I'm working on a pre-WWI US "flivver," the USS Fanning. Built by Newport News Shipbuilding (my employer), she was named after a key figure in the victory of the Bonhomme Richard over HMS Serapis. Fanning was the first US destroyer to sink an U-boat. Fanning has 1/8" ribs on 2" centers and will be armed with one or two single-shot Arizona torpedo cannon. Musashi is the background for these pics.
Initial success - fanning a scanned silk stand and painted. Initial float test with most of the equipment in place complete. She is watertight and has sufficient displacement. Still a challenge to make everything work and to keep her stable.
I had a building hiatus due to moving, but I have been struggling with my design choices and their effect on construction, too. In this case, the area around the rudder post is incredibly tight. In addition, I chose a nonstandard 3/32” rudder post. In the end, I’ve rigged a pull-pull system using a #4 socket head cap screw in lieu of a set screw in the topmost of two steering wheel colllars. I tied and glued two monofilament lines on the screw, went around the back of the rudder, under a fair lead, and to my micro servo. I glued some cork to the two collars, too, in order to give a bit more traction to the lines. Works fine on the bench, alpha trials are next once I get the motor wired in
USS Fanning was built by Newport News Shipbuilding and was named after a key figure in the victory of the Bonhomme Richard over HMS Serapis. Fanning was the first US destroyer to sink an U-boat.
I had a number of issues to get the right motor and ESC combination. In the end, my control setup is: E-Flite 5ch LP5DSM transmitter Hobbykool Spektrum AR6300 6ch micro receiver Off-brand RC 10A brushed motor ESC Dragonfly DF06 micro servos I was unable to make the MABG sailing near Fredericksburg yesterday, but had dock trials and a very successful alpha trials today. The only major issues were: 1) need to establish end points and a bigger dead zone for the ESC, and 2) taking water over the stern while in reverse, which putting the deck in place and calibrating the ESC should fix. Last major steps are to install the Arizona-style torpedo cannon and complete deck/superstructure.
I may be able to adapt Fanning to “go both ways.” For Big Gun, 1/4” single-shot cannon from the forward torpedo tube location. For Fast Gun, can adjust to use a 1/4 unit spurt gun through the A or X gun locations. I can either go with 1/32” balsa all the time, or spend a few hours re-sheeting the sides for whichever meet is next.
