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