New Project - Pirates 28mm by May 2012

[Jon Suth]

OK, so modest beginnings with the first 13 pirate figures to start with.  I've now done 30 - so more shots soon.  Already built the 45 x 6 foot waterscape table, islands, coastline, ports, volcano island and so on.  Planning to have 15-20 ships and around 450 figures, may need more depends on the crew sizes we end up with.  Lots of other bits and bobs like cannibals, Royal Navy, civilians and government officials etc.



























They are all Wargames Foundry of course, should have said.

[mweaver]

That is a great range of figures.  Good luck with the project - ambitious, but sounds a lot of fun.  Are the rest of the pirates Foundry as well, or do you have other ranges in the wings?

You might, when you have a chance, try taking some slightly more distant "action" shots - the shading style you are using tends, in my opinion, to be more effective at medium range then in close-up photographs.

-Michael

[Mako]

Sounds like fun.

Will you be running this at a club, or convention?

What ships are you planning on using? 

15 - 20 of those will be quite a collection, if you will be making, and/or assembling, and painting all of those.

[FifteensAway]

400 figures?  You poser!       We are going to have over 2000 figures in our little shindig.  Of course, in 15 mm...

Sounds like a great event.  Look forward to seeing it when you have it up and running.  Now I have to get back to that monster pirate project I'm riding herd on...

[Furt]

I quite like your painting style and think it will look great on the tabletop.

Good luck with it all - ARRGH!

[manic _miner]

 From the title I thought that it was a new range being brought out.

 Good start with the painting.Sounds like you have lots of work in the next few months.Looking forward to updates on a regular basis.

[Jon Suth]

Close ups really betray the dodgy painting!  The figures will be mainly Foundry, Old Glory and some other odds and sods.  I'm planning to make some of the ships, probably the merchant ships, the others will be Ainsty, Minimi and Stronghold (if they are available).  I've bought some model ships from ebay but its impossible to figure out the scale, so its impossible to be sure about what you're buying. 
2,000 figures!  Cripes, I was working on the basis of about 30 figures for each crew.
Mako - we run the Wargame Holidays centre in Crete - pretty much everything there we've made and painted.  If money was no object it would be easy just to buy up collections and use them, much prefer to do it all myself.  Its a lot more satisfying, from experience people like that and you can show them how to make the terrain, buildings and so on. 
We're running the centre from June to August in 2012, the first week is a two day pirates game, then a two day Indian Mutiny campaign.  If you want to see what else is available just visit the website (www.wargameholidays.com).

[Blackwolf]

Like your painting very much Gritty,a man after my own heart

[Jon Suth]

Thanks Blackwolf1066 - I might not take such close up close ups next time!

[mweaver]

I don't think it's dodgy painting - there's just a difference between paint styles intended to make figures look distinct and snappy on the gaming table and paint styles that are intended for extreme close-ups.

Looking forward to seeing more of your scalliwags as they come along!

[Jon Suth]

You are a lovely human being mweaver!

[Marine0846]

You sir,have planned a hugh project, Good luck.
You are off to a good start.
Look forward to following your progress.

[Mako]

Thanks for the info.

Sounds like a great location for a large-scale game like yours.

For the vessel sizes, in trying to determine how they scale out, I usually go with around 5mm - 6mm per foot, depending upon the size of figures you are using, e.g. 25mm - 28mm figures, or even 30mm - 32mm figs.  Supposedly, even earlier last century, men were only about 5.5 feet tall, on average.

Using that, and knowing the general size of certain types of vessels, you should be able to come up with rough scale approximations, even off of eBay, if you can get the sellers to respond to inquiries.  The other challenge is determining if their measurements include the bowsprits too, or just the hull lengths.  I prefer the latter, most of the time.

1/48th -1/50th scale, and 1/96th - 1/100th scales are popular for wooden models, as are 1/64th scale.  These larger ones work fine for 25mm/28mm scale figs, in my opinion.

[Jon Suth]

Thanks Mako, its things like this that always confuse me:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lovely-Wooden-Model-Boat-Ship-Galleon-33cm-Ornament-Sailing-Marine-/180735852326?pt=UK_Collectables_Nautical&hash=item2a14b23f26#ht_2799wt_698

Pretty typical of what is available on ebay.

[Mako]

Actually, since they give you the height too, I think it appears, at least to me, that the 33 cm length (approx. 13"), is the overall length, including the bowsprit. 

I presume that, since they include the height, and with the ship's stand, it appears to be almost as tall as it is long.

Looks like it would be about perfect in size for a small vessel, with a hull length of 80 - 90 feet, or so, in 15mm scale.