Boschenburg musketeers, part 4

There are times when I look back on a project and ask myself, 'What was I thinking?'

Well, I know what I was thinking when I mounted my Half Continent troops on ¾" washers - smaller footprint for the figures is good, and I can just make my own sabot bases.  That did not turn out as planned, so I am re-basing them onto 25mm MDF:

Here is the carnage so far.  Fortunately, no major damage has been done to the figures!  But, I have many more to go before the task is finished.

Luckily, many of the monsters were put onto 25mm bases at the start, and the grinnlings will keep their ¾" bases as I do not foresee them being grouped for mass battle...

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.

15mm minis, part 2

After quite a delay, I have taken another small step towards getting my first unit done.

One of the important parts of a soldier's harness (uniform) in the Half Continent is the baldric, as this is an important means of identification for the soldier. The baldric is tinted in the colors of his realm's mottle - a specific combination of colors and patterns unique to each realm. The baldric on most Half Continent troops runs from the right shoulder down to the left side of the waist. In my limited searches, I did not find any 15mm (or even 28mm) minis with such a baldric. So, I need to make my own.


Here the troops, the first battalion on the left and parts of the second battalion on the right, with their new baldrics. I made them with blue/green two-part epoxy - the same material that is used to sculpt most minis. I had never used the material before but it is not hard to use at all. It is a bit sticky but I found that if I left it cure somewhat it is much easier to use. Using just a pea-sized bit of epoxy, I rolled it out between a small piece of waxed paper to flatten it, then waited a few minutes for it to start to cure. Then, I sliced strips off the 'pancake' of green stuff and stuck it to the mini. Easy!


If you look closely, you will see that over time the baldric is more defined. The minis on the left of the pic were first, and are not as good as the later troops.


The drummer did not need a new baldric, as the strap for his drum is just perfect. Now, I need to let the epoxy cure for a day or so, then the real fun begins - painting! But, I will need to decide what realm will have the honor of the first unit...

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!