Shipshape or the Shape of the Ship

One of the things I have noticed with my shipbuilding efforts of late is the effect of having a shorter hull with scale sized superstructures and upper works. Basically it makes the ships appear beamier. I have no problem with this as they are hypothetical ships in any event but it has meant that the streamlined hull of the KGV class battleship has been replaced with something more akin to the vast bulk of HMS Nelson. Again, this is no big deal but it will have an impact on some other models I plan to build. In order to utilise as much of the available superstructures etc as possible I will have to reduce the amount I use. Taking the Bismarck as an example I am planning on removing the central section devoted to the float plane and, in effect, will concertina the forward and aft superstructure. It will become clearer when I have done this and posted the pictures of the end result on the blog.


I have also considered the overall dimensions of my planned models and have come up with 6" for modern battleships, 4 1/2" for cruisers and 3" for destroyers. These are obviously not cast in stone but are good enough to work around. I have also given some thought to the number of models I will build and that is a little more problematic. I am reckoning on around 6 capital sized ships per side and a similar number of cruisers. Add to that around a dozen escort types and you can see that the forces will be fairly impressive looking. As ever I always overbuild models simply so that I have the variety for use. Each side will have a carrier and submarines and of course, the air element will feature - both ship borne and land based.


I hope to finish the second Rusland ship this evening (at least the build thereof) and so will then be able to get the brushwork underway. I will be basing the models but at this stage am uncertain as to whether or not I should use painted card or transparent plastic. I will also have to think up names for the ships of both navies but that can wait for the time being and will probably be incorporated in the background story for each side.


Note the refreshing lack of self-imposed and usually unrealistic deadlines being mentioned for this project….;-)


How very liberating!