I remember reading about a model boating society that, instead of wargaming, would create scale models of famous warships and fight them - the hulls would be thin wood, and the turrets had motorised mounts and compressed air guns capable of firing a metal pellet through the wooden hulls. The ships would have less internal bulkheads (to account for the damage explosive shells would cause) but would otherwise try to be…
Fun to watch, but it could never be a reasonable simulation. Unless the model ships were hundreds of meters appart, the trajectories would be far too flat. To be close enough to score a hit you wouldnt be able to hole the other ship near the waterline. You would just blast at superstructures without ever sinking.
And there was an easy(ish) way to stabilize the guns. Mercury switches were used to ensure they only fired when the hull was reasonably level.