Hey everyone. Figure I should post Missouri's construction here along with everybody else as well as on the A.R.C.C. forum. Here are some pics so far up till today. Some of you have already seen them at some point but I added new ones from today.
Found these pics when me and Tom Cromwell were comparing our Iowa class hulls. Tom's is the blue hull made by Ralph Coles and mine is the grey one from StrikeModels.com Tom's model pictured above showing the stuffing tubes and some internal armor Main drive skegs Ralph built into the hull. Nice work by Ralph. side profile of the running skeg. USS IOWA
Nice shot of the skegs. Tom was lucky to have these already made into the hull. Upsidedown shot of the skegs. I used these as a reference to build mine but I was not trying to duplicate them that's for sure. Back to my Missouri. Using the "PATE" style rudders.These worked fantastic on my Bismarck at IRCWCC NATS 2010. Just ask any NC or SD Captain that was trying to outmaneuver it.Hee hee.... Need to move the props closer. Rudder supports secured. The swing arms will be repositioned to face each other. I will run links opposite sides to each other connecting the servo horn. Should give it plenty of throw. Motor mounts are secured. Good idea to leave the hull unsheeted so you can properly line up the drive shaft system. Slowly getting there. More to do to catch up to the USS IOWA.ST Stern view of Tom Cromwell's USS IOWA
Tom is test fitting the internal layout of IOWA. Tom is using 4 6v12amp batteries each paired seperatly. One pair for the Drive Motors, the 2nd pair dedicated for the pumps. His 2nd pump wll be a backup. Tom is going with dual sterns, and dual sidemounts. To keep the center of gravity low Tom is laying flat the first pair for the drive system while the 2nd set are positioned standing up lengthways with the model port and starboard abreast of each other. The large 20 or 16 oz bottle will sit center between them with the rear of the bottle against the 2nd flat battery. You can get an idea of how it all sits. The dual cannon mags will run across over the top of the first pair of batteries that are laying flat. Plenty of clearance. With the aft and forward hatches on.
Iowa with it's motor mount and motor system. This will be a direct drive system. Tom begins test fitting his dual sidemount cannons in the USS IOWA. Superstructure test fit. Toms's Uss Iowa is coming along. Missouri needs to catch up.
Alignment is not bad. At this point the blade tips were just touching each other. I trimmed them all down both props. Now they won't hit each other. These props are BC 4 blade 25 pitch1.25 in dia props I think. Same pair I use on Yamato. Works great. Plenty of thrust and stopping power. Both Missouri and Iowa with their hatches and barbettes in place. Bow to stern - My new waterchannelling sealed to the keel and waterproofed. The caulking went very well and went on very smooth. I used the pink insulation foam as battery mounts and with the caulking it adds resistance so the batterys fit nice and snug but require very little fuss to remove them or install them. Motor mounts are sitting nicely. Overhead shot of the waterchannelling at the rear near the motor mounts. Looks like a pinball could hit those wedges that look like pinball machine bumpers. Missouri's internal layout. Similar to the Iowa's but with some differences. All the batteries stand up but are paired port and starboard lengthways along the length of the hull. The 16 oz or 20 oz if needed sits between nicely of the 4.The model is moved towards the rear which allows more space behind the foward hatch. That means no servos will be beneath the forward guns. I was surprised how well balanced it turned out when I placed it on a pencil . It 's center of gravity is excellent. Looking aft. The servo tray is Iowa's. I was using it as a reference. Midships view port side of the batteries. Plenty of clearance below the main hatch for battery connectors. Hard to tell from this angle. In this shot you can dee the Pump and the Drive Motors. You can see the forward batteries
I'm using Toms' Iowa Superstructure for test fitting. Trying out my superstructure. Bilge keel stabilizers attached. Just need to sand and clean them up . Port side dummy shaft. Cleaned up mostly . Ready to install the prop struts. Starboard outer wing shaft minus prop strut. struts in place looking aft Looking forward Close up Stabilizer and using hull as a makeshift table. Drag props in place.
Drag props and main drive props. Getting the drive system setup The paper helps get the gears to mesh nicely. When you remove it just a little adjustment. Too tight and the gears squeal like the little pig in the Gieco commerrcial. Just loosen and adjust just a tad and the gears will be very very quiet. Alignment looks good. Tested both motors and both passed with flying colors. No squeals and very little almost no vibration . Purrs like 2 kittens. I get to try out my Superstructure with the Termite 5 inchers.
Simply... wow. I mean, both of these ships are absolutely gorgeous! I'm also doing a direct-drive system for my Iowa-class, but I'm nowhere near as far along as you guys are with your monsters. Where did you get your batteries from?
Got mine from a local store. You can get them online as well just about any place that sells batteries.
Not sure if the turrets from the NC, are close to the Iowa's or not, but if so ask Rick at BC to see if Grey Wolf will moldup some of the NC turrets for you. I saw the masters at Rick's last year and they were great looking. He forwarded them to Grey Wolf to start making them, but have not heard if they have made any as of yet.
Forgot my camera to take pics of today's progress. Will get them next time. Today the rudder swing arms were installed along with the rudders. I made a servo platform for the rudder and test fit it in it's location. Bilge pump outlet was installed today. I installed the new type that I believe if memory serves were djaniers design. The outlet fit great. Installed the pump hose and the bilge pump. I made a mount to secure the co2 bottle regulator and installed it. Works great. I built the radio box and test placed it in the hull. Next day wil make the throttle servo mount and resin the radio box and the throttle and servo mounts for waterproofing.
I think I sent you 2 or 3 if memory servers me right for you to try out. You can tell if they have the extra ridge on the hose end, so the tiewrap cinches up against it, and the hose will never come off.
Here is some of the pics of the latest work to date. New Bilge Pump outlet flush with the deck. Drag props, main props, skegs, and Rudders Flash didn't come on but you can see the rudder servos postioning. That's better now you can see where it will be. Pump and Drive motors positioning.
Panning back from the hull you can see the rear of one of the batteries, the pump and the motors. Here you can see the rear of the batteries and the Co2 bottle. It all fits pretty good so far. Radio box test positioning. Not sure if I am going to use this but I assembled it roughly and just trying out things. You can see the forward battery. I had to cut out a section of foam to reduce the height of the servo mount but the platform sits nicely in this section. Batteries, Co2, regulator in it's mount, Pump and drive motors/with Gearbox. Close up of the pump postion. Fits nicely here. Only a coule of velcro strips is all that is required to secure the pump here. Very simple. Another angle of the pump placement. You can see the rear of the co2 bottle and batteries. Fits nice and neat here. Playing around with the Radio box. Not sure if I will use it. How it all fits so far. The white rim is a plate installed that will be drilled out to accomodate the triple stern cannons. If your wondering how the mags are going to go through this well there not. The mags are facing the opposite direction towards the stern.I will modify the cannons to make this work. Just peeking over the Co2 bottle and batteries you can see the pump and motors. Lots of rudder throw here. Turning tight will not be a problem with this ship. Again plenty of throw.
