Novara/Helgoland-class Cruisers

I've completed these back in November and you could see some of them in the previous battle report. I accidentally made one more than was originally in the possession of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, but they were very good designs, so more of them can't hurt.

The building method was the same as ever, 1mm and 2mm balsa, toothpicks, 0.5mm steel wire were used. 

Sorry for the night time picture, I think receiving a proper lightbox or just a cleaner photography space is due.

More 1/2000 musings

The naval-themed posts continue with two classes of ships - first the Austro-Hungarian Radetzky-class semi-dreadnoughts - after building large later-period ships, these seemed very small.

Then all five members of the French Danton-class were completed (this was the only salvageable picture so there's only four of them present) with a slightly different green-grey paint. This class is for funnel lovers only.

And here's a photo of the shipyard, with four members of the Russian Gangut-class dreadnoughts (also very nice looking ships in their early iteration) assembled and placed on painting stands.

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.

SMS Viribus Unitis WIP #4

After the wood filler is completely dry, comes another session of sanding everything. The thin parts of the deck over the casemate have expanded a little, but I don't think it will be visible after everything is complete.

SMS Viribus Unitis WIP #3

I've finished sanding the hull with fine grit sandpaper (320 to 600 to 1000). Now it has the right size and shape. The prow should always be done with a cylindrical sanding block for the concave shape down to the waterline. I might just make it a bit more sharper.

SMS Viribus Unitis WIP #2

Working on the two main pieces of the hull, I finally chose to omit the top 1mm deck because then the hull would be too tall.

SMS Viribus Unitis WIP #1

I've started this build today. This is the biggest ship project I've done since the Mikasa, and she was a lot smaller than this dreadnought, so I thought it would be interesting to keep a diary.

I printed out six copies of the blueprints to the exact measurements of the model. Then I measured some stuff and took notes on the first blueprint. This will be used for reference later. I keep some blueprints blank for measurement and clear visibility, but some will be cut out for templates.

Hungarian hussars

These are Austrian/Hungarian hussars converted from Italeri French ones. Only some trimming on the shakos and adding GS saddle cloth was required.

Dreadnoughts

I present you the twin ships of the US Navy's Wyoming class and a Tegetthoff-class Austro-Hungarian battleship. They are part of the 1/2000 scratchbuilding project.

SMS Novara

One of the more famous Austro-Hungarian cruisers of World War I, the ship of one certain Cpt (later Admiral, and then...) Miklós Horthy, and all that fancy stuff, here in 1/600 scale.

Napoleonic Austrians

With these 59 figures my Austrian army almost doubled in size. We have a commander in Hussar uniform, ten 3rd Uhlans, a Landwehr and a grenadier unit. I actually cheated a little because ten Landwehr and the grenadiers were completed much earlier, I just haven't based them yet.

The Austrian army grows

Some humble additions to the Austrian army of the Napoleonic Wars: four commanders and a cuirassier unit.

War in the Adriatic

I have completed six-six battleships for the KuK Kriegsmarine and the Regia Marina. They are all scratchbuilt from wooden sticks, broom bristles and plasticard.

There is no strict scale: all of them are approx. 6cm long and 1.5cm wide. Comparing the scale to the Habsburg-class, it is about 1/1900 or 1/2000. 

Completed Austrians

Two boxes' worth of Italeri Austrians = 3 units for Lasalle. The fusiliers have 23, the grenadiers 24 figures. The figures I preferred to exclude were the runners, with one foot on the ground - the grenadiers still have a handful and all three standard bearers are made of that pose. I have noticed that most Italeri sets have these similar poses, so the conclusion must be that their sculptor uses/used the same dollies for a number of sets.

Jackewlinese Abyssal Guard / Strelets WW1 KuK Infantry

These were just dipped on bare plastic, thought of changing them. Your average early modern - steampunk figures (bought an old alarm clock and demolished our printer so I've got plenty of clockwork pieces around - wonder what to do with them). Strelets figs have a distinctive style of sculpting - not nearly as proportionate and elegant as Zvezda which is methinks the top of 1/72 production. 

These figures paint up very well.