the maneuverability of these vessels sounds like a lot of fun.
HMS Roberts has been a solid ship in WCC. She is actually built with some of the middle pannels un-cut as an handicap for young battlers. She is currently being resheeted and will return this spring under the command of my 6 year old son. His brother battled her for a couple of years. With amazing manouverability and a point and shoot configuration, she is a much better ship for youngsters who are not up to trying to line up for a stern shot.
I had expereince working and running both of those models. I enjoyed them both and they do attract spectators interest. They are fun to sink too.
I don't know if a monitor would make a good first boat, but I think it would be cool to make one later on...
