Posting my SMS Baden as a feeler for trade. It is almost ready for IRC battling, but it's at a point where to finish it up it is beyond my knowledge/skills, as well as kit having the tools, supplies, and time to get it done. The guns need to be worked on to get them firing properly. the bow sidemount is a bit hit or miss if it fires, and the 75 stern I haven't tested, but should be fine, it was a used gun I had purchased. The dual sterns will shoot the entire magazines, so they need to be tweaked to only shoot 1 bb per pull. Also they all need a good covering to protect from dings. The casemates need to be cut out and sheeted. Once that's all done. It should be good to battle. Trades I'm looking for are class 3 cruisers. Or any IRC 26 second + class 4 or 5.
After spending 8 or so hours today on one gun, if someone had a ready to go ship and wanted both the Baden and Bismarck, I would highly entertain the trade. Might even toss the Deutschland cruiser I have and all the parts I bought for it (when they arrive from BC, should be everything to put the ship together) in to the trade deal for a cruiser and a capital that works.
Honestly man pretty hard to find someone willing to trade a running ship for ones that need work. Heck I couldn’t find someone to trade me a smaller ship for my running Bismarck years ago. You should be able to figure out the guns or just buy a few new ones. Ether way you can figure it out your really close to being on the water. But if all else fails I consider trading you a destroyer that’s ready to go.
that's why its 2 for one or 3 for 2. Baden pretty much is good to go once the guns work, Bismarck needs a few things and will be going, and Deutschland just needs the labor, once my parts order shows up. The guns in Baden that I can't get to fire right are brand new, so not sure how buying more new ones are going to help any I'm just about to sell them all real cheap just to be done with the hobby. That's how frustrated I am with the damn things.
It's better to have one ship that works than three ships that don't. That said, I understand your frustration. We've all been there. Things don't always work, and stuff goes wrong/breaks. As far as your guns go, odds are you have something binding, but being 1000 miles away, I can't help you with that. It shouldn't take you 8 hours to debug a single gun, but ... You're not me, I'm not you. Honestly, my big suggestion would be to pick one ship and ignore the other two. A big battleship is a challenge for a new battler. That's why people typically recommend a class 3 cruiser for a starter boat. It's a lot easier to get 2 guns working than four. My other suggestion is to just go to a battle. People who are there will help you. They, and we all want to see you get out on the water and have fun. Sitting in your garage and OCD'ing over this or that doesn't get you out on the water having fun. My first ship had two guns that barely worked. It had universals that crapped out and started slipping after two days. It had a pump with an impeller that fell apart when it first took significant damage. I took it to Nats (1985) and had fun, and had a great time. Tom Jass helped me out with my pump. Carl Camurati helped me out with my stern gun (the bow gun was sorta okay). Steve Milholland helped me out with the universals. The people are what make the hobby great (or don't), much more than the boats. If you sit in your workshop being miserable, you're missing out on the best part of the hobby. The best part of the hobby is the friends you meet along the way. If I could help you out, I would. Heck, if you'd like to drive 1000 miles, I'd still help you out. But you'd be better off driving to Minnesota for a weekend, it's a lot closer. And they'd be glad to help you out too. You're *this* close. You can do it.
Weston, I didn't think about this the other day, but I could probably walk you through the troubleshooting with a video call. Might see something that has gotten lost in translation/texting. Just a thought. Drop me a line and let me know.
When I got into this hobby when I was 16 I knew it wasn’t a lone wolf kinda hobby. I had help at 16 with a local guy but he ended up moving away before I could finish my first boat. I fell out of the hobby at that point until I found this website and was able to connect with a Will T who is about 2 hours south of me but I was willing to travel. We met up and he helped me with my first ship sadly it never hit the water as a tree crushed it when it came through if my garage. I went to NATs last year and I had bought a Des Moines. Sadly the previous owner wired it backwards. Well Tommy Tanner told me to come to his hotel room with the ship and that night for hours we rewired the whole ship. Sadly something happened with the receiver and I never got to battle it. A few months later we were back in Bradford and I got my boat on the water only for the cannons to not work because they were dimpled at the top of the breach. Well again I took it to Nate G’s house and Steve A, Caleb, and Will T ripped my guns out and put brand new ones in while Rob Arena helped me solder up new leads for the electronics in the ship due to me finally switching to a multi board. Sadly the next day the boat didn’t work. What I am saying is that a ton of people are here to help you and work with you. So don’t give up there are plenty of people willing to help you and if you can definitely go to build sessions. Me still being a rookie I find that build sessions are the best way to learn things and honestly if you mess something up it is ok someone will be able to help you. Ask as many questions as you want. I do all the time because I want to make sure I am going about something the right way. A few weeks ago Will T and I just built my Rivadavia over two days from just a hull with the windows and guns installed. It does still need some kinks ironed out but it’s all stuff I can do on my own. So if you have a 4 day weekend that should be plenty of time for the guys to help you with your guns and test the boat out and trouble shoot any problems that may arise at all. So keep pushing and don’t give up. I know the hobby can be frustrating but a lot of people are willing to help.
I can't attest to being a rocket scientist or any more knowledge able about our hobby but next weekend and every other after I'm home we can attempt to brainstorm and build any time you want. You have my # video call any time you have questions if you want to. I won't turn you away. I have definitely been in your shoes.
