Flossian Union Foot Battalions

The lesson of this post is that the most important thing about painting miniatures is not to stress oneself out over the matter. It is a leisure activity after all, and the great majority of us don't paint for a living. 

I found out that I still had more than five hundred(!) 1/72 eighteenth century figures from various produce, and since I sort of hit a painter's block with my TYW/ECW collection, these came in handy for a change. Some were painted and needed touching up only, some were primed and some just bare plastic. 

I did not really have a plan for them, until I made the mental connection with my Schultze-Böhnstadt Imagi-Nations setting, so here they are, three dozen figures in three battalions of the Flossian Union: a regular fusilier, a mercenary Glambrian and a local militia unit.

Suffering the Block

I bought a bunch of 17x20mm wooden blocks at Kik (a retail store of German origin that mostly sells cheap rubbish, but has a creative department). First I thought of building pike and shot armies out of the blocks, but then the project sort of stalled. 

I sold my 6mm Lace Wars / Tricorne collection some time ago, but thought about getting back to the period. So finally I used some templates from Junior General and designed the appropriately sized paper covers for the Kik blocks, sort of Commands & Colours style, with the blocks upright instead of being laid down flat. They are sturdy enough so that they don't topple over at the first touch. I might also add base extensions later.

Three blocks constitute a unit, usually with a command base at the center. This is enough to represent line, deep order and march column. Troop types are denoted by the 'figures' themselves - there are dragoons, cuirassiers, Croats and a Guard regiment on the above photo. My plan is to use these for Maurice (which requires four bases to a unit, but shall work just fine with three). They are also easy to bash together at times when I do not have the motivation to paint.

So far I designed a white, blue, red and green army (with the Rebel Lands Campaign running on my other blog in mind), and some Poles, Cossacks, Ottomans and other irregular units. I have refought the battle of Kliszów with 6mm figures once, and might just do that again soon. By the way, the scenario I designed for Kliszów using Maurice is available from the "Scenarios" page in the header if you are interested (along with a lot of others).

Fire in the Night

At midnight, a small Holy Alliance squadron creeps to the entrance of the Pirate Bay. 

A single vessel detaches and, using the stars, the wind and dead reckoning, steers the furthest away path from the batteries guarding the harbour.

Schultze-Böhnstadt Navy Frigates

The Schultze-Böhnstadt Navy was originally to be comprised of three vessels of the same class, but as it usually happens with government purchases (believe me, I have the experience), not everything turned out the way the mighty Princeps Erhard Berthold von Jazygen wanted.

Thus happened that of the planned class of three similar ships, one became a razée of 40 guns, modernized to the standards of the day and packing quite a punch; one more of a ship-rigged sloop with a heavy battery, but still having an open deck; and the last one a quite old vessel purchased from the Glambrian East Continent of Rot Company, or shortly CCOGG.

Welcome to the Future

The beginnings of an 18th century naval campaign are currently on my mind. The basic premises are that it is centered around an Ottoman force running the blockade at the Pirate Bay, and then trying to capture as many merchantmen as possible.

For this, harbor defenses for creative use were necessary, and I began constructing a medium-sized ship "in ordinary". However, scratchbuilding such things, while cost-effective, is very time-consuming. I started looking for alternatives, and thought that even with the worst possible results, a 3D print of an old semi-derelict vessel of war could be a good start.

While I don't own a 3D printer myself, by the suggestion of my wife, I found an on demand 3D printing service nearby. You just upload the .stl file to the website, scale it up or down, get a quote and in a few days you receive the final product by courier.

It was kind of hit or miss, but worth a try. I downloaded a free .stl template of a 1/700 scale large frigate from Wargaming3D, blew up the model to a 150% scale (to better match my own fleet of 1/500-ish ships), and made an order worth about 7 Euros including p&p for the pair.

You can see the results above. I went over the models with a lighter to remove most of the fine threads sticking out, but overall I think they look pretty fine, and there is not a lot more prep work to do on them than on some old injection-moulded stuff. Some filling and sanding required here and there. One will be the Böhnstadt flagship SMS Jagdhund, and the other an Ottoman/Tekirdag razée of 40 guns, without masts or sails, ready to be towed to battle (or not).

 

A Xebec

After a while, we return to the naval engagements around the Northern Barfrican coast. This time, a nimble Tekirdagaç vessel, a three-masted Xebec sails into view. Although frail-looking, she packs a heavy broadside, and with her large lateen sails, she can out- and overrun most of the Allied shipping.

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.

SRKS Tajni Möjem

 

This is the Sjelle Regal Krigskjeppet Tajni Möjem. Sjelle is an independent territory of the Kingdom of Gluteborg-Varangia in my Schultze-Böhnstadt imaginary universe. She sports both the Royal Varangian and the Independent Sjelle ensigns. 

Tajni Möjem is a 26-gun single-deck warship, which might be called a corvette or a ship-rigged sloop of war. She has a shallow draft to traverse the many rocky channels and inlets of the Sjelle Islands. 

The ship's hull is way back from this post; compared to the other ships I have been building, it would simply have been too small for a full-sized frigate of war. But navies need smaller vessels, too, so I made her with an open gundeck. The hull is slim but rather simplistic: it lacks the usual ornamentation of 18th century warships. The sails are made from table cloth, I think, while the ensigns are satin. Every bit is scratchbuilt, including the cannon and the wheel.

The Royal Insolencian Flagship

This is the Royal Insolencian Navy's flagship, the Nuestra Senora Santa Maria de Concepcion Immaculata e Bendecida por San Felipe e San Antonio de Habana. It is a large and cumbersome three-decker, made in the waning colonies of the West Indies, mostly from red mahogany wood. She is currently stationed in the Mediterranean, overseeing the activities of the international anti-piracy squadron around the Pirate Bay of the northern Barfrican Coast.

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.

Metamorphosis, Part 2

This is the now hardly recognizable Revell Spanish Galleon as an early 18th century warship. The complete facelift includes: scratch-building the entire bow section, the sails and the masts; replacing the oar deck with gunports; and raising the stern gallery while adding larger windows for the officers' cabins. This is how she became Konung Harald XVI Jordgubbvän, a proud Varangian ship of the line, as the various flags are showing.

Metamorphosis

Some of you may know that I'm cheap when it comes to the hobby. On one hand, this hones my scratchbuilding skills, on the other, it makes for interesting projects.

1/2000 Sailing Ships

Something a little bit different from WW1-era ships, these are small scratchbuilt vessels that I intend to use for my Schultze-Böhnstadt ImagiNations. On the above image a Tekirdagian pirate fleet comprised of a xibec, three galleys and two galiots.

And this is the allied anti-piracy squadron made up of the Böhnstadt frigates Jagdhund and Schweinhund, and the Armagnac 74-gun ships of the line Piété and Humilité.

The hulls are a balsa composite of 1mm and 2mm sheets, the sails are paper and bamboo, the rigging is made of brush bristles. At 1/2000, these medium-sized ships of the line reach a bit over 2cm, and most of them are based on 15mm by 40mm bases. They are very simple to assemble and paint, look great from a distance, and are a lot cheaper than 1/2400 metal models.

I left enough space on the base so that small markers could fit. I have three rule sets that I will be able to use with them: Kiss Me Hardy, Fighting Sail and Galleys&Galleons, and I think all of them use some sort of marker or another.

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.

SYW/GNW figs

Here's a makeshift post with a makeshift photographing setup, four units of various 18th century bits, Revell and Zvezda figures. These were done a few months back but I was lazy to make a post about them.
I'm really glad Zvezda re-issued their GNW boxes, it looks like there is a demand for these and I may just pick up a few next month.
Same thing with the Revell re-issuing their old SYW figures, very useful and cost effective, if not the prettiest sets.

Ships for the Siege of The Rock

I've constructed and painted the bomb-ketch and a 6-gun brig for the siege of The Rock. 

There was a long progress report about how I built a multi-deck ship, it's basically the same for these. I start with a thick balsa bottom, cut out the sidewalls from decor rubber and cardstock, add some tidbits and then paint the thing. I paint the cannon separately, and on the brig I did the upper masts and sails separately as well - just in order not to ruin the paintjob on the hull.

There is always a degree of simplification on these. If I did everything completely accurately, I could not move the figures around. Just think about that they have to be put on at least 20mm bases, and there's lots of narrow spaces on a ship where someone could barely move. You see what's what, you get the basic functions and that's it. One thing I don't like however is tubby little ships that look like they were squashed from front to end. 

Constructing The Rock

Building this island fortress is my hobby project for January. When I prepare for something similar, I make detailed drawings until I have a working concept of the thing. In the meantime, I can have some ideas about execution as well.

The island should be about 50-60cm in diameter so it would fit a 4x4' table with enough space for approaching vessels.

The first thing I had to do was look at the photos taken from the game where I used makeshift objects to build the island, and think about recreating these objects for the tabletop.

• The islands and sand banks will be made of pink foam.
• The structures on the fortress will be created with a composite technique, balsa wood core and corkboard outer layer. Corkboard looks very much like stone/brick structures and I had used it in smaller quantity when making buildings for the Neue Böhnstadt colony, the concept is the same.
• The rock itself will be made from pink foam and will have a built-in dungeon where prisoners would be held. This means I can spare some foam for later. I would cover the outside of the rock with snow paste, bits of rock, tree bark and various other stuff. (The snow paste I bought is more like pumice and I mostly used it to fill out figures' bases instead of its real purpose)
• The gun emplacement on the smaller island will most likely be built out of pink foam bricks instead of balsa because the rounded form is easier to do this way.
• The piers and the wooden decking of the port will be made from balsa strips.

So the project now has multiple main pieces that shall be handled and stored separately.

• Three low sand banks
• The base of the main island
• The base of the smaller island
• The small farm
• The port and separate buildings (can be multiple pieces)
• The rotunda
• The fort (with separate walls so it could be a stand-alone structure)
• The barracks
• The rock itself
• The keep on top of the rock
• The surrounding walls on top of the rock
• Two staircases
• A bridge
• I'm also building a pair of small ships for the siege.

Improvements made from the original gaming table:

• The upper tier of the fortifications has a gun emplacement which can cover approaches the rotunda cannot. It should have a pair of smaller guns. 
• The dungeon cut into the rock was not originally there.
• The fortress is a fortress and not just an upper tier. It can only be approached from the port.
• There is a small ledge on the island on the western side where a few palm trees can be placed.

More Ottomen

Just a small update with some Ottoman auxiliary forces, light cavalry, less light elephantry and bowmen.

The elephants and archers are made by HäT, the akincis are RedBox set #2.

Various WIPs

These are a few things I'm working on - trench sections for WW1/RCW gaming, a chicken coop and hunting camp for Neue Böhnstadt, and then some vehicles like the Revell Pz.II on the right. Most of these are small projects which take only a few hours to build and paint while I'm painting dozens of Napoleonic Austrian infantry, which can get quite boring.