They were a problem sometimes and I was grazed a few times, I had to keep bringing her in. But it was so easy to get to the pond and launching was easy compared to my other park. They have a ledge under the water so that I can take a little step down and then launch the ship. At herman park I have to climb over the concrete wall takea big step down then grab the ship off the ledge, however the pond is very long compared to Discovery Green and I can do speed testing. I just wanted to try the park out.
They were a problem sometimes and I was grazed a few times, I had to keep bringing her in. But it was so easy to get to the pond and launching was easy compared to my other park. They have a ledge under the water so that I can take a little step down and then launch the ship. At herman park I have to climb over the concrete wall takea big step down then grab the ship off the ledge, however the pond is very long compared to Discovery Green and I can do speed testing. I just wanted to try the park out.
Here is my final main mast. Its not exactly to scale and its inaccurate in places but is at least semi-scale. It started as an experiment and here it is. I am waiting for the goop to dry so I can finish the mount on the ship and start the process of rigging. I am sure it will get damaged at some point but the planning took longer than the assembly and I am sure I can repair it in very little time.
you'll probably stab yourself with it when you reach over to fix something on the outher side. i have and will again
WAY ahead of you. I will have to train myself to take the SS off. At the shop I have a thin table that I can work on the ship from both sides so I dont have to reach over (but I do anyway). Who knows it may all go in the box later.
I like the masts idea and may have to fix up a stabbing platform myself. I would have got a kick trying to aviod the sailboats and would have made it the "game of the day" I also would have told the sail boat captains if they ram it, they are swimming. (and maybe would have loaded a shot or two...)
Here are some pictures of the finished (for now) masts and anntenna. I painted them standard grey and black trim on the main mast. I will run rigging later in the week. I just need to make some more AA and Secondary barrels and mount a secondary turret and I think the SS is done (for now)
I got the Tirpitz finished for the battle at Wade's this weekend, for the most part. I tested the air system and there were no un-fixable leaks, just had to screw some things tighter. I have one poppet that doesnt sound as fast as the others and I have one neck that need assistance when I get there but other than that all systems are go. I got my transport box finished and I didnt think about weight when I planned it out. I was worried about the sides getting damage from driving around so I made a box with tall sides. I wanted it to look nice so I bought birch plywood only it wasnt birch it was OAK. So I now have an oak box with a drop down side that I can use to move the ship around and carry in the back of my truck. I can use it to work on the ship as needed but typically I will leave it on the truck. We ran out of material fora top and that will have to come later. I have to get it sprayed today with a sealant to protect it and its done. So I can hardly wait for the battle and for the distraction to be over (how do you work the week before your first battle?) See ya, Johnny
Wow this sure brings back memories with my Bismarck. Nice work on the mast. Is that a SMART CAR beneath the box.. wow they are small...
Thanks Curt! I was going to goop the mast in but decided instead to use music wire to hold it down so that I can remove it as needed . It worked well I just drilled some holes in the mast and then bent the wire back at a right angle on both ends. I didnt have time to do it perfectly but in the future will feed the wire through the deck and use a collar to hold it. For now I am using the smallest eye screw I could find in a hurry. The gauge of the wire is too thick and I will replace it when I redo the mast wiring. In the end it is starting to look cool. I will add the rest of the rigging over the weekend. Thanks, Johnny DKM TIRPITZ - BATTLE READY (I cant believe it)
I remeber my launches would be riddled with bbs from cruisers and other bow type cannons. One time one of the launches was blasted clear off it's mounting and the launch landed upright floating around during the battle. It was recovered miracoulsly afterward and secured back on board. Balsa floats pretty good.
Haha, thats funny. Im not putting any launches on my boat, only 2ndary guns, large AA guns and my generic SS, which doesnt have very much on it.
Yes, most definitely. The real Captain (me) shouldnt have to work too hard, as the float system is in the works.
I was able to get the ship on the water this weekend at the MWCI Brouhaha near New Orleans. Its so funny how you think you are prepared and then WHAM! reality hits you in the face. A short list of things I ran into: Ship was stern heavy, one of the dual sterns wouldnt work, guns didnt really work on the first day, pump outlet was damaged, pump wasnt sitting flat, broke a blade on the rudder when I hit the rocks, hit the rocks again and broke a dogbone, the transmission was loose after the dogbone change and it shifted leaving me dead in the water just long enough to be ripped in the bow by several ships then it re-engaged and was able to back out of trouble but it was too late, ship was running at 27 not 24 seconds until Monday, blew almost every hose that didnt have a hose clamp (I had left it as-is from when I bought it), and a few other things. I did have one good sortie where I was basically one on one with a congo class and we had a hard time hitting each other. Since my pump wasnt working right its amazing that I never took on enough water to sink. It was a lot of fun and it was during this sortie that I realized I just might make it through all the problems and get to battle on a regular basis. I am trying to find ways to balance the weight in the ship, fix the pump, fix the guns, and optimize the air system for the April Houston battle. See ya Johnny
Johnny It can take a bit to get everything working well, and you do have one of the larger ships. My PE worked well till I got the rock stuck in the props, and smoked the motor in less than a second, I said no problem I will just pull out a spare, thats when I remembered my 2 spares are sitting in my Iron Duke. Well Rick had plenty, so that night I wired up a new one and battled some more. What a blast we had, 29 boats at one point on the water, and Wades new pond is super nice, only a little over 2 ft in most places.
29 Boats? Are you serioius? That was a great first battle I have to admit, problems or no problems. If there was only a few people it wouldnt have made the same impression.
Jonny I got some GREAT video of Dallas balasting that big hole in your bow Sunday night. You'll be on YouTube soon!
