Hi everybody !
For my "Colonial" and "Russian Civil War" projects, I am gradually assembling a small flotilla of ships: gunboats, armed tug, barge of artillery, paddle-wheeled ships, etc. ...)
Here is a great colonial gunboat, inspired by the class "Crocodile" French, late nineteenth centur
At the base I wanted to reproduce the "Viper" of the Tonkin flotilla, but there is little precise documentation, the few illustrations differ from each other.
In fact, I decided to modify my initial plans and build a more "versatile" model.
I retained the following characteristic elements:
- Prow with "rostrum" (I always dreamed to do this kind of bow)
- Upper and straigh chimney
- Presence of a mast (with topsails being used as fighting stations for hotchkiss revolver guns)
- Between 1 and 3 locations for artillery
The dimensions are 75 cm long and 13.5 cm wide: note that the bowsprit and the high parts of the other masts are removable, to allow me to store the ship in my bookshelves.
The artillery is removable: I will provide a nineteenth century artillery (Parrot, Armstrong, etc ...: it will be for later because I have to be careful about the dimensions and models are expensive!) And a modern artillery late 19th / early 20th century. (There I already have quite a lot and TVAG is a good supplier of artillery kind, and not expensive only the cost of shipping).
Similarly I will provide the possibility of installing a second chimney behind the first to give a look "light cruiser" to the ship.
The bridge of command will be arranged (rudder, instruments of navigations, maybe a chair, etc ...) because the glazed surface is vast!
There will be a lot of work on the ropes but I think I will do most of this work AFTER the painting, which will save me a lot of contortions!
The flags will be removable and interchangeable and I will make a series (French, Imperial German, British, Japanese, Imperial Russians, White Russians, Bolsheviks, etc ...)
Note the "shielding" of some parts of the hull simply represented by "rivets" made with pins planted in the cardboard shell (only the rounded pinheads are visible which is perfect).
Anchors are Playmobil anchors! (The dimensions are perfect, and it saves me money, but I do not tell my kids). Note that for now they are only "patafixées" (I will mount the ropes and chains after painting the hull and planks floor) ...
The fittings come mainly from Reviresco and TVAG.
For the crew, I think to use the French sailors and naval officers from "Gringos40".
For the livery I feel: these ships were usually painted white in peacetime, but in wartime they were repainted in more sober colors (gray or black). But colonial conflicts were often unannounced and crews did not always take the time to repaint the ship, especially since opponents rarely had an equivalent navy, the need for camouflage being less crucial. In short, I will perhaps give me pleasure by giving a white livery to this ship (and her future companion: a small gunboat inspired by the French "Hache" class).
I advance many ships late nineteenth / early twentieth: I still have to do the gunboat class "Hache", a barge of artillery, an armed tug (model HLBS enlarged and detailed), a small river paddle wheeled ship, and perhaps a torpedoer or even a large gunboat with paddle wheels class "Pluvier" (For the latter 2 it will depend on my place for storage and my material and financial resources). On the other hand, I will surely make some junks that can be used for the renaissance as well as for Tonkin or China during the colonial era ...
(Big paddle wheel colonial gunboat "Pluvier")
(Little metallic gunboat "Hache" class)
Well, it's true: I concede that to make a big big "Ironclad" it's itching, I would have to do it in 2 parts to be able to put it in my shelves, but hey we'll see, on a whim maybe be ;-)
To be continued …
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April 18, 2024, 11:07:39 PM
