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

Green Shift

Well the Libs this week announced their green shift.  They propose a carbon tax on fossil fuels. Of course they “claim” it is revenue neutral.  I think the only green will shifted is out of my wallet to the government as no tax is ever revenue neutral. They say  they will cut some taxes to compensate. it is brave to propose this in summer but I bet they would never try this in January when you need the heat.

Global Warming is fraud science

Well I cam across this article in a paper from the U.K.  Here is the link:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/04/30/eaclimate130.xml

It is just more confirmation that the enviro wackos just want to destroy the economy.  They want us all sleeping in caves and eating leaves.  There is one thing to want to make sure the water is clean. It is another to fear monger people into thinking the sky is falling and throw people out of work. And if these companies are killed, who is going to pay for people’s RRSP investments?

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

Punta Cana here I come!!!

Well tommorow I am off to the warm Dominican republic for 7 days. It is time for some fun in the sun. An escape from the cold and remnants of snow.

Grandma got run over by a swat team.

Well here is an interesting story from the  CBC. Granbma’s house got raided by the narcs. They did not find anything.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2008/04/08/deveaux-raid.html

Of course the cops won’t fix the damaage.  But  still the question remains why they had to barge in. couldn’t they have knoced and server the warrant? But then this is Capre Breton. I guess the cops wanted to be macho. Maybe even make an episode of Cops.  I can see it now. Cops racing to Tims as there is a reported suspicious powder.

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.