Ok, so I thought I'd finially give this a whirl. I've been a long time follower of this hobby and have been reading up on every article I could find for the past several years. Now I think I'm gonna try an take a crack at it. First a little bit about me. I am a Southern California boy born and raised. I am in college at the moment at Norwich University in VT, my major being Studies of War and Peace. I am in Naval ROTC and I just recently signed my contract papers with the US Navy, so in about 3 years I'll be a commissioned officer going, of course, Surface Warfare. I am also a certified advanced open water diver, should ships need search and recovery. I've decided that my first ship is going to be an LST built to Big Gun standards. Why an LST and BG? Well, I've heard it best to start with a convoy ship and to me, its more interesting than an APA or an oiler. And as for the BG, I've never really liked the fast gun groups, I just like realism better. After that I was thinking of an Alaska class. Iowa's have been way overdone, and I never really liked the other WWII BB's. My dream ship is the Montana, but since that was never laid down I'm a little out of luck. It just seems like the ideal BG ship to me and I love the way it looks. So I guess where I stand is that I'm on my own until the South Coast Battle Group starts up again, if it does. At any rate, I'm gonna have some fun because if nothing else there are some public ponds in San Diego. No Battling, just cruising. My last thought, where is the best place to get plans for what I need? I've heard the Floating Drydock is pretty good, but BDE sells them in 1/144 scale, as well as George Goff. I just want crisp clear plans that leaves little to the imagination.
Welcome! You're not out of luck though, I am pretty sure in big gun Montanas are legal. So, IIRC, there's no reason why you can't build one. I think you'll find most guys will say "run what you brung", regardless, as long as it meets penetrability and speed rules. Mike D
Plans-wise, I'd recommend Floating Drydock or BDE. Career-wise, I'd recommend Submarine warfare. Surface ships really are just targets. Free tip for the budding SWO: if you have 4 Burkes screening a CVN about 4 miles out, don't have all of them go active at the same time... Some scurrilous SSN will drive right under you at 150 feet, and come to PD 2 miles from the carrier, take some glorious full-color photos, and drive away laughing. But all intra-Navy joshing aside, welcome to RC naval combat! For the LST, if you go to www.mwci.org and click on the "ships for sale" button at the top, there is an LST hull someone is selling for (i think) $50. I'd snap it up before someone else does. As far as battling, why not go fast gun for now, since there's a fast gun club in your area? You can always overhaul and refit for big gun later.
Going to school in Vermont? You should consider 1/96 scale and battle with the rest of us in Mass. Either way, welcome BTW, you should check out Battleship cove in Fall River.
You may enjoy these photos of Rob's LST in the WWCC (my club, near San Jose, CA). You are always up north with us. Last I heard, SCBG is still active, but the membership had dropped, including the guy who maintained the website. I'll see what I can find on the Big Gun Yahoo group.
LOL Me and my big mouth... I reread his post, and he'll be in VT at school, not in CA. Got distracted by the thought of a youth going astray (i.e. SWO) If you're up there, try Battlestations 1/96! Maybe a Gearing DD for the budding surface warrior!
Thanks guys for the warm welcome. I purchased 1/144 LST plans and 1/96 Alaska plans from the Floating Drydock so those should be in this week. Thanks to Tugboat, I got in contact with the guy selling the LST hull and we got a deal. I'm going to try my hardest to get it driveable (running gear installed) by the end of the month. I'm not going to mess with the forward ramp for a while as I'm keping it simple, but that is where I'm heading after I talk to Rob and see how he has his set up. Oh yeah and I found out that th SCBG does have a new site...its just not finished yet. Visit this site @ Tugboat: I've been on plenty of subs before and the new Virginia class are pretty darn nice (8 computer screen and 2 joystics control everything!), but they are just too darn small for my tastes. And besides, I'm at the age where I might get into a new DDX. Can't pass that up [] @ Mark: Now that I know what Battleship Cove is, I'll talk to my ROTC XO and see if we can arrange a trip down there. So if you see about 10-20 Norwich Cadets, you know who sent them.
Happy to help! The drive gear should be simple enough, and most people don't put in a functional bow ramp so don't feel bad about not doing it right now. 1/96 Alaska plans You going for Battlestations? (glee!)
