Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length.

[ballastanksian]

Hi chaps.

Contributing to Joe's thread on stanchions etc and thinking ahead to when I need to fit them to my fleet, I wonder if anyone has fitted theirs folded down for action?

An image of HMS M21 shows the folded down which while not the tidiest of displays, at least shows her in action.

Now, most if not all stanchions wether they be etched brass, turned brass, formed wire or other, are sold as set up, so any attempt to create folded railings would have to be scratch built or modified.

The main 'con' I can see for having them folded down is as for anti torpedo nets, where any impact on the side or scrape against the pond edge may remove lots of stanchions and rail, but there must be ways of strengthening and/or reducing this possibility?

Ian:O)

[dougal99]

My take on this is that it depends if you want a display model or something to sail regularly. If the latter, apart from the damage from any collision (other boaters are not always blameless) there is the question of handling and launch/recovery. If the boat is small enough to lift single handed the problem is reduced, but a big boat requiring two hands or slings is a very different proposition.


Clumsy so and so that I am, I did not put vertical railings around the main deck of my 1:96 Type 42 and thus nothing around the aft helicopter deck. Not gold standard but in my opinion better than constantly having to repair damage. It does get displayed on occasion but is primarily a working boat.

[ballastanksian]

Thanks for that insight Dougal. M19 will be cradle launched so will probably go for raised rails.

[Geoff]

I thought most railing when folded down for action folded inboard, certainly for capital ships - any pictures?


Cheers


Geoff

[dreadnought72]

There's this classic photograph. 'Dreadnought cleared for action'.


Stanchions inboard, along with the canvas canopy supports. The anti-torpedo net davits are left over the side. Oh, and the glass from the searchlights has been removed.


Bit of an H&S 'trip hazard' on deck ... but if you were up there, that'd be the least of your problems. 


Andy

[Bob K]

Another consideration is that when cleared for action ships boats were often towed behind, especially in the early eras.

I usually build for normal sailing, so stanchions etc are fitted in the regular raised positions.