Great War naval, the return

 The naval project, hinted at in my previous post, is indeed Great War naval in 1/2400.  This marks a return to one of my original historical projects, as I first dabbled with these dreadnoughts in the mid 1990's using the fine miniatures from CinC.  Another attempt in this century was made with 1/3000 ships and again with 1/1800, but nothing really stuck and many of these ships were accidentally discarded.

But, the world turns and so does my attention, and here we are back with 1/2400, this time with GHQ ships.  I am trying to guide this project along a few lines:  one, as a solo project I am going to try and not get too carried away with purchases (we'll see!); two, also along the lines of a solo project I am going to try and purchase these ships as they come on sale from GHQ or other sources; three, limiting the theatre of operations to the Baltic (and maybe the Black Sea); and lastly to not be too concerned with historical squadrons and just get a game on.

First up are some Russians:

GHQ lists them as BB-class, but in reality they are pre-dreadnoughts.  Slava and Tsessarevitch are survivors of the Russo-Japanese War, and Imperator Pavel is only slightly more recent.

A mixed bag of cruisers:

And a few German heavy units:

The shift away from purely historical encounters starts straight away with these selections.  SEYDLITZ, as far as I know, did not engage in any combat missions in the Baltic during the Great War, but I certainly will put her in harm's way.  And SEYDLITZ will not be the only one, as I intend to get the Russian Gangut-class battleships in action as well, eventually.

Next item on the list is rules.  I have some in mind already, old ones and newer ones to try out.

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WW1 German ships, part 2

With a little bit of spare time, I was able to make a little more progress with my WTJ 1/1800 ships. 

Magdeburg and Strassburg, and their masts.  I am not certain of the diameter of the brass rod used for the masts, but the yards are made of 0.006" brass wire (the long piece in the pic above).  Again, the mounting holes for the masts are printed into the WTJ cruisers, so just a bit of glue and in they go.

It is a different story with the TB's.  Their masts are also made from the thin brass wire, but I had to use a drill bit to make a hole for them.  I did not put yards on the masts for the TB's.

All of my 1/1800 ships now have their masts, although it is a bit hard to see from that angle.  Primer will make it much easier to see - more pics after that!

WW1 Russian ships, part 3

Inspiration can strike suddenly, and this time I took advantage of the situation and worked on my WTJ ships a bit.

Here is my small flotilla of 1/1800 ships - German cruisers on the left, Russians on the right.  One can see that I have already primed the first Russian cruiser - Bogatyr - but I forgot one small detail... masts!  So, back to work.



I have some thin brass wire that I use for masts, and this time I decided to use plastic rod as well.



Before putting in the masts, I looked around for some pictures to
help guide the work.  The WTJ ships have holes for masts already present
in the model, in cruisers and larger at least, so siting the masts was
not a problem, and I found a pair of pictures in one of my books - The Imperial Russian Navy by A.J. Watts - showing differences between Bogatyr and Oleg. 
The book shows that Oleg has a slightly different bridge structure,
without searchlight wings, and the masts are slightly different also.



In the pics below, one can just barely see the trimmed bridgework on Oleg, the rightmost cruiser.

Bogatyr from the bow

Oleg from the bow

It will be difficult to see the change until I get some primer on him.



And, some simple masts:

Bogatyr (the grey one) has slightly shorter masts, and Oleg has a lookout position on the mainmast.  I think, after the fact, that using the plastic rod is a bit off for the yards.  I will not repeat it with the German ships but the rest of the Russians will, except using the same brass rod as the masts.

New project, and old

Just a quick pic or two:

On the left, my new 1/1800 ships from WTJ, with a pair of extras that were sent just in case some of my order fell afoul of a production problem.  Awesome service from WTJ!  Now, for some primer...



And on the right, one of my 1/600 Xyston ancient vessels, and assorted bits.  I am going to take another look at this scale for my Tékumel naval project.  One item that I can see already is the size of the 'castle' from Xyston.  It seems to be slightly small.  A scratch-built replacement might be in order.





Lastly, the Tékumel naval project got another boost with this:

I finally purchased my copy, and I am looking forward to reading through it again.

Ships from WTJ!

Finally had some time to post this... my small, test order with WTJ arrived some time ago.  I ordered just a few ships - SMS Magdeburg and V167 for the Germans, and cruisers Oleg and Bogatyr and TB Boiki for the Russians.  Here is a quick pic:

Bogatyr is the top, Magdeburg is the bottom.  These ships are in 1/1800 scale.  The translucent material makes it difficult to get a good photograph of them, so once they are primed I will take a better set of pics.  Right now, they are soaking in some soapy water...

New blog, with a painting tutorial

A new blog (not mine  :) ) has sprouted up - The Great War at Sea by Grant.  He has posted a two-part painting tutorial, with Part 1 here and Part 2 there.



He has some beautifully painted 1/2400 GHQ miniatures - take a look!

WTJ strikes again!

The ships are just flowing out of the printers at War Times Journal - now, there is a new line of ships:   World War One ships in 1/1500, 1/1800, 1/2400, and 1/3000 scales!  Check this link:

WTJ 3-d printed WW1 ships

Just Germans for now, but soon the Royal Navy as well...



And, for more pics, see this great new blog:   Red In The Morning



(Not my blog but go visit just the same!)

Projects

It has been a little quiet here at this mini-shipyard, so as an aid to get back into gear I'm listing the current naval projects:

1. 1/2400 Armada - The discovery of some long-lost Hallmark ships was a pleasant surprise, but I have not done anything else to them since. The two small squadron packs contain plenty of ships for now, but I am thinking of spicing them up a bit. I discovered just the trick for that - Tiny Tin Troops has a set of flags for Armada-era ships, so that has been placed on the To-Buy list. After that, just some paint and a set of rules then I'm set!

2. 1/2400 Ironclads - Ten Italian ironclads have been mostly finished, and there are 8 Austrian ships - 5 armored, 3 unarmored - waiting. I'm hoping to try a variant of DBSA to start once some Austrians are done.

3. 1/3000 WW1 - Still work to be done on these Baltic squadrons. Rurik and Novik are still not finished, and most of the German ships are only partially complete. These, however, have been stashed away since my recent move, but just a smidge of work would get this project afloat. DBSA will be the starter rules for this project as well.


And now for the 'other' naval projects I have been puttering around with lately:

4. 1/600 Tékumel naval - Fantasy gaming in the world of M.A.R. Barker - follow this link for a little bit of info.

5. 1/1200 Half-Continent naval - Also known as Monster Blood Tattoo or The Foundling's Tale, this set of novels details a blend of the fantastic with alchemy and the 18th-century. More information on my take of the story here.


Apologies for the lack of pics, and thanks for all the votes and comments on the previous post!

1/6000

Here is some of my unexpected collection of 1/6000 scale ships:


Just the Germans and British in this pic. My 1/6000 German fleet is an eclectic mix of battlecruisers, pre-dreadnoughts, and torpedo boats, while the British only have battlecruisers. I have to say that I do not remember the specific plan for these ships! But, they are beautiful castings - do I really need another scale?

Back on track, with a surprise...

Far too slowly, but it is finally done - the hobby table is set up for business:

And, it is immediately besieged with projects and a few surprises as well if you look closely!

Here is the first one:

1/2400 Figurehead English 16th century squadron

1/2400 Figurehead Spanish 16th century squadron

I thought that these packs were sold off long ago, but they look intact and almost completely untouched. Looks like two to three ships per pack - plenty to start off. I really do not know much about the period - any rules suggestions? Since these minis received the official 'thumbs up' from the missus, they are keepers...

The missus and I are still debating the fate of all of those 1/6000 ships, scattered on the work table in the first pic; I am still sorting them out! Looks like British, German, Turkish (!), US, and Brazilian (?) ships, in a mix of WW1 and WW2 eras.

German ships, part 1

We saw the state of the Russian fleet last time - so here are the Germans:


The bases are not quite finished; those that are blue will get one more coat, and the metal ones will get two! The torpedo boats do look dark and sinister, as they should, although when I paint the wakes on the bases they will pop out more.




A broadside shot of the fleet. The closest ship, minelayer Albatross, is not nearly done, but if you look past her to the cruisers you can just see that I tried to paint the two-tone scheme that was used by the Germans in WW1. Too subtle, maybe, but in absolute scale terms probably too dark. I do like the effect so I think I will keep it...

Russian ships, part 2

Long time no post - my apologies!

I have put a little time and effort into the ships - the basics of the basing is done for all of the WW1 Baltic ships. I do wish that I had put a little more thought into basing before starting... I started with a thin piece of sheet steel, a commercially available base from Wargames Accessories. After super-gluing all of the ships to these bases, I realized that they were too thin for regular handling. So, I found some old pieces of thick card and cut to size. But, with the card bottom I would not have the pleasure of easy storage using magnets! So, I found an old piece of sheet signage magnet - I have had it for many years - and cut more pieces for the bases. The bases now have three layers and are fairly heavy. You can almost see it here:


That's Bogatyr getting the final, magnet layer. The layers came out a bit uneven; my base-cutting skills are lacking. The bases are quite thick now and should be easily picked up by the average gamer! The magnet bottom will allow me to use steel containers for secure transport, and the metal top might still be useful...


Here is the Russian squadron, so far:


Adm. Makarov, Bogatyr, Oleg, and Bayan in front followed by mighty Rurik and Novik. The older cruisers are almost done, just need to finish off the bases and overcoat.

Work-in-progress

These projects are slowly taking shape. My order from The Last Square arrived - mostly steel bases and one Austrian ironclad, Drache - and the bases have already been put to use.


I'm using 40mm x 80mm bases for my WW1 ships. The trio on the right are the German torpedo boats... they are a dark grey with a darker grey deck, maybe too dark! I will wait until I have the bases painted but the small boys might get another, slightly lighter coat of dark grey paint for their hulls and superstructure. In the middle you can see the backbone of the Russian cruiser force - Admiral Makarov, Bogatyr, Oleg, and Bayan. And finally, still on the painting rack: Rurik and Novik for the Russians; minelayer Albatross, light cruiser Lubeck, and armored cruisers Prinz Adalbert, Roon, and Prinz Heinrich for the Germans.


The ironclads have not been forgotten:


All of my current squadron of Italian ironclads are assembled and on bases, with varying degrees of completeness. The stack of minis on the right includes five Austrian ironclads and five generic wooden steam ships. These bases are 30mm x 60mm.

A brief update

Progress is slowly clicking along here - no pics though as the batteries for the camera are on the charger.

For the ironclads, I now have 10 Italian ships assembled, mounted, and with assorted amounts of paint. This is not the entire line-up at Lissa, but is plenty for the near future. Four Austrian ships and six unarmored 'generic' ships are waiting for their turn at the shipyard. I have yet to decide if I should use some of the unarmored ships for the Austrians or use them as the foundation of an Ottoman flotilla. One point that I did notice with the unarmored ships - the sails and masts are one piece, unlike the ironclads with the sails separate. A little more work will be needed to create new masts but not much more. It is odd that they are so different from their armored brethren, unless the mast/sail combos are just pieces from Figurehead's line of Age of Sail ships. I have ordered more 30mm x 60mm metal bases for this project.

In the Baltic, more loose ends are being tied up. All of the ships involved for the WW1 Götland scenario now have some form of paint applied. I probably should not call it the Götland scenario any longer, as my version is a bit different. In my Navwar order (from long ago!) I forgot to get a mini for one of the German light cruisers. That ship is being replaced by Prinz Heinrich (from WTJ); a slight upgrade there! I am also one destroyer short, so the Germans will only have six. I might need to lighten the paintwork on these destroyers - they are very dark grey. The Russians will get to keep Novik in their OOB - some sources do not mention Novik but he will be there in my games. Bases have been ordered also - 40mm x 80mm.

I promise pics when I can!

Russian ships, part 1

Not much progress here, as I am suffering from an increased work-load, and a sore and swollen left knee. My recent computer upgrade was more successful but just as time-consuming!

A small amount of work was accomplished, as seen here:


Basically, a before and after pic of the Russian destroyer Novik. The Navwar mini appears to be the WW2 version, also known as Yakov Sverdlov. I trimmed down the tripod masts and added pole masts of brass rod. It is still not quite the correct profile for Novik, but it is close.

German cruisers, part 1

It has not been all Ironclads work here - the WW1 ships have been getting some attention also. And to prove it, here are some work-in-progress pics:



SMS Prinz Adalbert, ready for primer. I added some masts using brass rod.






SMS Roon.


Both minis required a bit of work with knife and file, and I see that I missed a gap in the second stack on Roon. Nothing too serious though. I do think that these will paint up faster than their WTJ counterparts, as the Navwar minis have a bit less detail. Once all of the ships are on the table, fully painted, it will not matter much.

Slow progress

Just a brief update:


Regina Maria Pia with a little bit of paint applied, and





Affondatore.

Progress has been slow through the previous month due to a really odd work schedule which should be resolved now. These Figurehead ships do seem to paint up nicely so that helps.


And the WW1 fleet has not been forgotten:



Before I set off to the balmy shores of the Med for WW1, I am going to finish off the ships for my Götland scenario. Painting is helping with my strange urge to purchase those 'lovely' French pre-dreadnoughts - I really do find the French designs to be strangely attractive!

A welcome addition

Found this while shopping at the not-quite-local Half Price Books:



Not a bad find for $12. This will be moved up to near the top of my book reading queue!

Ship mini painting, part 1

Been awhile, hasn't it? I am making some slow progress with the minis:


Here is a pic of the WTJ minis, with masts of brass rod added and a coat of primer(Reaper Master Series Brush-On Primer). I have glued them to a nail for easier handling.

I am also experimenting with paint choices:


1. Reaper Master Series Pure White
2. 1 part Pure White + 1 part Reaper Master Series Misty Grey
3. Misty Grey
4. 1 part Misty Grey + 1 part Reaper Master Series Cloudy Grey
5. Cloudy Grey
6. 1 part Cloudy Grey + 1 part Reaper Master Series Stormy Grey
7. Stormy Grey
8. Delta Ceramcoat Charcoal Grey
9. Delta Ceramcoat Black

To my eye, #3 will be a good choice for German hulls (except DD's), with #2 as the color for the upperworks. #4 will be the overall color for the Russians (except DD's). I still need to decide on a deck color, however.

#5 could be the color for the Russian DD's, with #6 for the Germans. I might use #7 as the color for the decks of all the DD's.

Navwar, continued...

Unfortunately, I've been distracted and have yet to work with my new Navwar ships - no painting, no pics, and they are still in the bags. I have discovered that I forgot to place Augsberg on the order sheet and instead received one of my alternates - a Wittelbach-class predreadnought. I guess that means that I'll need to place another order, soon!