I developed the "$150 Rule" that gives a pretty good ballpark guesstimate: - $150 for a fiberglass hull - $150 per turret to arm - $150 for CO2 system - $150 for a radio - $150 for misc. including running hardware, motors, wiring, balsa, paint, etc. Using this rule, a "standard" 3-turret ship ought to run about $1050. If you plan on spending about this much, you probably won't be surprised very badly. Some items can cost more or less, depending on size (i.e. hull), number of barrels, size of magazine, etc. But unless you have a detailed bill of materials, the $150 Rule comes close enough for basic planning. JM
keep in mind that my ship is in 1/96 scale and has 13 operational turrets, 10 TT, and several other "special" features
Battlestations lets you arm EVERYTHING. My Tirpitz: 4 main turrets, 6 secondaries, 8 tertiaries, plus 8 TT.
Yeah, doubles, but the control system is still plenty complex. What parts of it exist (physically) are sitting on a breadboard right now. I've found that ExpressPCB's CAD program is handy for laying things out.
I am building her for Battlestations. The hull is not complete, but I am testing control systems when I'm tired from painting the new house, etc. The plug will lead to a 1/96 scale Bismarck hull that I will produce Probably the biggest I will make, until I do a Yamato. I wasn't going to do a Yammer, but there are some people out there who build large Yamatos, and I will have a full set of molds for highly detailed 1/96 Yammer turrets and some detail pieces. So someday. But after I get Mark's turrets done for his baby, I'm getting Tirpitz waterborne so we can have a grand battle in Louisiana (Battlestations guys, Mogami hull will follow the Tirpitz hull, don't fret) I am seriously considering getting a small boat trailer for Tirpitz, though. It's longer than the bed of my pickup by 2 feet and change.
Before anyone asks why I'm not planning to do American 1/96 hulls, the Scale Shipyard already has a large number of very nice looking ones I will do detail parts like turrets, quad Bofors, and 1.1" MG (Already done the research for them for 1/144, so why not do them in 1/96? The research is the hard part, scaling up and refining details is easy.
As far as kits go, there is the Prinz Eugen from Barnstormers and whatever you see on the Battler's connection website. That's it. Now, there are other suppliers of hulls, there are a few of those, but most of them do not make a "kit" so to speak. Even so, the "kits" I have seen aren't very detailed. You're going to end up doing alot of your own fabrication which ever route you go. Mike D
Then you wouldn't know what makes them work, and by extension how to maintain them. But that's just me. Mike D
