Three little Timberclads....

New additions to the Union fleet - the three famous timberclads U.S.S. Lexington (foreground) and the U.S.S Tyler and U.S.S. Conestega

 The trio of the U.S.S.Lexington, U.S.S, Tyler and U.S.S. Conestega are now finished and have joined the ranks of the Union fleet. I rather like these and for any ACW river based set up they are pretty much indispensable. All three had very active careers and I hope that they will continue in this spirit when I get to use them!

The next batch is of a further five side wheel paddle steamers and things start to get interesting as the final two batches will feature some small gunboats and a number of ocean going types.

It is getting there for sure!

Back in the building and selling Groove

The work in progress - and a cautionary tale for the unwary!

  It has been a rather less fraught few days as what passes for peace and harmony descend once more on Chez Crook. Thus is quite normal in that after such an episode there is a period of relatively calm reflection by all concerned. At least now there is, dare I say it, a roadmap out of our particular situation so hopefully all will come good in time.

Needless to say little on the gaming front was achieved after the completion of U.S.S. Benton - the three timberclads sat patiently on my modelling desk waiting their turn for being built - but I have sorted a few bits and pieces out. Below are the pictures of the books that are to be disposed of - this is for two reasons really  as I need to raise some funds for some more immediate projects and also I am looking to reorganise the man cave at some point. Once this is done I shall have less storage space so I need to be far more efficient about what I have to hand

All the above are hardback and are in good condition with the dust jackets.

If anyone wants any details about any of the above then drop me a line at  roguejedi@btinternet.com

I will be happy to combine postage and ‘do a deal’ for multiple purchases.

On to the building....

The picture at the head of this post needs little by the way of explanation - there are the three timberclads merely awaiting sealing, undercoating, painting, final assembly, ‘flagging’ and varnishing - but the two pieces of dowel rod at the bottom of the picture tell their own story....

At the beginning of last week I realised that I was coming to the end of my supply of what I thought was 6mm dowel rod. This is the size I have been using for funnels on a big chunk of the collection. Anyway, to cut a long story short I ordered a pack of ten x 30cm 6mm rods from Amazon (it cost £4.20) and these duly arrived quite promptly. It was only after I had cut 6 funnels, each of an inch in length, that I thought ‘Hang on, they look a little on the thick side!’ Sure enough they were thicker than the size I had been using. 

You can probably guess what had happened. The size I was using was in fact 5mm - NOT 6mm. That will teach me to measure stuff beforehand. I ordered the correct size vis my daughter’s Amazon Prime and so they arrived yesterday and work could resume.

The 6mm size will certainly get used - they seem a good size for cruiser types - but it was a tad frustrating!

Looking more closely at the cutting mat in the picture you can see three milk container tops. These have the two funnels and the pilot house for each model lightly glued on - I paint these off the model and glue them in place one the hull and decks are painted. The model on the left is in two parts (it will be the U.S.S. Lexington when completed) as I have to paint a very narrow strip of deck alongside of the superstructure so it was easier to tackle this separately.

All being well these three will be ready in a day or so and then it is on with what should be the final batch of side wheel paddle steamers.

It is getting there!

Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know....

Big, bad and not something you would want to bump into on the broad reaches of the Mississippi...The U.S.S. Benton

 I did not expect to be writing this post just yet - more likely it would have been in a couple of days - but one must strike whilst the iron is hot. The domestic situation has taken a significant turn for the better and although it is very much early days one must hope that at last the right route to normality has been found.

I will say no more about this at present but thank you for your thoughts and message of support - as ever they are very much appreciated.

I have finished the first model of the final batch of ships for the ACW project. The great slab you see above is the U.S.S. Benton which started life as catamaran snag boat before being converted into a great hulk of a casemate ironclad gunboat. She will be accompanied in action by the U.S.S. Essex and the two city class gunboats I have - the U.S.S. Carondelet and the U.S.S. Louisville. Together they look something like the below:

Guaranteed to give any Confederate river based fort something to think about - as long as it is at the right elevation for the guns to reach!

The three Union timberclads are currently under construction and now that what passes for normality has resumed at Chez Crook I can press on with them. 

Onwards and upwards and all that!

The English Civil War - Portable Wargame and WoFun Style

I have the above book, the Wofun 18mm armies and a modest library for the period - what could possibly go wrong?

 This will be a short post for reasons I will mention later as well as being the last for a week or so.

I received a large parcel from Romania today being the remainder of my 18mm ECW armies as well as a whole box of samples for a forthcoming range that I have been sworn to secrecy about. I now have a complete set up for the ECW in 18mm covering most of the options for the English and Scottish theatres. To say I am delighted is an understatement but the real work still needs to be done - the bases and edging. Neither task will be difficult but they will be time consuming. In truth this was always going to a project for the second half of the year so it means that I can fully finish the ship building before I go all pike and shot.

My absence from the blog for a few days - a week at tops - is simply because I have a domestic situation that requires my attention. Life sometimes gets in the way of our hobby and this is one occasion where I must step back to attend to it.

I shall respond to any comments but it may not be as quickly as usual so please bear with me.

See you all on the other side.

Building Progress

The great slab that is the U.S.S. Benton and the three timberclads. The small paddle box tops on the timberclads were a fraction too long and overhung the angled section so some judicious filing and shaping was needed to get then to fit, hence the light area ‘fore and aft’.

For a variety of reasons- mostly domestic and work related -  I have not been able to spend as much time on the ACW ship build as I would have liked. Progress has resumed and the results of which can be seen above. 

The huge chunk on the left is of course the U.S.S. Benton whilst the three others are the trio of timberclads - the U.S.S. Tyler, U.S.S. Conestega and the U.S.S. Lexington. All being well these should be finished in a few days and then it will be on to some more side wheelers for the river - 4 in all - and these will see the last of the types for both navies.

I must confess that the tank is beginning to run low in respect of my eagerness to get this phase of the project completed but I am now so close I must push on!

Impact, Galactic Heroes and Stargrave

 H.G.Wells meets Jurassic Park - as I recall I think this cost me 50p or so at a boot sale a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....

I am a long standing science fiction and science fantasy fan. I have fought numerous skirmish level games  using 28mm figures although not for some time - the last outing was playing Space Hulk as I recall - and it a genre I am always looking to dabble once again in. I recently acquired the base game of Star Saga by Mantic Games and this represented a really good investment even if I only use the bits and pieces contained therein. The figures are lovely and I have seen some truly wonderful paint jobs on the net. I will get to them at some point for in the short term I wanted something more immediately available.

Enter stage left - IMPACT! I picked this game up at a boot sale a few years ago solely for the figures and terrain pieces that come with it. The basic game has a unit of human troops fighting an invading force of sentient and well equipped vaguely humanoid dinosaur types. Both sides have commanders, troopers and an assortment of heavy weapons - which fire missiles a la H.G.Wells. The figures are painted and are made from this rubberised plastic material - reminiscent of that used for the Axis and Allies warships from the collectible miniatures game.

The Human troops - I added to both sets of figures via eBay so there two of the base game and one from Wolf Ridge expansion set. They are not the best figures but they will suffice for what I have in mind.

The game board (there are 6 of these) and three of the hard plastic rocky outcrops with the slots for the figure bases readily in view

The sentient dinosaurs (sounds like a rock band!) - the heavy weapon types are very Triceratops looking and the weapons are very biologically styled, rather like those of GW’s Tyrannids

With the best will in the world I would not use the figures as they are currently adorned - and coming from someone that can best be described as a reluctant figure painter - but I reckon that even I could have a good go at these figures! My plan is simple - I will base the figures and repaint them into something a little more appropriate. The only downside is that in basing them they will not fit into the firing steps on the various pieces of terrain you see - they are 19mm across - that comes with the game. No matter, I am sure I can manage to disguise the holes with some filler etc!

Stargrave from the same stable as Frostgrave - I am really looking forward to this!

I want to use the figures with Galactic Heroes and also Stargrave (think Frostgrave with technology) when  it is released. It will certainly be something different in any event.

The Last Lap

 My order from Warbases arrived this morning so I now have all the remaining pieces I need to complete the ACW collection. I have identified the models I want to build so now it is just a case of getting them built! The collection when complete will consist of 52 models and given that is near enough six months again that I started this effort means that an average of two models a week is not too bad at all. First I have to build them though and more by chance than design there are only three ships that will need masts!

The first ships I am building are very much river facing rather than coastal and there will models for both sides. For the most part the advantage will be the Union in terms of the models remaining - in fact two thirds of them will be for the North.

The hull template you see in the centre will be for the U.S.S. Benton - I placed the U.S.S. Louisville (left) and the U.S.S. Essex (right) so you get an idea of the size of the U.S.S. Benton. Think of her as a city class gunboat on steroids....!!

This is the Thoroughbred Models 1:600th scale version of the U.S.S. Benton - mine will feature straight, angled sides and ‘purely representational’ levels of detail....

The above three are for the U.S.S. Tyler, U.S.S. Conestega and the U.S.S, Lexington - stalwarts of the Union river fleet.

Thoroughbred Minatures 1:600th scale U.S.S. Lexington....

....and the U.S.S. Tyler/Conestega

Aside from the above I have a selection of paddle steamers to build - no stern wheelers as yet although I may add a few in time - and then it will the last of the coastal bits and pieces.

One of things that has been an absolute godsend in terms of information although I only came across it a couple of days ago is the book you see before you available from the Wargames Vault.

Everything you wanted to know about Confederate armoured warships but were afraid to ask! 

John Wallis, the author of the above has not only written a peach of a book he is also a thoroughly nice chap into the bargain! The book covers the design and development of every armoured warship the Confederacy used complete with scale plans as far as known, a state by state summary of the types designed, ordered, built, abandoned or turned into something else. Even foreign orders feature. I cannot recommend this book highly enough to anyone that has an interest in the warships of the American Civil War and as an aside if anyone is thinking of an ACW 1866 style set up (in the same vein as a WW2 1946 affair) then this would be very useful indeed!

A quick glance through the pages (sadly it is only available online and at over 230 pages is a big printing job) has given me a lot of comfort around my ‘generic’ looking models - the chances are that all of them featured in one form or another - either as designs or early versions of existing, known types - so it is good to know that I am not that far off the historical base!