HMS Worcester, 80-gun Ship of the Line

HMS Worcester is one of the so-called 'W'-class of Albionic third rate ships of the line. The 'W'-class are the work horses of the Union, carrying the flag all over the globe, and fighting in the thickest of conflicts. They are old but sturdy vessels, and their captains take great pains to preserve them in a fighting condition.

Worcester has a sturdy build, and although somewhat slow and sluggish, she fits well in a line of battle. The model is entirely scratch-built, the only commercial attachments are the towed boat and anchors, which at one time belonged to the Revell 1/450 HMS Victory. The anchors have been shortened, and a hole was drilled where the cable should be attached.

The hull is a hollow piece of balsa, made of 6mm layers I believe, with some strengthening pieces to hold the deck. The deck itself is 1mm thick, scored with a pen not to look so flat. The bow piece is made from thin strips of card. The masts and yards are from bamboo, the sails from a piece of faux-satin polyester cloth, painted to a tan colour. The rigging is made from three different types of thread, and the cable connecting the boat to the ship is a fourth one, larger in diameter.

All in all an OK build, I especially like the way the colours turned out, but the hull is quite big and blocky compared to, for example, the Heller Le Superbe. Sanding that concave tumblehome is a very difficult job. I think my next few large ships will be modifications of the Revell Spanish galeon again, but right now every non-essential store is closed, so that's for the future.

 

Arca d'Imperatrice Schiavona

 

This is the flagship of the private war fleet belonging to the House of Schiavona. It's a 1/600 scale model of the galeon La Couronne, which I believe is no longer in production - I found it in a modeling thrift store-like business.

The ship herself is quite old, but the name is new - all of her hull has been repaired and modified, resulting in a fighting ship of 74 cannon. The name signifies the imperial ambitions of the leader of Quattro Formaggi, Beatrice Schiavona. The Formaggians do not customarily name kings and queens - emperors and empresses, however, are a different business. With rebellion raging in the North and the Kingdom of Glambria already claiming much of Western Formaggia, something needs to happen that changes the game. Refurbishing an old galeon and naming it in such a way might just be that thing.

I've built this same model before, turning it into a modest Protestant warship. Now I went over the top with the decorations - the dark green and golden yellow are a matching pair, I think. All the plastic masts and sails had been replaced, and a semblance of rigging was introduced.

1/600 SMS Derfflinger WIP #5

Current parts count: 71 (hull: 5, gundeck: 54, turrets: 12)

I've added a central piece to the secondary batteries, which required some sanding before I was content with the overall look of the thing. Then I cut the two ends of the lower tier of the superstructure and coated them with wood filler. When assembled, these will receive a top layer of 1mm balsa wood, in part for consistency, and also because this deck also has a visible sheer, the forward part starts at 5mm height from the deck, and it ends at 4mm.

Next I did some work on the turrets, the main pieces being made from 4mm balsa, finished using lots of wood filler, PVA and grey paint; and then I attached the brass gun barrels, which are intended for a 1/700 scale Bismarck, but fit perfectly as 1/600 scale 12" guns. I think I'll cover the turret tops with paper for a smooth surface, and then attach the commander's cupolas. I made a small stamping device with which I'll be able to add the air recognition markings on the turret tops. Also, the sides received a layer of card for the visible outlines of the armor belt.

I'm taking on this project with little increments, but this is already a lot done for the day. Stay tuned!

The Böhnstadt Royal Frigate Dachshund sets sail

After a failed attempt, I managed to produce the first of the small scale Schultze-Böhnstadt Navy frigates, the famed Dachshund. There is no fixed scale, I just made her to a slightly smaller size than comparable 1/450 and 1/600 scale models like the Heller Le Superbe, La Couronne, and the Revell Spanish Galeon, all of which I'm using as contemporary warships. 

The Dachshund was completed to protect Schultze-Böhnstadt overseas interest, guard trading routes and present the flag around the globe. There are whispers that an Albionic-led anti-piracy squadron is due to assemble at the northern Barfrican coast, near the famed Pirate Bay, and she might be needed there.

1/600 SMS Derfflinger WIP #4 - Suffering with the Secondaries

Current parts count: 55 (Hull: 3, Secondary casemates: 52)

As I mentioned in the previous post, the secondary casemate batteries are a pain in the bum to complete. After some hesitation, I set myself on the task. This required looking at reference pictures a lot, then drawing some sketches, after which I finally became enlightened and found a procedure to do this correctly. (While looking for different angles on the secondaries, I also found out that a major feature, the ring preventing spent casings to roll under the turret, does not appear on my blueprints, so a point for historical references.)

The method chosen for the Viribus Unitis was way too simplistic, which showed on the model - I'm never going to make that mistake again. 

1/600 SMS Derfflinger WIP #3 - Let the Woodworking Begin!

Honestly I kind of had a 'block' because I had no idea how to properly shape the main deck. Finally I just sat down and measured the blueprints in 2cm slices to have the exact height from the waterline. Then I sanded the sides of the hull to shape, with the top view plans clamped to where the deck should be.

I've been using 100 grit sandpaper and a wooden sanding block to do the job, this would be increased gradually to 1000 grit or so. Learning from the Bretagne and Viribus Unitis builds, it is very important to sand each piece between layers of filler/primer/paint to have a truly smooth surface.

1/600 SMS Derfflinger WIP #2 - The Shopping List!

I've made little to no progress on the model, but I'm in the middle of writing a list of things to be purchased. So this post mostly serves as a guide for myself. For the sake of simplicity, I will not be making every tiny bit of detail by hand, and these things help a great deal. I'd really like to gout on this model and make it as accurate as possible.

I'm assisted by a new Dremel tool which I've got for my birthday, this should make some tasks such as cutting and sanding (especially the concave sanding at the bow) more time-effective and comfortable. I'm still going to have to do the sloping deck by hand, probably with a large sanding block.

So far my shopping list includes:

• 4mm balsa plank for the turrets and superstructure, also the boats (I'm going to try a more complex boat construction instead of single blocks of wood)
• Various girths of steel wire: 0,8mm for the secondary battery barrels and cranes, 0,5mm for the 88mm AA platforms, 1mm for the main battery barrels and masts. Fortunately these can be had for a small price.
• Pins or small brass nails used for wooden ship models, for coaling hatches
• 1/700 scale photoetched railings (upping my game a little bit here), there are some generic pieces out there that I can use, and I really hope the scale difference does not matter
• 15mm washers for the turret rings (either to be used as templates or glued on)
• 4/5mm dowels for the secondary casemates; 13-14mm dowels or pinewood rods for the stacks (may also be shaped out of balsa)
• 0,1 and 0,25mm rigging thread

SMS Derfflinger 1/600 WIP #1

If you thought I had too many projects at the same time, I've started work on the 1/2000 Espana class dreadnoughts, and also this. For a reminder, my last build has attracted some attention, you can find its results here. 

This time I'm doing a more iconic vessel, lead ship of the WW1 Imperial German Navy's last completed battlecruiser class, none other than (if you could not guess from the title) SMS Derfflinger. 

This is probably my favourite dreadnought era ship of them all, with an excellent battle record, also less of an ugly duckling than some of her contemporaries. 

Heller 1/600 La Couronne WIP

Got this old kit for a bargain price. It will be part of the navy of the imaginary Duchy of Armagnac, slightly outdated for the 18th century, but they could be using old equipment.

There were many troubles with it that seem way too obvious for a modeler today. Lots of flash, flimsy and bendy masts, and the middle of the deck section having a large gaping hole along the sides. All of this of course means that some scratch-building and kit-bashing is required.

SMS Viribus Unitis - Complete

I still owe you all a photo report about the complete model, so here it is. This was a great challenge for me and I tried a bunch of new techniques, but I think the end product justifies it all.

This was my August hobby project, but I had other issues to deal with in September, so the next one will probably be for next month. I'm building a bunch of smaller ships until then - a bottle model of SMS Zenta is complete, and now I'm working on the German Derfflinger-class battlecruisers in 1/2000 scale.

Here it is, please enjoy the pictures.

SMS Viribus Unitis WIP #9

Now it's time for some more details and basing. I cut up some toothpicks to 3mm size and painted them white and blue. I didn't go into much research, just some period photos. It seems that crewmen who were sleeping on the deck wore the all-white uniforms meaning they were off duty, and the men actually working wore blue - of course there is a chance that the crew is ordered to quarters and there is no time to dress up in proper uniform, so I chose a few figures in white and most of them blue - there are about 40 all around the deck.

SMS Viribus Unitis WIP #8

We are in the final stages now - you can see the 99% assembled model at the end of this post, and I believe it was worth all the effort.

On the pic above - the forward and rear superstructure get some details done (masts, ladders and stairs).

SMS Viribus Unitis WIP #7

I'm currently working on these bits - the boats are primed, the details on the bridge are complete, and so is most of the rear superstructure.

I had to re-size the aft watch position because it was too long and took the space from both the turret ring and the boat bay. This included chopping off a large part of the bottom armored section. Now it fits the blueprint and therefore there shall be no problem when completing the superstructure.

SMS Viribus Unitis WIP #6

I've made more sticky notes to follow my progress, and these amount to the following:

• Superstructure & boat bay assembly
• Add anchors, searchlights, other small bits (anchors should come first and be glued to the ship before painting, searchlights I'm not so sure about)
• Build and paint boats (separately - the ones hung from the side are not necessary, they're just too fragile for a tabletop model)
• Mast assembly - build upper mast sections
• Paint the hull
• Paint the superstructure and attach it to the hull
• Add handrails (bridge only or should other parts be involved?)
• Add turrets and boats
• Attach anchor chain (it's a small chain that has been inked black)
• Add crew
• Varnish the ship and complete the base (for secure handling and storage)

As you can see, there's still a lot to do.

On the picture above, I'm adding further detail to the funnel housing, including the suspended parts that hold the first row of boats, and restructuring the armored bridge. It's good to keep track by painting some parts and then adding more, you can clearly see the changes.

SMS Viribus Unitis WIP #5

Quite a big progress report today - you can see something resembling an actual dreadnought at the end of the post. I'm also being hit with some spam comments. 

I've made myself a list with sticky notes what to do exactly, and came up with the following:

• detail the turrets and paint them
• shape & detail the funnels - find a way to create the funnel housing (the solution was that the funnels had to be countersunk 2mm into the housing)
• add deck detail
• superstructure & boat bay assembly
• mast assembly - where the problem arose if the foremast should be integrated to the bridge section or added later - I finally chose to drill through the upper unarmored bridge and the bottom part for increased strength, and placed the bottom part of the mast there.

Anyway, the turret details are assembled on the picture above - the turrets were put on the turret rings, then I drilled holes for the gun barrels and glued them to place. I was in a tough spot trying to find a suitable piece for the barrels, but I finally found some 28mm Perry WoTR lances that just had the right kind of tapering shape.

Paddle steamer "Mészáros"

After the Spring Revolution of 1848, an independent Hungarian national assembly was elected, based on an equal and expanded (although far from universal) right to vote, and a new government, responsible to this parliament, was appointed.
The Serbian and Croatian leaders, in pursuit of their own national(ist) interests, remained loyal to Vienna. Open hostilities soon broke out, and the infant government had to prevent Serbian and Croatian raids up on the Danube. Stationary batteries along the banks seemed insufficient, so the decision was made to purchase multiple ships and convert them to military purposes. They turned to the DDSG company, which had available shipyards near Budapest. The deal was struck incredibly fast, and the first (and, as it turned out, only) ship, previously a transport steamer under the name Franz I, was sold on June 7 1848, and her refit began on June 13 in DDSG's Óbuda yard. She was re-christened Mészáros (after the current Minister of War). After arming her and filling her stores, the maiden voyage took place on June 30.

Claymore-class French destroyers

I wanted to have some destroyers in my growing fleet - so far, there are only cruisers and battleships built, with only one (fictional) destroyer and some trawlers. At first I chose the Austro-Hungarian Tátra class, however I could find no blueprints, plus they were built in 1912, a bit too late for my taste. The choice then fell on these, a group of very tiny ships in comparison to battleline units.
I'm not even sure they are destroyers, or torpedo boats, or which, because some photos are captioned "contre-torpilleur", which would be torpedo boat destroyer I think, while others have simply "torpilleur" written over them, applied to the same class. As I have no other destroyers, if they were to participate in a battle, they would have the torpedo boat role.

There was no blueprint for them either, but a few photos from the right angle solved my scaling problems. I used a darker brown on the deck as it was built above the hull plating, and photos show it to be much darker than the color of the hull itself.

I hope I can finish a Habsburg-class battleship in the foreseeable future, until then, the shipyard remains empty. However, I already have a rather large plan with small scale ships, and I also thought about making video tutorials... as soon as I have some free time.

El Matador, Tropezonian armed freighter

Nothing too spectacular - a plastic drinking straw funnel, cardboard and 180g cardstock hull with some attachments. Four gunports were cut and four 50mm quick-firing guns were placed on deck - this way she can protect other ships from Ortosilian raiders.

The Russian sisters

The Russian armored frigates cruisers Vladimir Monomah (left) and Dmitri Donskoy (right) are completed. They were designed in the 1880s and took part in the catastrophe that was the battle of Tsushima. One interesting aspect of building Russian ships is searching for them in Cyrillic, which brings up a lot of period photos, and fortunately for me, blueprints as well. 

SMS Brandenburg

I was searching other nations' fleets besides the ones I already built ships from, and happened upon this class, rather modern looking in pre-dreadnought terms, with a nice tumblehome build and three turrets (which is more than two, but the French are overdoing it). And it's one of the happier stories as the class served in the Turkish navy in the Great War instead of being just scrapped when the Kriegsmarine was done with them.