364 replies to this topic

[Mark Hinds]

Trip down memory lane...found a 1/2400 Superior kit for Tirpitz:

 

(image of Superior product box removed)

 

Bought quite a few of these Superior kits at the Ship Shop in Annapolis, Maryland, back in the day. Not sure if I'll ever build it, though; worth more to me in the box.

I remember those boxes, although in my case they usually contained 1/1200 DDs.  Don't recall the shape of boxes for 1/1200 cruisers and BBs.  I only bought 1/2400 from CinC and GHQ.  

[healey36]

Superior was my first foray into 1/2400, predating GHQ’s introduction of their Micronauts range by quite a few years. The Ship Shop was a terrific source, as was Alnavco by mail-order. Panzerschiffe was available around the same time as I recall. CinC 1/2400 was unknown to me until years later.

I’ve played a few games at 1/1200-1/1250 to humor my associates, but I don’t care for the look of the them with their stem-to-stern formations in a compressed space. I instead fondly recall engagements at 1/700 on the floor of the armory gym some 50 years ago. I don’t remember what ruleset we used, likely something fairly simple that was jacked up with a bunch of house rules, but it was terrific fun.

[Peter M. Skaar]

My first, and only foray, into WWII naval and eventually WWI naval was GHQ.  I love the models and the level of detail on them.  I have seen CinC and some others but have stuck with GHQ.

I do have a couple of GHQ 1/1200 Napoleonic naval ships but have not done anything with them and probably won't for a long time as I am not crazy about doing rigging.  I do appreciate those that can and do do it.  I also have some Langton Civil War naval miniatures in 1/1200 scale and the Monitor and Virginia in 1/600th scale.

[Mark 1]

I have also dabbled in naval -- WW2 and Napoleonic era.  I managed to get a few sailing ships painted up (and rigged, to a minimal extent).  But alas, they have not been on a game board since some time last century.  (What an odd thing to be able to say...)

 

As to the WW2 naval, I had a couple interesting games a while back, and went out and bought a few cruisers and destroyers.  Picked up a couple moderns too, thinking I might wander that direction too. But those have all waited in the "to be painted" pile.  In the meantime I've stumbled into a local group that gets together for WW2 naval a few times a year, which is pretty active for me.  But alas, they do 1/6000, so none of the models I bought will serve.

[healey36]

I too have a number of modern-era 1/2400 and 1/6000 (even have one 1/1250), but none have hit the table. Something about ship-to-ship over-the-horizon missile combat feels like it'd be best played on a pad of graph-paper. I have a complete set of Bond's Harpoon rules and associated books but have yet to crack them out. Someday...or maybe ODGW eventually gives us their modern-era take. 

[healey36]

Recently turned out a USS Washington in 1/6000:

 

 

A casting by Figurehead, Vallejo paints/washes, homemade base on a Litko plywood plank.

 

 

[healey36]

Finally broke the logjam in the shipyard with a couple of projects.

 

 

My brother and I had our first try at 3D printing...here's HMS Inflexible from a WTJ 1/1250-scale file. It's a bit rough, especially those gun barrels. Need to try a finer nozzle, me thinks.

 

 

Painted/based a few Figurehead 1/6000 ships for an upcoming scenario. We were hoping to get that on the table before this weekend, but just ran out of time. Hopefully soon.

[Peter M. Skaar]

Those look great, Healey!

[healey36]

The workbench has been loaded with stuff required for a vast playtesting effort upcoming...first up was a French armored car squadron featuring the ever-popular Panhard 178:

 

 

These are old Battle Honors 1/100-scale castings painted using an assortment of acrylics and enamels, Vallejo washes, decals by I-94, with an overspray of Tamiya clear matte. This is actually a pretty nice casting for its age, but like everything, the camera reveals the flaws.

 

L' Impassible seems a funny name for an armored car.

 

 

 

[Peter M. Skaar]

Great work on the Panhard, Healey!  It is true that the camera sometimes does reveal the little flaws that we can't see with our eyes.

I do have some pictures from DEFCON.  It was a great little convention.  Those pictures are in my DEFCON thread here on the Forum.

[healey36]

Thanks, Peter. Funny how the GHQ casting of the same vehicle is sharper than this old 15mm cast from twenty years ago.

 

Another shot, including a coin of appropriate nationality/vintage:

 

 

The opposite side...it actually looks much better in person, lol. Anyway, fifteen of these lined up for paint.

[healey36]

I've got a couple hundred tanks to paint...ugh. Loaded up on 3D-prints and cracked out the paintbox. First up, a brace of dusty BEF Matilda II's:

 

 

Given the volume of stuff and the short timeline, not gonna be my best effort. Still, fun to be back at the bench.

 

These are 1/100-scale (15mm) 3D prints by Sarge_s Stuff, shot with Model Master dark green; decals by BattleFront and I-94, all under a wash of dark green. These will represent 7th Royal Tank Regiment, Company B.

[Peter M. Skaar]

Very nice work, Healey!

[healey36]

A snap of some of the stuff acquired at the recent Historicon 2026 session:

 

 

The five 1/2400 ships are the handiwork of my good friend Matt Schreck (the three German BB/BC are all Viking Forge with masts crafted and added). Eventually I'll rebase these using ODGW etched bases.

 

Also picked up a pile of scenario booklets and ship log-sheet collections from the Small War at Sea series. I am unfamiliar with the SWaS rulesets, so I'll need to find a copy. Can never have too many rulesets.

[Peter M. Skaar]

Those ships look great. Healey!  I have a ton of GHQ WWI ships to paint one of these days.

How was Historicon for you?

[healey36]

Thanks, Peter. Matt is a terrific figure painter, much more skilled than me.

 

Historicon is always a good time, but it's been a while since I've been able to play a game. Over the last couple of years, HMGS has changed up their online badge-buying routine, which has me balled up. If you want to have any chance of finding a game to play, you gotta buy your badge and sign up for events almost as soon as they open it up; otherwise, all the sessions fill up quickly and you're SOL. Since I go with one or two other guys, it's a bit like herding cats. Next time around, I'm buying my badge and signing up for game(s) ASAP...I'll let the other guys know what I signed up for and if they want to join in they can get signed up.

 

otherwise, Wally's Basement (flea market) and the vendor area were terrific...found a bunch of old board games from the 1990's that I didn't have and loaded up. Always fun to meet and catch up with old friends, too.   

[Mark Hinds]

I normally don't base my 1/6000 ships, and spend a lot of time modifying them before painting, including removing the destroyers from their cast-on bases.  However, I'm currently assembling an experimental setup, using a portable game mat, along with less-carefully-made, based (...) 1/6000 ships, for use by players at my local hobby shop, who are less careful with the models than I would like.  The based 1/6000 take less than half the effort, and so I'd be more willing to risk the inevitable damage.  

Question:  I plan to paint the bases the same color as the game mat.  I have a can of interior house paint for my at-home gaming table, which is almost the same color as the mat.  Any idea as to whether I could mix some of this with Vallejo to get an exact match?  I mean they're both "latex" paints, but that doesn't necessarily mean it would be a good idea to mix them.  

[healey36]

I mean they're both "latex" paints, but that doesn't necessarily mean it would be a good idea to mix them.  

I would argue that they are not both "latex" paints, but instead they are both water-based paints. Certainly the chemistry of latex house paint is quite different from acrylic craft-type paints we use to paint models. That's not saying you couldn't mix/tint latex paint with Vallejo, just be wary of the results.

 

A better idea might be to take a chip from your at-home gaming table into the paint store and letting them match it and mix you up a quart. I've had good luck with paint-matching in the past. 

[Mark Hinds]

(text removed)

 

A better idea might be to take a chip from your at-home gaming table into the paint store and letting them match it and mix you up a quart. I've had good luck with paint-matching in the past. 

Your opinion on mixing different brands corresponds to my suspicions.  I'll probably just have to get the mat color by mixing Vallejo, and save the result for future use.  Only using it for the Figurehead bases, so not much will be needed.  

(BTW, note that I'm trying to match the color of the portable game mat, not the game table; I already have left-over interior latex house paint for the game table, which is slightly lighter than the mat.  Useful tip:  An empty Kretschmer Wheat Germ bottle is an excellent way to store moderate quantities of house paint, as it is glass, with a soft plastic rim seal built into the top.  Lasts way longer than store-bought paint cans.)

MH

[healey36]

Not from this workbench, and certainly far beyond my capabilities...a 1/72-scale scratchbuilt IJN seaplane tender seen at the 2026 IPMS Nationals:

 

 

A couldn't make it out to Indianapolis this year, but my friend Mark did. He thought this might have been worthy of best-of-show...hard to argue with that.

 

Photo courtesy of Mark Stille.