INWarD 2026 after action report

We managed to play - with two years of delay, due to me not finishing the models - my Denmark Strait scenario, and the results are in. My wife commanded the RN and I the dastardly Germans.

Above, Prince of Wales starting the day with a fire on board, which was quickly put out (still better than four of ten guns not working properly).

INWarD2026 Preview: Battle of the Denmark Strait

All participants for my planned International Naval Wargaming Day game are ready for combat. I have also written a short set of rules, where players declare their intentions before moving (which hopefully would result in a more interesting gameplay than just the plain move-shoot routine). Also PoW has to roll for random critical damage at the beginning of the game. 

I'll write up the AAR next week, stay tuned until then!

Allies and Enemies of Zinqagur

Finished a few more 1/2000 scale scratchbuilt ships - most of these are ReReRe, which means repaired, repainted and rebased older ones.

First, the remainder of the Asansmati sea-going force, the ships which survived the defeat by the Klagimir fleet at the Battle of Tunova Atoll. Three USN pre-dreadnought battleships, one armored cruiser and a large-ish TBD force. These are all old models.

Asansmat is going the way of least resistance and would try to overcome the Zinqaguri squadron on the eastern seaboard of the Cape.

Pride of a Nation, A Beast Made of Steel etc. etc.

 

I can't recall a more overdone topic in naval history circles than the Bismarck, both the ship and its operational history, even though I could recount, just on a whim, about ten different battleships that had a more interesting or successful career (including the Tirpitz and the Scharnhorst class [no, those were not battlecruisers]).

 

But there's no stopping the Bismarck fanboyism, and that may perhaps be one of the main reasons building her (yes it's a her) for my Battle of the Denmark Strait project took about two years. That's a lot of time for a 1/2000 model, even in scratchbuilding terms. 

Alas, taking some time off from the Aurora and managing a complete paintjob on a 1/700 interwar fit waterline Nagato, I took out the hulls of the Bismarck and the Prinz Eugen (no, they are not DKM Bismarck and DKM Prinz Eugen), and built the superstructures.

When building such models, one must cut a lot of corners. Some of the details you simply won't see. Some have to look just about right from a distance. The main visual cues for the ships must be there, but otherwise it's more or less free reign. That's why I like WW1 era German battleships for instance: very little deck clutter, very effective, streamlined designs. I procrastinated with this project because I was overwhelmed with all the bits and bobs on a WW2 battleship's superstructure, so in the end I just went at it and made things on the go.

The ships' hulls and other larger pieces are made from 3mm and 2mm balsa (1mm on the top layers of the Prinz Eugen), and they are built using the layer or sandwich method, where I construct things from the waterline up. The balsa is stiffened and filled with liquid CA glue and acrylic paste. The turret rings on the Bismarck are small rubber rings bought at a craft store (apparently for making children's necklaces). The rest is placticard (0.5mm and 2mm), plastic bits from leftovers (such as a 28mm Mongol spear), paperclips, the cranes on the Bismarck are Perry sword sheaths and on the Prinz Eugen they are stolen from a 1/700 Derfflinger, and her floatplane is from an old plastic anchor.

Since taking the above photo I made the Bismarck's prow a bit more pointy (she resembled the Iowa class' crocodile prow a bit too much) and added the visually important large flying bridge. You will be able to see those when the models are painted and based.

The deadline for this project is InWarD 2026, as I missed the anniversary of the battle (again). Until then, it's peacetime readiness for the completed PoW and Hood.

The Royal Zinqaguri Navy in 1/2000

I might have mentioned earlier that I switched over from 1000 to 1/2000 scale for my 'Trashy Fleets' project. The decision was based on space and time constraints, in order to get a few games played over a short period.

By this time I managed to complete my imaginary Zinqaguri navy's two battle squadrons, one for the country's east and one for the west coast. They have different paint jobs because why not? 

Also each squadron has a TBD detachment, but being deployed on separate stations and not very likely to operate together, I only completed one base of TBDs in total.

Would you Duke it out with someone made of Iron?

(For the title I apologize to fans of the real Iron Duke.)

I painted these back in October 2025 but then just shelved the project, and only got to base them this weekend. They are 1/2000 scale scratchbuilt ships of the WW1 vintage Iron Duke class superdreadnoughts.

Construction, as per usual, was done with various thicknesses of balsa wood, plasticard, bamboo kebab sticks and toothpicks, and steel wire for the masts.

I don't know how long the revival of the project will last, but I aim to complete a few more hulls and play some games.

Steaming towards the Denmark Strait

My 1/2000 scale HMS Hood is now complete and joins the Prince of Wales to hunt for the Bismarck.

Since posting the WIP picture I added the AA suite on the main deck as it was quite featureless.

The paint job is based on the information available on the HMS Hood Association website and is mostly matching her last description before the battle. Maybe I should have added the reddish brown linoleum to the grey parts of the top deck, I'm not sure.

All I have to do is actually build the Bismarck so they could find her...

The High and the Mighty

I missed the date for the Battle of the Denmark Strait with my scratchbuilt 1/2000 project, mainly because I have been working on other things.

However I just managed to complete the build for my version of the HMS Hood, and when I showed the Prince of Wales in its unpainted state the last time it gathered some interest, so here's the model before any primer is being added.

This time instead of PVA I used successive layers of acrylic paste and paint to make surfaces smooth. The ship is mainly built out of balsa and plasticard, and then some bamboo skewers, paperclips, broom bristles and Magic Sculpt. I also found a small decorative rubber ring that is just the right size for the turret rings.

I think most people know the story of the Hood, so I won't bother anyone with that. I won't say anything more than I just like the design.

 Off she sails to the painting table and then to join the already completed PoW.

Worry not if you aren't the Duke of Porpoises...

 

... you can still be the Prince of Wales! (pun intended)

Here's a rare WIP shot of a 1/2000 scale scratchbuilt HMS Prince of Wales. I usually post completed products on the blog, but this one looked kind of nice the way it is, and it highlights some of the methods I use for tiny ships.

My main components for this build were: balsa wood, bamboo skewers, Magic Sculpt, 0.5mm plasticard, push pins and broom bristles. First I shaped the hull, and did the rest in five main sub-assemblies (that is the three turrets and two main parts of the superstructure).

Balsa wood has very large grain and soaks up paint/glue like a sponge, so I learned to harden its outer surface with either mopping on liquid superglue or acrylic medium, and then after many passes with sandpaper some PVA. For the quad turrets I also added some magic sculpt for detail.

I made an attempt to sculpt each of the quad barrels, but in the end I just went with my usual solution of using a single slab of bamboo and painting the detail on.

The occasion for this build is that I want to refight the Battle of the Denmark Strait in the near future, so after painting this one, next up is the Mighty Hood.

During the build I came to appreciate the no-nonsense approach of the King George V class design. Everything has its place and works, and that's about all a fighting ship needs. However, I anticipate building Hood for her excellent looks for a change.

D6 Naval War: Battle of the White Sea

I've never before celebrated International Naval Wargaming Day. However, after our last move, I've still had the large-ish remainder of my 1/2000 scale scratchbuilt WW1 fleets hidden in my wardrobe, so I thought I could take some of them for an outing.

Chilean Steel

Here's the next bit in my 1/2000 scratchbuilding venture, the pair of the Almirante Latorre class. Pretty handy ships, and the first British-built SDs completed after the Orions waaaaay before. Unfortunately I could only paint the straw of the deck with a glossy piece of Heller acrylic paint, so it's not completely to my taste, but at 1/2000, no one should really care.

Bringing the Balance

Here are the next eight ships in my growing 1/2000 scale fleet. The front row is made up of the Brazilian Minas Geraes-class, which would serve with the Quisobian Royal Navy, and the Dante Alighieri-class, if they can be called that, belonging to the navy of Cartelucia. The rear row consists of the four Courbet-class battleships, which might alternatively be used by Dorrosean or Crontaineville. This greatly enhances the power of the anti-Friegland alliance, but not nearly well enough. 

The construction of these ships was made available by finding a bit of stained 3mm balsa that I repurposed, and some dense corkboard. The ships in the front row were made from this material, and besides some warping when the PVA was applied, and having to coat the hulls in a layer of 80g paper, there was not much difficulty in building them. 

I'm still experimenting with the camera, so please bear with me while I figure it all out.

...And Justice for All

The title is not extremely correct, as these are the six Republique/Liberté-class French pre-dreadnought battleships, accidentally including one that is named Justice, but suits the theme well.

I've used up my last bit of 2mm balsa, so the hull of the ships is made from corrugated cardboard, and covered in paper. The upper half where the superstructure sits is a piece of 1mm balsa. Cardboard is a rather difficult material to sand, so the ships are a bit over-sized, especially at their beam, but this is actually somewhat beneficial: they look like stocky little things, just like they supposed to.

Construction was otherwise problem-free: lately I prefer to show my ships in a state of battle readiness, deck clutter, including boats removed, which eases the building process. 

Once I finished the German battlecruisers, I felt that although in true WW1 terms the Kaiserliche Marine does not really overwhelm the Entente fleets, in my imaginary world there is a huge advantage to the Jackewlinese - Frieglander axis. This is mainly because I made Jackewline proprietor of both the Royal and US Navy ships. It is only reasonable that without proper allies on the continent, Jackewline attempts to out-build her enemies, the Island Kingdoms (IJN) and Veuden (Imperial Russian Navy). 

The tables are turning on the Frieglander side of things though, as they have 'built' all four large battleship classes sans the Bayerns now, which means 17 ships at full fighting capacity, plus the very capable armoured cruiser Blücher and seven battlecruisers. Facing them, the Cartelucian fleet (Italy) counts five dreadnoughts, the Quisobians (Spain and South American countries) another six, four of which are the Espana-class ships of dubious quality, and the Crontaineville fleet (France) can only put five Danton-class pre-dreadnoughts to sea, sixteen ships in total. This should be somewhat remedied by the pre-dreadnought spam which these six ships here are only a forebear of.

Looking for suitable materials to replace balsa, I came across a piece of dense corkboard, and now I'm using it to build the Minas Geraes-class and a pair of Dante Alighieris (I know, there has been only one, but this is why playing with imagi-nations is sometimes better than the real world), to have at least a semblance of fair play between Friegland and her enemies. They should either be followed by the Edgar Quinets or the Italian armored cruisers (Pisa and San Giorgo-classes).

Battlecruisers Operational

 

This is the last few pieces of my balsa, the first four Imperial German battlecruisers, from top to bottom: Von der Tann, Moltke, Goeben and Seydlitz. VdT and Seydlitz have composite hulls of 1mm and 2mm balsa layers. They are fierce looking ships and assembling them was a great experience, grinding away some quarantine time. I'd like to do an 1/500 scale swimming model of the Seydlitz in the near future, so this was good practice as well.

The Royals

Here are the following nine units of the German High Seas Fleet: the Kaiser- and König-class battleships. With this, Friegland takes the lead in the naval arms race on the eastern continent. 

They are splendid ships and I like how their colour scheme turned out. Slowly but surely a Jutland project is realising in my mind...

The Badens should be late, as my 3mm balsa supply has run out and no more can be found within the country... I might be able to make thinner slices and make a composite though. This could be used for French battleships and armoured cruisers.

 

Some Rivadavias

One of my Imagi-Nations is the Noble Republic of Quisobia, which is somewhat analogous to Spain. I intend to feature this nation in my naval games, but we all know that the Spanish navy, WW1 era was not really a thing to be reckoned with, especially considering battleships. So, without trying to offend anyone, some guests will appear on the scene - the larger South American battleships, the first pair being the Rivadavia class of Argentina.

Confound me but I have a weak spot for cage masts, and these look like formidable vessels. It was easy to build them, the trick being not to think much about detail. For the cage masts, I cut out a flat triangular piece of paper, and soaking it in PVA, I rolled it on the bottom of a length of toothpick. This yields the concave shape many commercial model making companies fail to deliver. Of course if you go over anything but 1/2000 scale, the results may vary.

Quisobian engineers designed these large battleships as a response to the Frieglander Großlinienschiffe (the Nassau- and Helgoland-classes), but the arms race continues with the Kaisers...

 

Regia Marina Battlefleet

To the threat of Friegland increasing the number of dreadnought battleships, the Royal Cartelucian Navy must respond. In real life, these are the Conte di Cavour- and Andrea Doria-class battleships, between which there is an ignorable difference in my preferred 1/2000 scale. They are going to be reinforced by the Dante Alighieri and the Francesco Caracciolo-class later at some point. 

They are well-built ships carrying 13 guns each in a quite extraordinary arrangement, I guess they tried to one-up the Viribus Unitis class which had 12. We shall see how they perform in combat soon hopefully, something they were not accustomed to during WW1.

The Imperial German Navy expands

Here's a continuation for the Nassaus, four Brandenburg-class pre-dreadnoughts of little fighting value but great style, the Helgoland-class battleships which are actually worth something, and the ill-fated armored cruiser Blücher. All models are made using 1, 2 and 3mm balsa wood strips, bamboo and 0.5mm steel wire. Painting is also standard, with a buff undercoat, a layer of grey, blocking in the deck tan and some highlights here and there.

Nassau-class battleships

We have just passed Jutland's anniversary, which is a good occasion to present four of the participants recently completed, the German Nassau-class dreadnoughts. Being Germany's first attempt at building such ships, they're not much to look at, but I liked building them anyway. The only setback was providing the 24 turrets for the four ships altogether. 

As usual, they are built using balsa wood, toothpicks, 0.5mm steel wire, broom bristles, and sit on an MDF base looted from Ikea before all this madness had begun. 

I'll be posting more ships in the near future, as some of my recent builds had not been shared yet.

The Klagimir Republican Navy

This is the fledgling, and honestly quite underpaid Klagimir Republican Navy at the beginning of the Mesr Wars.

This is a semi-historical project, basically I allocate a yearly budget to the navy, and they can purchase and develop things from there. It is partly based on the WW1 Ottoman Navy, but more in spirit (e.g. purchasing semi-obsolete units from world powers) than historical ships. Similarly, some ships you can see below are historical, while others are complete fiction. Some names are derived from the Turk language, some are not.