Shipbucket

would be nice to see:-
RNLI Tamar Class
Irish Naval service: Orla or Ciara

Nice work!
Glad that somebody else finally added something to this thread.

Small addition related to SB-scale Lithuanian Navy and Coast Guard 1923-1940 (http://shipbucket.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=10667)

Lithuania, Žaibas (Aitvaras class)


Lithuania, Partizanas

Very nice work eswube, they look great in FD scale.

_________________
Hood's Worklist
English Electric Canberra FD
Interwar RN Capital Ships
Super-Darings
Never-Were British Aircraft

Soviet hydroplanes and hovercraft - real life

First Soviet hydroplane - the ANT-1 or GANT-1 (to differentiate it from Tupolev's airplane ANT-1 - G stood for Glisser), was built in 1921 and tested on Moskva river. It had a 160 hp engine that gave it a speed of 78 km/h with 4 people onboard.

Soviet Union, ANT-1 (GANT-1), 1921


It was followed by duraluminum-hulled ANT-2, completed in late 1923.

Soviet Union, ANT-2 (GANT-2), 1923



OSGA-5 / NKL-5 was a small hydroplane made in large numbers before and during the war, both for civilian and for military operators (in number of slightly different variants).

Soviet Union, OSGA-5 / NKL-5, 1935



NKL-17 was a fast hydroplane built primarily for tourist/recreational purposes.

Soviet Union, NKL-17, 1938



NKL-27 were so-called "semi-hydroplanes" (poluglisser), introduced shortly before the war as civilian communications and tourist boats, but used in large numbers for military purposes (patrol, reconnaissance, bridging engineers etc.) and remaining in production until late 1940s.

Soviet Union, NKL-27, 1939



L-5 was an early sidewalled hovercraft designed as motor torpedo boat. Several were made but none played any role in the war.

Soviet Union, L-5 (TKL-1), 1941



A peculiar category of vehicles are amphibious snowmobiles, which combine features of sledge and hydroplane. Probably most prominent example of these is Tupolev A-3, designed in 1961 and produced since 1964. These vehicles were made in large numbers (approx. 800) and used to deliver mail and carry medical and other emergency personnel in remote areas of Soviet Union, with a number being operated by Border Troops.

Soviet Union, Tupolev A-3, 1964



In 1962 Krasnoye Sormovo shipyard, known for production of hydrofoils, built a small experimental hovercraft Raduga (Rainbow) capable of carrying 5 people with a speed up to 70 km/h.

Soviet Union, Raduga, 1962



Also in 1962 the car manufacturer GAZ (Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod) made 2 prototypes of hovercraft car GAZ-16. As a "car", it's slightly outside the scope of this thread (but it could move over water, of course), but as a hovercraft, it should be mentioned. The vehicle had retractable wheels (that would be used during road travel) and was powered by 185 hp 5,5 litre V8 engine from GAZ-13 Chaika limousine. Both prototypes underwent a number of modifications, including installation of GTD-350 turbine (from Mi-2 helicopter).
Note: formally speaking, it's supposed to be a car, but it was (somewhat) amphibious, so I decided to insert it into this entry.

Soviet Union, GAZ-16


Potential of hovercrafts to be used in utility work, especially in remote areas, did not escaped Soviet designers. For that purpose, in 1968 the Briz (Breeze) was designed - it was experimental craft, whose trials were to clarify the operational features of small hovercraft and their utility in national economy. Briz was 8,4 meters long (general dimensions being dictated by ability to be transported by rail) and weighed (empty) 3,1 tons, being capable of carrying 6 passengers or cargo load. Propulsion was provided by 3 engines - 220hp AI-14RS aircraft engine for thrust, and 2 MZMA-407 engines from Moskvitch 407 compact car. Trials of the vehicle commenced in 1969 around Leningrad, Ladoga Lake and Karelia (on water, ice and snow) and speed up to 82 km/h were reached (on ice - on water they reached 60 km/h). Tests proved general practicality of hovercraft in utility use, but also revealed certain shortcomings, like rapid wear of skirts, propellers and rudders (from water spray), high level of noise and directional issues, therefore Briz was not launched to production and instead the prototype was quietly retired, with final fate being unknown.

Soviet Union, Briz, 1969



Another utility hovercraft was Project 14660 Bars (Leopard), designed in 1976 at TsKB Neptun. It's 6,8 meters long, displacement of 1,8 tons and was powered by M-14 gas turbine. It's somewhat puzzling design, because sources mentioned that it was "put into production", and photographs suggest existence of at least several hovercraft, but only 2 seem to be identified "by name".

Soviet Union, SPK-709 (Bars), 1987



Also in early 1980s TsKB Neptun developed another small utility hovercraft Project 18800 Gepard, which entered trials in 1983. Unlike most other designs, it entered production, with at least 2 dozen (or more) being made (although most of them already in 1990s) and operated by variety of operators, including security and emergency services.

Soviet Union, Pr. 18800 Gepard, 1983



Designed and tested at the very end of Soviet Unions existence (summer 1991), the Ussuri was an attempt to create a small sidewalled hovercraft for use in fisheries, recreation, as water taxi and the like. This hovercraft was, besides being meant as prototype, also a sort of research vessel, as few attempts to build a sidewalled hovercraft of so small size were made until then. Craft was designed at Konstruktorskoye Byuro 'Tesei' (Design Bureau 'Theseus') and built at Khabarovskoy Sudostroitelny Zavod imeni 60-letya Soyuza SSR (Khabarovsk Shipbuilding Plant named after 60-th anniversary of USSR). 5-seat vehicle was 6,7m long and could reach speed of 54km/h provided by UMZ-412 engine. At least 10 seem to have been built in 1992.

Soviet Union, Ussuri, 1991



Never-were

One of the most important - basically THE most important - reason for starting development of Soviet hydroplanes in early 1920s were successes of British CMB motor torpedo boats against Soviet Baltic Fleet. Soviet military authorities wanted an equivalent vessels, but lack of engines of comparable weight-to-power ratio then in production in Russia was a major obstacle, therefore some alternative solutions had to be devised. Among them was a number of hydroplane designs (none built). The one below used basically a shortened pontoon with two surplus aircraft engines with propellers (power output of 450 hp) mounted over the hull. This vessel was to carry a single torpedo hanged in the bay in the aft hull, and also a bow machine gun.

Soviet Russia, Zelnovich hydroplane torpedo cutter, 1922 project (never-were)

nice love to see more FD scale ships. Its a better scale for the smaller vessels.
My wish list includes:
Tamar Class RNLI
Clyde Class RNLI
Dabur Class Israeli Navy
Dvora Class Israeli Navy
Peacock class Royal Navy/Irish Navy/Philipine Navy
Cyclone Class USN

Fantastic work Eswube, FD scale really does do these justice in terms of the detailing.

_________________
Hood's Worklist
English Electric Canberra FD
Interwar RN Capital Ships
Super-Darings
Never-Were British Aircraft

Hood
Thank You! Yes, below certain size of the ship the SB scale shows, unfortunately, mainly limitations that can be overcome only by switching to larger scale.

Rifleman2
It's very easy to fulfil Your wish... just draw them. :>

tried and failed

Try again - starting with something simple.
Because Your habit of making nearly every forum post a wish-list is rather... disturbing.