R/C Naval Combat

Posted By Gascan on 13 Dec 2010 03:15 AM
We've had aircraft take off from aircraft carriers in combat before. They even executed a successful attack on another warship. Since you cannot (physically nor legally) put a cannon on a 1/144 aircraft (or probably even a 1/24 scale aircraft), most big gun clubs allow aircraft a different method of attacking. An aircraft carrier is allowed to have a catapult to launch dummy balsa wood planes that glide about 6 feet. If the dummy plane strikes an enemy ship, it scores a number of points. I have never seen one that leaves a hole, nor have I seen one that launches RC planes. I've seen people make 1/72 scale RC planes (twice as big as our scale), but the wind is simply too powerful for such a small plane to fly on most days. Eventually, somewhere, someone will succeed, but only on a day with absolutely zero wind, which is not very common.

We've also had PT boats. Someone built one in the old South Coast Battle Group on a dare. I believe it was a British MTB (Motor-Torpedo Boat, same thing as a PT boat). It carried two spring-powered "torpedo" launchers. Although Big Gun torpedoes are allowed to be 1/4" ball bearings, he could only get the small .177 BBs to fit. The boat even ran in combat once. He sailed out, fired both shots into a battleship, brought the boat home, and promptly retired the boat. He'd built it on a dare, fulfilled the criteria of the dare, and then sold it up north to a member of the WWCC (my club). I got to see it sitting on a shelf, although it was never run again.

I also know of a member of the WWCC who built a PT boat. He has not armed it, since he became distracted working on his battleship Bismarck, cruiser Lutzow, destroyer Le Fantasque, and cargo ships Cimarron and LST. The LST (Landing Ship: Tank) is fully functional: it can run up on a beach, open it's clamshell doors, drop the ramp, and a little tank can drive out. It was used in the 2005 Campaign Game to assault a beach guarded by two shore defense gun batteries, which I mentioned in another thread.

We also have a number of combat submarines in the WWCC. I have seen four different subs in action. Three of them were "dynamic" diving, which means they needed to be moving forward in order to dive. The fourth does not dive yet, although the builder has plans for a future refit. Three of the four submarines were the gigantic Japanese submarine aircraft carriers of the I-400 class. The other was a huge French "cruiser submarine" called the Surcouf. The I-400 carried two torpedo tubes that fired two 1/4" ball bearing "torpedoes" from each barrel. The Surcouf had the same armament. I-401 carried four torpedo tubes firing one 1/4" ball bearing each. I-402 is the most recent sub. She carries a single tube firing four 1/4" balls, and does not yet dive. They are only moderate weapons in combat. They are slow, which makes it hard to attack a fast warship. When they hit, however, they tend to cause significant damage. They are very "tweaky," however, and break down very easily.

Most Big Gun clubs allow minelayers to deploy naval mines. They do not explode, as that would be very unsafe. Instead, we use a strand of fishing line with floats. The minelayer drags the mine field out behind it, then drops it off at the right location. An unfortunate victim then sails over the fishing line, which is sucked into the propellers and tangles them up. The victim is either stopped or slowed significantly, making it a prime target. The WWCC decided that mines were no fun and outlawed them. Imagine: you spent a thousand dollars and almost a year building your battleship so it can fight, but it is taken out of action at the big annual Campaign Game in the first few minutes by a stupid bit of fishing line. There are too many other ways for our boats to break down to allow a weapon like that.

I know a few people who have mounted a video camera on their boat. For the most part, we simply record the video and watch it later. We once tried to transmit the video from the ship to a monitor on shore, but the video wasn't clear and we couldn't fight with it. Still, though, carrying a camera into battle provides a fascinating and unique view of our models.

A rescue tow-cable is an interesting idea. We've had a guy build a hook launcher with a string. He would shoot it over a disabled ship and try to tow it. It worked moderately well. He could pull in a straight line slowly but surely, though he really struggled with turns. Someone else made a thread about using a tugboat to two a ship, although that involved a line tied to the bow of a ship before entering the water rather than a hook deployed across a disabled vessel. For the most part, when a vessel is disabled, we push it back home rather than use a complex towing system.

Ok, I've covered airplanes, PT boats, landing craft, submarines, mines, on-board cameras, and tow-cables. Anything I've missed? I'll see if I can dig up some photos,too. If you have any more ideas, let me know. I've got plenty of stories of stuff that I've seen, and I've seen a LOT of stuff. "Been there, done that." Use your imagination, but at the end of the day, remember that we all like battleships, and you'll need a battleship if you want to be a serious competitor with us.

Hey Gascan,

Some guy named Ted made a submarine that shot torpedoes (which not many people use) and was chasing an aircraft carrier with planes moving on the deck. Here is the video youtube.com/watch?v-6tb1ignakMM&feature=related

Oh yes, that's more like it.  Of course, you can also use the advanced editor and turn it into a click-able link, like this (I also turn the text blue and underline it to emphasis the link).  Or like this.  And maybe throw in a few more examples, like this or this, or this or this, or even this and this for good measure.

Ah yes, Youtube-fu.  I've been searching youtube for videos like those for years, and only recently found those ones.  It is worth noting that none of these videos are from a model warship combat club: explosives are strictly forbidden in all clubs I am aware of.  The RC tanks are WAY out of scale: 9 times larger than they should be to compete with us.  Also, I noticed in the video Kotori linked to that people were surprised that the torpedo left a hole, whereas at the SCRAP battle this weekend, one battler was quite surprised he only had 3 holes.  For them, it's a gimmick to show off to other people.  For us, it's our meat and potatoes, our bread and butter, the very essence of what we do.  So take a look, have a laugh or two, then get it all out of your head.  Remember: this is where the fun is!  Yes, that's me at the beginning prepping my cruiser in 2007.  You'll see me one more time, and my brother (Kotori) three times.  Can you guess which one he is?

Thank you, my dear Tuggolas.  I would like to thank the Forum for recognizing my work.  I'd also like to thank my fellow club members for their hard work on this, as well.  It really was a team effort, guys.    And a big thank you to the Axis, who's unparalleled skill in engineering, tactics, and strategy has allowed us to come to this point.  I suppose I should give a mention in passing to the Allies, those scummy dirt-bags who let us trample them into the pond mud again and again in the name of glory and Axis victory.  It took years and years of effort by all of us to reach a point where I could get lucky and say something that someone thought was mildly profound.

Save it for the smack thread, axistupido.

Right.  I'm sure you know what I mean.  Slightly off topic, but still worthwhile: link.