As the winter has closed and Spring has begun, What is the status of everyone's boats? SMS Prinz Eugen: Needs to be resheeted. The cannons were inspected and tested and are working fine. Two new servos need to be installed. USS Tennessee: Under construction. Hopefully launched by early may.
Tirpitz needs only the guns and a test run and will be the ship i use in nabs this year roberts is ready as a back up lutzows guns are ordered and boat is 80% done mogami is back up only
HMS Gorgon is ready to battle. It's set up for Treaty rules but can be switched to IRCWCC stats by changing props and pump outlet. HMS Minotaur's had chronic problems with misfires in 2 of the 3 guns (the 1.0 unit bow gun and the alternative stern gun that's usually used instead to give dual stern guns versus a bow and a stern gun). The 1.5 unit stern gun has never had problems and differs from the balky 1.0 unit stern gun only in magazine length. I've worked on the faulty guns several times and got them firing well on the bench but they've never been reliable on the water. They're out again and ready for more work or replacement. I expect Minotaur will be battle ready by late May. She's set up for Treaty but can be switched quickly to IRWCC. Minotaur will probably be sold when HMS Dorsetshire is finished. IJN Ibuki needs a fiberglass quarterdeck before work can resume on the internals, but is ready for exterior detailing. Unfortunately I've lost interest in her and she'll probably be sold after the Q-deck is installed. Steve Hill's giving me an HMS Dorsetshire hull. Dorsetshire should perform almost identically to Canarias, HMS Suffolk and HMAS Canberra. The hull is flat sided versus the bulged Kent and Canarias Class ships and has a little more internal width because there's no "waist" where the sides slope inward to meet the bulges. This will allow a single 6V7.2Ah battery to be used vs two 6V3.6Ah batteries, saving weight and space. I hope to get Dorsetshire to an undetailed but combat ready state by August. Dorsetshire will be built as on the China Station in the 1930s with white hull, buff funnels and masts. I've had a great set of plans for the ship since the 1980s. Dorsetshire was to be my third R/C combat ship but got sidelined when I finished the Kent /Canarias mold first and decided to build Canarias because of the neutral ship rules. I gave the incomplete Dorsetshite/London Class hull plug to Steve who completed it and the mold. Rodney will get props, rudder and fiberglass deck installed soon but will not be battle ready this year. Same for Vanguard, which is being built simultaneously with Rodney. Priority for my next battleship will be going to Ralph's new and still "secret" battleship hull. If the plug turns out OK I hope to have the hull by mid-May, and will sell either Rodney or Vanguard. Which ever one is chosen, I won't have a capital ship this year. Bob
This secret new battleship project seems to be as clouded in mystery as Japan's construction of the Yamato...
Ralph has sent me several photos of the hull plug. The bulges are complicated and are taking a long time to get just right, but he expects to finish the mold in May. He doesn't want me to announce what the hull is for until the plug is finished, likely within the next month. Bob
Well, Scharnhorst will be ready to knock the crap out of the unsuspecting Allies, and I am hoping to have ISE on the water as well, (Pam doesn't want any of you shooting at her boat either ;( ). I am currently getting the parts together for the I-402, so when I have a hull I want to start building. J
