Topic: HMS Solebay build

[radio joe]

Had not thought about crew, that sounds like a good idea, I am going to fit a whoofer siren, but I think I'll leave out the smoke gen on this one Another large battery will be too heavy, with hind sight I should not have glued the lead ballast in the bow and I won't risk damaging the hull getting it out, but apart from that I'm well pleased with the build.

[Tommydean]

I have used double sided foam tape and never permanantly glue balast (weight) to the inside of the hull because removing and replacing components throw of the models trim.    do smoker units use up alot of battery power?

[radio joe]

Yes good idea about double sided tape for ballast think that's what I'll do in future, smoke generators by nature of being a heating coil do require a lot of power and tend to be 12 volt so a lead/acid or a large capacity nimh battery would be required for any duration of smoke.

[Tommydean]

dident know they used up alot of power..the only thing i dont like about smokers is when the smoker is on the smoke "drissels" out and looks like a lite cigarette in an ash tray. i havent figured out how to "mix" the air with smoke to make it look more realistic..any sugestions?

[colin]

just a reminder of this thread... Smoke

[radio joe]

I know the ones your talking about Tom,usually you have to put a few drops of fluid in the top frankly not worth fitting, the ones I mean have a 10 mil reservoir and do produce a lot of "smoke" that is why they need a lot of power I have found two  one from Hunter systems which you could add a computer cooling fan, and one from Marks model bits that has a fan built in.
I am however wondering if it is really worth the hassle from what I've seen of naval ships they don't actually produce that much smoke anyway unless they are "steaming hard" or of course they want to "make smoke".

[radio joe]

Well just about finished, It was quicker than I first thought it would be, about half the time in fact but I guess being retired had some thing to do with that, and building her over the winter I could spend a few hours nearly every day, I estimate about 350 to 400 hours.
I have ordered some 1:96 crew from Deans one pack of 12, may be a bit sparse for a 4 foot model I'll see how it looks, also making a few flags.
I can not imagin not building another Deans ship, my problem now is which one, I had this on my mind a couple of weeks ago while watching TV, when guess what the film The Yangtze Incident  came on, I kid you not, I thought this must be an omen as a hour before I had been looking on Deans web site at "you guessed it" HMS Amethyst I thinks she would complement HMS Solebay quite nicely, Would like to hear your thoughts about Amethyst.

[mikearace]

Nothing wrong in Amethyst as a build.  Have seen a few around the clubs and very nice they are and obviously Amethyst is full of history and lots of reference material out there.  However have you thought about Morecambe Bay or Loch Katrine?  The Bays and Lochs are just a lovely ship in my view and there doesnt seem to be as many of these around as the Amethyst and other builds of the Black Swans. The Lochs lasted well into the 60s just the same as the Battles did so a Loch would complement the Battle class whether its 50s or 60s.

[radio joe]

Yes you are quite right there is a lot of other interesting ships in the Deans range I'll have to give it some thought .

[colin]

i would imagine from your words, is that your looking for another warship..??

my favorite Kit in the warship category (mid 1950's), has to be and will always be the Marvel or Bramble, because of the details on the stern of the ship.

or the prototype H.M.S. Enchantress, because of the paint schema.

by no means am i saying that the Amethyst, Bays or Lochs are not a good build...

[mikearace]

I would agree that the Algerines are very busy little ships with so much detail.  There is also lots of scope to vary them.  Some were fitted with twin squids in place of the 4inch gun  as stop gap ASW ships and a few other variations.  Lots of photos of these around and lots of scope for research through the Algerines association. 

[paul swainson]

Hi Joe,

Very nice build indeed, how did you get on with the micro servo for the second forward gun turret.   You have not said how you got round the problem.

Paul

[paul swainson]

Hi Joe,

My thoughts are on HMS Manxman she ran from the same period and lasted till the 70's, and as a mine layer being fast too the escort for her would be HMS Solbay.   That is what I would like if I make a good job of my build.
Paul

[radio joe]

This is the second servo that operates the forward turret.forgot that one Paul, I've linked it with a Y lead to the other turret so they both turn in tandem, I'm thinking they would probably have trained both turrets on the same target to maximize effect. Thanks guys for all the suggestions I've looked at all the ships you mention and they have all got something of interest if money was no object I'd build the all of them, Hope to get solebay on trials next week to see how she performs, I have a feeling I may fit a w tail mixer, from what I've heard a rudder between two props is not that good in scale, we will see.

[Manxman1831]

I don't think you'll have too many problems with the rudder, unless you intend competing on one of the insanely tight courses that get laid out occasionally.  My Cossack turns quite nicely with about half power ahead and full lock.