Lead Adventure Forum
Other Stuff => Workbench => Topic started by: cataphractarius on May 23, 2015, 08:33:02 PM
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Recently we turned to 1880/1890 invasion-novel based wargaming, with plucky British militia bayoneting away at French and Russian hordes swarming up the sandy beaches of southern Britain. For one of the rulesets we are experimenting with, a small selection of watercraft in our favourite scale of 20mm is required.
Well. To the local shop I went, full of enthusiasm, only to find that the market offers peculiarly little in the way of late Victorian coastal watercraft in 20mm or 1/72 scale. I had expected to find the catalogues of mainstream plastic companies full of steam yachts, paddle wheelers, coastal torpedo boats and the like, and there is nothing. I cannot understand this - surely the streets would positively be clogged by the bodies of men shooting each other for a better place in the line for buying a 1/72 paddle wheeler?
Anyway. As once again the big companies have conspired to keep me from buying and building what I want, a different way was needed. Poking around the loft insulation resulted in unearthing a kit of a former Soviet Navy school ship, the Tovarishch; the Tovarishch was originally built in the early 1930s for the fledgling Kriegsmarine as "Gorch Fock", scuttled in 1945 and after a prolonged period of repairs finally commissioned in the Soviet Navy in 1951.
The kit by Alanger is - well, it is a kit if you define kit as a collection of parts that can be put together in some way or another. It is incredibly crude and probably resembles the Tovarishch from 15 yards apart or so. Its one redeeming feature - at least for me - is the size. At around 1/150 scale, it is fairly big, and with the Gorch Fock originally being nearly 270ft long the hull would lend itself to being scale-o-ramaed, resulting in a small steam yacht of close to 130ft.
Just what we need.
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Step 1.
Glue all the main pieces (hull sides, deck pieces) together. Liberal application of tube glue results in a pretty robust hull. Then it is time to unleash the savage power of the motor tool. After half an hour of motors whining and plastic pieces flying around, there is a first result.
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_1_zpsbn4gwvbc.jpg)
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Step 2.
Now time for some redesign. The new vessel, a small steam yacht, will have an open bridge atop a chart house and a thin, long funnel which will be placed between the foremast and the bridge. Adding some plastic sheet results in something that is already remotely recognizeable as a small steam yacht, though there is still a long way to go.
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_3_zpsqnlfs0pr.jpg)
Note that the 106th Infantry was so kind to provide machine gunner Farquarson to give some idea of scale.
I should add that better pictures will hopefully appear once the build gets more involved. Currently there are no details to close up to.
It's probably also necessary to add that the end result will not be a true scale model; as - for gaming purposes - it will be necessary to place figures on it and to move them around a bit, the rigging has to be simplified to a considerable extent.
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I'll be watching this with interest. :)
For myself, I wouldn't mind late Victorian warships in 1/1000th or smaller.
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I'm not an expert on these small scales, but there should be a lot available already in 1/1250 (or 1/1200), and 3D-printing has apparently made itself felt in smaller scales used by naval wargames (like 1/2400 or 1/3000).
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Oh, thank you! I'll take a look.
I'm kind of fantasizing about a "world war, Victorian-style". :)
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You probably already know about this, but just in case - some of the invasion novels that were so popular during the 1871-1914 period are freely available online, one of the most successful being The Great War in England in 1897 by William Le Queux (http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37470).
My personal favourite however is Louis Tracy's gorgious "The Final War". Never was so much jingoism crammed into so many pages!
https://archive.org/details/finalwar00tracgoog
If you want desperate volunteers charging into the surf to prevent Frenchmen from getting off their boats, anarchists blowing up the Cremlin, a daring cavalry raid capturing the German Kaiser, or bicycle-factory-owner-turned-bicycle-battalion-commander shouting "Britain is the greatest country on earth!" in front of a French execution squad, then Tracy is the place to go.
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Oh! I didn't know about these, thank you. :)
I'll take a look, they sound fun and interesting.
I'm looking forwards to seeing more of your steam yacht. I do 28mm, but these techniques apply to different scales, too. :)
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Step 3.
Usually I only get to do some modelling every other fortnight or so, but as I had two hourse to use it was time to add a couple of details, to make it look slightly more ship-shape.
Apart from more plastic sheet, various bits and pieces were dug up from the spares box to provide the funnel (I knew this Japanese post-war torpedo tube would come in handy one day...), hatches and the like. The overall plan is to have some sort of a small cabin in the bow, the middle bit of the waist deckhouse occupied by the funnel and machinery-related stuff, then the bridge and a high quarterdeck that is mostly empty - because some sort of gun has to go somewhere...
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_5_zpsvhualhzu.jpg)
Sorry again for the blurry picture; better ones will - hopefully - come up once the detailing begins earnest. Again there is Gunner Farquarson (this time together with a NCO busying himself with a telescope) aboard to give an impression of the size of it all.
Still a lot to do. The next step will be the addition of a number of further basic details (I'm currently looking for suitable portholes or the like), then a basic coat of paint needs to be slapped onto it. Then adding convincing railings will provide an interesting challenge, but that's still some time in the future.
And I have to start thinking about arming the yacht - Gardner, Maxim-Nordenfeldt, small quickfirer, old Napoleonic gun? Decisions, decisions...
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Me Likey. :)
I say Gardner, but it's your boat. Oh - what if you used rare earth magnets?
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Seconded. Magnets are perfect for weapon mounts and making them interchangable.
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Ah, excellent idea! Will have to remember that - it might also allow for adding something like a deckhouse if the scenario requires something without armament.
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Looking better and better.
And what the others said about magnets. The more versatility in your wargaming terrain, the better (usually ;))
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Of course a gardner! The gardner is always the killer. Or was it the butler?
Good old Tovarishch. I remember seeing the real thing in Wilhelmshaven. After british harbour authorities had refused to let her take to the sea, in regard of her delapidated condition, she was towed to her former home and awaited what came next. Which luckily was a full restoration and retirement to museum status.
I like your yacht and too bemoan the scarcity of this type of ship on the market. If you are looking for victorian era ironclad gunboats (like the HMS M33 Monitor), I'd like to encourage you to scratch-build. The tricky bit is underneath the waterline in this kind of ship (however not the more elegant type like yours).
Cheers
Peter
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Of course a gardner! The gardner is always the killer. Or was it the butler?
:D :D :D
Though on reflection, what about the Colonel in the library with a moto-tool?
You're absolutely right on scratchbuilding. In fact, I have a small stock of paper model kits for that very purpose; I made the experience that they can serve quite nicely as templates for cutting styrene. I guess the main reason I went this route with this model was that I wanted something looking (remotely) graceful, and - possibly more important - it was a good way to use the kit, which I otherwise would never have built.
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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...
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_9_zpsz6i3cmyp.jpg)
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:
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_7_zpsipxe61so.jpg)
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.
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That's coming together very nicely 8)
cheers
James
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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
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_10_zpscbphtqjp.jpg)
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.
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_15_zpsjfa9e9ip.jpg)
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.
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_11_zps0ky1oqiy.jpg)
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.
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_12_zpslmxvrjwp.jpg)
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.
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_13_zpsdtwkh4wy.jpg)
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.
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_14_zpsalnynahm.jpg)
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!
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_16_zps2jgdp1v0.jpg)
With the Gardner on deck, Farquarson was finally pleased.
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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.
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_17_zpsiymswxwr.jpg)
The picture above shows gunner Farquarson inspecting the new arrangements, while below is an attempt at an overall impression of the ship.
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_18_zpsallsozq7.jpg)
Still a lot to do, but at last some progress discernible if compared with the beginning:
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_1_zpsbn4gwvbc.jpg)
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.
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She's a beaut, Sir! :o
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That is fantastic and you are right I for one would buy such a craft were it available.
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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?
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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
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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
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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:
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_19_zpscltklacq.jpg)
And for an overall shot:
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_20_zpsy2syixze.jpg)
I then primed the whole ship with a sandish colour, and that's where it is right now.
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_21_zpsjx60zayw.jpg)
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.
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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).
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Very nice! 8)
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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.
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_24_zpsxnganfvv.jpg)
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:
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/pinnace_5_zpsaakjjvuv.jpg)
"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.
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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:
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_25_zpsnhnablsa.jpg)
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:
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_26_zpsbdqozxxo.jpg)
Adding red produced a nice if slightly dark orange, with which I stuck for the funnel and the masts:
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_27_zpspypacr7l.jpg)
Further basic colours were added; sand grey for the decks, some brown and some bronze:
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_28_zpsnes4cpol.jpg)
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...
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/farquarsons_archenemy_zps7kbjpbon.jpg)
All very mysterious...
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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.
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_30_zpsnwvp9spv.jpg)
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:
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_31_zpszr9mucmt.jpg)
Cutting them is slightly fiddly, as they are really tightly packed on the fret; the result is worth the effort, though:
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_32_zps7g02enwp.jpg)
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.
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_33_zps5ajbc3z9.jpg)
Well, starting to look acceptable. Now I have to think about how to do the actual railings.
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Looks very nice so far.
What a shame, putting such an elegant yacht into harm's way.
What do you intend to use for railing? Wire or rope? Solder or glue? I can't see a way to fiddle a wire through with the stanchions already fitted. And thread would probably be extremely fragile. I imagine one could easily catch and damage it with the base of a figure.
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Beautiful build! Keep up the good work! I really want to see this finished.
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Excellent build! I love all of the details and the thought put in behind where everything should go, like it were a real, functioning ship.
I imagine one could easily catch and damage it with the base of a figure.
Regular thread, yes, but I know that they make a type of thread called "outdoor" or something similar that is very VERY sturdy stuff; quite difficult to snap with your hands, let alone a figure base! I'm looking forward to seeing what cataphractarius has in mind.
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Thanks for the comments, folks.
The railings are indeed an issue - see the following update for the (first?) attempt at producing something remotely acceptable.
As for putting it into harm's way, well, what do you do when Monsieur le Frog comes knocking on the door? :D
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Steam yacht part 11 - or: how to lose your sanity in an afternoon...
We had left the yacht with the stanchions in place. The initial plan for the railings was using the material I usually use for rigging models - Caenis thread normally used por tying flies. However, the only thread I had around was too thin and didn't look the part, so down with it again. Next attempt was using fine wire, but that I couldn't get even remotely straight. I finally settled for the material I'm least uncomfortable with - plastic, stretched sprue to be more precise. While it has a number of significant drawbacks - it breaks easily! - at least I know which pitfalls to avoid with it.
So stretched sprue it was. And then began the task of actually threading the stretched sprue through 150odd openings... I started with the bridge, which in retrospect was a bad idea, as due to the layout of the railings there it turned out to be the most complicated bit. Then I did the stern bit, for which I used two very long stretches - and you may guess what happened not once, but twice: I had put a little bit of weight on one end of each thread to keep it straight-ish while trying to get the other end through all these holes; which is a nice idea in principle, but when you are careless and tilt the ship, the whole stretch of sprue simply slides off again. O well...
In the end, this is the result.
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_35_zpsbpq0tpxz.jpg)
The stanchions will get painted, and I'll probably also put painto onto the actual railings. A couple of shots show details (usually with that Farquarson trying to get onto the picture):
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_34_zpskvqhnkun.jpg)
Farquarson milling around near the stern.
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_41_zps4ymsowdq.jpg)
Farquarson in the bows, looking into the far-off distance.
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_40_zpscdlt7div.jpg)
Farquarson on the bridge, trying to look as if he was in control of things.
It's obvious that the bridge is by some margin the worst-looking bit. Perhaps I'll hide it behind canvas, that might actually look quite nice.
A comparison to the "Shikari" shows the very different approaches to the idea of a steam yacht - a small, stately cruising vessel versus a sleek boat built for speed.
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_42_zps6phveg4n.jpg)
Perhaps I should add that the "Shikari" will get some more colours, that's just the base coat...
After an afternoon filled with frustration and foul language there was finally some fun to be had. I added the name of the yacht, "Elspeth" - she is named after one of the daughter of a famous Paisley industrialist family - using lasercut letters fitting very neatly to the stern.
(http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx267/dumb_geese/yacht_43_zpsorjkqwjj.jpg)
Oh, and of course Farquarson trying to look important.