Well I was planing on making a Bismarck, but after seeing Marc's new Nagato during a float test, I was sold on the Nagato, I think she may be the best Axis class 6 afloat. I marked off one side of the hull in prep for cutting out the windows. I did use 1/4 tape for the armour belt, which is what I always do, then I go back with a grinder to cut it down to 1/8 in. 1/8 may get cut when I cut the windows out, so I'm just being carefull is all. Side bow view Stern side view - I may have that one section where the armour belt tape extends back, and the bulge tape both meet. I plan on asking the Axis guys on the MWC list for clarification on the issue.
Dave, I do the same thing with stringers that you do, it allows for a little overcutting with the dremel without compromising strength.
Yep I learned that the when I made the Nelson, kept cutting into the 1/8 stringer right at the ends no matter how carefully I was trying to be. So the stringers were weaker than they should of been, had to add resin to get them stronger.
Hey dj, what do you do there up near the forward most casemates? Is that 2 stringers? That was one of the problems I came up with when I had mine. Seems to me because it is above the "sinking deck" that it should not be a big deal. Some of the ships are much harder to figure what you can do and what you can't.
The forward top stringer is actually the lower edge of the casemate deck, area needed to attack the balsa, but I had a answer on the stern area that I was wondering about, and the straight peice does need to be removed. But she still will not have much area to shoot at.
Nice Dj are you allowed to keep the line in the middle ? I'm not looking foward to all that stuff on my Iowa I much prefer to build a wooden hull but we will see how I feel after this project []
I don't know about the rear diagonal one... What is it for? But the forward bit for the edge of the casement deck, would be part of the 3/8" total allowed deck thickness, wouldn't it? Obviously, the stuff further aft of the forward little penetrable casements isn't affected by that, tho.
The line in the middle is the bulge where it meets the hull, a place to glue the balsa too. I do need to remove the section between the last set of ribs. The peices that curve down are the actual edge of the armour belt, hard to see in the picture, but it is indicated on the hull with a 1/16 step down. Most of the casemate area is recessed 1/2 back so it does not need to be cut out. Those two forward sections of casemate will require me to cut it up 1/16 inch to allow for the additional 1/16 edge at the botton of the casemate for balsa attachment. My plan right now is to try and fight her at near max weight, if you look close you can see the waterline marks both forward and aft, if it does not workout, I just have to cut the windows a bit lower, to lower the weight. But very little of her will be above the waterline, thats how Charlie fought his.
Are you talking about taking out the blue or the red part? As far as getting an extra 1/8" for casement guns, the stringer rules specifically call out casements as stringers (7.a: 'Hull features that dictate the use of a stringer are: bulges, casement guns, knuckles, or armor belts.') So it looks like we get either a 1/8" base on the casement, or a stringer for the belt, but not both.
You'll have to check out Charley's old Nagato at NATS. It was sold to Jeff Lide, then to Brian Lamb, now to Paul Block. I looked in it once back in 03 when I didn't know what I was looking at. But I've heard it's cut out the "correct" way. Finster has lead on the bottom of his to help keep it from tipping. I've seen a few that like to tip over when they get any water in them. You'll have to think fast with all those rotates. Like playing video games.
If you try running a Nagato like you have it marked, the water will tend to pool in the bow, and the ship will sink easy. (the ship looks down by the bow) Charlie tried that setup too, and it did not work well. QE's just punched the bow with sten guns, and then ran it around, till it sank. Pump never got water untill too late. The BC Nagato hull seems to like to be about 32-33 lbs. You want the keel to be either level, or inclined so the stern part is lower. At the lower practial limit, the stern should have about 5/8" freeboard, so the bow will wind up with 1.75-2" of freeboard. Note also that you tend to take dammage where you have guns. So it may be worthwhile considering more ribs in the back, near the haymaker. The high % ribs in the bow works if you expect to take only stern guns. But I think that a sidemount boat like a Nagato would be taking more sidemount hits. In addition, too large a span of balsa tends to get bashed in by just bumping around- I don't like more than about 3" rib centers. Those are what? 4"? If you need two "stringers" between a rib, define one of them as part of the "multiple deck assemble". You have to file your deck rim down to 1/4" in that section, but it works. QE's have been doing this for years- and everyone seams happy with it. Watch out for weight distrubition, Nagato does not like top weight.
I do have Charley's old Nagato. As to what the stringers look like, I can not say as I resheeted it before the conversation came up. You can look inside at NATs and see if you can determine your answer from there. Otherwise, Charley built a lot of weight into the superstructure and the ship can be quite "tippy". So far no major concerns but it does get scary when she is full of water and doesnt snap back upright quickly enough. I plan to test how she responds to major damage at NATS Im sure I will test its pumping system to its fullest.
Thanks that will help alot if I could look at yours, and anybody else that has one, first priority is making it legal of course. Tug its the blue area that needs to be cut out. I was told before by Bob and others that you cannot have 1/8 inch for the base of the casemates, when he was looking at my PE. I plan on shaving 1/16 off the bottom of my subseck, to add to the base of the casemates, for a balsa attachment point. That way I do not exceed the 1/2 total allowed. Bob, the rotates will all be together on a single control, not hard to manage, like remembering to turn on the pump!!!, which I have forgotten to do a few times of course. If she does not fight well at this weight, all I have to do is cut the windows a bit lower, so not a problem really, grinder makes fast work of it. I plan on using the concrete patch for the water channel, so all the weight will be down low, and Frank has already been commissioned to build the super, so it will look great, and be light at the same time. The windows are 3 inches except for the aft one, its like 3.5 inches. So even if I spaced out all the ribs they would still be around 2.5 inches, and if I get rammed, I will call a ram sink is all. The water will not pool in the bow, since I plan on adding the water channel to just below the forward window forward, allowing for a additional 1/4 cut down if needed. Then slopeing it towards the center of the ship, it will run down hill, since I will have close to 2 inches to flow down. The bow section is very narrow so it will not take much to fill it. Plus I have secret plans on using the side armour to assist with the waterchanneling. Somthing I have thought up, and am quite supprised has not been used before. Of course since I have seen very few boats interior, behind the armour I could be mistaken of course. Thanks for all the comments, give me much to think about. They are responses that I have given some thought too, but don't be mistaken, I will be going over all the comments many times, to ensure she is right, and works well. If you think you see somthing I did wrong, don't worry, tell me, why I posted here.
Crud, I thought for sure that it was 1/8" around casements, but I yield to people with more casement XP than myself I'm using your concrete patch idea for Oz' waterchanneling, and Brian K says he's going to use it for his next big project What is Frank making the super from?
The rules state: On ships which have casement mounted cannons, the cupolas may be constructed of impenetrable material. A 1/8" wide strip on each side of the cupola may also be made impenetrable. If the flat area between cupolas is inset more than 1/2" from the edge of the gunwale the entire casement (cupolas and all flat areas inset greater than 1/2") may be made impenetrable. A couple of people corrected me on the PE build, it does say each side, I was interpeting that to be any of the 4 sides myself. [:I] And no mater how you read the rules, one time you think it says one thing, and the next another, just what you read into it I guess. And what do you know, after posting this, I just noticed another thing about this section of rules, that I will have to check out.
djranier just post the ship when you have it cut out. it is the next ship i am going to do . like in a year or two still need to get bug free on the ones i have so this will help me on my build . lot of photos would be of great help. TY
