RE: Scratch-built English Galleon 1/36 scale
I tried the bandsaw w/fence deal, but I think I must need a different blade that doesn't flex so much, if I go any faster then one inch per year the straight edge of the plank becomes an S [&o]. Maybe i just suck at the bandsaw. I have a circular saw that would cut a straight line quickly, so I'm thinking about bolting it onto the table so I can use it as a table saw. Then all my plank troubles should be over.
I bought a 9oz paintball CO2 tank to power the cannons. I'm thinking about ordering some of the Clippard micropneumatic parts so I can rig up some kind of repeating cannon bank, preferably capable of firing in broadsides. The best I've been able to do so far is a single repeating breech-loading cannon. The bolt has to be manually pulled back to load another cannonball from the hopper after each shot. The trigger valve is from an airgun, and despite my attempts to limit airflow, it is way too powerful. Kind of like an air rifle. I'm aiming for about 60-100 fps with a .17 inch BB. It currently does 450 fps. I think Clippard type parts are a necessity for this to work as I just don't have the skill required to fabricate valve systems that are efficient, don't leak and do what I want them to do.
HERE's some pics of the two target ships I built. I used a method of hull construction that I call the "piece of paper folded in half with the ends glued together and reinforced with popsicle sticks" method. The reason I can't sink them is because the papier-mache hull is surprisingly resistant to BB penetration in addition to sloping downwards. The cannons (aside from the insane 450 fps CO2 one which I scrapped) can't penetrate it, while they can penetrate balsa of much greater thickness. Plus I don't really want them to sink yet, they started out as targets but they sail so nicely on their own that I want to install a radio system in each.
As you can see, I didn't plan it this way but one looks like a gaff cutter and the other like a schooner. They are ballasted with lead shot, and the schooner is quite fast and nifty looking in the water. The gaff cutter is equipped with two pyrotechnic cannons for no reason.