Still Kicking

Well I am still alive. Barely but kicking. Actually it is not that bad. I just completed a move into a house from a condo. I hate moving. God the packing. You really do not know how much crap you have until you move. All of a sudden it seems to expand to every available nook and cranny. Seriously. How can a condo require two 5X10 storage lockers and still have a ton of stuff back in the condo. There was no furniture stored there. At least I now got a work bench to start working on the boats again. So let’s see what I have in the fleet:

SMS Prinz Eugen is battle ready. Some minor tweaking of cannons and testing of systems. All battle damage from last has been repaired.

USS Alabama is back under construction (for the third year in a row). The old balsa has been stripped. It needs new water channeling installed. Also repairs need to be made to the deck. A cross brace has broken. A new cannon kit was purchased during the winter and the canons would need to be installed. Also pump needs to be installed.

USS South Carolina was in retirement. i think I am going to take her out of retirement and run her. it needs two cannons, pump and regulator.

DKM Graf Spee is just a hull. This year it will be cut. I have the hardware kit. No cannons and other stuff. I need more sintra  to create deck and super structure

HMCS Prince Robert. the hull is cut but no gear. It will remain that way for this year. I might build as a runner.

Also I am planning to obtain another hull. My thoughts are either a Tennessee, A QE class British battleship or get the Espana.

I am drawn to the Class 4 warship. I just love the small boats.In 2006 it sank the most feared vessel in the hobby of the IJN Nagato. of course I sunk first. Having no working pump will do that.

The Southy will rise again

Well I took the plunge. I brought the USS South Carolina off the shelf and started looking at what I would need to get it on the water. Just as an aside the USS South Carolina (would have been the world’s first all big gun Battleship but the US Congress held up funding) is listed as BB26.  Her Sister ship was BB27 the USS Michigan.

Anyways i took a look at what needs to be done. Remarkably very little needs to be done. When i mean little I mean nothing major.  What it means is I have to purchase three servos. I have the cannons for the boat. It would be a matter of installing the guns and then plumb in the pneumatics. Some of the pneumatics  can be installed before the cannons go in as it will be all on quick disconnects. So I figure It will take me about an hour to install 3 cannons. Pneumatics will be about another 30-40 minutes.

The servos can be cheaply obtained and then it is a matter of tool dipping them to make sure they are waterproof. That takes about a day as there is drying time. Actually it really can be used 2 hrs after it is dipped soonce I get the servos I will dip them before I go to bed. Installing the servos is about 30 minutes.

The only delay in getting the boat combat ready is the lack of a regulator.  the PE has my other regulator and CO2 bottle so I have to wait until it arrives back before I can test the pneumatics for leaks

I hope this will be a smooth quick rebuild.

It’s Balsa shredding time!!

Well the Bama went out Sunday for a sail. It was testing speed and handling. During the time I was the unarmed ship in the middle of a battle between the IJN Nagato and the DKM Scharnhorst. The Scharnhorst (aka scharny, scharnroast) was taking the worse of the action until the engine blew and you could see smoke coming from the ship. A part went on the motor. So to test how well the Bama was sheeted it was subjected to fire from the Nagato. Point Blank range (less than 6 inches into the siode of the balsa. i would say about 50% of the bb’s bounced off the side. That is not a good thing. I am debating stripping the balsa off and resheeting or take out the palm sander and sand down the paint.

So now I am considering taking the USS South Carolina (BB26) out of retirement and get her armed and ready for CANNATS in September. The Southy was my first combat boat and what a great ship she was. I have the gear so I will see what happens this week.

THE Prinz Eugen is Ready for Action.

Well The Prinz Eugen is ready for action. And no it is not the ship that sailed with the Bismarck. The Prinz Eugen is an Austro Hungarian dreadnaught battleship. It is one of the VU class ship. My friend Curt completed the work. This ship went form being in the garbage, stored in a dog house to the final finished product. The final work on this was beyond expectations.  I am including the link to the pictures.

The first link: http://www.rcnavalcombat.com/rcnavalcombat/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1874

The second is: http://www.rcnavalcombat.com/rcnavalcombat/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1867

I just can’t wait to get this one on the water for combat. It is an IRCWCC class 4, 28 second ship with 3 cannons and a pump. One forward side mount with a stern side mount and stern cannon. This is small and deadly. And I am happy.

BackShift Blues

It is 5:25 am and I am working the backshift. I have not had a call for over an hour and 41 minutes. So let’s see what I have on my mind other than sleep.

The model warships are progressing fine. The USS Alabama (go BAMA) is almost completed. I am in the process of sea trialing her to make sure all systems work. The last outing had a pinion wheel come loose on the shaft. A little bit of CA and that issue was resolved. I used some glue on the set screw and tighten it up. So the screw should not come loose. Or at least that is the plan. I plan on taking the boat out for another run on Friday to see if it is working correctly.

The SMS Prinz Eugen is almost completed. A friend of mine in Newfoundland is completing the build for this one. The boat runs and runs well. He is just finishing off some superstructure details before shipping it to me.

HMS Dreadnaught will be the next project. It is unlikely that it will be completed this season but definitely ready for next year.

And the newest hull to join the ranks is DKM Graf Spee. The hull is spectacular. I just have to plan the cuts. I may be able to cut it this year. I think this will be an interesting project.

I do have to add that the price of gas sucks. I say drill more and screw the moose or whatever is in the way. And maybe they will finally build a new refinery to boost production.

More to come

Battling Season is coming

Well it is time to charge the batteries and check the radio as it is almost time to battle. The smell of spring with the crack of bb’s flying into freshly silkspaned balsa. My winter build is almost completed. What is left to do is install a new rudder servo. There is one issue remaining. The pneumatics are not working. I am have some issues with the quick disconnects. They keep popping off due to the pressure. The pressure from the regulator is set to 150 psi which is in the legal range. I will probably have to clamp down the hoses. But still I want to check to see if there are any other things that can be done. Otherwise once rudder servo is installed I can get it on the water sailing.

Ahh to sail. I have been waiting a while to get the boat out sailing. I need to check for leaks and stuff to make sure it is water tight for the balsa when it hits the water. I also want to check the weight to make sure it is where it should be. Once I am satisfied that she can there are no issue, then it is to sail it to learn how it handles. I want to see how well it handles. This will be one of three new ships to be hitting the water this year. Once this is done then I will commence construction of HMS Dreadnought. Ready Aye Ready

Fleet update

With the ice off almost every lake I can now get ready for another combat season. My winter build project is getting close to completion. The USS Alabama is almost ready for sea trials. The might BB60 is down to some painting and the installation of two servos.  This makes me happy. I have only been picking at this for a year and a half.

The balsa sheeting went well and should be waterproof.  The silk span was applied and I am pretty happy at how it is turning out. Today I got the hull painted read.  The rest was painted gray. Now I have to do some detail work on the super structure. The pneumatics are good to go but I definitely need a place to test fire the bb cannons. I am hoping to finally get it on the water Thursday for a much needed sea trial.  I need to test pump and check the water integrity of the sheeting.

 

 

BB57 Build

The month of February has been a good month for construction of my newest warship. The USS South Dakota (BB57) is well on it’s way towards completion. I am hoping to have it available for sea trials by April 1st.  The scale of the warship is 1/144. There was little done on this boat last year as I was more preoccupied with my wedding plans.

I had originally purchased the hull last year and had the deck installed. But during  the year I hated the deck that was installed. The deck material was too thin. So in November of this year the entire ship was gutted. Any work I had done was trashed. The deck was removed and a new one was cut.  Try shaving sintra with a dollar store knife. It was a pain in the ass. So after a build session The Sodak had a new deck cut and taped down to proper width.

In December I decided to fibreglass resin in the deck. The weather turned cold and I don’t think it dried properly in spots. Or the hardener did not work well. Anyways the deck was installed and it seems to be holding well. During that time I made sure I had my parts supply brought up to speed with a few orders to Battlers Connection.

February has seen some tremendous progress on the Sodak. Thanks to Craig for helping to build the super structure. That was a great relief. So far the deck hatches have been cut, the Barbette’s have been installed, the bb cannons have been installed, some water channelling done and the interior armour to protect the internals from damage. I have started work on installing the gears.

So if you wish to see pics of the work, then go to www.rcnavalcombat.comand check out the North Atlantic Battle Squadron. It is under the topic Sodak build.

Grudge Match

Here is a Grudge Match between the USS South Carolina and IJN Nagato.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APCg9LrOfhQ

Turkey Day pt II

Whoo hoo it is Turkey day. So while I at work in Canada dealing with 50 minute between call wait times I figure I would post once again. Well celine’s  manager came out and confirmed it was the negative comments about Celine that caused them to . Which I think is a shame. It was a good concert with a wrong venue. I think she would have sold well at the Halifax Metro Center but for an outdoor concert well I think it it would have sucked. I will agree that NS has this nasty habit of saying No to almost anything.  With this streak it is surprising we have moved past the horse and buggy.  With that said it is time to talk turkey (no pun intended)

Well the Prinz Eugen will soon start construction this weekend. The scale is 1/144. It is a Class 4 Austro-Hungarian dreadnought. It is one of the class of ships known as the piglets. They are small nasty little ships that tend to feast on the unwary. Last year a Class IJN Nagato thinking he would send to Davy Jones a Class 4 USS South Carolina. Little did the captain realize that a the piglet had some bite.  If it weren’t for the fact I had no pump, I would have stayed afloat to do a donout over where he sunk. He sunk from the stern first.  The USS South Carolina should have been the world’s first all big gun battleship. However the US congress held up the money for the program so that it enabled the British with HMS Dreadnought to be the first. The Prinz Eugen will be my Axis boat.

I am also working on a US battleship. it is a Sodak class boat. I am debating whether to call it the USS Alabama so that when I sink an opponent I can yell “GO BAMA”. The other name is the USS Indiana. That way I can wear a cheesy Harrison Ford Indiana Jones hat when sailing.