HMS AJAX
(Leander Class Light Cruiser)
The AJAX is my second ship. It is smaller and faster than the Chester, but also a lot less forgiving to use. I partly like this ship because there are not many (any?) others of her class in our hobby. This hull was one of 3 made by Bart Purvis using a "superglue-fiberglass" method. I think superglue was easier to use than epoxy, but the ribs seem a little weaker than epoxy and I have to be a little more careful with this model.  I don't know if either of the other 2 hulls are still in operation, but that is part of the charm of using this ship, being "unique."  I also like this ship because she has a raised rear turret, allowing the cannons to be mounted with a much lower down angle than normal stern-firing ships (It actually shoots below the waterline!).

(Click on any picture this page to see a larger view)
Model STATS (1:144 scale per MWCI rules)
Length: 46.25"
Beam: 4.7"
Weight: 7.24 lbs (9.96 lbs max)
Speed: 22 sec/100'
4 Props: 4 (3-blade 3/4" diam.) and 1 Rudder (1.75 square inches)
Only the 2 center props are driven in the model, but I like to mount the same brass props on the "dummy" shafts (required for scale accuracy to the original ship), so that if I loose a drive prop I have the spare mounted readily available on the ship.
Here you can see the two electric motors that turn the two driven props.  The motor mounts are simply pieces of aluminum I bent and drilled (in alignment with the threaded holes already on the motors).  This makes the motors very easy to remove if necessary (You can see the little black screws next to the motor shafts).

The long white tubes you see are the flexible tubing that hold the bb's for the two cannons. The flexible tubing makes fitting the cannons in the small boat much easier.

Underneath the motors are the two PAVs (pressure-activated valves) that fire the cannons in the stern. These are controlled by the two black solenoids you see directly behind the motors (which are switched by an R/C card inside the receiver dry box). The whole this connected together into a single unit that is failry easy to remove (see picture at right).
In our hobby, this cruiser is allowed 2.5 "battle units".  These can be cannons or pumps. 
We use pumps in our boats to remove water as the ship takes damage, until the damage is more than the pump can handle!

I choose to use a small (0.5 unit) pump (electric motor with the blue base in the picture) so I could still have two full unit (50bb) cannons. The small (0.5 unit) designation means the pump you see here is cnnected to a hose with a small tube at the end, restricting how fast the water can exit the boat.
I choose to make each gun fire seperately. One is set for close range and the other is set for sniping at a distance.  Each can be individually adjusted simply by turning the hex screws you see inside the barbette in front of each turret.

This picture at right shows you how each cannon is mounted and aimed.  A pin at the top acts as a pivot point and screws running through notches in the L-shaped plastic (from the hobby store) aim each cannon up or down. The gray L-shaped plastic is simply "hung" over a brass rod also running throughthe mounts (underneath).  Tightening the screws down on the front of the plastic forces the back of the L-shaped plastic to push back against the bottom of the cannon, aiming the cannon down.  
In this ship I decided to put a main power cut-off switch that was easily accessible simply by removing the bow turret. It is situated inside the bow turret barbette to protect it from that unlucky bb shot that could switch it off during combat (That has happened to another captain!). 

The original HMS AJAX


Laid Down: Feb 7, 1933
Launched: Mar 1, 1934
Comissioned: June 3, 1935

Length: 554 ft.
Beam: 55.5 ft.
Weight: 9,140 tons (full load)
Complement: 570

 Armor: 
   4" main belt
   1.25" deck
   1" turrets

Armament: 
   primary: 8 x 6"/50cal BL Mark XXIII (in 4 turrets)
   secondary: 8 x 4"/45cal QF HA MkXVI (4x2)
   AA: 12 x 0.5"/62cal Vickers MkIII MG (3x4)
   Torpedoes: 8 x 21" above water in 2 quadruple mounts

Aircraft: 
   1 Swordfish (1 catapult)

Engines/Power: 4 Parsons I.R. geared turbines (72,000 shp)
Top Speed: 32.5 knots (max range 7500 Nm @ 15 knots)

MY OTHER SHIPS

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page updated 1/21/2005