Umi_Ryuzuki

The 2005 1/72nd scale Nationals was held August 26-28th, in Molalla Oregon.
Captains from Washington, Oregon, Wisconsin, and California were in attendance.
With all the trailers set up, and the benches shaded, everyone set to clearing and dredging the ports. (images 1-3)

Once the ports were working satisfactorly, for the weekend, a few tweeks to access the low water off the jetties and we were off and running.

See (images 4-5)

The target event was to chase after a small armored corvette.

The cruiser Louisville won with 16 hits. That big tub basically parked outside the course, and ranged the target.
I managed to win a toss for second place with 7 hits with my destroyer Scirocco, and "DJ" took third place with a borrowed boat.(his channel was the same as the target ships)

We then launched into a 3 hour campaign battle. This presses every captain and his boat to the breaking point. We managed to last an hour and a half. The axis boats (for the first time in years) experienced failure after failure.
One failure to launch, one gun loading issue, one ESC failure,...I rotated into the pond to relieve an DD captain in need of ammo, and to support a schnell boat sailing general harrasment. The schnell boat quickly used its torpedo loads, and headed for port for ammo.
At this point I was left out on the pond alone. I managed to beat the two ships on the pond down to an slow armistice as their ammo ran out. However that led to a ship rotation, and the launching of two fresh destroyers.
I dragged them into a slow lazy battle trying to conserve my remaining ammunition, but having been hammered by the previous two DD, and being cat and moused by two fresh DD, My ship ran out of ammuniton, and then succumbed to overwhelming odds before my team could bring a fresh ship to the pond.

(image 6)

Everyone took a break, and then set up for a 20 minute sortie battle.
With 12 destroyers and one heavy cruiser on the water the battle was fast and furious. Imagine the sound of popcorn, but every "pop" is a ball bearing hitting the side of a boat.
The allies won by point count 102/136

At this point everyone settled down to bar b que and boat repairs.
After dinner we set up for one more 20 minute battle.
Once again 12 destroyers and the one heavy cruiser put to sea. The Axis plan was to swarm the heavy and put as many holes into the unmaneuverable pig as possible. How can we miss an 8 foot target.
Four of our ships set out to empty the magazines into the Louisville. The other three dd were to pick up the opposing destroyer flotilla and keep it engaged. The Melee that ensued is almost indescribable. The Louisville got caught inside the islands unable to maneuver and moving at dead slow was just how we planned.

(image 7)

Each time the Louisville's guns would traverse to target one destroyer someone would try to sweep the opposite side of the ship and put holes into her hull. One of her escorts even resorted to pushing one of our ships into the weeds!
What looked like a succesful strategy put into action soon became a rout.
After succesfully putting my destroyer along side the Louisville, my exit strategy suddenly deteriatated as her rear gun swung around and began firing on my ship. A quick turn of my ship put my ship's narrowest aspect to the fire, however the third shot from that turret caught my port side and sliced a gash into my hull about an inch long. Almost instantly my bilge pump fired up at full force. Already low in the water my destroyer headed to port.
But it was too late, My ship went decks awash in about 3 minutes. As I pulled my boat I saw another destroyer the Tachikaze had also been pulled in the allied port. Same type of damage. a large hole below the water line created by a 1/4"(6mm) ball bearing. As people came to snap shots of my damage, a cheer went up from the allie harbor. Just outside their harbor a second Japanese destroyer the IJN Yukikaze was foundering. I looked up just in time to see the bow slip under the surface.
With such devastating losses the the Axis fleet, the remaining destroyers retired for the eveing and head for home port.

Saturday 1/72nd Combat Report, Molalla Oregon

(image 8)

SUNDAY
Sunday was a tough day for the Axis camp. Sortie after sortie was putting water into the boats. Despite the large schedule that had been planned for the weekend, there didn't seem to be a dry enough boats to meet that time table. The Allie port on the other hand was a machine. Each sortie, every boat they had would put to sea. By the fourth sortie of the day it became evident what the problem was.

On the command of "commence fire", the Louisville proceeded across the battle lines, and began to patrol the across the axis harbor entrance. As she passed, Axis ships would have to dart in and out of the harbor while she turned to come back. Allie destroyers that came under attack would sail to the Louisville, and lead our ships into her gun range. My entire action this sortie came down to:
Dash out of the port, Turn attack enemy DD, sail past the Louisville, fire eight shots into her hull, take six 1/4" rounds "THROUGH" the bow, and sit in the harbor and hope not to sink.

The club had been so excited by the new facilities, and the number of participants that we had ignored one of our basic rules.




We had been sailing our destroyer fleet against the Louisville without a matching boat. We were missing a ship with six 1/4"(6mm) guns on board!! The Japanese cruiser Kinagusa had been put down due to unsolvable RF difficulties on Saturday.

We discussed the matter and ran one more sortie for the day.
Theory put to the test, All ships that put to sea came back to port.
With the weather changing, and several captains with desk duties to perform Monday, we began to break camp for the weekend. Overall, it was a great event and everyone is looking forward to next season. [8D]

I was trying take quick time movies so I could capture some actions shots of gun fire, but my camera only took three stills... [&:]
We'll see if anyone else has good images from Sunday.

IroncladNut

Hi,

Great pics. Just one quick question though, how do you get that 8ft. monster off the bottom if it sinks? What does it weigh? Not trying to discourage larger scale clubs, on the contrary, I'd love to see more ships that push the limit of whats considered too big/ too heavy for RC combat.

Thanks

Umi_Ryuzuki

Safety floats would mark the spot if it goes under...

We have never actually had one go down. If we have a ship in distress, the battles often come under cease fire so the ship can get to shore. This also places all eyes on the boat so that if it does go down deep we can triangulate the location. One member keeps a spotting scope on a tripod that can be set and locked on the last known location.

The Louisville has been one of the most active heavy cruiser in the club. It has also been the closest to being sunk. The German Pocket sailed by Gary from California brought him to down to the weather deck. He sailed into the harbor, beached the boat, and two people lifted the bow and let it drain before picking it up. If the ship sinks, it will be at neutral bouancy till someone trys to lift it out of the water.... Only 75-100lbs...

You can't discourage larger scales in this club. The club still has members proposing Battleships, with at least two under serious construction. Part of the club is currenly building 1/48 scale. What they intend to do with PT boats, and 88" destroyers is a little beyond me. Query the webmaster if you need to know more. I am certainly not building one of those trailers for that class. I got rid of my Romani class light cruiser because of its size, and it was only 78" long.

Any reports and images to post from Texas Combat? Lets See 'em!![8D]

IroncladNut

Hi,

No images as of yet. Me and a couple friends are currently working on starting a club with 1/32 scale ACW Ironclads (hence my screename)! Thats why I was curious as to your methods of raising large ships. The largest ACW ship in scale is about 11ft long and 400+ lbs, but most fall into the 5-6ft length which is the norm in clubs.

Good plans are availible for most ships on both sides. Ships I'm currently researching include the Passaic class Monitors, and the U.s.s. Sassacus, which is a double-ended sidewheel gunboat.

P.S. If someone in club gets a 1/72 battleship on the water, I'd love to see pics.

Thanks again

Umi_Ryuzuki

Well there have been proposals to put air bladders or ballast tanks that can be blown using an additional valve tied into the co2 system. Basically build a submarine.
If I were starting a club I would opt for the smaller ships just to get things started.
Of course I would opt for the smaller ships anyway, as I have to fit them in my car.

I have only seen one battleship on the water, the Wyoming, but it was a WWI ship and remained under 9 feet long.

The Pensecola is typical of the detail level we expect to see on these ships. My Romani class, Atillio Regolo, can be seen just behind it.

IroncladNut

Hi,

Those are beautiful ships, I too enjoy that level of detail. The first few Ironclads built will likely be some of the smaller designs, but its nice to have the basic details of fighting a larger one worked out. One of the best methods I think is also fairly simple, I plan to construct to large pontoons out of PVC, connected by a series of straps. These pontoons will be built with valves allowed them to be flooded and then pumped dry with compressed air, lifting the ship in the process. Simple and cheap, but for the most part the medium sized ships will likely be lifted with the aid of a buddy and quick dip in the pond. Any ship I build that requires ballast will have easily removed ballast blocks, making lugging them around easier. One the of the more involved methods may consist of a small, 2 person boat with a pontoon added to one side, and small simple lift setup to pull the ship up from the bottom, although I think that wouldn't be needed unless a ship weighed in excess of 300lbs...

Right now I'm finally getting to the point where it is time to start building. The rules, construction methods, some completely new designs for pumps and cannon have been two years in the making already, and it will be a great relief for me when the RC Ironclad slips into the water. Then hopefully my club will grow from its current handful of interested "members" to a full fledged fighting club. A lot remains to be done, still need to get a lathe and mill, but all the hard work is starting to pay off.

Stiletto

The only thing I would suggest is to consider that the larger the size of the vessel, the fewer the number of people who will build and battle one. As a 4-year veteran of a 1:144 rc warship combat club that regularly sees 17 - 20 people show up for a battle (we had 25 on the pond in one campaign battle), I can safely state that the easier it is for people to build, transport, launch, recover and repair their ships, the greater the likelihood for people to try it and remain with it. Also, smaller scales encourage a greater variety of vessel classes, and you can have just as much detail on smaller vessels as with larger ones.

Rob Wood
WWCC

traxxasfreak

thats cool stuff. I don't know any thing about rc battle ships. could you tell me how much it costs to build a small ship? also where in texas do you live? I have a lake in my back yard and i am looking for something to do when i am not driving my villan around.

Stiletto

Hi Traxxasfreak,

I don't live in Texas, but there is a 1:144 club in the Dallas/Ft worth area: [link=http://www.ntxbg.org/]North Texas Battle Group[/link], and Umi would know if there's a 1:72 scale club in Texas. I belong to a 1:144 club in San Jose, CA, called [link=http://www.westernwarshipcombat.com]Western Warship Combat Club[/link] (WWCC). The least expensive 1:144 ship would be a transport of some sort, such as a freighter. These are typically not armed, although they can have a stern gun in our club. Figure around $300 with basic radio. People in some clubs might have one for sale that you just need to fix up. Other 1:144 ships with guns, such as destroyers or cruisers, will cost anywhere from $300 for a fixer-upper to as much as $1,200 for one already built and ready to fight. Battleships are in the $650 - $2,000 range, depending on condition, number of guns, whether or not it's combat-ready, etc. Of course, you can build a ship for less, usually, if you have those skills and the time.

Rob Wood
WWCC

SciFiFlyer

My Feedback: (1)

No Sinks??? What fun is that? Have you never heard the cheers when decks go awash, or done the "wade of shame" for recovery.

My 1/144 Indy went down in rough seas during a training cruise, sank in a fathom and a half of silty water. Used my rescue diver training to recover a day later, took maybe 5 minutes using the sweep-and-feel technique.

Umi_Ryuzuki

If you read the first post, and look at the pictures(image 6) you will see that I was sunk several times that weekend. You say recover the boat in 5 minutes, but you waited a "DAY".

It's the cruisers that have never actually sunk. Those ships can probably take on 3 gallons of water, and just keep right on going.

Still, we would rather grab the boat as it sinks rather than wait 15 minutes for a diver to suit up spend 5-30 minutes doing a no visiblity search to recover a boat that may then be out for the weekend. Its kind of depressing, especially for the player that came halfway across the country.(it's happened,.. on the first day too). If we call a cease fire so someone can sprint to the location in a row boat, or we can get it to shore it still sinks. My boat is always on its way back to port when it sinks... and everyone still cheers.

Our boats sink, Sinking every month this season won me a "submarine award"[&:]
I think that's why when you see pictures of a sunken ship, it's usually mine.
I need a new strategy...


Rob,
if you want to bring your group to Molalla, and perhaps battle with [link=http://www.eskimo.com/~phill/wcc/index.html]WCC[/link] I would be glad to set up the pond. I have been battling since 1988, I even slapped together the Roma hull in '98(it collects dust well) to fight 1/144. No one wanted to play.
Rob, if you organize the interstate National battle and everyone can meet here in Oregon, I will finish the Roma.