The Verite got float tested Sunday afternoon and passed with nary a leak! Sunday morning was spent getting it sheeted. Although sheeting it was straight forward for the most part, the casements were somewhat of a pain. I'm going to have to find a better way of cutting the sheeting to avoid the gaps I left this time. That will come. Heh. I'm extremely pleased with the float test. The ship was loaded up to just under max weight (12 lbs, 15 ozs). That placed the waterline 1/8" to 3/16" below the stringer! Exactly what I was hoping for! We'll have to wait and see if the Verite can battle at max weight without giving up too much reserve bouancy. In the meantime, the ship doesn't have much area to shoot at. May as well forget about hitting the stern area ... the top of the stern deck is only 5/8" above the water and 1/2" of that is subdeck and stringer. heh. I better make sure there aren't any leaks back there. Next task is to finish plumbing the air system and install a wiring harness. After that, it's to the fun part of the build; the superstructure.
I like how your building this. Reminds me of my first large battleship the Veneto. Built entirly out of balsa. I really like the struts and how you secured teh barrels on the dual sterns. Great work.
Some of the 1st level superstructure work, secondary turrets, and main turrets. The mains were very easy to make.
Welp, the exterior work is 95% completed. Still some touch up painting needed on the stacks and the deck hold downs installed. BC is going to get an order next week for something like 14 lifeboats and launches ... the Verite had a LOT of those! That'll finish the deck detail as far as I want to go (Unless someone knows where I can find some prefabbed deck railings). Inside, I've still yet to finish and test the wiring. Everything else is in place. I've taken Friday off from work to finish the ship in time for the Region 3 BB Fest this weekend. I'll post final pictures from that event early next week. Until then, enjoy a couple bench pictures of the FN Verite.
That is one awesome looking ship. I'd hate to be on the receiving end of that bow during a ram though. Can't wait to see some pictures of it in action. --Chase
I agree. Vive la France! Hope she did well at the battle. She sure is a nice looking little boat. Well done again. Mikey
The Verite did not see it's first battle two weekends ago. The night before the battle, both switch boards were not working (they are now for some strange reason). So after scrambling to get the Richelieu ready to fight and calling it a night, the Verite was regulated to just running around on the water. In my humble opinion, the ship looked great on the water! It'll look better with the lifeboats and launches on it. We ran it around a bit and finally got it close to speed. Even puttered around next to an Iron Duke under construction. Ok, everyone join in: POW! POW! POW! The Verite will be on the water and battling this coming weekend at the Bruhaha. Pictures will be taken. Picture will be posted.
Looks good Mike, like all your builds. Only thing I see with the new rule that got passed last year, is where you cannot cut away the barbett to make your gun fit, they may gig you on that at Nats. Reading the rule, nothing says you cant cut away the top of the turret to make it fit.
Actually, the barbette height is spot on. I left a raised portion on top of the barbette to mount the guns, the had to cut into the extra raised part to get the gun to angle down. I'll show it to you at the Bruhaha. Hmm .. if anything, the turret might be sitting high. I'll check that ...
Yeah, just checked. The turret is sitting high. I'll get it lowered to where it is supposed to be tomorrow night.
Ok, a few final pictures to close out this build thread. While battling with others, there is always the element of compromise. Sometimes, one has to give ... ... and take. All in all, I am very pleased with the Verite. It turns rather well due to it's small size, even though it only has a single rudder. During the Bruhaha, it did sink multiple times mostly because the captain kept trying to battle it like a battleship. Heh. But after working out a couple mechanical issues and changing my battling style a little, the ship proved to be a tough little thing during the last battle by emptying all magazines and surviving it's 5 in both sorties. The little ship is a blast to battle with! For those interested in the internals: - 540 drive motor turning a 1 1/4" 40 pitch prop direct drive - 6 volt, 5 cell, 10Ah NiMH battery pack - Proboat ESC - Large BC pump with Stinger motor and half unit outlet - Homemade Geek breach stern cannons, BC sidemount cannon - Team Delta board triggered cannon solenoids - 3.5 ounce CO2 bottle with Strike Models lightweight adjustable regulator - 13 pounds even with 1lb 12 ounces of BB ballast Stuff to perfect: - Move cannon air supply line to 1/4" port on Strike Models regulator for more air flow - Add some tilting water channeling to move water to the center of the ship - Inset the pump into the waterchannel (currently sitting on top of the water channeling, 3/8" above the channel bottom) - Although the deck seal is exceptional, could use some sort of gasket to make it perfect - Add an adjustable elevation mount to the stern cannon barrels (used a tie strap during last battle) - Lower stern cannons on barbette by 3/16" - Lower front turret to sit at scale height on front barbette
Again, very nice ship, hopefully I can get my Bretagne to look half as nice. Good to see another French ship on the pond.
