Everybody knows that I am a noobie at this, but I want to build a ship before Nats this year, which happen to be practically in my back yard! I would be working with a limited budget, so I thought that a ship around 3 units would be best, to allow some firepower but not break the bank. However, I know very little about how each ship would manuver. I was considering the USS Astoria Ca-34 (New Orleans class cruiser), or mabe the USS Colorado or Pennsylvania. Does anybody know which would be best? Or would it be entirely stupid to start without seeing a battle? (I want to start as soon as possible)
For your first ship you would want to build a cruiser like the Astoria, you get 2 guns and a pump, and they are fast so you can keep away from battleships. Any of the pre WW2 american cruisers, Northampton, Pensacola, New Orleans, and Portland classes, will make good beginner ships. The only downside is that as far as I know there isn't any New Orleans fiberglass hulls in production, so you would have to scrachbuild one.
If I knew the basic design, I think I could scratchbuild a hull. From the other forums, it looks like you build the ribs out of 1/4" balsa or hardwood, anchor them to a flat keel, then sheet them with 1/32" balsa for the penetrable area. I don't know the rules what should be penetrable and what shouldn't very well, though. Is this all you do? Or is it better to build a fiberglass hull?
I haven't built a fiberglass hull but form what I've heard its pretty easy. On a wooden hull, you would make the ribs, keel, and subdeck from 1/4" plywood. For the rules, they are on the MWCI website, I sugjest you read them now. To see how to build a wood hull, see Mike M's Bearn build, it's in the plans section of the site. Also see my USS Salt Lake City build in the warships build section, it is the same size as a Astoria.
Thanks. I would almost rather build the hull out of wood just for more experience. Since the Astoria has four shafts and screws, would the model also have to have that many? I know some people put dummy screws on their spare shafts, but do you need to have all four? Thanks for helping me!
No, you would only power the 2 inner shafts. The outer ones are dummys. On the wood hull, I would highly recomend it, but be prepared to make mistakes, because you WILL make them. I have made enough mistakes on my Utah build for a dozen ships, but the knowledge gained from such experiances will make the future ships so much better. About the help, your welcome.
I took a Swampy Houston hull and modified it to a New Orleans class. Cut the bow down and added some length to the bow step. Pretty easy to do. Fiberglass hulls get built a lot faster, your final cost is about the same.
I would like to suggest the suffren kit from Battlers connection. It is in my opinion the best turning cruiser in the hobby. With twin rudders you can power just the center prop,or power the two outside props to make it more stable when you hit the throttle. The hull kit would cut your work in half because the cap rails can be the hardest part. As for the penetrable area ,you measure 3/8 down from the top deck, and 1 inch down from the waterline. Ther are several guides around to figure the rib placements and rib count. And you can go allied or axis whatever suits your fancy.
If you want to stay purely allied (which you shouldnt, but just in case), Battlers Connection has the USS Cleveland class cruiser.
Swampy is still taking orders up to this Sunday it seems... His Houston hull is $90 that is going to be my first ship. It is worth looking into..
Is patching a fiberglass hull the same as parching a wooden hull, or it the fiberglass just a frame with balsa sheeting on the outside? I think I am leaning towards building the hull of wood. It would probably help me more on future projects. Also, I'm pretty sure I want to build the Astoria. Would the first step be to buy full size plans, then decide the layout of the ribs and equipment? If so, where is the best place to get these plans?
The plans Master and Taubmans plans both sell them. Be leary of buying from the PM, I have his Utah ans SLC plans and they only had 2/3 of the ribs needed. I haven't seen anything from Taubmans. The Floating Drydock also sells them, but their plans do not have patterns for the ribs. I have their Langley plans, other than that they are very good plans.
So when you buy the plans, they come with the ribs and other (scale) parts needed? I thought you just found a three- view blown up to 1/ 144th scale and added the ribs yourself. I guess it would be a lot easier to have them all on when the plans came.
Most plans do not come with the ribs, deck and keel laid out in a patern for wood hull building. Most prints have a top view, side veiw and 12 or so hull lines. A lot of work is needed to get a set of prints to be a hull. Unless you can find a pattern set someone else has done. Get a fiberglass hul, much faster, final cost close to the same.
Pardon my ignorance but does the fiberglass hull come with ribs, or is it just a shell? Is building the deck onto a fiberglass hull the same as a wooden hull, or does the hull come with a deck? I was looking at the hulls at Battler's Connection, and they wanted $130 for an Astoria hull. Is that close to how much it would cost to build up a wooden hull? It seems like it would be a lot cheaper.
It will be much cheaper to build a wooden hull, but it will take you longer, and if you do not know what you are doing, it may take you a couple of tries, which mean even more time. Plus the fiberglass hulls have a little more room inside since they do not have the ribs taking up interior space.
The Battlers Connection Astoria is the Cleveland class CL. A completely different ship than the New Orleans class CA.
I guess this means I will stick with my plan to scratchbuild the ship. I am much better at working with balsa than fiberglass, and I couldn't use a BC hull without mods, so I will just buy the plans from Taubmanns or Floating Drydock. I might wait before starting to see a battle of the Front Range BG, because I still haven't actually seen how the hull goes together (specifically the keel)
Yes, i think going to a battle and talking with local battlers, then building, is a much better idea than just building it right out.
