The Confederate Rams/Gunboats with their newly mounted artillery - courtesy of Peter Pig
After a Sunday of relative calm and relaxation (translated as not going out shopping or any of the other of the domestic duties usually associated with the weekend!) I was able to compete the refurbishment of the casemate ironclads as well as giving the assorted rams/gunboats their hardware. The guns from Peter Pig have really set the models off and I was surprised to see that the casting even has the crew cast on with the piece. I has ordered two packs of each size - the large deck gun and the medium version with the former mounted at the bow and the latter aft. I was also thankful that my decision to replace the hulls with longer versions appeared to have fully vindicated at the artillery looks right in terms of the space occupied by the gun mount.
The Confederate Casemate Ironclads in their original configuration.
The Confederate Casemate Ironclads in their original configuration.
The ironclads also benefited with new hulls for four of them and a reshaping of the one that was left. Again, changing the gun ports to 5mm by 4mm for the original 5mm square has made a huge difference with the models visual 'balance'. It took a while though adding 50 (yes fifty!) gun ports and this is not a task best undertaken when bleary in mind and body! I am far happier with the end result rather than the original though - although to be fair I was equally pleased when they were first built - and it shows how much difference newly acquired model making experience can change ones perception!
The same Confederate ironclads after their refurbishment.
CSS Baltic is under construction - along with the USS Essex and a further Cairo class gunboat and so now that the retroactive refit has been completed I am now clear to proceed. It does mean though that my target to having 24 models completed by the end of January will sadly be missed although having managed three quarters of the total is still pretty credible!
6 comments:
I can see why you are so pleased with the latest models, and why you felt the need to improve the older ones.
Very nice models ... and when will they be setting to sea to fight each other?
All the best,
Bob
Much better with the deck guns - your project is coming along nicely.
Fantastic stuff - it's not until you see the comparison photo that you can understand how much development you've done - these are truly looking like scale models now, and those deck guns are the business!
Of course, you realise that know you have to add in masts, national flags, etc etc..... anything less would be letting yourself down - excellent work.
Hi Bob,
Thanks for the comments - I have no idea when these will hit the Hexon for a game - I need to build some more and I want them painted first but who knows?
All the best,
DC
Hi EG,
I alsways planned to add the guns and was originally going to scratch build them - the Peter Pig 1/600th deck guns are so good that there is absolutely no need to give myself the grief doing so! They also mean that a number of other ships are now in the modelling target area!
All the best,
DC
Hi SoS,
It has been a very enjoyable learning process and the overall finish (or should I say - level of detail) is just about where I want them to be. They remind me of Davco 1/3000th ships - 'chunky' and with oversized detail. This means they will be easy to paint which sadly will not be happening until I have made at least another six models.
You can see now why I extended the hulls on the rams - the older versions would have been way too small for the guns (which are really nice by the way!).
The models will based and the name label will be added together with a national flag in the same manner as my 1/3000th Balkan Wars ships.
Many thanks for your continued support as well - it is very much appreciated.
All the best,
DC
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