Hey, I'm thinking of getting some plans for a Baltimore class cruiser (CA-68), where's the best place to get them? I've looked at BDE and Goff's plan page, but which of these is likely to be better/more reliable?
I'd have to go check. There is one set of Baltimore plans running around out there with the wrong stern. However, the same guy's Worcester plans had the correct stern. Why is that important? The Worcester class has an identical external hull to the Baltimore. I overlaid the plans and verified that the lines all matched EXCEPT for the stern, where the Worcester had the right transom stern. I'd have to check it when I get home.
I would also b very happy to get my hands on some of those plans. anyone gonna put them up for free? haha, yea, right. Seawolf, if u find out about the pland, tell me about it. thanx.
George (The Plans Master) Goff I got mine here I think they are correct I hope so any ways http://my.att.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=16&groupid=231663&ck= when you start to build her you can check out my build link below and any questions you have just let me know I would be happy to help http://www.rcnavalcombat.com/rcnavalcombat/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1468
The plans I have are Wiswesser. The Worcester is fairly accurate. The Baltimore was mostly ok, until the stern. I suspect the Goff plans may be more accurate for the hull.
Wiswesser's Worcester and his Baltimore. I haven't seen the Goff plans. (sometimes it takes multiple sets of plans to get an "average")
The best plans that I have seen and purchased for U.S. ships have come from the Floating Drydock. Back to work on the QST30.
Also, is there a good guide available online? I'm looking for 'assembly procedures' for lack of a better term. Something that can give me an idea how to make a hull and then I can go tinker with it.
No, their plas are usually 1/96th or 1/192nd scale. You have to take them to Kinkos or some other place that can bring them to 1/144th scale. However, as far a U.S. ship plans go, they are very good.
I would look at Battler's Connections Ship kits. It makes it easier for someone that has never done this before. http://www.battlersconnection.com/
I built a Baltimore-class cruiser many years ago from Wiswesser plans. Accuracy was horrible, & needed many corrections. Most noticeable was the stern, which I was able to adjust based on numerous photographs. Other issues involved discrepancies from 1 side to the other on the plan (overhead) view, & some superstructure oddities that would have driven M.C. Escher mad trying to figure out. Lots of "executive decisions" to make. Mine turned out pretty well, all things considered, despite the plans. JM
two questions what was the odity in the stern and more inportant how did she fight any tips for a new Balti capan []
There is an article in the NTXBG's Knowledgebase on it. Oddly enough, it's on building John's Baltimore: Visit this site There is also a couple of articles in the RCWarships.org Naval War College for constructing a standard wood framed hull. cheers Jeff
Here's the corrections that I made to Wiswesser's plan at the stern. My penciled-in changes are the lighter lines. I've also extended rib locations, prop locations, & drawn a center line on the plan view. Original plan had the hull with a classic "cruiser" stern, but numerous photos clearly showed a transom. Corrections were based on several good photos, & I felt like I got it pretty close. Adjustments needed to be made to the last 5 (?) ribs, too. I built using 1" spacing, which I'll never do again! Thinking at the time was to try to avoid gashes from oblique-angle shots, but that hasn't ever been a real problem on any other ship I built since. This was my 1st effort, done without any hands-on help (some remote advice only), but I learned a heck of a lot from the experience - especially things NOT to do again (like the 1" rib spacing). Stability was definitely an issue & took a lot of work to get it right (or close enough to it, at least). What I'd recommend, for building ANY ship, is to get several different plans, compare each to the other (as well as any photos of the actucal ship(s) that you can find), & make your best "executive decisions" based on what everything shows you. Note that many "original" plans are based on 1 set that somebody else drew, based on the original builder's plans, so some errors may get copied as well. If you can get a copy of those original builder's plans, that's ideal. For USN ships, "Booklet of General Plans" are available from the US Nat'l Archives for just about anything/everything ever built. Working from a different scale is no big deal - after all, that's what the original shipyards did! As for fighting, it's a cruiser - what can I say? It won't go eyeball-to-eyeball with any battleship, but it can sink a Deutschland more often than not. Good for convoy escorting or commerce raiding. 9 @ 3/16" (really, only 6 or 3 at a time practically) isn't going to hurt much, even at 4 second ROF. It turns pretty well for such a long/narrow ship, & speed is good. Again, vs. a Deutschland, it can stay right with him on the OUTSIDE of a turn through combination of turning (not quite as tight)/speed (faster). I oversized the rudder 25%, but not props. I didn't want to mess up the shaft angle, & there just wasn't any extra clearance for larger than scale, not that it really needed it. JM
I recommend getting every set of plans you can from every source. Say you get 4 sets, at $15 each - that's $60 - a very small portion of the total cost of a ship. If you want to get it "right" you can compare each plan against all the others, & against actual photos of the ship, to figure out what's right & what isn't. If you only have 1 plan to go from, you can never be sure how good it is. JM
