http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx7-VC9oM1g

Wanted this for a few decades now and finally picked it up yesterday. I think this model has been in continuous production for nearly 40 years (or more) from what I can tell. I bought it as I want to RC my Tamiya CVN-65 sometime and thought, as this comes with motors and such, it would be a good test bed. $80 OTD at my local, about the same online not inc. shipping, so saved a few bucks.

It's been sitting at my local for at least the last 3 yrs. Plastic looks in decent shape. Single hull is nice. Never seen anything but a GK packed with newsprint, the box is 2x deeper than it needs to be but was surprised that the length is 'right there' : 40" compared to 36" hull. Scale is 1/125. Skill Lvl 3.

It's based on a specific ship, the highly decorated Melvin, but belongs to the Fletcher class Destroyers. Don't know that I will build it as the Mel herself or what. Don't know much about the class either. I don't expect to start this until next summer as I have a pile of easier kits to knock off in the meantime.

Anyone had some experience with her? What is the accuracy and such like?


EDIT: Just found a link at Steelnavy. In-depth build notes. Apparently not the most accurate model. but, I mainly bought it to learn motorizing ships, so no loss.

http://www.steelnavy.com/BDFletcher.htm

Its a fun model.... and most guys who build large scale plastic ships have tackled it at one time or another.

Its not the best model for RC practice... its pretty narrow and tips over easily... the Lindberg PT boat is much more stable in the water and sits higher.

I would work on a way to seal the deck... the kit design isnt very practical (no seal). Perhaps fixing the deck securely to the hull and making the superstructure removable with waterproof seals is the best option. That way too you dont have big screw heads around the deck...

It looks like fun and an easy build. The directions look more complicated than the assembly. lol.

A big tipper, eh. Good for waitresses, not so good for modelers. Maybe a wide underwater stabilizer of some sort will work. It's the directions for assembling the motor and such that sold me. Maybe I could have figured this sort of thing out, but I really needed to see what was going on.

I was surprised at how thin the hull was. I guess I'm used to seeing bigger destroyers, or I'm used to seeing battleships and calling them destroyers. Either way, no prob.

Sounds like a gasket system of sort sort is required to keep her sealed and unsinkable. Was thinking I would hold the deck on with magnets for battery access, but maybe I can do something with one of the towers for that and seal the full deck permanently.

There are probably some on line builds for the kit with the RC option. I do know the kit motor isnt really suitable for RC and shoud be replaced. I'd use real RC shafts and props as well. If you just want to tool around in circles in a pool the kit option is ok. Its just not very durable and will not last too long with more sustained use.

Destroyers are pretty narrow in beam and tend to tip over in "rougher" water as they also tend to be somewhat top heavy. Lindberg was probably thinking of this when they made the hull sides as high as they did. The real deck should dip down low in the middle of the ship, but the Lindberg deck is flat and horizontal from bow to stern.

The basic model is fun to build. Ive messed around with two of them in the last 25 years. With only minor differences in the supplied electric motors, the kit is basically the same as it was in the 60s...

A good Lindberg boat to make into RC is their 1/64 PT-109. They used to sell an RC version. But now with the commonly available micro RC stuff its even easier. I have seen their Diesel Tug set up for RC as well.