Well I don't think any of you will remember me, I was the guy who tried to do HMS Tiger a while back while I was in school. As one could have predicted, that did not go so well. Fast forward to now, and I am happily settled into a nice pair of jobs and am back to exploring this. I was hoping for some (most likely reaplication) of advice on jumping in. Just because I know people will ask, I'm located in Oregon. So while there is a club within reasonable driving distance (WCC), its not really close enough that I can make lots of trips. I have two plans left from my previous attempt, the sleek HMS Tiger and the tubby little USS Mississippi pre-dread, both from Mr. Goff. While I do want to build these, I think it may be a little much for starting out and I dont want to repeat last time. Here is what my thinking is on really getting started on a hull, and more importantly finishing it. --I kind of have a lack of tools, most importantly detailed cutting ones. So whether I go for Fiberglass or Wood, I need to invest a bit of cash. Speeking of building materials... ---I feel more comfortable working with wood as opposed to pre-made Fiberglass hulls. My guess is that buying some additional plywood to recut a rib that was misformed is easier then doing something similar to a Fiberglass hull. But of course nobody ever makes mistakes like that. ---So I guess that means I would need a scroll saw. I have looked around a bit and found this Dremel one. I like it because it does not need a huge surface, which is nice. Does anyone have experence with this modle or oppinions on another one? --I think going for one of RCENGR's laser cut kits is a good idea at first. That would allow me to work on some other aspects of a combat ship first and spend the effort of practicing on rib cutting on something more forgiving, like the Liberty Ship plans that are avalible. While I know the Balitmor is the most tested of these kits (but I would build it as CA-122), Im not really a fan of treaty-era cruisers or there decendents. Has anyone ran a New York/Texas? I recall seeing that nobody had finised the kit, but any others out there? How does it compare to the lauded Iron Duke's? Any other advice? Thanks in advance.
Well good to hear your back. On tools I would peruse craigslist or garage sales. To make it easier you could always go fiberglass hull and get some time in with reinforcing the ribs. Again scroll saw. craigslist And yes you can't go wrong with RCENGR's kits. A+ Advice...just keep plugging away. That's what I do. 3 ships that have not touched water. Getting close.
Well, if you are near enough and play by WCC rules, the mackensen is allowed per local rules(shameless plug on my part) mark makes the texas whcih for wood bb's might be decent. I hope to be doing a run of Provence (french Bretange class) kits around christmas time if I can get the design done by then. As far as builds, I was die hard fiberglass until I built my wood Littorio (NOT a good beginner ship IMHO), I found that the costs were comparable as was the ease (it was just a different ease between the two) then there are a good selection of glass hulls from strike, battlers connection and if you don't mind the shipping, browning shipyards If you are not cutting major components you really don't need a scroll saw. they are also readily available from local stores, so you can wait till you really need it. You do need standard hobby stuff, knives, adhesive, etc. but the particulars depend greatly on which hull you are going for. Fiberglass requires tools to cut the glass, wood uses somewhat different tools.
And if you haven't checked it out yet, HERE is Tugboats excellent build on an entry level ship using the most basic tools and built on a budget that most can afford.
Well if I'm going that rout, I always have my Mississippi Pre-Dread prints. I'm glad I had the foresight to get those scanned at work (the perks of working in construction). Let me see if I can get the ribs done up and what issues that gives me.
So after some thinking, Im going to persue the Texas. On paper, it seems to be a formidable ship. Class 5.5, so a good mix of guns coupled with a big pump. My only consern is that the speed is only 28 sec/100' as opposed to 26 (misses the cutoff by about 30' per Conways mesurments). I took the liberty of compiling a list of everything I think I need. Seeing as I am located closer to Strike Models, I have listed parts from there unless otherwise noted. Plans: The Historical Naval Ships Accociation has a good set of plans for both New York and Texas. But I also managed to locate an official diagram of New York's Measure 31a paint job. With that in mind, I will plan on making this ship the New York. Cost of these is free, asuming I don't have to do anything that a basic printer can't handle. Hull and Deck: This comes from RCENGR's catalog of laser-cut kits. Superstructure: Made by hand from plans. Running Hardware: the HDW-BC-ESC kit from Strike should handle making the ship move. The BB-ESC kit is also an opption. Pump: The basic large pump from Strike (PUMP-L1-6-18) seems right. Cannons: I'm thinking the BBSYST-4.5D set is the best call here. Put two cannons in a dual-fire mount in the stern, one in Q turret as a side mount and on forward in ether A or B turret. Regulator: REG-V-2 from Strike. Tank: I would like to go HPA rather then CO2 (tho it seems these are rather interchangable). Ether TANK-HPA-13 or TANK-HPA-48 should work. Does anyone have data on how ether of these would fit in something about this hull size? Looking at the Arizona kit, it specs out a 7oz cylinder, which is closest to the HPA-13. Other compressed Air hardware: I have a feeling Im missing some major things here. Help? Rudder: I only get one, so its ether make it myself of buy one. If I do just buy one, RUDR-300 seems to be the legal option. Servos: Here I am stuck. I think I need four, one for the rudder and three for accuators on the cannon. Im not sure what would be the best for each application. Any suggestions? Looks like the VS-2 should do the trick. Sould I be OK with 3? Turrets: The TUR-ARIZONA can be used with some modification. Does all this seem reasonable or am I barking up the wrong proverbial tree? EDIT: I took a look at what I had in mind in comparison to the USS Arizona Kit that Strike offers. Looks like I was close. Also I forgot to ask about Batteries. The Arizona Kit has a recomendation of 15-20Amp hours at 6 volts. Is this a resonable figure to aim at? Any recomendations on batteries?
Call stephen and talk with him directly to verify your setup and what he is selling one other bit of suggestion. if you don't already have any rc gear to drive servos, get an inexpensive servo driver (servocity) so you can set up servos without one.... then once you are ready to launch, buy your Transmitter/Receiver.
Texas should be a solid choice. My understanding is those guys up there are mostly running slow slugging battleships. 28 seconds isn't going to hurt you, that's what most of them should be running as well. Using the Arizona recommendation is a good start as they are very similar ships. One recommendation I would make though is to avoid putting a forward mounted sidemount in. Bow sidemounts suck. They get people sunk. You often get tempted to chase people to put that gun on target, and end up sucking on haymakers. It's like a moth to a flame though, you put that gun in, and you cant resist. The one great advantage the Texas has over the slightly faster Arizona and later ships is the turrets in the back. You've got em back there, use em. Make the other guy who has no choice but roll with a bow sidemount be the moth and shoot his bow full of holes with your aft mounted guns. I'd also consider putting your twin sterns in the elevated turret (X) angle them off 15 degree and down. These count as stern guns. On that ship, it's going to hit like a dual sidemount if you get a hold of someone well, and that's bad business for your target. It's not the conventional way of setting em up, but it's how I'd do it. Put a 75 round gun in Y turret on the other side, so that people don't want to roll up on that side either, and a 50rd in Q turret (or that bow sidemount if you /have/ to have it) and profit.
Before you buy an HPA setup, see what the other battlers in your area are using. If you've got the money to buy the air tank and refill station, that's not such a big deal. If you don't see what everyone uses so you're not left in the cold when you need to refill your bottle.
I got talked back into CO2 in conversing with Stephen. I will post my revised list later if anyone is interested in seeing it.
crzyhawk, is this the layout you are talking about? Red is twin-fire 50MAG, Green is single 75MAG, Blue is single 50MAG For any interested, here is the updated list based on my conversation with Stephen. All Strike Models parts. HDW-BB-ESC PUMP-L1-6-18 BBSYST-4.5D REG-V-2 VS-2 x3 (One rudder, One for cannons in XY, one for cannon in Q) TANK-7 TUR-ARIZONA x5 RADIOBOX-WL Two of the flat 10Ah cells. (My best guess, not confirmed by anyone as to practicality) Comments appriceated.
Ok. How would you go about fitting the two cannons into X turret? As far as I can tell, there is no way a pair of coil mags is going to fit into that barbette. Im not confident with modifying stock cannons on my first build.
Do you happen to know if the standard Strike 50-round cannons are going to be tall enough to go all the way up the X barbette?
Looking at the cannons more, I am unsure of how the best rout of modifying the stock straight mags to fire down as opposed to the zero-degree depression it looks like they are fixed at. I will ask Stephen when I hear back from him, but if its going to take lots of tweaking I might revisit how I will set the cannons up. I placed the order for one of RCENGR's kits today, so things should start rolling soon.
