10 replies to this topic

[henryc]

Hello, How is everyone basing 1/6000 miniature ships. I am looking for Ideas.

Thanks

[healey36]

Can't speak for everyone, but here are a few examples from our 1/6000-scale fleet cabinet:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Home-made paper labels printed using MS Excel, applied to 1.5-inch long plywood bases by Litko.

 

Haven't figured out a way to work with Figurehead DD castings.

 

Healey

 

 

 

[henryc]

They look nice. Thanks

[W. Clark]

I don't base my 1:6000; Instead, I type out the ship's name and put its navy's ensign behind the name. I print the names and ensigns out on card stock, cut them out and white glue the result to the stern of the ship. The name helps stabilize the ship and makes it stand out. Part of why I do that (I also like the look) is that I use a 1:18000 scale rather than 1:6000. That is because it is a lot easier to do the math for 1-inch equals 500 yards then 1-inch equals 500 feet. A byproduct of that is that the ships only take up one third of the space they physically occupy on the table. Because of that, I only check for collision if ships actually touch each other. In addition, the name being behind the ship helps the uninitiated to remember to space the ships out, so they don't rear end each other. Now ships still run into each other on occasion, fog being the normal reason they get into fender bending.

 

The exception is WWI destroyer divisions. I use clear plastic bases from Litko for these. I base those nations using divisions by division and the Germans by half flotilla. I then use the same concept, unit designation and ensign on card stock to identify the division/half flotilla. The other by product of doing it this way is that if you want to rename a ship for any reason, it's easy to do so and you don't have to destroy the current name to do it.

 

WMC

[Mark Hinds]

I don't base my 1/6000 either, going so far as to remove the bases from the destroyers.  I have described my base removal procedure several times on The Miniatures Page, and on the "Naval Wargaming Historical" Facebook page.  Names are penciled in on the bottom of the mini. 

My ocean playing surface is either painted plywood, or foam plastic rolled material, both of which allow chalk wakes.  I move the ship, draw a chalk wake between its starting and ending positions, and remove the previous turn's wake with a damp sponge.  This is easier than it sounds, and looks much more realistic than the alternatives I've seen.

 

1/6000 Hood and PoW with chalk wakes:

 

1/6000 Home Fleet deploying in my 1940 Norway campaign, with chalk wakes

 

Figurehead 1/6000 DD base removal stages (1-5):

[healey36]

"I don't base my 1/6000 either, going so far as to remove the bases from the destroyers.  I have described my base removal procedure several times on The Miniatures Page, and on the "Naval Wargaming Historical" Facebook page.  Names are penciled in on the bottom of the mini."

 

Please give us a run-down here. I have found The Miniatures Page to be virus-riddled, and some of us are not facebookers...thanks!

 

 

[Mark Hinds]

"I don't base my 1/6000 either, going so far as to remove the bases from the destroyers.  I have described my base removal procedure several times on The Miniatures Page, and on the "Naval Wargaming Historical" Facebook page.  Names are penciled in on the bottom of the mini."

 

Please give us a run-down here. I have found The Miniatures Page to be virus-riddled, and some of us are not facebookers...thanks!

 

 

 

Procedure for removing Figurehead 1:6000 DDs from their bases. I added an image at the bottom to illustrate the main steps in this procedure.

 

1) Using a small pair of flush-cut rail nippers (model railroad tool; available from Micro-Mark), I clip the base from around the model hull. Don't let the nippers touch the hull during this step, which is merely intended to remove excess material to make filing-down easier. It is not intended to produce a final hull-side surface.

 

2) (Optional) As with all my Figurehead models, I then adjust the sheer line of the hull to approximate the desired final shape, mostly by careful bending. FYI, the sheer line is the edge of the weather deck of the hull when viewed from the side; the weather deck includes the forecastle deck at the bow, the quarterdeck at the stern, and the connecting deck amidships. Often models will be bent during the molding process, or the original master may have had an exaggerated sheer forward or aft. I may also clean up the casting and adjust the superstructure shape as desired, using small hobby files / cutters. This step needs to be performed before the bottom of the hull is filed down.

 

3) The resulting clipped (and adjusted) hull is then filed down to (just short of) the desired waterline using a sharp, small-to-medium-sized metal file (hardware store) clamped to my workbench. The model is held in the fingers, and moved against the clamped, stationary file. One needs file cleaners for this step. 2 kinds I use are a course one with stiff angled mild steel bristles, and a fine one with brass bristles which looks like a large toothbrush (Micro-Mark). During the filing process, I periodically place the model on a small flat surface, hold it up to eye-level, and examine it from all sides. If this is not done, the model's final waterline will be "tilted", and it will look as if it is sinking (not desirable).

 

4) The sides of the hull are then cleaned up using a needle file (Micro-Mark). If needed, the flare and rake of the bow (and stern) can be adjusted at this stage. Note that the lower part of the final hull shape may well be metal which was originally part of the base. FYI, flare is the outward slope of the bows of the hull when viewed in section, and rake is the angle of the bow when the hull is viewed from the side. File cleaners are needed for this step also, and sometimes an old exacto-blade is needed to gently remove a stubborn piece of metal from the file.

 

5) The model is them brought down to the final waterline, using the same procedures as in step 3. Carefully remove any metal burr from around the bottom edge of the hull with a fingernail, or the back of an exacto blade.

This relatively time-consuming procedure is why I (and possibly others) convinced Steve of Hallmark to cast the modern Figurehead DDs separately from their bases.

The few special tools mentioned above can be purchased from Micro-Mark on the Internet, and are useful for other model-making purposes.

 

[healey36]

Thanks for the update, Mark. Reading through this, I realize I've read your description of the process before and have even tried it. The problem, at least for me, is holding the clipped DD and filing it down to the waterline. Apparently I just don't have the grip/dexterity to hold something so small to run it back and forth over the file. I have a number of DD castings here, so I'll give it another try, but I have my doubts. Good on you for making it work.

[Mark Hinds]

Thanks for the update, Mark. Reading through this, I realize I've read your description of the process before and have even tried it. The problem, at least for me, is holding the clipped DD and filing it down to the waterline. Apparently I just don't have the grip/dexterity to hold something so small to run it back and forth over the file. I have a number of DD castings here, so I'll give it another try, but I have my doubts. Good on you for making it work.

 

You are right; the filing down to the waterline is one of the hard parts.  Some additional information: (1) For this, I use a brand new file (the flat type you use to file metal), to make sure it's sharp.  (2)  Holding the ships is difficult, but the trick is to file gradually, and not push down too hard.  If you push too hard, there is risk of the model catching on the file's teeth; you want the motion to be smooth and controlled.  Sometimes to start out, I file backwards against the teeth, which works because the metal of the model is so much softer than the file.  Then  once the bottom surface of the model has smoothed out, I go against the teeth in the normal manner.  You may lose a little dead (?) skin from the fingers, but I do at most 2-3 ships a night, so that hasn't been a major issue.  (3) To lessen the chance of unintentional "tilt" to the filing-down, I typically alternate between a couple of strokes bow-first, and then a couple stern-first, then a visual check on a flat surface from both stern and bow (to cancel out perceived-tilt distortion from my old eyes and my magnifier). 

FWIW, the smallest ships I've done so far are WW1 destroyers; I've done all the DDs for Jutland (albeit at a 1-4 ratio).  Most recently I did HMS Thanet and HMAS Vampire for the Battle off Endau during the Malaya campaign. The Japanese DDs in the above image are for Endau as well. 

 

Figurehead 1/6000 models modified to crudely represent WW1 British H-class DDs:

[healey36]

I'm going to try this again. I almost hope it doesn't work, lol, because if it does, I have a couple hundred that would need filing/basing.

[W. Clark]

Frankly, I don't bother unless they come without a base. I print their name in size 10 with their national ensign behind it on card stock, cut the resultant tag out and white glue it to the stern of the ship. The name tag offers stability and gives a natural spacing behind the ship that pretty much prevents collisions. But, to each their own. Figurehead (the manufacture that I mostly use) comes with a base that allows an easy paint job for the water around the ship. They take up less space in the photo storage I use to transport them than the few ships I have with bases. But, as with everything there are exceptions. I do base my WWI DDs either by division or half flotilla as they are too numerous and fiddley to leave unbased IMHO. And I fight using the DD divisional rules in FAI. I normally play WWII, so their use does not happen often.

 

WMC