Napoleonic 1:1200 ships - how to start

[Szary]

I never was a real naval buff and understand just most basic terminology. Rigging and sails are absolute black magic to me. Still, I once bought GW Trafalgar and two small fleets of old GHQ ships (5 each) off someone. Or rather 8 ships (mostly 1st and 3rd rates) and two "has-beens". The smaller one I managed to clean off, but seems to be lacking a "front" sail, whatever ship it is. The bigger one is in absolutely tremendous condition and will have to probably have one of its masts drilled out and replaced as it's bent out of shape past the borders of "redeemable". Rigging was torn and bristling with so much overflowing glue it looks as if it were HMS Terror buried under the polar ice.

According to the leaflets I got along with the stuff, the fleets present as follows:

Allied Spanish-French fleet:
-Salvador del Mundo (1st rate)
-Asia (3rd rate)
-San Domasco (3rd rate)
-Athenian (3rd rate) x2 (I don't know if it could pass for some older Spanish frigates of similar size, because the French Athenian was ephemeride and unique acquisition robbed off Knights of St. John)

English fleet:
-HMS Victory (2nd rate)
-HMS Temeraire (2nd rate)
-HMS Bulwark (3rd rate)
-HMS Agamemnon (3rd rate)
-HMS Endymion (4th rate)

Still, I have no idea which ships are those two present in the picture.

I would like to clean them off and make them as proper models - etched ratlines, full rigging and all those bells and whistles. Thing is, I don't have the slightest idea how to build, paint or rig any of those, I don't know whether the ratlines from other company would fit GHQ models, I don't know what is the advised base size... And I hardly know where to start. What I thought to be a short project is shaping up to be a serious undertaking.

[robh]

Good luck with the project, 1/1200 Napoleonic Naval is as much a modelling pastime as a gaming one.

Those 2 painted ships can be brought back to life with a few days in a Nitromors bath. It will strip paint, varnish and glues without having to scrub (safety rules apply to its use but there is no better product for the task). Glue coated thin card (business cards etc or plastic card) can be used to make a new "front" sail set. You can also see from that picture why normal sewing cotton is not suitable for rigging 

The 3rd rates are pretty much interchangeable for anyone except a real pedant so there are plenty of options for a change of name.

Rod Langton sells etched brass ratline sets that are designed to be fairly generic and his models (the best available IMHO) are accurate to scale like the GHQ ones so should work on your ships. His painting and rigging guide is also well worth picking up. Far better than the one in the Trafalgar rulebook.

If you want to get into the theory of Napoleonic Naval and the design/construction of the ships in more detail the Brian Lavery book "Nelson's Navy" is superb.
There are also other rulebooks 

[Admiral Hawke]

Hello there

Judging from the photo and the names you have listed, your models are not GHQ, they are the old Skytrex models which are now sold by Red Eagle Miniatures (http://redeagleminiatures.co.uk/napoleonic.html).

The three decker in your photo is the Victory (which I have). I presume the other one is the Endymion, which I haven't seen, but your model is the right size for a large 50-gun frigate. The missing sails are the jibs.

The Skytrex/Red Eagle models vary in sculpting and casting quality. The Victory and Agamemnon are among the least good, but they are fine as gaming pieces. The Salvador del Mundo is among the best. As Robh says, you can use the Athenien models as pretty much any Spanish or French 3rd rate of 64 or 74 guns. I use mine as French or Spanish 64s.

Here's the Battle of Grenada in 1779: http://www.thewargamersforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3904 using a mix of GHQ and Skytrex/Red Eagle models. Le Sphinx is the Athenien model, while the Yarmouth is the Agamemnon model. You'll see that I lack the skill or patience to rig mine properly.

I wrote a review of the Athenien model here: http://www.thewargamersforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=2813.

If you really want to put a lot of time into building beautiful models, you might be better off buying a few of the GHQ models, which have the most accurate hulls, or the Langton models, which have the best masts and rigging.

Robh has given you good advice to go to Langton Miniatures (http://www.rodlangton.com/) for replacement masts and sails, ratlines and rigging guides. I think you can buy bases there too.

I hope that helps. Have fun. :-)

PS You might like these blogs: http://volsminiatures.blogspot.com/ and https://mymodelsailingships.blogspot.com/.

[Baron von Wreckedoften]

At the risk of drawing the ire of all the proper (and talented) age of sail wargamers/ship modellers on here, can I also point out that on HMS Victory the mizzen mast and sail are....errr...."mizzen"?