Can You Tell What It Is Yet?....Part 2

Not much time for anything remotely interesting today due to the ongoing job search and some 1:1 scale painting of the shed variety! I did snatch an hour or so though to mess about with the selection of assorted woodwork on display in yesterday's post. The idea is to be able to use a number of standard pieces to be able to produce a variety of simple ship models on an as needed basis. My initial experiments are for the pre dreadnought era but the technique could easily be used for other periods with a little forethought and planning.

The two models depicted are not assembled in any way and are by no means the finished article but serve to illustrate the concept. First of all we have a battleship inspired by the King Edward VII class.

Almost a King Edward VII

At the moment I only have 3/4" and 1/2" dowel sections for turrets - when available I shall use 1" diameter for turrets mounting 11" guns or larger. Obviously the turrets will also need to have some gun barrels added as well! The bridge is way too heavy and I will also trim the rear quarters of the hull. The Hexon tile is shown to illustrate how she fits. The superstructure is made up of trimmed blocks.

Another view of the King Edward VII 'concept' model

I also messed around with what would be a standard type of battleship and is modeled on HMS Canopus. The model has a central box type battery which is easily represented by a couple of blocks and would therefore be very suitable for 'mass production'.

Another sample model  - this time of a more 'standard' pre dreadnought configuration

I am not at this stage intending to model specific types as generic is very much the order of the day. I am intending using three hull sizes and three turret sizes although aside from the circular variety I will also have the option of using some square types as well.

Another of the 'HMS Canopus' type battleship mock up - obviously the bridge is not the finished article and the small matter of gun barrels needs some urgent attention!

Where exactly is this heading? Well to be honest I am really not sure at this stage but I was so intrigued by the idea that I simply had to try it out for myself. To be honest, I am sold on the concept in a big way and not only for this period of naval history but for a number of others.

My conscience has nagged me incessantly about my ACW project of last year and whilst I have built a number of models for this they are not built in the same way. This will be one to ponder - along with some ships for the Napoleonic Wars, the Armada, 16th century galleys; not to mention some ancient triremes....;-)