Nick, Wisconsin is coming along well. I am hoping to have her completed by Thursday with underway time this coming weekend!!! All I need is the temperature here in Virginia to drop below 95 degree. Working in my shop in those temperatures is very uncomfortable.
Your pace is impressive, takes me about a year to build anything. Wish we could trade some of our 60s and rain for some of your sun...
Well Nick, I am now fully retired and certainly have the latitude of time. So hence, I have more time to work on ships than most people do. I have serveral hulls, 2 Pennsylvania Class Battleships, 1 Admiral Graf Spee and an inbound Bismarck. As I continue continue to build my fleet, I just have to figure out how to arm the remaining ships.
The initial launch of Wisconsin had its highs and lows. The first attempt had to be cut short because of a massive leak from an improperly sealed starboard skeg. My son and I also noted that the starboard shaft seem to be binding especially when the motor was being run in reverse. When I returned Wisconsin to the MABG Shipyards in Virginia Beach I began the repairs to the skeg. I sealed the skeg with fiberglass resin and waterproof epoxy putty. Additionally during the shipyard period I was cleared the excess solder out of the starboard bushing for the starboard shaft. The prop was able to rotate freely both forward and backwards. During today’s refloat, I let Whisky sit in the water for approximately 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes there was a minor leak from the port dummy shaft, but nothing to prevent getting the ship underway. So it was time to take her out for a spin. On Wisconsin's initial journey up the inlet and out into the open lake the speed good. She was a bit sluggish when turning to port. Upon further inspection, the rudder was not shifting to port as much as it was to starboard. So when I get her on the bench, I will need to do some further investigating and adjustments to the steering servo. I ran Whisky on the lake for over an hour with no major incidents. I have a few more minor tweaks and some cosmetic work before Wisconsin is ready for certification. I am sure that she will be ready for the MABG August Event . . .
