70 years ago...

Seventy years ago, as of the time of this post, a battle was just ending in the North Pacific.  Task Group 16.6, USN, under RAdm Charles McMorris, had just successfully disengaged from combat with a superior Japanese force under RAdm Hosagaya Boshiro.  This battle is commonly known as The Battle of the Komandorskis, after the nearby Russian island group.

There are some good on-line articles on the action, with one at Microworks, and another at HistoryNet.  The order of battle is listed in a concise fashion at NavWeaps.

The only book on this specific battle is authored by John Lorelli.



My father served aboard USS Richmond from 1942 through 1945, and was present for this battle.  He never did talk about it much, but one night decades ago, when we were at my sister's house, and my sister and mum were off, my father spoke briefly about his war experiences with my brother-in-law and myself.  He did admit that he was not so scared that day, even though it could have turned out much worse especially when USS Salt Lake City (old Swayback Maru - the ship a visiting German delegation declared in the 1930's as a ship good only for payclerks and cooks) went dead in the water and things were looking grim.  He was much more worried during a patrol a year later, near northern Japan, when, during an unusually clear night, his radar screen picked up an approaching aerial contact out of the west.  This was, presumably, a Japanese recon plane.  Richmond's captain ordered an unorthodox maneuver - he called for 'All Stop' and brought the cruiser dead in the water.  This was to prevent the aircraft from seeing the faintly phosphorescent wake left by the ship.  Minutes seemed like hours as the crew waited for the aircraft to either find or miss them... The recon plane moved closer, closer, then turned away. 



To the sailors of TG 16.6, and especially my father - you are not forgotten.

Austrian ironclads, part 3

Not really an ironclad, this is an unarmored wooden steam vessel from the 1/2400 Figurehead line:

I intend to use it as the Austrian frigate Novara.

Building this one will be a bit different from the previous ironclads, as it appears that the fore and main masts are carried over from the Figurehead sailing ship lines.  The ironclads from Figurehead have the mast as an integral part of the hull, with the sails being separate, and the sailing vessels have the masts+sails as separate pieces.  Cutting the sails from the masts would be a delicate task; it will be easier to make a new set of masts.

Stoking the boilers again...

Well, 2012 did not come off as I expected in the hobby department, especially with regards to naval gaming.  Suffice to say, I completely lost the plot!  I did manage to do a little with some of my other projects (I have a series of blogs specific to certain projects, click on my profile if you are interested) but I did not get very far with anything.

Recently, however, I have been trying to shake off the cobwebs and get some wok done again, and that includes naval projects.  Once again, one of the biggest obstacles is focus.  I can launch off on a new project very easily, but getting the miniatures on the table seems to be a bit hard for me lately.

So, coming up with the right set of projects will be my first goal.  As always, I have several options:

1.   Renaissance naval - I have several Figurehead 1/2400 ships waiting patiently;

2.   Ironclads - Again, more 1/2400 Figurehead ships from 1866 waiting;

3.   WW1 - A bit more complicated with this, as I have 1/2400, 1/3000, and 1/6000 scale ships;

4.   WW2 - Also a choice of scales here, with 1/2400 and 1/6000.


And this list is just for miniatures that I already possess!

One point that I want to check on immediately is this question - Can I paint 1/6000 ships to my liking?  If so, then I might have the post-1900 situation sorted.  1/2400 seems to be a good choice for any action from 1500 - 1885.



Also, I have begun to change the look of this blog.  I have added more links to other blogs on the left, and hopefully it is a bit easier to read.

On the horizon - 2012

Well, my last post of 2011!  It should be something thoughtful and witty, but what follows will have to suffice...

First off, I would like to thank all of the people that follow and visit this humble blog.  Having something to say is one thing, but also having an audience is another and I do appreciate all comments, so please keep them coming in!

Second, projects.  I seem to be good at finding new ones and not finishing old ones.  The past six months were not too kind to my hobbies, but that is over now and 2012 is shaping up to be a better year miniatures-wise.  The Lissa project continues - I actually sat down and slapped primer on 5 Austrian ironclads recently.  Plan Rubber is still cooking along slowly.  The Götland WW1 ships are waiting patiently for me to decide the next step.  And of course there are more that might never see the top of a table...

Third, this marks the 3rd anniversary of the start of this blog.

Last but not least, have a Happy New Year!

Leviathans, part 3

After a long delay, here are some pics of another vessel from Leviathans, the French light cruiser Pontbriand:

Another nice looking model for the Leviathans game.