The first ships of my new 1/2400th scale collection. German torpedo boats.
This is not a veiled reference to the film about the design of the Spitfire - rather it is the first public showing of the new 1/2400th scale naval collection I am working on. It has been a chastening and embarrassing experience I don’t mind telling you! Sometimes you just seem to have a painting task that no matter what you do something always goes wrong. I am really pleased to have gotten these finished but the problems were many. To begin with it was the first painting project I have undertaken for a while so I guess I was a little rusty in terms of technique.
The ships themselves were very easy to paint - overall black with a very light grey dry brush as were the bases but the blue I used and the varnish - despite my efforts at stirring and warming them up (I used new tins of Humbrol enamel in both cases) dried semi gloss and looked horrible. It was also the first time I had used MDF bases and I even had problems with them. Finally, the labels gave me untold problems in terms of positioning.
Despite all of that though, they are at last finished and don’t look too bad after all.
The naming convention I have used may seem a little strange but there is a good reason for it. German torpedo boats prior to around 1911 all had a number rather than a name with the letter indicating the shipyard they were built in - in this case Schichau-Werke, Elbing. All of the early era torpedo boats were redesignated as T when the newer types came into being in 1911. I opted to call them S and T to reflect this as the number remained the same so S90 became T90 and so on.
Next on the tray are the 18 B class four funnelled destroyers of the same era. Thankfully they will be a little more interesting to paint and I do not expect to have anything like the trouble I had with the Germans!
Those look absolutely splendid, despite all the hassle you've had to endure! Well done.
ReplyDeleteDavid,
ReplyDeleteThey look very, very nice ... and convey the right level of menace one would expect!
I think that the use of the S/T numbering makes complete sense, especially if you are trying to identify a particular ship at a specific point in its career.
I use MDF for all my basing, but I tend to use 3mm rather than 2mm thick sheet as it seems less prone to warping.
All the best,
Bob
Hi J,
ReplyDeleteMany thanks old chap! I am looking forward to the RN equivalents - mainly because when they are done that is a big chunk of the more mundane taken care of. Then it is on with the other 33 cruisers and battleships I have to play with and such things as placing masts, funnels and cranes!
All the best,
DC
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteThey have come up better than the problems would have suggested! As I shall be using the S/T boats in the Great War it made sense to differentiate them some how from the later types.
I am pleased to have finished them though and hope that the next batch are not as troublesome!
All the best,
DC
These look brilliant! I like the basing with flag identifier very much. When I rebase my Span-Am collection, I may do something similar.
ReplyDeleteHi Jonathan,
ReplyDeleteMany thanks old chap! The flags came from Brigade Models (Tony prints these up for me as I asked him nicely)and add a nice touch. I don't texture the bases as I have never got it to look right. Plain blue (Humbrol Matt 25)with white for the waves and wakes. Name labels printed onto sticky label sheets using Arial 10 bold.
The bases are 2mm MDF from Warbases in the UK.
The next lot are on the paint tray.
All the best,
DC