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.

Another note on Figurehead - availability

I did not realize it at the time, but in my Links section, I did not provide the correct information for buying Figurehead minis. Noble Miniatures is the manufacturer of Figurehead (among many others) but they do not engage in retail sales. However, there are retail outlets for these fine ships - in the USA The Last Square carries the entire line from Figurehead, and Magister Militum is your shop in the UK.

I am in the process of updating my Links section.

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!

Italian ironclads, part 2

Again with the slow progress...

Just a pair of work-in-progress pics:

Principe de Carignano

Palestro, with Re de Portugallo

I only have a few more Italian ironclads after these; Austrians are next then some of the unarmored ships. I have yet to finalize a shopping list for the Lissa engagement - I know that I am short several ships especially Austrians. But the handful that are in place already will give me enough to start testing some rules. I'm looking forward to trying the ironclad version of DBSA. I also have a copy of David Manley's Iron & Fire, and his Lissa supplement.

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.