Ships, part 9

With just a bit of effort, I was able to take the plastic masts off the iron dought, and replace them with brass:

These are much taller than the previous masts, so there will be enough room at the top for spandarions.  I still need to add the bracing but it is close, finally, for paint.

It's a bit dusty here!

Apologies for the long delay - it is high time to sort things out here!

I have to admit that I hit a mental wall of sorts with this project, mostly because my budget for hobby materials collapsed somewhat.  I have been concentrating on the Tékumel minis more, but it is time to get going here as well.  However, the quartos and baskets will need to wait a while longer; I have yet to get any suitable minis for the skirmish games.  So, I am going to try and get the slipways going again for the ship project with a critical eye turned out towards making the ships faster and of course nicer.

The first ship still does not look quite right to me - the masts are too short and off-kilter especially.  I have yet to decide if I should tear it apart for another go or just leave it for now and replace it later when my skill level increases.  She is a nifty little vessel, if you squint a bit!

Ships, part 8

More bits and pieces have been added to the first iron dought in my shipyard:


The ship is pretty close to being at the end of the build phase now. I have yet to decide on whether to add the gunports or to decorate the stern. For the sake of simplicity the rigging will not be added. The masts need some adjusting - when the supports were glued in they appear to have pulled the masts a bit when the glue dried. A gentle application to a knife should fix that as the crooked masts just do not look right. Then it is off to be painted!

One more pic:


I think a different background is needed for these pics!

Ships, part 7

Another brief update:


I have added the rostrum and some more superstructure bits. The metal pieces are some 1/2400 scale ship's boats that I have hoarded for a long time. They are produced by CinC ( website ). 1/2400 might seem too small for this 1/1200 ship, but they match the original drawing almost perfectly; I suspect they are a bit too large for 1/2400 in the first place. But they look the part!

Ships, part 6

More and more small steps on the way toward launch:


On my other blog, I wrote about purchasing some Xyston 1/600 ancient ships. Along with the ships, I bought some extra ship-board artillery, and after they arrived, I thought that some of them might make good lambasts for Half Continent ships.


Here is the basic hull and a sprue of ballista. They are a little large, but should work just fine. Also in this photo, one can just make out the deck planking - it will be much more apparent when painted.




And this is the hull with some extra parts for the deck fittings alongside. After looking again at the original artwork for this ship, I have made my mini with a greatly exaggerated vertical measurement - the hull is much taller than the scale. It is OK though, it does not look too bad and I like it! Even the piece with the hole drilled off-center...

Ships, part 5

Another small step towards completion:


The deck planking sheet is being glued down to the hull pieces. Unfortunately I forgot to take a pic of the planking pieces before this, but once it is painted it will be easy to see.

Also, I miscalculated the scale on this mini - it is 1/1200, not 1/600 as previously stated. I am now wondering if I am using balsa that is too thick. It is certainly not to scale but I like that fact that the mini will be more robust and more easily recognized on the tabletop.

Ships, part 4

Balsa + a new cutting mat + a sharp blade =


Here is the base hull for my first ship, with two more blanks waiting.




The hull and upper deck.




And this stuff is for the deck planking to be fitted onto the deck pieces, next time!

Ships, part 3

A supply of balsa has been secured...


Finding these sheets took a bit more work than I had hoped. The first two stops, the local model train shop and art store, did not have any balsa. We had to go down to the area of the mall to the nearest HobbyTown USA, and, hidden away in a corner, was a nice supply of the material. My wife also found that shiny new cutting mat in the background - it is huge, at 24" x 36" it is bigger than the hobby table! It was also ½ the price of a similar mat at Michaels so there was much rejoicing!

Ships, part 2

The first ram begins to take shape:


Step One: two pieces of 0.080" plastic sheet, cut into the rough dimensions of the two decks of VN Coryphaeus. The deck plans are just cleaned-up copies of the original artwork, as shown here.




Step Two: the hull takes shape, after a fair amount of cutting and sanding. I was doubting my choice of plastic sheet for the main components, just a little, as it is more difficult to work with than I previously thought. Once I get the technique down it should not be a problem though. I also trimmed off the rostrum from the bow; I will add this to the model later on.


I am not certain when I will be able to return to working on this ship as we are preparing to move and the workbench will be packed up soon.

Ships, part 1

Finally made it down to the hobby shop today and grabbed some materials for making some ships:



The thicker material - 0.060" and 0.080" - will be used as the base for the decks. The v-groove material will be the planking of the decks, and the assorted pieces are there Just-In-Case. I have plastic rod for the masts from other projects.

For the first build, I am going to try 1/1200 scale - an iron dought such as Coryphaeus would be approximately 8 cm in length, which is large enough for details and small enough to get several ships on the table for a game...

A ship sketch

Here is a pic of a page of my gaming notebook, with the first doodles of a plan for a Half Continent naval vessel:


It is a 24 guns-broad frigate, and the sketch is the approximate size of the model in 1/600, although it is probably distorted a bit by the pic. The measurements at the top of the page do indicate the actual length and beam of the model.

The drawing is rough. It lacks a lot of deck detail, and the ship's boats are definitely way off in scale, but this is close to what I think the frigate might look like in model form. This page on DM Cornish's art site has some much better (by the originator of course!) of the ships I hope to imitate.

I will need to make a trip to the local hobby shop for some balsa and sheet plastic so I can start to put one together!

Some naval calculations

As I worked on a naval gaming project at one of my other blogs, I found myself a bit distracted with thinking about the ships of the Half-Continent. As none of these ships are available commercially, I will need to scratch-build the entirely. First, I needed some rough dimensions.

At one of DM Cornish's web sites - daviddraws - there are a series of drawings, some of which involve the Half-Continent. Specifically, this page has line drawings of some of the various naval units. This is the start of the scratch-build project (although I am using the version of this same drawing found in my US copy of Foundling - it is just slightly different.)

There is a scale on the bottom of the pic, and I am using this as a base for all other miniature dimensions. By my rough calculations, a main sovereign ram could be 850' in length. That is a rather long ship. For comparison, HMS Victory, Nelson's flagship at Trafalgar, is only 227' long and USS Iowa (battleship 61) is 887' in length!

This, of course, needs to be scaled down for the table-top. A typical miniature scale for the table-top, commonly used for sailing ships and ancient galleys, is 1/1200. 1" (on the table-top) = 1200" (actual) or 100'. Our main sovereign, in 1/1200 scale, would be 8.5" long. Now, if one has a large table this would be fine - the mini would be beautiful with lots of detail. Unfortunately, I do not have that sort of luxury so a different scale is needed. Another common naval scale, used for many types of steam-powered ships, is 1/2400. Using this scale, our main sovereign would be 4.25" in length. This is a size that I can accept comfortably - still large enough for detail but not cumbersome in gaming.

Here is a rough listing of the different ships types, and their approximate lengths in 1/2400:

Main Sovereign - 4.25"
Main Ram - 3.25"
Iron Dought - 2.75"
Drag Mauler - 2.5"
Frigate - 1.75"
Gun Drudge - 1.25"

(For those who are wondering how long Hogshead, Poundinch's ship from Foundling, would be in 1/2400 - a paltry ½" long!)



These numbers give a rough start on the ships - beam measurements are next!