The Boat Race - pics of unpainted ships and scenery 07/02/2015

[Vanvlak]

Inspired by, and unashamedly copying, BaronVonJ's brilliant Great Race here:
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=56937.msg676673#msg676673

I have no rules for this (typically) and have chosen to go for a boat race using a smaller scale - more or less 1:600 - one sure way of avoiding a million rivets  
The year is 1892; the vehicles taking part in the first edition were real high speed craft, but each nation started to introduce weapons until the competing vessels were the fastest naval craft available. In 1889 the Tokyo treaty limited arms for the race to a maximum of one per vessel, so the focus has shifted to armour, and most of the monstrosities taking part are actually heavily armoured hulls with the largest possible engines, in an effort to move tons of steel plate as rapidly as possible. In the 1890-1891 season four out of five of the clumsy vessels capsized and were lost with all hands, and the 1891-1892 season was run between the sole survivor of the previous year and only nation managing to complete a vessel in time. In the current season, the five nations which made the finals are:
Japan
USA
Great Britain
Italy
France.

Which means I have to build five ships. I'll also have four buoys (because I found 4 flags which are ideal for cours marker buoys) and two coastal towers (old scratchbuilds I has started and never completed).

[Vanvlak]

Pics at last - still very much work in progress - apologies for poor quality.

Great Britain (foreground) and Japan - all will be repainted differently.


US (the least advanced construction)


Italy (foreground) and France.

[The_Beast]

With a disposable razor handle and magic markers in the race, how can I NOT love! 

I'm a bit skeptical about the 'merican entry, but go ahead and prove me wrong. So many do.

Doug

[d phipps]

Looks like you're off to a good start! 


HAVE FUN

[Diakon]

Man that's some good cheap gaming.  Can't wait to see these bad boys painted up.

[Vanvlak]

Warning: this topic has not been posted in for at least 120 days.
Unless you're sure you want to reply, please consider starting a new topic.
That IS a dramatic warning, right at the top of the message composition page for this first new post in the old thread!

Back in business then.
As this is a titchy project (5 ships), all of which were built, none painted, I will not only continue where I left off but add some more: 13 instead of five high speed military ships from the Victorian era; eight bits of scenery; and a journalists'/umpires' Aeronef hovering above.

The nations:
original project - still to be found (!) and painted
1 Japan
2 USA
3 Great Britain
4 Italy
5 France

new additions
6 Germany
7 Russia
8 China
9 Belgium
10 Austro-Hungarian Empire
11 Republic of Venice
12 Malta (!!!)
13 Private Entry: Saturin Farandoul

Umpires'/journalists' Aeronef
8 pieces of scenery including starting cannon

Step 1: dig out the survivors, if any, of the original set.
Step 2: find bits for the rest.

Sigh. Weird is back  

[Dr. The Viking]

So on top of the 5 you never made, you've added another 8. Brave soul! I admire your courage!

I'm looking forward to it. Victorian Sci-Fi is always a treat in the right hands. 

[Vanvlak]

So on top of the 5 you never made, you've added another 8. Brave soul! I admire your courage!

I'm looking forward to it. Victorian Sci-Fi is always a treat in the right hands. 

Yep - nothing like raising the stakes 
Thanks. But I only have a couple of left hands.... 

[Vanvlak]

Some progress at last.
I was hindered by a virus which gaveme joint pains, a couple of bad migraines, and trying to keep up with work. Excuses.....

Anyway,here's the report:
1) searched high (in the 'painting room', top floor) and low (in the storage, in our cellar) for the old ships, and only found 2 of the orignial 5    I must've broken down the others for parts. Fortunately the 4-stacker razor blade and the Japanese robot monster ship are the survivors.
2) went on a hunt for Red Octob - no, sorry, for bits, and trawled through the cellar. Result: I have some ships - and bits of scenery - on the stocks. And I also found a couple of monsters and the aeronef for the press and judges.
3) started rebuilding what had been an Aeronef design, and which will now be the largest of the ships in the race; came up with ideas for four more.
4) took photo:



The Rhinos (received from a good buy from ncervellati) have nothing to do with all this! They're part of the Genestealer/Tyranid project. The one shipshape ship shown (with masts and sails) will be used as scenery (!). The two old ships are seen lower left and lower centre; the lighthouse is the round metallic thingy; the large 'new' ship ex-Aeronef is the sand-coloured thingy near the Rhinos. The greenish triangular points at left are part of a bit of scenery. Three monsters and a sandbar can be seen on the right.

This is an old completed model (so not part of this thread), but I will be adding this and other Man O'War/ACW designs/Dreadfleet/Aeronef/Uncharted Seas to this nautical mess. The map makes a good photo backdrop.

[Vanvlak]

Some further assembly work done - and more planning.
The Korean Empire (predating the actual one by five years as we're in 1892) has floated an entry, pushing Belgium out, unless there is popular demand. And all the scenery bits have been defined or designed or assembled. Nothing painted so far.

Scenery:


The judges'/press dirigible (it fitted better than an Aeronef - this a Brigaemodel without gondola and with extra funnels); two small chimney islands (I am trying not to overwhelm the scene with large scenery bits); a service platform (the largest item);the finish line buoy; two seaforts. The sand bar is in the paint shop, and the starting gun is still to be built. The non-competing ship shown in yesterday's pic is for the paint shop too.

Three ships:


The Cleopatre, the French entry which missed the previous year's race as it was still undergoing trials; the Japanese Gojira-class destroyer, the Gamera; and a Korean Empire turtleship.

Said turtle ship close-up:
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This has originally been a work-in-progress disc of Tzeentch abandoned for a couple of decades or so; now it reappeared as
a modern (well, VSF) reinterpretation of a turtle ship.... have I been influenced by watching Wacky Races in my childhood? 

[von Lucky]

I'm loving these additions and the project in general - don't give up!

[Vanvlak]

I'm loving these additions and the project in general - don't give up!

Not yet, at any rate 

Race starter gun and some artificial islands



Resupply platform and one of the competitors