Different from earlier ships like the Blücher; Seydlitz and so on; this ship used a combination of light-weight balsa and plywood which formed a structure not built up from cross-ship bulkheads used earlier. Of course, this method required a lot more work than the bulkheads, but the result gave a "yeah-wow"-feeling when it was ready. The only bulkhead this ship had was a semi-high watertight bulkhead some 30 centimetres from the bow. This one would not stand up for huge floods caused by collisions and hull cracks, but it would at least prevent any leakages from pouring astern.

Using this framework method instead of the bulkhead one gave me a lot of free space inside the ship. Earlier I have had to carefully estimate the space usage to get the speed controller; resistor and stuff to fit in the middle section and the battery forwards, just to be aware that the calculations failed on 1-2 inches, forcing me to cut holes in bulkheads to fit in the r/c equipments. Then, I would have to drill holes through the "watertight" (though they never were 100% w/t) bulkheads for electric cables... So, this 'new' system gave a lot of extra space and made ship lighter. From the very beginning I had decided to use methods new to me, ie. to use balsa for the bottom instead of 4 mm plywood as earlier, the usage of balsa hull framework and then, finally, to use the very thinnest plywood available for the hull; resulting in 0.4 mm sheet plywood as hull.

However, in autumn 1999 I had to stop the building work as I moved to a new location. Work was then down until early 2000 when I moved the ship to Locutuz' place and continued the work. But it went on slowly. At this stage, I was struck by the thing called "love" and then wheeep the name was changed from "Yang-Tse III" to "Emilianova"... I guess you can figure out the forename of that girl, can ya ;) ? Actually, the full name does contain a russified version of her surname also, but I dont see any use to mention it here. It might look crazy to name a model warship after a girl, but... er... yes it is crazy, I know...

Work went on, but sloowly. The ship was painted in April 2000 and the wet paint dried in the warm spring sun. Good result. At same time, I constructed the deck. Different from earlier ships where the whole deck was removable (with superstructure fixed to deck), this ship had fixed deck with removable superstructure. The reason to this construction change was primarily to prevent water from flushing over the deck at higher speeds, like on the Seydlitz and Blücher ships. The fixed deck on the Emilianova however was a shame, as it got winded due to ... some reasons ... which I dont know of... I was short of time and wanted to get something done, and well... ... I dont know wherefrom I took the idea for a runway aftwards, but this one was constructed at the same time.

By summer same year, I had installed the necessary equipment for first sea trials. A temporary superstructure setup was hastily arranged, and then by mid-july first trials were held by Locutuz' summer place. And, I was satisified. The only leakage was in a hull joint aft of the engine which could be repaired without problems.

Summer turned into autumn, and the work went on, now with a slightly higher pace than earlier. The main superstructure and the gun was manufactured in three months. By this time I had abandoned the first drawings, and now I worked only with fantasy drawings in my head... :) Okay okay I glanced a little on the Ticonderoga and the russian Piotr Velikaya vessels to be inspired, but just briefly. I also sneeked a golf-ball from somewhere and constructed a radar dome from it. I have not run the ship in water after adding not only that installation but also masts and a couple of other too-heavy stuff high in the air on the superstructure...

By October-November the complains from Locutuz and the other fellow engineers about the windingness of the bow and foreship had grown into intolerabness. By using filler, I tried to correct the bow as much as possible, and with some help from Locutuz, I managed to turn the former banana-like foreship into a cucumber one :) Shortly after this surgery, I began installation of the most unnecessary outfit ever; working lanterns and searchlights... We never run our ships in the night, maybe sometimes in the evening, but we would never need these... It looked good though.

At this stage, I painted the superstructures in a light gray and the hull got a darker gray colour. Smaller installations were done, such as railings and mast outfits.

During the last two weeks I have been working on a rounded and better shaped bottom fitted wih a bulk bow (inspired by PolarBears Arleigh Burke). It looks okay, but once again, it has not been tested in water.

So, this the ship's status today. It is scheduled to finished this spring, and will be as soon as I have done a few things, just odds and ends ...

If you have questions, feel free to mail.