The return of an old favorite, with a twist

Along with the Anglo-Dutch ships, I purchased a few miniatures for an era that I once played extensively - ACW naval:

These ships are part of a new series of ships from Thoroughbred Models.  Thoroughbred is well-known for their line of 1/600 ACW ships, and I once had quite a few.  They were sold years ago to make ends meet, but now I am ready to return to the genre except that my new collection will be in 1/1200 scale.


First up is CSS Arkansas:

Just 43mm or so in length, this model is a bit small but the detail is very nice.  This is a one-piece cast, although there is a flagstaff and flag included with the kit.

Here is a port bow shot:

Next is a Union 90-day gunboat:

This model is more complicated, with masts, bowsprit, foredeck, and a pair of separately-cast guns.


Following these is another Union vessel.  This one is an armed ferry:

Not a big ship at 37mm in length, but there is a lot of detail including a very nice 'walking beam' assembly for the engines.


Honestly, I find this project to be much less intimidating than the Anglo-Dutch ships, simply due to the greatly reduced amount of rigging needed per ship.  Some of these will required little to none.  Of course, once I get to USS Hartford, things will change!

Anglo-Dutch naval, part 1

This is the start of my newest naval project; just a pair of ships but I find it to be very daunting.  The rigging of these ships will be the hard part for me to overcome!

Here is the first step - a pair of lovely 3rd rates in 1/1200 scale from Langton.  (Edit:  purchased from Waterloo Miniatures)  (and the ratlines are sold separately!).

Inside the box one will find:

Above are the parts for the Dutch 3rd rate (Langton AD19).  The hull is three pieces, while the masts and sails comprise a total of 15 pieces.  All of the wonderful details that one expects from a Langton miniature are here.

The parts of the English kit (Langton AD9) are similar.

Please note that these miniatures are not very large.  The pics above are on a ¼" (6.35 mm) grid.  The hulls are less than 2" (51mm) long overall.

Been a while...

Sure has been a while since posting.  It has, sadly, been quite an eventful time.  For the major items, please go to my other blog and read this.  For the minor stuff, read on.

Simply put, I made a mistake that I do not think that I have ever done before.  While in a scramble to reorganize the place, boxes were shifted around and things thrown to the bin that should have not been.  Namely, the boxes with most of the ship miniatures went out - 1/1800, 1/2400, 1/3000, 1/6000 all gone.  Now, I did not have a large collection, but it was a shock to say the least and with the other issues going on it pained me to no end.

I did find a few ships that were stuffed into a different storage system.  What survived?  My Langton 1/1200 ancients ships, Figurehead 1/2400 Armada, and a few odd selections of Navwar 1/1200 ACW naval.  None of the figures are painted, and with the exception of the Armada collection nowhere near complete or even playable.

But, I think that I have a plan.  An order or two were made, some rules purchased from a well-known naval gamer's stand at Wargame Vault, and another attempt to get games going will be made.  No pics of the ships yet, as I am awaiting the last order to come in from Brookhurst Hobbies.

I found a couple of books also:

They look very interesting and I need to start in on them soon.