Hello again, following on from the 1/600 scale space 1889 flyer post I though I'd show you something else you may not have seen - round Ironclads.
Ok before you rush to say it, I'm sure a lot of you have seen the 'Popoffkas' which were made for the Russian Black sea fleet in the 1870's (my game models of which are below).
What you may not have known was that Admiral Popov apparently discussed round ironclads with John Elders shipbuilders in Scotland, where they were proposing to build round ironclads years before that. They didnt manage to sell any to the Russians but maybe the Popovs came about due to the influence of the Elders designs.. who can say.
What I can say is that I found a page of their designs in an 1868 engineering periodical called 'The Artizan' and I attach a picture below of some of their designs.
As usual with a lot of 'Advanced' Victorian designs they included too many novelties, all in one package. Not only were they round, but they were to be propelled by water jet propulsion and the central armoured conning tower was geared to the water jet vane so the whole bridge would turn in the direction of movement, even if the ship was facing another direction! Anyway, as you can see on the drawings they were proposed in all shapes and sizes, they two top ones are unarmed and supposed to allow armies to be transported onboard while having a 'castle' for some troops to man.
The first picture below shows my version of the Elders round ship in figure 12 of the drawing, I call it 'Catherine the Great' with turrets and broadside guns. behind it is some 1/600 scale Popovs, Admiral Popov and Novgorod, with some conventional monitors the Russians made under licence from the US.
The second pic shows another related design called the Brittania which was made in Britain and sold to the Russians, its got 15 inch muzzle loaders on a huge turntable which rotates, bringing the next loaded gun to bear.
pic 3 is the Black sea fleet on manouevers, with some of the old steam liners out of reserve too, to fill out the numbers.
pic 4 is the Black sea fleet passing a British battle squadron, in a friendly style. Devastation and Thunderer passing in front from right to left.
pic 5 again in the Black sea with Collingood in the foreground and a few flyers overhead. Russian Ekaterina II class BB's in front of the round monitors.
The rest of the pics are more 1/600 scale 1889 era fleets, for info.
pic 6 is the channel British and French fleets having a friendly race, but nicely with some 'Digs watching overhead.
pic 7 is in the Atlantic where the Great Eastern (back of picture) is carrying 3000 troops over to canada escorted by a reserve British squadron, led by the old Warrior. Also in company with a few Austro Hungarian ships, for some political reason.
All scratchbuilt from card and polyfoam, with removable masts and funnels for storage. The hexes on the sea are 6 inch across.
ps. some of the above 'pseudo history' may be fabricated, its all for games after all. (but some is true too)
food for thought...?
Welcome, Guest. Please 
April 25, 2024, 12:53:42 AM
November 27, 2008, 11:27:41 AM