Col Campbell's Shipyard

Classic Compass Rose

2011-04-15T10:06:00.000-07:00

Last December, Litko was offering free items with orders of selected bases and markers during their "Twelve Days of Christmas" event. As I needed some more bases for my 18th Century figures, I took advantage of their offer and received a free Classic Compass Rose [catalog link]:

Photo courtesy of Litko website.

It has an engraved large wooden base in which a smaller wooden base with a smokey plastic ship is mounted. It can be used as it comes, but I wanted to give it a little pizzazz. So I tried my hand at some painting embellishments:

I carefully painted the outer circular base with "Ocean Reef Blue" from Delta Ceramcoat line and highlighted the two engraved heads and the points of the inner ring with yellow ocher and flesh. The inner circle base was painted with the blue and ocher yellow. The ship was first undercoated with gray matte medium and then painted with a charcoal hull, gray-white sails, and black masts. The water was painted dark blue with white caps on the waves.

Overall, I think it looks very good and will (hopefully) soon see use in a sailing naval game.

Splash Markers

2010-12-07T14:53:00.000-08:00

At our first 1:2400 pre-dreadnought game (Battle of the Yellow Sea), it was quickly apparent that I needed some way of marking which ship was firing at which other ship. In our WW2 1:1200 naval games, Lord Sterling used two different sized golf tees, suitably painted and marked, as indicators. But golf tees would be much too big for the 1:2400 ships I use. Not having a plethora of funds to order the very nice shall splashes from Litko, I decided to make my own. As I was constrained by time, both the immediacy of the next game and the fact that I'm having to take care of my dear wife, who broke her left leg on Veterans' Day and can't put any weight on it, I went for the easiest solution -- two different sized of flat-headed wood screws glued to some blank board game counters and suitably painted. I numbered each marker, pairing one large and one small for those ships (battleships, armored cruisers, and a few protected cruisers) who had both main battery and secondary battery guns, resulting in 48 pairs and another 30+ singletons for the smaller gunned cruisers. They worked very well. You can see them in action in our fictional Battle of the Sea of Japan game.

Here, the main and secondary batteries from a Russian armored cruiser target a Japanese battleship.

One caution - please dull the points of the screws. I didn't and several of us, me included, stabbed ourselves during the game!

Later on I plan on adding some sort of filler to the screws to make them look more like water splashes.

The Fleet Anchorage

2010-11-11T08:26:00.000-08:00

With the Russo-Japanese War fleets finally finished and a game under my belt (see the Jackson Gamers' blog sometime later today for a report), I wanted to show my "fleet anchorage" or where all these little ships reside when they aren't "afloat" on the wargames table.

The box is an old, no longer usable archival box that was being discarded some years ago. But it is imminently suitable to store wargaming figures. It measures 15" x 10" x 3". I glued some magnetic sheeting from a local sign store into the bottom and then cut two upper "floors" to take advantage of the smallness of the ships. The upper floors have magnetic tape affixed to them as moorings for the ships. The Russian battleships and cruisers occupy the lower level; Japanese battleships and cruisers the middle level; and both sides destroyers and, eventually, merchant ships the upper. All the ships fit with plenty of extra room on the top level.

Part of the Russian fleet on the lower level. One ship is turned upside down so you can see the metal base I glued to the plastic ship base to provide heft and a mooring for the ship.

Here part of the Japanese fleet sits on its middle layer. The finger holes on each end aid in lifting this level out of the box.

All three levels of the fleet anchorage.

The Rest of the Baltic Fleet

2010-11-08T11:34:00.000-08:00

Just this past Friday evening I completed the last of the Russian Baltic Fleet (4 battleships and 5 cruisers). They are presented for your viewing enjoyment. All models are 1:2400 scale ships from Panzerschiffe Miniatures. Please click on the photos for a larger image.

The Baltic Fleet was divided into two sea-going squadrons and sent on an immensely long voyage to the Far East, there to meet their doom against the Japanese fleet at Tsu-shima in the Korean Straits. A few of the ships survived the battle, some were captured and incorporated into the Japanese fleet, and some were sunk.

The four modern battleships of the 1st Battle Division, 2nd Pacific Squadron were already posted immediately preceding this post.

The 2nd Battle Division, 2nd Pacific Squadron consisted of three battleships and one armored cruiser. The three battleships' pictures have already been posted previously. The only new ship here is:

Admiral Nakhimov, armored cruiser.

3rd Battle Squadron, 3rd Pacific Squadron, consisting of:

battleship Nikolai I (division flag), one of the first Russian battleships and hopelessly obsolescent;

battleship Admiral Ushakov, also obsolescent;

battleship Admiral Senyavin, of the Ushakov class; and

battleship General-Admiral Graf Apraxin, also of the Ushakov class.

Cruiser Division, consisting of four of the cruisers (two of which, Aurora and Dmitri Donskoi, have been pictured already):

protected cruiser Oleg (division flag) and

armored cruiser Vladimir Monomakh (near sister of Donskoi), obsolescent.

There were also two modern "light" cruisers of the same class that were attached for scouting:

protected cruiser Izumrud (meaning Emerald) and

protected cruiser Jemchug (meaning Pearl).

With the exception of one yacht-cruiser (Svietlana), three destroyers, and the fleet auxiliaries that accompanied the Baltic Fleet, that completes all my Russian ships for the Russo-Japanese War. As Panzerschiffe makes a Svietlana, I may end up getting it although it didn't take part in the Battle of Tsu-shima, having been ordered to escape to Vladivostok at the start to let them know the fleet was coming. I'm also short four Japanese destroyers. But for all intents and purposes, the fleets are finished, URRAH! BANZAI!

Baltic Fleet Battleships, Part 1

2010-10-31T13:10:00.000-07:00

As I posted yesterday, I completed six of the Baltic Fleet battleships that sailed to the Pacific, only to die at Tsu-shima. Today I present them, starting with the four brand-new battleships of the Borodino class, which were hurried into completion and for which Admiral Rozhdestvenski was forced to wait before he could sail. Of course if he had sailed earlier with only the smaller number of capitol ships, the big question would have been could he have arrived near the Japanese home islands before Admiral Togo could repair his ships that were damaged in the Battle of the Yellow Sea by the Russian 1st Pacific Squadron? An interesting speculation, no doubt!

These are all Panzerschiffe Miniatures models. Please click on the pictures for a larger image.

The 1st Battle Division, consisting of:

Battleship Suvarov, the fleet flagship;

battleship Aleksandr III;

battleship Borodino; and

battleship Oryol (Eagle).

Of these four battleships, only the Oryol survived the battle but was captured by the Japanese. The other three were sunk in the action.

Additionally, I completed two older battleships, which were part of the 2nd Battle Division. In addition to the Oslyabya, which was pictured earlier, and the Admiral Nakhimov, an armored cruiser, which hasn't been painted yet, the 2nd Battle Division consisted of:

Battleship Navarin, with her four funnels in a square, was the second oldest battleship in the 2nd/3rd Pacific Squadrons. She was sunk at Tsu-shima.

Battleship Sisoi Veliki, slightly "younger" than Navarin, also sunk at Tsu-shima.

More ships will be posted later this week.

The "Small Boys"

2010-10-30T18:11:00.000-07:00

Torpedo boat and torpedo boat destroyer development was improving as the Russo-Japanese War opened, but still was not up to what would occur some ten years later in the First World War. Even though both the Japanese and Russian navies had significant numbers of both types of vessels, they weren't as effective as they would be in ten years. But since I have the models as part of the Tsu-shima fleet lot that I bought, I will use them. All models are from Panzerschiffe Miniatures. Please click on the pictures for a larger image.

The Japanese torpedo boat destroyers and torpedo boats operated primarily in 4-boat divisions. I have enough models for four destroyer divisions (three of 4-boats and one of 3-boats), which will replicate the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th Destroyer Divisions of the main battle fleet, and two torpedo boat divisions (each of four boats), which will replicate the 9th and 14th Torpedo Boat Divisions. All of the Japanese destroyers were based on British models, either the 4-stacker or 2-stacker versions. They are pictured below.

Destroyer Division 1, consisting of Shirakumo and Asashiwo (Shirakumo class) and Akatsuki and Kasumi (Akatsuki class).

Destroyer Division 2, consisting of Ikazuchi, Oboro, Inadzuma, and Akebono (Ikazuchi class).

Destroyer Division 3, consisting of Usugumo and Shinonome (Murakumo class) (2-stackers), and Sazanami (Ikazuchi class) (4-stacker).

Destroyer Division 5, consisting of Murakumo, Shiranui, Yugiri, and Kagero (Murakumo class).

Torpedo Boat Division 9, consisting of Aotaka, Hato, Kari, and Tsubame (Aotaka class).

Torpedo Boat Division 14, consisting of Chidori, Hayabusa, Manadzuru, and Kasasagi (Hayabusa class).

The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Destroyer Divisions and the 14th Torpedo Boat Division were part of the 1st Battle Squadron, which included all the battleships. The 5th Destroyer and 9th Torpedo Boat Divisions were part of the 2nd Battle Division, which included only cruisers. I didn't have enough models to make the 4-boat 4th Destroyer Division, part of the 2nd Battle Squadron. Maybe I'll do that one some time in the future.

The Russian Navy made even more use of destroyers and torpedo boats since they followed the French operational doctrine called the Jeune Ecole which posited that smaller torpedo laden ships and boats could defeat the opposing fleet in home waters, preventing that fleet from intercepting its commerce raiding cruisers. Both Port Arthur and Vladivostok had large numbers of destroyers and torpedo boats as part of their "floating defenses." About half of the Port Arthur destroyers, however, were assigned to the battle squadron as the 1st Flotilla, represented on three separate bases.

Destroyer Flotilla 1a, consisting of four Bezstrashni class.

Destroyer Flotilla 1b, consisting of one Boevoi class, two Boiki class, and one Vnimatelni class.

Destroyer Flotilla 1c, consisting of one Lt Burakov class; and two Puilki class

The Russian ships that were enroute to the Pacific when the war began (see Early Reinforcements) were accompanied by six destroyers, which I've organized into a second flotilla of two 3-boat bases.

Destroyer Flotilla 2a, consisting of three Boiki class.

Destroyer Flotilla 2b, consisting of three Boiki class.

Some of these destroyers also accompanied the 2nd Pacific Squadron on its epic journey from the Black Sea to the Straits of Korea near Tsu-shima Island.

I decided in my games to use these destroyer and torpedo boat divisions as single units. They didn't have the stamina to go up against undamaged battleships and cruisers during the main battle but could (and hopefully will) be used to harry and sink the wounded "big boys" who fall out of the battle line. They will also, I'm sure, go up against each other.

This completes all the ships I require for the 1904 naval battles, both the "real" ones of the Yellow Sea and Ulsan and the "imaginary" one that will pit all the available 1904 ships in a pre-cursor of the 1905 Battle of Tsu-shima. I'm currently working on fifteen additional main combatants (10 battleships and 5 cruisers) which will join the three already completed ones. Four of the battleships will be completed tonight so their pictures should be posted tomorrow. The rest will be completed this coming week.

Last Japanese Cruisers

2010-10-23T14:56:00.000-07:00

In my last post, I pictured almost the entire Japanese battle fleet, minus some protected cruisers that were either on patrol or not yet in commission. I have now rectified that lapse.

The first five protected cruisers were, I believe, either manning the various patrol lines in the Yellow Sea and Sea of Japan or were supporting the Japanese Army's advance to Port Arthur. All of them are older, obsolescent ships that were not included in the main fleet operations.

They are all Panzerschiffe Miniatures models and the catalog number appears after each ship's name. As usual, please click on the picture for a larger image.

The Izumi (L-333) is the oldest of the five, having been built in the early 1880s as the Chilean Esmeralda. Panzerschiffe has no designated model for her, so I have used the one for the Suma as they appear to be similar in appearance.

The Akitsushima (L-333) was one of the first cruisers built in Japan in the early 1890s. Again, I've had to use a model of the Suma for her.

The Takasago (L-353) was a near sister of the Yoshino. She was built in the UK as an improved design of the Argentine 25 de Mayo.

The Suma (L-333) and her sister, Akashi (below), were built in Japan and were based on the earlier Akitsushima.

The Akashi (L-333), sister of the Suma, above.

The next two protected cruisers were so "modern" that they weren't even in commission by the August 1904 battles. They were rushed into completion to aid the Japanese fleet in meeting the Russian 2nd and 3rd Pacific Squadrons in 1905.

The Tsushima (L-337) was a sister of the Niitaka and was actually named for the island before it became famous for the battle that destroyed the Russian navy.

The Otowa (L369) was a follow-on to the Niitaka class and was the last major warship launched and commissioned before the Russians approached in the Spring of 1905.

This now completes major combatants for the Japanese battle fleet that I will be using for recreations of actual battles and for realistic (I hope) "could have been" battles over the coming months. The destroyers that accompanied the battlefleet are being commissioned even now and their pictures (along with those of the Russian destroyers) will soon grace this blog. I have not attempted to model the large number of Japanese auxiliary cruisers who were used for scouting and sea lane control. That type of naval operations falls outside the purview of the battles I will be recreating.

Note: The major combatants of the Russian 2nd and 3rd Pacific Squadrons will be the next to be painted after I finish the destroyers.

Japanese Battle Fleet

2010-10-18T18:11:00.000-07:00

During the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese had the advantage of operating in their own backyard, so to speak. As such, they were able to concentrate their naval power more effectively that the Russians. This is also reflected in my painting of the Japanese fleet. Posted below are the Japanese ships which I believe, from all the evidence I can locate both in books and on-line, actively participated in the two August 1904 naval battles -- Yellow Sea on August 10 and Ulsan on August 14.

Except for one model, all ships are from Panzerschiffe Miniatures. The number after each ship's name is the catalog number.

They are painted in my interpretation of the Japanese war color scheme -- pewter gray hulls, turrets, upperworks, and funnels and wooden decks. As usual, please click on the picture for a larger image.

From the information that I can develop, the Japanese fleet was organized into three squadrons, each of several battle divisions and accompanying destroyers and/or torpedo boats. During these August battles, several of the squadrons were broken up and used either in a patrol line or as separate ships with other divisions. I've tried to reflect this in my order of battle, but any errors are in my interpretation of the evidence.

The main fighting component was the 1st Squadron commanded directly by Admiral Togo, who also commanded the 1st Battle Division:

The "1st Sub-Division" consists of:

Battleship Mikasa [L-323], Admiral Togo's flagship;

Battleship Asahi [L-323]; and

Battleship Shikashima [L-330]

The "2nd Sub-Division" consists of:

Battleship Fuji [L-324];

Armored Cruiser Kasuga [L-325]; and

Armored Cruiser Niishin [L-325].

These two armored cruisers were assigned to the 1st Battle Division to replace two battleships which were sunk earlier by Russian mines.

The 3rd Division, commanded by Admiral Dewa, was also in the 1st Squadron and consisted of:

Armored Cruiser Yakumo [L-332], Adm Dewa's flagship;

Armored Cruiser Asama [L-331];

Protected Cruiser Kasagi [L-339]; and

Protected Cruiser Chitose [L-339].

And the attached Protected Cruiser Niitaka [L-337].

The 1st Division was supported by the obsolescent ships of the 3rd Squadron's 5th Division consisting of:

Battleship Chinyen (ex-Chinese Chen Yuen);

{This model is from Viking Forge [3002] }

Protected Cruiser Hashidate [L-338];

Protected Cruiser Itsukushima [L-338]; and

Protected Cruiser Matshushima [L-338].

{Model is inaccurate as the main gun turret was mounted and faced to the rear.}

And the attached Protected Cruiser Chiyoda [L-358].

There were also three ships that were sunk earlier in 1904 that were part of the main battle fleet.

These sunken ships were:

Battleship Hatsuse [L-330], sunk by Russian mines;

Battleship Yashima [L-324], sunk by Russian mines; and

Protected Cruiser Yoshino [L-353], sunk by collision with Kasuga.

In addition to Admiral Togo's main battle fleet, the 2nd Squadron, commanded by Vice Admiral Kamimura, was watching the sea lanes between Japan and Korea to protect the Japanese shipping against the Russian cruisers operating from Vladivostok (see Russian Independent Cruiser Squadron post).

The 2nd Division consisted of:

Armored Cruiser Izumo [L-332], VAdm Kamimura's flagship;

Armored Cruiser Azuma [L-332];

Armored Cruiser Tokiwa [L-331]; and

Armored Cruiser Iwate [L-332].

Two of the 4th Division's cruisers were also part of VAdm Kamimura's force:

Protected Cruiser Naniwa [L-354] and

Protected Cruiser Takachiho [L-354].

And finally, as far as I can determine, there were five protected cruisers (Akashi, Suma, Takasago, Izumi, and Akitshushima) which were either in the patrol lines or were supporting the Japanese Army's advance towards Port Arthur. Two other protected cruisers (Tsushima and Otowa) were not yet commissioned, not joining the fleet until late 1904/early 1905. All seven are currently being painted and pictures will be posted soon.

Early Russian Reinforcements

2010-10-16T13:30:00.000-07:00

In early 1904, troubled by increasing tensions, the Russian navy dispatched reinforcements from the Baltic Fleet to Port Arthur. These ships, under the command of Admiral Virenius, only reached as far as the Red Sea and Djibouti before they were ordered back home after war broke out. They made it back to the Baltic just in time to turn around and sail back with the 2nd and 3rd Pacific Squadrons to defeat at Tsu-Shima.

The color scheme is my interpretation of the Baltic Fleet's "lamp black" (in this case charcoal) hulls, white upper works, wooden decks, and ochre funnels. As usual, please click on the pictures for a larger image.

Added Note: All ships are from Panzerschiffe Miniatures. The number after the ship name is the catalog number.

This early reinforcement squadron consisted of the:

battleship Oslyabya [A-301] (her two sisters were already at Port Arthur),

obsolescent armored cruiser Dmitri Donskoi [L-340], and

famous (or infamous from your point of view) protected cruiser Aurora [A-304] (her two sisters were also at Port Arthur). The Aurora was the only one of the these three ships to survive the Battle of Tsu-Shima.

I decided to go ahead and paint these three ships (and their accompanying destroyers) to use them in a "what if?" scenario in early December that will pit the full-strength and reinforced 1st Pacific Squadron against the full-strength (at the time) Japanese battle squadrons.

Russian Independent Cruiser Squadron

2010-10-16T13:18:00.000-07:00

In addition to the 14 battleships and cruisers in the last post, the Russian Pacific fleet also had an independent cruiser squadron based at Vladivostok ("Rule the East" in Russian). This squadron was tasked with interrupting the Japanese maritime traffic across the Sea of Japan between the Home Islands and Korea. They were moderately successful. In August 1904, the squadron (minus one cruiser, see below) sailed to attempt to assist the transit of the main Pacific fleet from Port Arthur to Vladivostok. Of course they were too late, encountering Japanese cruisers at the Battle of Ulsan (14 August 1904) where they lost one of the three and were forced to turn back to Vladivostok.

The color scheme is my interpretation of their olive drab hull and khaki upperworks. As usual, please click on the pictures for a larger image.

Added Note: All ships are from Panzerschiffe Miniatures. The number after the ship name is the catalog number.

The four cruisers of the Independent Cruiser Squadron, consisting of the:

armored cruiser Rossiya (flagship of Rear Admiral Yessen) [A-302],

armored cruiser Gromoboi [A-302],

armored cruiser Rurik [A-307], which was sunk at the Battle of Ulsan, and

protected cruiser Bogatyr [A-303].
The only information I've been able to determine about her fate is that she was wrecked near Vladivostok and blown up to prevent capture.

Correction: A correspondent on the Pre-Dreadnought Yahoo Group informed me that I (unfortunately) overlooked the "small" fact that Bogatyr survived to serve in the Baltic and be scrapped in 1922. OOPS on me! The information on being blown up came from two contemporary New York Times reports of late May 1904. Another correspondent has found a report that Bogatyr was refitting in Vladivostok at the time of the action off Ulsan. This might have resulted from a grounding on rocks requiring extensive hull repairs which could have prevented Bogatyr from joining the squadron off Ulsan.

This post completes the Russian Pacific fleet (or 1st Pacific Squadron as it was later called), except for the destroyers. I'm still working on them.

The Russian Pacific Squadron

2010-10-02T14:05:00.000-07:00

I finally finished painting and basing the 14 battleships and cruisers of the Russian Pacific Squadron based in Port Arthur in 1904. These ships were the best trained and commanded of the three Russian fleets (Baltic, Black Sea, and Pacific) and held their own against the Japanese until some unfortunate events during the Battle of the Yellow Sea. All models are from Panzerschiffe Miniatures (link) 1:2400 scale Russo-Japanese War line. The number in parentheses after each ship's name is the Panzerschiffe catalog number.

A word of advisement: These ships are painted in my interpretation of the early war color scheme with dark tan upperworks, rusty brown hulls, and ocher funnels with black bands. I know others use different schemes but, after all, these are my ships (He says with a big grin.) . Please click on the pictures for a larger image.

1st Battle Division, consisting of the:

Battleship Petropavlovsk (L-329)

Battleship Poltava (L-329)

Battleship Sebastopol (L-329)

Battleship Tsesarevitch (L-322)

2nd Battle Division, consisting of the:

Battleship Peresviet (A-301)

Battleship Pobieda (A-301)

Battleship Retvizan (L-321)

Long-Distance Scout Division, consisting of the:

Armored cruiser Bayan (A-302)

(yes, I know label has PC for protected cruiser - an error on my part)

Protected cruiser Askold (A-306)

Protected cruiser Diana (A-304)

Protected cruiser Pallada (A-304)

Protected cruiser Varyag (A-305)

Short-Distance Scout Division, consisting of the:

Protected cruiser Novik (A-334)

Protected cruiser Boyarin (A-347)

And the 1st Destroyer Flotilla, which I have not yet painted or based.

The Russian Pacific fleet also had an independent cruiser squadron based at Vladivostok. These four cruisers are being painted and pictures will be posted shortly.

For my initial battles, I will have a variant order of battle that will include three possible reinforcement ships which were on their way to the Pacific when war broke out. The battleship Oslyabya and two destroyers were in the Red Sea and the armored cruiser Dmitri Donskoi, protected cruiser Aurora, and four destroyers were at Djibouti. This small squadron could have been ordered to proceed to the Far East instead of being recalled to the Baltic, where they later made the long voyage to oblivion with the 2nd and 3rd Pacific Squadrons. Pictures of them will be forthcoming once they are painted and based (and the Aurora and destroyers are ordered).

WIP - More Gunboats

2010-09-10T08:11:00.000-07:00

Even though I've been busy this week completing the renovation work on the spare bedroom in my house, I have been able to devote a little time to painting more gunboats. As usual, please click or double click on the image to see a larger picture.

Here's a high oblique view of the three "Asturian" (Spanish) gunboats that will be used in next Saturday's Capitania General de Florida game. The one in the center is more completed than the other two and contains some of my 25mm Miniature Figurine naval gunner (old Pirate line) figures.
Note: The brown tops of the gun wales of the two flank gunboats are deliberate as I will be mounting the thole pins to these areas and then touching up the paint.

And a low oblique of the same three. The hull colors are (from left to right) dark green, charcoal, and dark blue. The masts will be the same color as will the gun carriage and swivel gun mounts.

WIP - Gunboat, Part 1

2010-09-03T10:51:00.000-07:00

Last night I started on my small gunboat flotilla for my Capitania General de Florida mini-campaign. The next battle will feature some naval action as well as land action. This gunboat, and her two sisters, will be the Asturian (AKA Spanish) naval force that will be engaging a Britannian naval force. This resin boat is an Old Glory Shipyard rowboat (GG-001) [link] with an added slide gun and four swivel guns. I bought them on eBay several years ago, about the same time as the row-galley featured in the last two posts.

As usual, please click (or double-click) on the pictures for larger images.

I only mounted eight of the ten thole pins, four per side. I drilled through the center of each thole pin and into the gunwhale of the boat, attached a piece of steel wire into the hole with superglue, and glued the thole pin onto the wire with superglue. I was going to make the thole pins removable but decided against that. The slide gun is also mounted on a piece of steel wire superglued into the foredeck. It will probably be left loose so I can either show damage to it or remove it for a more lightly armed boat. The swivel guns are placed into holes drilled into the gunwhales at each corner of the main deck. They may also be left loose.

The oars are long (really more like sweeps) and will be shortened slightly. The mast will eventually have a yard with a brailled up square sail on it. I may shorten the mast. Currently it is 6" long and is mounted into a hole drilled completely through the deck of the boat. It will remain removable, as will the yard. I will mount the boat on a plastic base that will be 10" (~25 cm) long and 7" (~18 cm) wide. The sweeps will be glued into the thole pins and onto the base. The base will be covered with a sea effects picture that I've used before on my 1:2400 pre-dreadnought ships and then textured with a wake and swirls left by the sweeps.

Stay tuned for additional WIP pictures.

WIP - Row Galley, Part 2

2010-08-24T07:52:00.000-07:00

Last night was spent working out the rigging of the masts and lateen yards for the row galley. The kit came with two masts and four yard pieces. Last week I fished the yards together using some dark brown thread appropriated from my wife's sewing basket. The masts will initially be loosely mounted in the holes in the deck provided for them while the yards will be hung on the masts so that they can be removed. I bought a roll of 24 gauge (~0.5mm) copper wire from my local Ace Hardware store on the way home from work. After several hours and a couple of false starts, this was the result:

If you double click on the picture you can get a close-up of my rigging technique. I drilled a hole through the top of each mast and threaded the wire through it. I had filed a groove around the mast where the hole was and wrapped and super-glued the wire to the mast, leaving enough to form into a loop. This simulates the rigging "falls" that hold the yard. I did the same to each yard but formed the wire into a hook that would fit into the loop piece on the mast. By careful measuring (and some trimming of one end) I ensured that each yard would hang at a slant since this type of row galley used a lateen rig. Now all I have to do is paint the masts and yards, make the sails, and get them attached to the yards. There will not be any other rigging as this will be a wargaming "model" and I don't want to have to worry about rigging getting fouled with fingers and vice versa.

You will also notice that the galley has been completed painted. The outer hull is charcoal and antique gold (ochre) while the interior is red (to hide the blood splatter). The deck is painted a desert tan color to simulate "holy-stoned" wood planking. The quarterdeck is a separate piece to which I've glued pins that fit into holes on the main deck sides. The tiller bar still requires painting (in progress) and mounting. The crewmen are being painted as well. The artillery is still unpainted.

I plan on using this same rigging technique for the smaller vessel and the three gunboats that I have. The smaller vessel will get a fore-and-aft rig on a single mast while the gunboats will have a single square main sail.

Now all I have to do is come up with a suitable name for a Britannian colonial ship from the southern colonies. Any suggestions?

WIP - Row Galley, Part 1

2010-08-17T09:58:00.000-07:00

Some time ago I acquired an 18th Century American row galley (the Old Glory Shipyard GG9, Washington, from Benedict Arnold's flotilla on Lake Champlain). I've finally begun painting her for an upcoming Capitania General de Florida game where she'll play a role as a Britannian ship in the naval part of the battle. I've primed the galley and have painted both of the sides. This might not have been anything close to what the Washington was actually painted, but it suits me (he says with a big grin!). [As usual, please click on the pictures for a larger version.]

The row galley Washington with a few older MiniFig crewman aboard for perspective. The lower part of the hull is red while the upper sides are charcoal and yellow ochre. I think that the quarterdeck railings will also be yellow ochre, while the deck will be a light wood color (to represent holystoned decking) and the interior of the sides may be red.

And here is an overhead view. She came with two masts (the two crewmen happen to be standing over the holes in the deck) and yards. Her rig on Lake Champlain was lateen sails on both masts. I am going to try that arrangement. The yards are each in two pieces so I'll have to "fish" them together. I have a clamp device that my nephew gave me several Christmases ago which will come in handy to hold the two halves while I wrap glue soaked thread around them. I have a good drawing of the galley in a book on American Revolution navies that shows how they would have been attached and hung on the mast.

More pictures later as work on her progresses.

Color Tests for Russian Pre-Dreadnoughts

2010-08-14T14:16:00.000-07:00

After doing some reading of various interpretations of the war time paint scheme for the Russian 1st Pacific Squadron in 1904, I decided it was time to try out actually painting some ships. These four are all Panzerschiffe models, 2 battleships and 2 cruisers. I'm still not certain that these will be the color schemes that I will end up using - your comments will help. As usual, please click on the pictures for a larger version.

The first two test ships are battleships from the Port Arthur based 1st Pacific Squadron.

The battleship Tsesarevitch was the flagship of the Russian squadron during the Battlle of the Yellow Sea. Here he (to use the Russian/Soviet pronoun) is painted with a dark cinnamon hull, khaki superstructure, and ochre funnels with black band around the tops. The base is not finished.

The Pobieda was one of the three Peresviet class battleships assigned to the Far East. He is also in the same color scheme.

The next two ships are cruisers based out of Vladivostok. Both were present at the Battle of Ulsan, where the Rurik was sunk.

The armored cruiser Rossiya was the flagship of the Vladivostok cruiser squadron. Here he is with an olive drab hull, khaki superstructure, and ochre funnels. These colors are, in my opinion, just not dark enough.

And this is the unfortunate armored cruiser Rurik. With her compound armor and slow speed, she was obsolete by the time of the Russo-Japanese War and paid the ultimate price for it.

OK, what do y'all think? Please give me your unbiased opinions - wrong colors, too light, too dark?? My ultimate goal is to have a distinctive color scheme for the original Pacific based ships to distinguish them from the elements of the Baltic Fleet that made up the doomed 2nd and 3rd Pacific Squadrons. At the same time, I don't want a monotone black or gray that would make these little models nothing more than dark blobs on the gaming table.

And finally, a second test Japanese ship, this time the battleship Yashima. She missed the Battle of the Yellow Sea because she had earlier sailed into a Russian minefield and didn't survive the encounter.

Here she is with her grey hull and superstructure and tannish decks. The only thing lacking is the wake which I will add once I have enough ships completed to justify mixing up the texture compound.

The Yashima has been joined by the armored cruiser Yakuma which was featured in a previous post.

Basing Scheme for Pre-Dreadnought Ships

2010-07-23T11:12:00.000-07:00

My last post was a look at a selection of the 1:2400 scale Japanese and Russian ships that I have. I'm now scheduled to run two games (Nov & Dec) for our group using the ships. But as you will recall from the previous post, most of them were still on the cardboard bases from the previous owner. Now I have done some experimenting and have decided on a basing scheme for the ships.

Note: All ships pictured here are from Panzerschiffe Miniatures and the numbers in parentheses are their stock numbers. Also, please click on the pictures for a larger image.

By war gaming buddy, Lord Sterling, has already based his American and Spanish 1:2400 ships so I will follow his base dimensions since I will be using the same rules as he did for his "Remember the Maine and to Hell with Spain" game back in July (battle report of play test).

An example of Lord Sterling's basing, here with the USS Iowa (L-304)

The dimensions are 60mm x 30mm for battleships and cruisers and 40mm x 15mm for destroyers and torpedo boats. Last weekend I cut up a plastic sign into bases of the two sizes. I went ahead and spray painted several of the bases with a blue semi-matte spray paint that I had and several with Krylon Fusion black spray paint for plastic, which is really glossy.

But I continued my search for an effective way of representing the ocean and its waves and discovered a tutorial on the web for developing a water effects "picture." This is what it looks like:

And the link to the tutorial is:
http://www.permadi.com/tutorial/sea/index.html

I copied this image and imported it into a Word Table scheme with 60x30mm and 40x15mm (or as close as I could get using inches) cells. I will cut the cells apart and glue them to the plastic bases.

But before I did all that, I tried a couple of ships on the standard blue bases:

This is a Russian Revy-class torpedo boat destroyer (D-311)

This is a German Brandenburg-class battleship (L-134) with a generic ship label.

As you can see, the bases, even without any wake painted on, look rather blah. So I then experimented with the "sea effects" base:

Here is a Revy-class TBD on the enhanced "sea effects" base. Looks much better!

I tried a larger ship by using the Japanese armored cruiser Yakumo (L-332).

Here is the Yakumo in the dark grey painting scheme of the previous owner.

The ship identification label was also made using Word Table with the addition of a Japanese naval ensign.

But I thought that was too dark even though it may have been the accurate war-time paint scheme. So I repainted her with lighter grey hull, superstructure, and turrets and a "sandstone" color for the decks.

This is, to my eye, much better and allows one to see the various turrets and the superstructure of the ship.

Then I added a wake using "antique white" mixed with a texture base to give the wake some added dimension.

I still have a little touch-up to do (especially around the bow). I will also apply a matte glaze to provide protection for the paint job.

As you can see, I think the addition of the "sea effects" layer to the base dramatically improves the overall look of the ships. These ships are small. The Yakuma is less than 2" long. I had to use my magnifying glass built into one of my painting area lamps and a 10/0 brush to apply the colors. Over the coming weeks and months leading up to my first game (Nov. 6) I will be basing and repainting the Russian and Japanese ships involved in the Battle of the Yellow Sea, Aug 10, 1905.

Panzerschiffe Pre-Dreadnought Ships

2010-06-30T14:31:00.000-07:00

Bluebear Jeff had asked some time ago for some pictures of some of my small collection of Panzerschiffe pre-dreadnought ships. I am finally able to oblige him (and others). These ships were purchased from another gamer who had the Russian and Japanese fleets for the Tsu-Shima Campaign as well as a number of others. These pictures are just a sample of the two fleets. The paint jobs are by the previous owner. I re-mounted a few of the ships onto metal bases but left almost all on the original cardstock bases. To a few I've added identification labels, depending on the previous owner's identification data on the bottom of the bases.

Panzerschiffe is an American company that has 1:2400 ships. Their web site is: www.panzerschiffe.com/

Please click on the pictures for a larger image.

The first ship is the Russian battleship Pobieda (others in class are Peresviet and Oslyabya).

Number A301 in the Panzerschiffe catalog.

The Russian light/protected cruiser Bogatyr, A303 (others in class are: Oleg, Kagoul, and Merkooria).

Russian light/protected cruiser Pallada, A304 (others in class are Diana and Aurora)

Russian battleship Tsarevitch, L322

Russian battleship Petropavlovsk, L329 (others in class are: Sevastopol and Poltava)

These Russian ships were based either in Vladivostok (Bogatyr) or Port Arthur.

Japanese battleship Mikasa, L323 (sister is: Asahi)

Japanese armored cruiser Nisshin, L325 (sister is: Kasuga)

Japanese armored cruiser Tokiwa, L331 (sister is: Asama)

This Japanese light/protected cruiser is a little mystery. The previous owner labeled the bottom of the base Otowa. L337. But according to the Panzerschiffe catalog, the Otowa is L369, while L337 are the Tsushima and Niitaka. I looked up pictures of both on the Internet but couldn't really tell which was which. Anyway, this is an example of a Japanese light or protected cruiser.

Japanese light/protected cruiser Kasagi, L339 (sisters are: Chitose and Takasago)

These Japanese ships were all in Admiral Togo's fleet at Tsu-Shima.

The Chinese battleship Chen-Yuan, L360. She was captured in the Sino-Japanese War and taken into Japanese service, being renamed Chin-Yen (which is the Japanese equivalent of her Chinese name).

A couple of "little boys." The rather crudely written labels on the bottom of each ship indicate the larger (gray) one may be the Spanish Furor class destroyer, D307, while the smaller (white) one may be the American Ericcson class torpedo boat, D302. But that identification is not certain. They are however examples of torpedo boat destroyers and torpedo boats of the period.

Finally a merchant ship, painted as the Russian hospital ship Orel which accompanied the Russian Baltic Fleet on its long cruise to oblivion in 1905. Actually she is the American cargo ship Zafiro, L313, from the Spanish American War, but serves as an example of Panzerschiffe's merchant ships.

You can see examples of these and other Panzerschiffe ships in actual wargames at the following links. The ships belong to either me or my wargaming buddy, Lord Sterling.

Remember the Maine and to He** with Spain!

Play Test of Sides of Steel Rules

Renaissance Galley Game

2008-08-16T15:53:00.001-07:00

Today I treated our wargames group to a naval game in the Mediterranean in the 1500s. A small fleet of Christian galleys engaged a small fleet of Moslem galleys. We used the WizKids Pirates of the Barbary Coast "snap together" galleys, suitably painted and marked to differentiate the two sides.

This first picture shows the initial clash between the two Genoan squadrons and an Algerian squadron supported by an Ottoman squadron.

The second picture shows the action a little, with the Algerian command galley sunk and the Genoan fleet command galley on fire.

The rules we used are called Barbarossa and can be found under the Renaissance section on the Free Wargame Rules web site ( www.freewargamesrules.co.uk ).

Col Campbell's Shipyard Is Open for Business

2008-02-21T11:01:00.001-08:00

Besides having land based forces (see ColCampbell's Barracks ), I also dabble in naval forces as well. This blog will intermittently showcase my forays into brown and blue water war gaming.

For our Green Nile Colonial campaign run several years ago, I built a British gunboat and two steam launches. The gunboat was entirely scratchbuilt out of balsa wood, card stock, and folder stock. The stack is a large black drinking straw liberated from a fast-food establishment. It is armed with a medium caliber quick-firing gun forward and a Gatling Gun aft. It can carry a small crew and and half-platoon of naval infantry. The two steam launches began as craft row boats from Michael's with the fancy-smancy interiors removed. The steam boilers were constructed of a section of a dried-up magic marker, a section of a lip balm tube, and a piece of drinking straw, all glued together and painted black. Each is armed with a Gardner gun and carry a small crew and about 5 naval infantry. Their initial action was in the defense of the fortified camp at Wadi Zoum-Zoum (www.angelfire.com/games3/jacksongamer/grn_nile2.htm).

These ships were easy to build, especially the steam launches, and have been fun to use. They have seen use on the rivers of Darkest Africa and in the Back of Beyond in China.