RC Model Warship Combat - NTXBG

Now, when you think about model boat hobbyists you probably picture them meticulously painting every last detail on a scale model then the model is carried up to the shelf, the mantle with a glass case over it. That may be so, but the hobbyists you're about to meet aren't so much interested in fine details as much as they are in surviving enemy fire, and their story in this week's installment of built in your backyard It's morning at a man-made lake in Texas it's quiet and peaceful here but the waters are about to get stirred up by the North Texas Battle Group they're hobbyists who get together for naval combat with remote controlled model battleships they've built mostly from scratch and the guns they really shoot one of the great parts about this hobby is that the damage is not simulated the ships actually fire projectiles and when the holes in the armor are numerous enough that the water come in faster than the pumps can pump it out the ship goes straight to the bottom Wes Wynne is a college student and captain of the French battleship Dunkerque he's rigging a float that'll help him haul up his ship if somebody sinks it sinking the Dunkerque might be tough though because among club members Wes has a reputation as a crack shot the guns have to be aimed visually, but as you become familiar with the ship you're able to get a feel for it so as you point the sticks in different directions and you get familiar with it you can really get a better feel for where your guns are pointed at all times I've been raised on various gaming consoles and what-not so the hand-eye coordination did give me a jumpstart in the hobby today Wes is teaming up with Lon Webster captain of the Italian Battleship Andrea Doria Lon and his son load the ammo big BBs they'll travel at a speed of about fifty meters a second propelled by CO2 on the opposing team, airline pilot Don Payne - this is the USS Missouri World War 2 battleship with sixteen inch guns. Like all of the models, the Missouri is 1/144 the size of the real thing made mostly from balsa wood rudder works Don's ally is Jeff Burns his ship is the heavy cruiser USS Dallas - I've got an ugly ship on most of these ships you'll find lots of battle damage but not much detail pretty standard on combat model where the fine detail work has a tendency to get knocked off so over time we put some of that back on, but since it's not necessary to the combat operation of the ship, a lot of times it gets left off over time she gets to be a much uglier ship in this simulated WW2 naval battle Wes and Lon will attack an allied convoy now in harbor on the other side of the boat house their goal is to sink cargo ships and tankers convoys protected by the Missouri and the Dallas they have to escort the convoy around a marker buoy and then bring them back to port but before the battle starts, Wes has a problem he hauls out the Dunkerque on the custom-built lift old battle wounds are causing a leak and silencing his guns the firing servo has gone out on me sometimes that just happens when we get a bit of water in there sometimes they just burn out with age, so we've just got to pop out the old servo and put a new one in there and hopefully we will have guns, making it more fun for everyone everyone the firing servo opens the valve that releases the CO2 another club member gives Wes a new one you know when we're out of the water, we're all good friends, it's just when the ships hit the water and the ball bearing start flying that we become enemies Dunkerque is relaunched and the convoy sets off and the battle begins The BBs ricochet so everybody wears safety goggles Andrea Doria takes some serious hits from the Missouri the bilge pump is able to handle the leaks but Lon's guns aren't working, his partner Wes isn't doing any better Dunkerque takes shots below the waterline There goes the pump as the ship lists, water pours in through the holes, and the guns are silenced the servo got wet and started glitching and resulted in the entire radio system glitching and resulted in a loss of power with the Dunkerque and a loss of control on this pond, the Dunkerque is a sitting duck meanwhile the convoy rounds the marker buoy and heads safely back to port as for the Dunkerque... the rescue float and balsa wood superstructure stay on the surface Dallas pushes superstructure back to shore and Wes heads out on a salvage mission they find the float haul of the Dunkerque and assess the damage and if you actually look closely you can see that there are still some of the ball bearing embedded in the armor that didn't quite make it through all the way just proof that the damage really is... pretty real time to patch up and head back in the battle because for the North Texas Battlegroup a watery grave is not forever