261 replies to this topic

[healey36]

A few 1:3000-scale ships of the pre-dreadnought era:

 

French battleship Massena.

 

German cruisers Hertha and Bremen.

 

RN battleship HMS Barfleur.

 

Had some trouble filing the bases off nice and clean.

 

[Peter M. Skaar]

Nice work on those French ships, Healey!  I painted a few of the WWI French ships for GHQ a few years ago for their catalog.  They are certainly interesting designs.

[healey36]

Thanks, Peter. This scale (1/3000) is a true test of what remains of the eyesight. 

[healey36]

I need an Elbing-class cruiser (SMS Pillau) for a future scenario, but had trouble locating a model. Checked WTJ, GHQ, and Viking Forge, with no luck. Panzerschiffe has one, so rather than try to scratch-build or convert, I went ahead and picked up the PZ version with the intention of adding a bit of additional detail to the resin casting:

 

 

Things look generally accurate, although the forward-most funnel should have a slightly taller smoke deflector (I'll likely leave that alone). I have a couple sprues of WTJ's lifeboats and launches, a couple bits of guitar string for masts, and some thin styrene for a few other possible details. Even at 1/2400, this looks fiddley; we'll see how it goes.

[Kenny Noe]

Good luck!

[Peter M. Skaar]

Hi Healey

I do believe GHQ does make the Elbing.  I know because I painted one for the catalog.  Would that work?

[healey36]

Thanks Peter, I revisited the site and see you are correct! I'm wondering how I missed it. If GHQ shows up for Historicon, I'll pick one or two up then. In the interim, I'll finish off the PZ version.

 

Thanks again for the heads-up.

[Peter M. Skaar]

No problem, Healey!  I have the 2 Elbing class ships in my collection already.  These were actually fairly early releases in the GHQ Great War line as I recall.  I wonder if GHQ will show up for Historicon this year.  I don't think they go to as many conventions anymore but it would be a pleasant surprise if they did.

[Kenny Noe]

GHQ Company is not on the vendor list for Historicon 2022.   However I-94 Enterprises is listed and they typically have GHQ blisters.

[healey36]

Thanks for checking that, Kenny. GHQ has been absent the last few cons I've attended, but with everything going on, it's understandable.

 

Reminds me that I need to inventory the I-94 decal sets I have on-hand. 

[healey36]

Okay, so despite having learned that a better model is available, I'm pressing on with an attempt to dress up the Panzerschiffe model of an Elbing-class cruiser.

 

Added guitar-string masts, a few WTJ lifeboats, and a small square structure on the afterdeck which I presume to be part of her mine-laying gear (was going to add a pair of rails which appear in some drawings, but that seemed a bit fiddly). I should have gone with a smaller pair of boats between the funnels (actually three would have been more correct).

 

 

Off to the paint-booth.

[healey36]

Back from the booth with a coat of medium-gray enamel; then, from the for-God's-sake-just-stop-and-leave-it-alone thought, I added a director position to the foremast and a searchlight platform to the mainmast:

 

 

Okay, ready for a detail paint job and wash.

 

 

 

[Kenny Noe]

 

"....from the for-God's-sake-just-stop-and-leave-it-alone thought,...."

 

HAHAHA  I have these when designing covers for databooks.    too funny

[healey36]

A completed 1/2400 Panzerschiffe SMS Pillau:

 

 

As usual, lost control of the dark wash and a bit heavy on the dry-brush.

[Peter M. Skaar]

Looks good, Healey!  Do you still plan to pick up 1 or 2 of the GHQ Elbing class cruisers?

[healey36]

Peter, I think I'll pick up at least one, if for no other reason than completing the class for the ship cabinet. I'm also interested to see how different the casting might be in terms of outline and configuration as compared to the Panzerschiffes version. If radically more accurate, than maybe I'll get a pair. The photo in the online catalog, it's tough to tell; it looks quite different to me.

 

SS Ulysses has floated to the top of the lead-pile, so I started poking at her last night. A big cargo-liner (14652 GRT), she enjoyed a long career from her launch in 1913 until her torpedoing by U-160 in 1942 off Cape Hatteras. She served much of WWI as a troop transport, returning to commercial service during the interwar years and into the early years of WWII. Here's a postcard view of Ulysses from https://www.wrecksit...reck.aspx?22353 :

 

Numerous guy derricks on Ulysses; I'm not sure I'll replicate all of those. The lines are somewhat reminiscent of Otranto. I believe Ulysses had a sister, SS Nestor. Their top speed was around 13.5 knots.

[healey36]

Okay, here's my 1/2400 Viking Forge take on SS Ulysses:

 

 

The casting is a bit rough in a few spots along the gunwales, but otherwise a nice big ship for the fleet cabinets. For British commercial steamers such as Ulysses, I include the "Red Duster" as her ensign along with her owner's pennant, in this case that of the Blue Funnel Line.

 

 

[Peter M. Skaar]

That looks really good, Healey!  Although Viking Forge doesn't quite have the crisp detail of say, GHQ, in 1/2400th scale, they do have quite an extensive line of ships that are not made by other manufacturers.  I'm not sure what the availability of various less common 3D printed ships is.  Sometimes you do what you have to do.

I was very pleased that GHQ did release the Canopus and the AMC Otranto recently.  Perhaps some more of those types might be forthcoming in the future.

[healey36]

Thanks very much, Peter. I'll be the first to agree that Viking Forge lacks the fidelity of detail that GHQ incorporates in their models, but sometimes I think that GHQ overdoes it a bit. I went ahead and picked up one of GHQ's Pillau-class light cruisers and noted that the casting includes etched decks to represent planking and very defined linkage in the anchor chains, both details that IMHO wouldn't be visible and are way out of scale. I would have preferred a main mast with the kit, but that's easiest enough to add. The ship looks great and will likely paint nicely (if I can make a job of it).

 

When you look at Viking Forge, you have to pay attention to the catalog numbers. Those that include an "SB" prefix are of the old Sea Battles range, manufactured under license. These generally have better detail than the the Viking Forge kits that are just listed with numeric product numbers (although those are generally pretty nice as well). The big attraction of VK for me is the eccentricity of the line; there are a lot of models there, especially auxiliaries, that are not made by any other manufacturer. 

 

I really miss CinC, a long-time favorite. Much of the early contents of the fleet cabinets here is comprised of CinC kits, and they were a close second to GHQ in terms of scale dimensions and appearance. I think they sold off the micro-armor and 1/2400 ranges to a Canadian outfit, and now, between the increased prices and the cost of international shipping, they are pretty much out of reach, especially when considering the offerings of domestic manufacturers, especially some of the 3D printers.

 

Speaking of which, I have purchased quite a few models, both 1/4800 and 1/2400, from various 3D-print vendors selling their stuff via Shapeways. Nearly all of it has been outstanding, but I recently picked up a few postwar pieces that are pretty terrible. One has to really pay attention to the designer's graphics that are included in the online catalog, as my experience has been in line with the old WYSIWYG mantra. I'm sitting here wondering how I might add gun tubes to a ship's six-inch primaries, something easily within the capabilities of a decent 3D-printer.

 

Anyway, I have Elbing to finish, along with a VK model of Graf Spee, a GHQ Gridley-class DD, and a CinC Flower-class corvette. That will clear all of the in-process stuff off the workbench. By then an order of WWI German DDs should be in hand, plus I want to go back and rework a bunch of the RN destroyers previously completed. It bugs me that I didn't include masts on those models.  

[healey36]

I ordered a copy of GHQ's Elbing just so I'd have the pair in the fleet cabinet. Here's a comparison of the sisters, albeit an unfair one given the price-point. Up top, my tarted-up Panzerschiffe casting of Pillau (my goodness, those lifeboats I added are way too big) and GHQ's Elbing below:

 

 

I added a guitar-string mainmast to Elbing; other than that, it's a two-piece kit. I had to tone down the deck quite a bit to mitigate the blasted planks.