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Author Topic: Ships in 20mm / 1/72 for late Victorian coastal warfare - Steam yacht, pt. 10  (Read 9549 times)

Offline cataphractarius

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Okay, another tiny step on the long road to something that hopefully will be (barely...) useable for gaming - step 4:

I started detailing the wheelhouse with the open bridge on top, adding various bits and pieces to make it slightly more interesting. We have an engine order telegraph and a compass, but no wheel - that would be in the wheelhouse. Oh, and as the yacht was originally built for the family of a wealthy Paisley-born industrialist, it features the latest in Victorian shipboard communication - voice pipes...

Other additions include a steam pipe and a horn on the funnel, bridge wing supports which I felt were necessary both for structural logic and because they look better, and a flagstaff, which is slightly on the large side of things. Then again, just because you have a small yacht that doesn't mean you can't have a 6ft ensign when steaming into action against les frogs...



Here we can see Gunner Farquarson looking rather puzzled at all the strange bits and pieces now clogging the bridge. Again apologies for the poor picture; I hope to change this soon.

Also, I added the missing pieces to the mast, two yards to the fore mast and a spar to the main mast. The rig that will eventually support these will only be a very crude approximation of the real thing, as the main function still is to put figures on it; the rig thus mustn't get in the way of the figures and it should be fairly rugged. Currently I'm experimenting with plastic ratlines for the masts which, while looking not as good as "real" ones would add further structural strength to the whole thing.

This is the current state of affairs:



Still quite something to do before I can slop the first coat of primer over it, but we're slowly getting there. The next thing to do is to add some further detail to the superstructure and to further detail the outside of the wheelhouse. Also, one or two small rowing boats would be nice - and some means of getting them on and off the ship.
« Last Edit: May 29, 2015, 07:47:18 PM by cataphractarius »

Offline OSHIROmodels

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That's coming together very nicely  8)

cheers

James
cheers

James

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Twitter account -     @OSHIROmodels
Instagram account - oshiromodels

http://redplanetminiatures.blogspot.co.uk/
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Offline cataphractarius

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Another small update - step 5, if I'm not mistaken.

Let's begin with a closeup of the bridge atop the wheelhouse - I hate closeups! :D



I have to say, though, that it doesn't look as shoddy in reality. Another detail I forgot to mention last time - the yacht not only features the latest in Victorian onboard comms equipment (voice pipes...) but can also boast cutting-edge surveillance and detection technology - which is so top-notch that there is only a very blurry photograph available.



A crow's nest... :D

But to the update. First, I tried myself at producing acceptable (I should rather say, not too horrible...) ratlines. As a starting point I used these plastic ratlines from the spares box. They come from an old Revell Mayflower kit and are supposed to be 1/83. Gunner Farquarson is clearly not impressed - they are significantly too small.



Well, time to do some cutting. By cutting away every other step I arrive at something that is more believable for 1/72; reducing the width of the whole set further increases the looks - I may narrow it down a bit even more, depending on how it looks.



So, above on the left the original set of ratlines, on the right the reworked one, and the picture below shows how they'll eventually look in place.



The ratlines were done, but Gunner Farquarson was far from pleased, brabbling something about H&S and that the whole navy thing is going to the dogs if noone cares for those unable to swim.

Hm.

Ah - safety equipment is what he wants!

Well, another raid to the spares box produces two rowing boats, one covered and one uncovered (for visual interest; it's not very logical to have them this way). After scratchbuilding some davits we arrive at this, and Farquarson already looked slightly less not-amused.



As you can see the davits are not identical - as the boats are not. Again, mostly for visual interest; a pleasure yacht of the 1880s would probably have had two identical sets with a pair of boats (which my spares box couldn't produce...).

Finally, having put them into place it was time to see how the Gardner (it will be a Gardner... :D ) would look like on the quarterdeck. That's pretty much the only place where you can put it and have anything even remotely decent as a field of fire - and it means that in order to use it, you have to manoeuvre rather cunningly!



With the Gardner on deck, Farquarson was finally pleased.


« Last Edit: May 31, 2015, 09:03:13 PM by cataphractarius »

Offline cataphractarius

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A very minor update today - step 6. We're finally coming closer to the point where it's time to break out the primer can and have colour everywhere (but not on the model...).

The superstructure needed some more detailing. I had a couple of portholes lying around, and these served nicely to detail both the sides of the wheelhouse and the middle part of the superstructure, which also got some more detail to add visual interest; not all of it may actually may sense, but it looks at least better than the bland sides. I also added some railing to the waist; the remainder of the ship will get proper wire railing, but I thought here a permanent fitting might have been a good idea.

Also, the forecastle needed some rearrangement. The - far too modern - winch went on a ballistic arc away from the model, while two small cranes for the anchors and suitable supports were added. Everything else (anchors, chains etc.) comes once the hull is painted. I should probably add that there are very few deck fittings; the reason for that being the need for placing at least some figures somewhere.



The picture above shows gunner Farquarson inspecting the new arrangements, while below is an attempt at an overall impression of the ship.



Still a lot to do, but at last some progress discernible if compared with the beginning:



What I find quite amusing personally is how the general impression of the hull changes - in the beginning, it still looked very much 1/150 to 1/200ish, and now it's actually starting to morph into something halfway believable as 1/72.
« Last Edit: June 03, 2015, 01:04:25 PM by cataphractarius »

Offline Gunbird

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She's a beaut, Sir!  :o
Who is Gunbird? Johan van Ooij, Dutch, Mercenary Gamer, no longer mobile and happy to live life while it lasts >> http://20mmandthensome.blogspot.com/

Offline Golgotha

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That is fantastic and you are right I for one would buy such a craft were it available.

Offline Drachenklinge

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wow, that is really something to look at ... and I like Your style of writing.

However, I am actually missing some sort of a sunshade on 4 poles on the deck. When I hear Gunboat I think sunshade too.
Still possible?

best wishes
Drachenklinge
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's no problem talking to Your miniatures! Beware, when they begin replying.

Offline cataphractarius

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Thanks for the positive comments, folks.

Drachenklinge, rest assured that once the railings are in place, gunner Farquarson will complain about the sun burning down onto the bridge. So either there will be awnings - or he gets a parasol...  :D


Offline Drachenklinge

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I should probably add that there are very few deck fittings; the reason for that being the need for placing at least some figures somewhere.
I though about that one. So, did not find a better picture, but ...

http://www.menkent.dk/lexapics/combination.jpg

... though not the right size and for Your ship not quite fitting in real, but maybe a nice detail at on side. And if put horizontly - sort of secured for cruising - then maybe another figure can be put there.

And do You think about some weapons, when doing some research journeys to the unkown? Purely for self defence, I mean ...

best wishes
DK
« Last Edit: June 04, 2015, 07:12:11 AM by Drachenklinge »

Offline cataphractarius

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Just a small update - but one that taught me a lesson or two. Not that it's an important one, everybody else surely knows about this. Looking closer at my ship I decided that the waterline was a wee bit, well, uneven, due to the savage power of the moto-tool being veeery slightly out of control when unleashed by yours truly (in blunt talk: I utterly failed in cutting off the lower hull properly...). So I decided to add a baseplate, which would also make handling slightly easier.

A good idea in principle - but a bad one, if your ship is already festooned in details which make handling ever so slightly awkward. Oh my...

A lot of puttying, sanding, cursing, and repeating the whole exercise later, it looked roundabout like that:



And for an overall shot:



I then primed the whole ship with a sandish colour, and that's where it is right now.



Before I can tackle the hull, there is more of the puttying, sanding, cursing routine to do...

While I was watching the paint dry I wondered where there might be something more exciting to do than watching paint dry. Eventually I found something, for which look here: http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=79380.msg972650#msg972650.
« Last Edit: June 05, 2015, 06:31:20 PM by cataphractarius »

Offline cataphractarius

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Drachenklinge, a gangway is indeed a nice idea; I'll have to see how that will fit onto the ship.

As for armament, there will be something on the stern; I'll have to see how to put this into practice, but ideally there will be at least three interchangeable options, a Gardner machine gun, a 20pdr Armstrong and a 3pdr QF gun (though this latter option might not work).

Offline warburton

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Very nice!  8)

Offline cataphractarius

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Only a mini-update on the yacht; I finally started putting the first coat of the hull colour on - which is going to be white, but see for yourself.



As for the vessel in front of the yacht (put there to give some sort of visual contrast), more on that later - let's just say there is actually someone out there producing a kit eminently suitable for Victorian coastal wargaming (!!), as you can see below:



"Lookie, laddie, what do we have here?"

For the yacht, the next step will be slapping more paint on it before adding further equipment. The current plan is to have a narrow black band high up on the hull, masts and funnel in a yellowish tone and the deck in light sand. I'm currently slightly unsure how I'll do the steel decks, but probably in a mid to dark grey.
« Last Edit: June 10, 2015, 03:44:10 PM by cataphractarius »

Offline cataphractarius

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Part 9.

Another small update on the yacht - time to slap on paint!

This was the state of affairs after I had sprayed the hull sides white:



Then some experimentation. The general plan was yellow or orange masts and funnel versus white upperworks. I tried yellow first, but it didn't look right:



Adding red produced a nice if slightly dark orange, with which I stuck for the funnel and the masts:



Further basic colours were added; sand grey for the decks, some brown and some bronze:



Which is where we are right now. Still some work on the basic colours to do, then some very subdued effects (it's a yacht after all, so turning it into a rust bucket is not a realistic option), before we can turn to the fitting out process.

And Farqarson? What did he have to say?

Well, he was conspicuously absent. I'm not sure, but maybe this characterful individual has something to do with his disappearance...



All very mysterious...
« Last Edit: June 14, 2015, 07:19:32 PM by cataphractarius »

Offline cataphractarius

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Part 10 - finally some progress with the yacht; only a small number of additions, but they took quite some time!

Here we have the bridge, and you might note the little holes around the bridge.



These will take the stanchions of the railing; for this, I decided to experiment with laser-cut stanchions by VectorCut; while they are not as good as turned ones made from brass, they are significantly cheaper, and I suspect that under a decent coat of paint you'll be hard pressed to note the difference. They come in little frets like this:



Cutting them is slightly fiddly, as they are really tightly packed on the fret; the result is worth the effort, though:



The first ones in place. Getting them really straight is, uhm, difficult. That's the result of what is perhaps the main drawback of these laser-cut stanchions - they are pretty flat.



Well, starting to look acceptable. Now I have to think about how to do the actual railings.

 

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