I can sympathize with the casemate problem you have. Originally I had the deck of my Potemkin kit (within build tolerances of the Evstafi ) stopping about the same place. Then I realized that all those casemates along the side would have to be penetrable and I spent an entire afternoon re-drawing the ribs and deck. I'm not really fond of casemates...
@ James - I'll think about it! @ Mark - Yeah, they take some work, but done right they add a lot to the appearance. And a little BB-proof area never hurt, even if it's not anywhere that matters for sinking lol The funny thing looking at it is that when I built her (mid 2009), the concrete sealer was the new big thing for the water channel/ballast material. Looking at it now, I'm like 'WHY did I do this!?!?'... fortunately, it's not too bad (I was in a hurry to make a battle, so it only got like 1/4" of it in the bottom (one layer so that it would dry well). I'm now plotting a good water channel, although I first have to figure out where to stash the gear for a 3rd cannon. That's right! I'm so crazy about this ship, that I built her before there was a hint of a rule proposal allowing a third gun!
Janes Fighting Ships lists the Potemkin, Evstaffi, and Iaoan Zlatoust as being the same class. The changes for the latter two are mainly mounting 4 8" guns in place of some of the 6" casemate guns and simplifying the design of the casemates them selves. So there is historical precedent for finding them troublesome.
You are not the only person asking, and they will be available soon and cheap I even have a USSR flag that I'm bringing to Nats... my little sister took a trip there back in the 80's and took some of my Marine Corps stuff to trade; 2 KGB guard-type guys traded her the flag from their guard post for 2 USMC cammie covers (hats). The Red menace will be at Nats!
Turret progress is good, waiting on grey ABS to arrive for testing. If the test run prints well, I can print 6 at a time overnight Also decided to print the missing casements and superstructure. It'll be... PRETTY. I would offer to do a printed SS for the lasercut guys but my measurements would be off since I hand-cut mine. If Mark sells the kits, I may find money to get one and measure it. But I am definitely doing the small SS (Conning tower, etc) pieces. I'll see how much filament it uses to make them, but I could see a pair of turrets, 3 smokestacks, conning tower and little tower thingy at the back end for ~$20-25. I will post as soon as I have parts, and the plastic is somewhere in the mail right now! Now that the weather is smiling upon us, I will be in the shop tonight getting balsa ready for sheeting! Evstafi's hull is small, so sheeting will go quickly tomorrow night, and I look forward to sea trials on Sunday when it's sunny! (Or Saturday if the forecast rain holds off!)
There are differences in the superstructures of the Potemkin and Evstaffi. The conning tower and funnels are identical but the Potemkin has sweeping bridge wings that have a graceful curve. Those one Evstaffi a short and straigh. Lessons from Tsushima, were applied to the designs. Potemkin also has a search light platform between funnels 2 and 3. I will email you the files I have on the matter.
Got Evie sheeted, silkspanned, and she took a test drive around the pool. She turns better than she did before, and is about speed 23 (eyeball measure, hard to test in a 30 foot pool). She was also running very light, about an inch above waterline, so at weight she'll probably slow down some and get better turning with the props and rudder deeper. I got lots of cavitation with the props just beneath the water. But she lives! Also printed a test turret, mainly to test the replacement roll of gold filament that the manufacturer sent me to make up for the horrid one I had before. It did well, although the printer settings were not good (I forgot to change them from another project) so the top of the turret was ugly although the sides looked good.
Did you get the link I sent you with the Evstaffi v. Potemkin plans? I worry about such things. Librarian syndrome.
Sorry, I indeed received it, although it won't let me save anything to my hard drive, which makes it hard to print or otherwise obtain measurements from
Why's that? Is it in a PDF? If it is, you should be able to print it without downloading it to your computer. Beaver
Got the ship weighted down to waterline and was happy to see that a week of hunting pinhole leaks had eliminated the leakages. With the ship weighted down, I drove her around the pool to check speed; still fast, but cutting the throttle endpoint down to 75% got me in the ballpark. Turning is off the chain better than it was before. Switched to 1.25" 4-blade shallow pitch props and had previously moved the shafts to be much closer together and just in front of the rudder. Yeeha! Now to figure out how to shoehorn in the equipment to fire the guns! Did get the SS nor turrets printed yet because the Mendel has started to develop a Z-axis judder as it moves downwards. Played with the two 8mm steel shafts that guide the assembly, and found that one was out of alignment. I've got the juddering greatly reduced, hope to test a print tonight without any drama. I also got the firmware for the Rostock uploaded to the brains. Got a few more files to upload, but it was an important first step.
