A rather lovely model of the USS San Pablo
I know, I know - I should be building ironclads, models for Lake Tanganyika, designing models for the ‘Afrabia’ or writing Developing The Portable Ironclads Wargame! So what am I doing then?
Well it is still something Steamer Wars related - but it is something of a minor diversion all the same.
I offer no apologies, I am as weak as the next wargamer!
It was only a couple of years ago that I first watched the film The Sand Pebbles starring Steve McQueen, Richard Crenna and Richard Attenborough. The film tells the story of the fictional US gunboat - the San Pablo - serving in China in the early 1920s. She is there to protect US interests in the area set against a backdrop of increasing anti-foreign sentiment.
I decided to build a model of the San Pablo and obviously I will need to build some opposition in the shape of some armed Sampans and Junks. Thinking about it, China gunboats could make for a cracking mini campaign or Steamer Wars supplement - all the Great Powers had a presence of sorts following the Boxer Uprising and the revolution of 1911 that ultimately led to civil war.
The model I am building is 4” long with a beam of 1 1/4”. The hull consists of two pieces of 3mm thick MDF and the 1mm card ‘filling’ making it 7mm from the main deck to the waterline. I will not be adding the awnings and the ventilators amidships will be missing. As you can see from the picture above I have fashioned what will be the main deck superstructure so next will be the upper deckhouses etc. I will be painting as much as possible prior to assembly so this build will have incorporated several lessons learned from the Lake Tanganyika collection.
I also need to think about the aforementioned sampans and junks, not to mention a rope barrier…. ;-)
1 comment:
David -
Yep: that's the way it goes. You get an idea, and something comes along that is related to your current interest and - whoops! - it's down some other rabbit hole. Ain't it fun, though?
I can relate. Something a little bit like that has contributed greatly to the amount of time it has taken to get my Kawanakajima battle(s) written up.
But you gotta have that gunboat!
Speaking of junks and sampans, do you know what were the smallest vessels ever engaged in a naval battle? Chinese 'knee' boats. These things were about 4 inches wide, don't know how long. Used in very shallow water, one knee on the boat, the other leg propelling it along by pushing on the river bed. Probably used among reed-lined river banks, swamps and such. And, yes, they were once used in a (riverine, of course) naval action.
Cheers,
Ion
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