Bathtub Battleships: The game of chibi battlewagons of the Great War

[Macrossmartin]

EDT: Kaiser class Dreadnought now available! And at half price, too!

https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-kaiser-class-dreadnought-bathtub-battleships-240518

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EDIT: Duplicate of most recent post, for those who don't want to scroll that far. 

Bathtub Battleships: 'Revenge' and 'Erin' now available!


The first of the Bathtub Battleships are now available from the Miniature Martin Myminifactory store.

https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-revenge-class-dreadnought-bathtub-battleships-239278

https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-hms-erin-dreadnought-for-bathtub-battleships-239291

These are also available to buy as complete kits for those without access to a resin printer. Please PM me for details.

Coming next week: The Kaiser class! Wunderbar!

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Hello all!

As some of you who venture into the untamed wilderness of social media may have noticed, I recently posted some images of rather rotund dreadnoughts from the First World War. They have been sculpted in a 'chibi' style; A Japanese word indicative of 'cuteness' or 'cartoonishness'. Both Fujimi and Aoshima have released models of IJN WW2 ships in such a style, but my naval passion is for the battleships of the first quarter of the 20th century. So, I got sculpting, just for my own entertainment, and...



Here's HMS Erin and Revenge, fresh off the printer. As you can see, their proportions are anything but realistic, and details such as rivets, gun barrels, etc. are greatly exaggerated, very much in line with the chibi style.

These quirky models were originally just to let me 'blow off steam' between more serious sculpting work, but I've received such positive responses that I've decided to move forward with a complete range of RN and KM ships of the era, and a set of light-hearted, card-driven rules to go with them.

The title of the rules - Bathtub Battleships - gives you some idea of the seriousness of said rules! They will focus on the Squadron - not the individual ship - as the basic unit, with each Squadron assigned an Admiral who can be chosen at random or bought via a points system. Each Admiral will have a unique trait or characteristic which helps or hinders, depending upon their competence.



HMS Revenge with flying-off platforms on her turrets, and cute, tiny Sopwith Cubs!


The rules are still in the (very) alpha stage, but I'm hoping they will be in a play-test condition in a month or so. Before that, I plan to release the first of these ships later this week via my My Mini Factory store. I've sculpted 3 dreadnoughts so far, (Erin, Revenge, Kaiser), and plan to add cruisers, destroyers, etc as fast as my stylus-clicking finger will let me!



Above: SMS Kaiser



The British dread's are on the painting table now, and I am eager to show them off as soon as I have them finished, so keep an eye on this thread to see these curvaceous beauties as soon as they have their colours on. 

I hope you've enjoyed a glimpse into this silliness, which should not be interpreted as anything more than something fun and different. We now return you to your regularly scheduled sensibleness. 

[ithoriel]

Love these!
I like the chibi aesthetic and have more chibi ninja than any sane person should have.
SMS Kaiser is one of my current favourites in World of Warships, your version is both "chibi cute" and recognisable, good job!

[OSHIROmodels]

Great fun 

[Inkpaduta]

Does sound fun. Now, when you say release the ships do you
mean as figures or do I have to 3D print them off?

[Ray Rivers]

Those are way cool! 

[Captain Darling]

Rather cool, looking forward to seeing some (cute) Zeppelins hovering over the British Fleet!
BTW PM sent…

[zemjw]

Very much in the I-have-no-use-for-these-yet-am-strangely-drawn-to-them category

The Sopwith Cub is excellent. Perhaps a 1:300 spinoff product of chibi WW1 (and later) aircraft?

Nothing to do with ships, but I saw some add-on kits for the Meng Toon tanks at the weekend, so there definitely seems to be a market for this style

[carlos marighela]

Beautifully done, they are indeed rather cute.

Your next challenge is finding appropriate egg shaped mystery packaging or, alternatively, a Japanese style vending machine that dispenses these along with disposable toilet seat covers, ramen noodles and odd selections of female undergarments. 

[Emir of Askaristan]

Love the ships. Remind me of my Edwardian pre-dread fleet. They already look chibi!

Oh and Chibi wings of war....has to become a thing

[syrinx0]

A fun looking group of sculpts.

[Macrossmartin]

Thank you, everyone for your reactions and questions; I really do appreciate you taking a moment to give feedback.    I can say with complete honesty that I have been startled by the positive reception these ships have received from just about everyone I've shown them to. And to think I was going to limit this to just a sculpt or two, for my own distraction! 

Inkpaduta: The range (and all the sculpts I sell), will be available both as STL files for home printing, and as complete kits for those without a resin printer. The only warning I must provide, if you're after the latter, is that I am in Australia, and shipping overseas is a bit steep of late. But, I will do my utmost to obtain the best, cheap rate for anyone who wants actual, physical product posted out to them.

Zemjw : Hmm! 1/300 chibi WW1 aircraft... damn, I'm thinking about it. After all, I have to sculpt planes for the carriers... I'd probably offer a compromise scale of 1/200, which should survive reduction to 1/300, and look alright in 1/144. (Because it's a guarantee that people will ask for every scale except that in which you sculpt your mini...)

Carlos : While I suspect that could be awesome, I fear there might be some Japanese fetishist who puts panties on battleships or something. I can't condone that. 

When I have a playtest-worthy version of the rules for Bathtub Battleships, I will put out a call for playtesters.

Be mindful that if you're mad enough to volunteer, you'll need a sense of humour and a wealth of patience. While I want the rules to be fun and easy to play, experience has taught me that such systems are usually far more challenging to create than those which are dull and as difficult as dental surgery on a Great White shark.

Stay tuned, because I hope to share pics of painted ships within a couple of days from now. And Kaiser should get its first test print early next week. The Bayern class will follow. All ahead full!

[Easy E]

How easy are they to put on a flying stand? 

These are awesome.  I wish I had your 3D modeling skills!

[Driscoles]

Gentlemen, can we please stop this panty thing.
Thank you 

[zemjw]

Inkpaduta: The range (and all the sculpts I sell), will be available both as STL files for home printing, and as complete kits for those without a resin printer. The only warning I must provide, if you're after the latter, is that I am in Australia, and shipping overseas is a bit steep of late. But, I will do my utmost to obtain the best, cheap rate for anyone who wants actual, physical product posted out to them.

Have you looked into licencing these for other people to print? I don't know the details, but I have seen folk on places like Etsy printing things under licence. I've also seen kickstarters for STLs offering a licence option.

If there is a market for them, it could be something worth exploring.

[tikitang]

I thought this thread was going to be about playing naval wargames in the bathtub.