Having been duly challenged and the gauntlet thrown down, I will be building a 1/96 Schnellboot (aka an E-boot) for use in Battlestations! I can do this at night on my desk, as it's small enough the wife won't freak out. For the interested, the stats are: Length: 13.6" Beam: 2.1" Speed: 44 knots Machinery: 3 props and 3 rudders Armed with (in Battlestations!) 2 single-shot torpedo tubes I will be using my spring-powered torpedo launchers to save weight and space. Since they would have to be single shot under the rules, the limitation of the spring-powered launchers (only single shot) is not a limitation per se. For those who are unfamiliar with the clean lines of the Schnellboot (literally, Fast boat):
I will post pics and a description when I build the ones for the Schnellboot. I will be doing that and a more general How-To on my Model Warship U site (still under construction). But it uses pretty common springs and 1/4" I.D. tubing to fire a pair 1/4" ball bearings (legal in BaS!). Actuation is a servo pushing a trigger/trip device. I haven't tested penetration vs 1/8" balsa yet but I will be soon...
Make sure you include those extra covered hand-rails. I converted a plastic kit once, and found that the Schnellboot can be very wet even in 1:72 scale. You're going even smaller, so every extra bit of freeboard helps.
Probably need all the help I can get to avoid submarining. The scale plans show 1.75" of height max forward where the hull is highest. Go the plans all printed, and have the ribs glued to the wood. This will be a new experiment in lightweight building; the subdeck will be a composite structure based on 1/16" ply (because that's what was in the shop). Ditto the frames, only thickened on the hull areas where I have to hold balsa on! This is a night-time project, not to interfere with the Roma build on weekends.
Update: The tiny brushless motor is on its way from HK, the 1.5mm I.D. drive pinon (14 tooth) is here, as are the 3 larger (50 tooth) gears to go on the 2mm(!) driveshafts. Needless to say, the props and stuffing tubes will have to be custom made in the Tugboat shop. LiPOs from my 1/144 Gearing will be press-ganged into service about the Schnellboot when it runs. I have half a day off tomorrow and will post pics of the hull progress tomorrow night.
Not to be a killjoy, but have you given any thought as to how you will safely fire the torps? Even sitting still, the torpedo tubes on a schnellboot point above the horizon...
Not killing joy... already factored in, they're going to have as much downangle as I can get into them.
