Russo-Japanese Naval War in 1/600 scale.

[Cessna]

The Russo-Japanese war has been a favorite of mine ever since I bought a copy of Red Sun Rising by SPI when I was a kid.

I’m seriously considering buying a fleet of the Old Glory 1/600 scale ships. The photos I’ve seen of completed models from this range are beautiful. These are not mine, but this is the look I’d love to achieve:



I’ve been wargaming for a very long time, but I haven’t done any naval wargames before. This might get me to take the plunge. No one in my area (Colorado) seems really into naval stuff, so this might just be an excuse to build model ships. I can live with this…

Rules-wise I’ve got copies of Naval Thunder and the Clash of Arms Russo-Japanese wargame. I figure either could work if it gets to that point.

Both of these games have an order of battle for the Battle of the Yellow Sea. I think this would be a good scenario, as it is not as huge as Tsushima. I could expand into Tsushima later or use some of the ships for smaller battles.

Old Glory covers most of the ships involved in this battle, but there are a few that are missing. There doesn’t appear to be a 1/600 scale model of the Russian cruiser Askold (a unique design with five funnels) or the Japanese Kasagi or Yakumo class cruisers. This would mean the Russians would be missing one cruiser and the Japanese would be down three – I suppose I can live with this, but if anyone knows of any alternatives or possible substitutes I’d be interested.

I see that the ships in the photos are based on what look like clear plastic bases. Are there any suggestions on bases that could accommodate the big 1/600 scale ships?

It looks like they’re using a mat, probably this one: http://www.deepcutstudio.com/product/wargames-terrain-mat-waterworld/ I’ll get two, so I can have a 6’ x 8’ area; I’ll use the floor in my living room. This still might be too tight with those big ships, but it should look impressive.

I also see that the ships have some rigging. This really adds to their appearance, and I’d like to try to do this, but is isn’t something I’ve done before. Is this done with nylon string, stretched sprue, or something else?

Has anyone else done anything like this before? Any hints or tips here?

[von Lucky]

Can't really help you with your questions, but rigging I usually just do the basics (starts to look too chaotic IMHO) and the bases can just be wet plaster (though clear bases on a Deep Cut Studios mat are unlikely to scratch).

Good luck with getting this off the ground (and by collecting both fleets it'll be easy to suck someone into a demo game and get them hooked ).