…begins with the first step then after yesterday I’m one step less than a thousand miles into my journey through this hobby.
My aquatic odyssey began on the internet last fall when I discovered r/c model warships and after a bit of research and visiting a battle in Savannah, GA, I thought I had a good handle of what was involved in building a ship…and then I bought a kit. YIKES! A menagerie of parts from Battler’s Connection arrived a couple of weeks ago and after unpacking the box I looked at the contents and could only think “oh crap, what have I gotten myself into”?
An instant Von Der Tann kit...just add labour.
And so the odds and ends sat there on a makeshift workbench in my house until early yesterday afternoon when a local battler, John Pardus, took pity on me and invited me over for an informal build session at his house. It took a pot of very hearty coffee to sober up from Saturday night’s libations but with a little go-juice and ample nudging I finally loaded the ship in my car and headed over to John’s joint.
A Virgin Hull for a Virgin Captain....
Arriving at John’s we set out to shape the sub-deck to the hull and after some coaching by John I was soon sanding it to fit. Damn, this ain’t hard (when you have a patient coach willing to let you use his tools and guide you through the process)!
Within a few hours we fitted the sub-deck, took a trip to the local hobby shop for supplies, marked the hull, taped out half the windows, and grilled burgers. (Ok, so John gets sole credit for the burgers–but I ate half!).
John showing me how to remove broad areas of the sub-deck using a killer Ryobi sander.
I’ve got to give credit to John for his help. I couldn’t let anyone build this ship for me. While I’m not a woodworker I’ve screwed up, I mean, “worked on” most everything I’ve owned from cars to motorcycles to homes and one of the things that appealed to me about this hobby was the do-it-yourself nature to it. Indeed, I decided against purchasing a used ship in order to get started and wanted to build my first ship. (More on that shortly).
Halfway through our informal build session and the sub-deck was ready to install.
However, as I mentioned above, after unpacking the VDT kit I started second guessing my abilities. But with John’s help and guidance I found that I CAN do this myself, even if I’m going to need a bit of help (and head smacking) along the way. What’s clear now is that I’m going to have a VERY large debt to play forward with future newb’s to the hobby. Oh well, that’s just the price of admission and I’m fine with repaying that debt!
The Imperial Japanese Navy's Mogami...BANZAI!
Now, what was I saying about wanting to build my first ship? Well, that’s still the plan BUT due to some good fortune (and finding a misplaced tax refund check) I’ll soon be adding another ship to the Boat Werks, an IJN Mogami! But not just any Mogami…no, this ship comes straight from Frank’s fleet, the MWCI Region 3 guru of kick ass superstructure! I had the chance to meet Frank at the battle I attended last fall and saw first hand his workmanship. I am so damn stoked to have a chance to battle this ship that I’m typing the word “stoked”, quite unusual for a middle aged moron like me. Heh.
The latest communique on the ship’s location arrived earlier today and stated “…your ship went out via UPS today. The tracking #’s are…(censored by the War Department)“
Hmm, instead of Herr Bauers maybe Banzai Bauers would be a better moniker….
