No prizes for guessing what I will be doing this weekend! The items on the green milk bottle lids will be fitted in place once painted - same with the masts.
The four models I have been building are now undercoated and ready for me to start painting. The two Union vessels - the three turreted monitor and the ‘not quite U.S.S. Ironsides were by far and away the easiest to build of the four but that was mainly due to the construction involved in the masts for the two Confederate ships.
I am some way from realising the Essex based ACW project - the first port of call will be doctoring a map - but I have made a start with some ideas for place names etc. To be honest getting this part of the project done will probably require the most effort but I am looking forward to tackling it. Supporting the ship models will be the block armies which will be having a minor upgrade in due course.
As mentioned previously I will build a further two models for this group meaning that I will have twelve in all which will be fine for this phase of the project. When I get back to the ACW I will be looking at gunboats and similar with some paddle steamers for good measure - at present this will mean another dozen ships.
In the meantime though, research has begun on the Madasahatta shipbuilding programme - which will be primarily low level stuff - gunboats, tramp steamers, coasters and assorted inshore craft. I am really looking forward to this and so will also need to continue the evolving story concerning the activity along the banks of the Ogopogo River delta.
So at present I have a great selection of model making, writing and planning for my various projects, all of which are good fun and so I am thoroughly enjoying myself!
I love it when models are first primed as you get a real feel of the whole look, rather than a bunch of different coloured parts. They certainly look good and I can see why you're enjoying yourself.
ReplyDeleteFunnily enough I was flicking through Featherstone's Wargames Campaign book and he'd played a fictional campaign based around France and Germany in some form of Colonial bash in the Far East IIRC, so not too dissimilar to the Madasahatta one.
Hi Steve J,
ReplyDeleteIt is always nice to see something finally coming together and for me it it has been around the masts for the two Confederate ships! They are not perfect but they work pretty well - going forward I would probably adjust the proportions slightly - and when they are painted an fixed in place will look pretty darned good in my opinion!
I will have to check out Wargames Campaigns again - I have not read it for ages - so thanks for the heads up!
All the best,
DC
These are looking damn fine and once painted are going to look great on the table. Think you really hit a gold seam with these.
ReplyDeleteReally looking forward to what you do with Madasahatta, it’s a perfect background for a side show campaign and one I’d forgotten about.
Keep up the good work
Hello there Graham C,
ReplyDeleteThank you old chap - much appreciated! Warbases have really helped with this and were able to translate my crude sketches into something eminently usable. Turning these pieces into models has given me enormous pleasure and enjoyment and this is going to be constant for a while now as there is Madasahatta as well as the second round of ACW ships. There are even pre dreadnoughts on the horizon!
Madasahatta will enable me to indulge in some Carry On style humour and some Colonial style shenanigans so the naval support will be primarily gunboats and similar. David Manley’s Steamer Wars and the River Wars expansion are ideal for this kind of thing - there is even a campaign system - so it will be a lot of fun to game. All I need to do is to knock up some suitable ships, draft the back story and fight the battles!
All the best,
DC