Hobby Time

I managed to grab some hobby time today. I glued about 70% of a Team Yankee T-72 together. I also finished gluing and primed a BMP-2, also team yankee. Then I primed three T-55s (Old Glory), a QRF M60, some US Infantry (Khurasan I think) and some Russians (Khurasan maybe).

But I also did some brick work on the old Warehouse building that I put together years ago. I have finished the tin roof on it. I will add framing to the doorways, some lintels on the windows and then weather it as the brick work paper that I have looks a bit plasticy. The tin roof looks good but needs weathering as well. Looks too brand new at the moment. I am very excited about this as this building was a plain white with a black roof before.

The Team Yankee BMP-2 comes with the upper hull and turret to give you the options to make a BMP-1 instead. I glued together the turret and have the hull top. I am thinking of making a stuck in the mud version. It might make a useful objective at some point.

I have not started on the Merkava tank yet that I purchased. Nor on the M163 (?) Vulcan for the Israelis. I did get an unexpected auction win though. I placed a $1 bid on a Blue Moon corner tavern. Somehow, I won it. The shipping was expensive but still cheaper than the actual building by far. however, in double checking the auction, the picture was the saloon but the description was for building set #6. So it was still a bargain but not sure I am as happy about it. It will be fine.

I found my old documentation on how I painted my previous Cold War minis. Even found a business card with the Israeli infantry painting guide I had made. I am really looking forward to painting them up.

I still have a table full of ships that need painting. I just am not feeling it at the moment. Hopefully, I will get some time to work on this again. Or steal a few minutes daily and get this stuff knocked out.

Cold War continued

i got in two of my ebay orders. A Merkava mk1 speue and a 3d print of an M169 (?) vulcan.

The Vulcan came with some supports still attached to the cannonball they came off easily with nothing broken. Other than the banana yellow color, it is great.i will paint this for my 1982 IDF force.

Cold War Chain of Command

While I still have a bunch of ships to paint, I am being drawn to Cold War Chain of Command again. I have reviewed my miniatures again and am excited by what I have painted. I would like to paint up a second platoon of Soviets and at least another squad of US troops. I have some more armor but I have enough to start. I have some more miniatures in the cart at Brookhurst Hobbies to complete out my IDF platoon. I am just missing m203 gunners for the IDF platoon. I got some models from Wargaming3d for a Magach 6 that I want to print out. I also bought an ebay model of a Merkava mk 1 and a M163 Vulcan. This will provide some interesting support options against the Syrian T-72 that I still need to build. Of the five t-72s that I have, I will make two for the Syrians and three for the Soviets.

I picked up 3D models for a number of other vehicles. These include civilian cars, civilian trucks, T-80s, BMP-1 & 2, BRDM-2, BTR-70, BTR-80, T-55s, T-64s, T-72s, BRDM-1, M109, M1128 Stryker, USZ-469, Chieftan and HUMVEEs.

I started to print out a Magach 6. The print completely failed. I think there is an issue with my print bed. I need to sort that out. Once resolved, I think I will be in good shape.

Progress with AWI Scenarios

I have completed the Royal Navy ship list based on the information in Winfield's book on the Royal Navy of the period. The various state and Continental navy list is proving to be far more difficult as many list only the number of guns and not even the size of the gun let alone the vessel. State Navies are worse than the Continental. I purchased a new primer. The one I had been using previously was a cheap spray paint that wasn't allowing the paint to hold to it very well. I bought an Army Painter primer that I am trying now. I hope to find time this weekend to get some painting in.

New Scenario and making miniatures for it

There was a scenario that I wanted to include into the AWI book an interesting small skirmish between two vessels of the Georgia Navy and some loyalist militia. It featured a flat boat. These were vessels that were very shallow drafted and were used to transport cargo down the rivers to port cities for transport. In this instance, the Loyalist militia managed to mount a few cannon aboard the flatboat to engage the Georgia Navy.

The flat boat was used well beyond the American Revolution and would be seen on the waters of the Mississippi River during the Civil War and after.

This image is taken from https://peoplesriverhistory.us/blog/history-of-flatboating-and-a-charming-educational-film/.

Based on the image, I have guessed this flatboat to be about 12' x 36' in size. I was using an actual picture of a flatboat from closer to the Civil War for reference. These could come in a multitude of sizes as there was likely no standardization. Since the design was fairly simple, I decided to try to make a model in Tinkercad.

So I created this. An armed flat boat, an empty one, one with Cargo and one with a structure in the center. The armed flatboat that was referenced for my scenario had no details on how it was armed. My guess is a pair of six-pounder cannon. But in truth, it could have had one large gun mounted in the bow or a bunch of swivel guns. Since many actions of the American Revolutions occured near river mouths, having flat boats wouldn't be out of place on the table. I believe in the main TCG rulebook there is reference to the same.

With any luck, I will print out a few of these and see what they look like.

1/700th Models & AWI Scenarios

I am trying to figure out who all produces 1/700 scale models that are usable for To Covet Glory. In general, the models available in this scale are far more suited to Kiss Me Hardy as they tend to focus on those above the rate. But there are some stand outs that have some nice models below the rate. One item that I found was that Black Seas models are not true 1/700th. They can vary from 1/600 to 1/700. Saturnalia is listed as 1/650 scale. While Henry Turner makes true 1/700 vessels. Thus far, here are the ones that I can come up with.

STL Files

1) Henry Turner - He has webstores with MyMiniFactory and Wargames3d among others.

2) Simon Mann - He has a few models and they are on Wargames3d.

3) Saturnalia - They are on MyMiniFactory.

4) Productions Diratia - They are on MyMiniFactory.

Many of these can be purchased as prints by resellers on Etsy.

Physical Models

1) Warlord Games Black Seas lines - They have Brigs, Cutters, Schooners and gunboats.

2) Hagen-Miniatures - I just found this company. (https://www.hagen-miniatures.de/) They have some ideal vessels. They have a bomb ketch, a ship-sloop (18g), a galleass merchant, several arabic/Barbary vessels, a tartan, several gunboats, a lugger, a cutter, a ketch, a schooner and others.

3) Meridian - They can be found on https://navymodelsandbooks.co.uk/product-category/meridian-1700-scale-trafalgar-ships/. They have a limited line. They include the HMS Pickle. With some, the masts and such are separate from the hull. I have not ordered any of these models.

From Hagen-Miniatures, I have ordered a wreck marker, a shore battery, a gunboat with spirit sail, a cutter and a lugger. They are in the mail from Germany. I will likely order more.

I am adding another scenario to the book. I was searching for information on the last two ships on the Georgia Navy and discovered a new scenario that fit in. To it is added in as part of the other scenario I am working on. Currently there are 11 scenarios that are part of the book. Several of them are more than a single scenario. So far the list includes:

Naval Action off Fort Fredericka: April 19, 1778

Destruction of the Georgia Navy March to April 1779

Captain Howell, Georgia Privateer April 1781

Ocracoke Inlet, North Carolina September, and November 1780

Fair American’s Patrol: October 7th - 15th 1780

HM Schooner Halifax

The Battles of Machias

Voyage of the Vengeance

Sampson and the Swallow

A Convoy Raid

Bonavista Bay, Nova Scotia 1780

I have really been enjoying working on this again. The ship list has provided a number of interesting side tracks.

Progress! And lessons Learned.

I have finally something to show for my 3d printing efforts. I have made a number of prints but these are the first that I have gotten assembled and painted. I have learned quite a bit while doing this. I will not be adding masts and sails until after painting the components. Anyway, I have three built and painted if not rigged vessels.

Unlike my previous efforts, these are all in 1/700th scale. They come from 3 different places. The one on the left is not a print. It is a schooner from Warlord Games' Black Seas. I really like the vessel and have 6 more to do. I have painted the decks of two others.

The middle one is a model from Ash and Stone on Wargaming3d.com. The original was a 28mm model and absolutely huge. I rescaled it and built the masts and sails. The rigging was an attempt. The foresail was not put on correctly but I just let it go. It is tiny and fragile. I really need to consider basing my 1/700th models. Especially this one. I like how it turned out. I want to print a few more. Ultimately I think I want at least five of these.

Lastly we have a ship sloop. I am not 100% sure whose model it is. It might be one of Henry Turners or Saturnalia studios. It was one of the first vessels that I got a good print on the sails for. I made the mistake of gluing the sails in place before painting. In the process of painting, I broke off the main mast right below the sails. It is glued back but will need the rigging to hold it together firmly. I am not confident on how that will go.

IN printing smaller vessels (schooners, brigs and even small ship sloops) from Henry Turner, I am struggling with the sails. The masts tend to be bigger than the holes for them end up. I have a pin vise to drill them back out. But the dry fitting of the parts have led to multiple sails breaking. The detail of the Henry Turner figures is fantastic. But they are much more fiddly. The Saturnalia ones are good but the masts are chunkier which makes them great for gaming but less so as scale models. I have successfully printed a couple of bomb ketches from Saturnalia now. What I have found helpful is using warm or hot water to rinse the models. I am using a water washable resin. This helps in removing the supports. I am also letting the model air dry after that before putting them under UV lights. This has prevented some odd looking blobs showing up on the model.

This is how I spent my Memorial day. I am putting off further rigging. I will go ahead and prime some of the Saturnalia models that I have and paint them this week to get a good comparison point. I have 3 hulls printed for the HSM Pickle from Henry Turner. The sails that I have printed haven't worked yet. I have not been able to get the bowspirit to fit at all.

As such, I am concentrating on the Saturnalia figures. After printing, the mast holes are still too small. I am drilling them out to get them to fit properly. I have painted up a pair of bomb ketches so far. I have to glue the masts in place still. Should finish that tonight.

I did finish a second Black Seas Schooner as well. I used a painting guide I found online and painted it in more French like colors. I'm not sure I like it. I will get pictures tonight.

I also have an update on my AWI scenario book for To Covet Glory. I have finished with the ship list for brigs of the Royal Navy. I have also added another scenario to the book. I am working on the Brigs of captured French, Spanish and Dutch navies now. This leaves Cutters and schooners left to stat out. This puts the book in at 115 pages thus far. Of which, 45 pages are scenarios and campaigns. The ship list will be over 100 pages detailing Royal Navy vessels under the rate from Ship Sloops (3 masted ships smaller than frigates), to Brig sloops (two masted vessels with a square rig), to Schooners (two masted fore and aft rigged vessels) and cutters (single masted vessels). I will have partial lists of US Navy and State navy vessels. Some data changes the ship types from the To Covet Glory rulebook. Lastly, there is a single page of some gunnery changes that are optional. This was a thought I had to further differentiate between the smaller cannons. This section might get dropped.

3d Printing & Black Seas

One thing I am having issues with in 3d Printing ships are the holes for the masts being too small for the masts. I am not sure what I am doing wrong there. Sanding down the mast bases seems to help.

I have started to actually paint some 1/700th scale miniatures. I printed a small bermuda sloop that I scaled down from 28mm of all things.I also have a shop sloop of 18 guns that I have printed up. Both of these are on the painting bench. I need to do some rigging on the small bermuda sloop to get the rest of the sails on. The ship sloop has its deck painted. I am still deciding on a scheme.

I ended up buying the Black Seas Schooner Squadron. The ships are really nicely detailed. I have them primed and have painted one of them. The one thing I noticed is that some work with plyers is needed to get the sails lined up with the bowspirit. I have one that is painted and I am waiting on the glue to dry on the thread to being rigging it. Will see how it goes.

I am very interested in picking up the Black Seas Cutter Squadron. the problem is, I can't find any retailer in the US that carries it. Shipping for it from Warlord directly is $20. No one seems to be selling it on eBay at the moment. I would like to experiment with some different sail plans for them to give them different looks. I think it would be worth it.

The problem with both the Warlord Games models and the ones I am 3D printing is that they are light and tend toward being top heavy. I had not based any of my 1/300th ships. That wasn't an issue with them. With these, I think I will need to base them to have them stay upright on the table. Once I have some more of Henry Turner's models printed and painted up, I should be in good shape to complete the scenario book. That is something I am looking forward to.

Sailing into Revolution

So currently the working title of my To Covet Glory supplement is Sailing into Revolution. I am not sure I like it yet. There are 10 historical actions detailed. Some have multiple scenarios in each one. There is a generator for creating convoy actions. The scenario portion is standing currently at 45 pages. Then I am detailing the ships of the Royal Navy by providing stats for Royal Navy vessels below the rate. There are hundreds of vessels detailed. Most are complete stats that can be used in your own games.

I have been tinkering with my 3d printer. I have managed to get some better prints by lowering the support density. I was having trouble getting reliable prints on sails. I was breaking the print attempting to remove the supports. I think I have this fixed. I am hoping to get some painting in soon.

January's Almost Over

As January comes to a close, I am happy to report that I have completed 9 scenarios for my AWI book for To Covet Glory. The scenarios are not just single actions in many cases. The one on Convoys gives a template for making convoy attack scenarios for for various theaters giving the player the ability to create random forces to the scenarios with sample merchant vessels. Others include small campaigns following the actions of a particular privateer.

The part still in progress is working through the stats for the vessels of the Royal Navy for the period. Thus far I have seventy-nine ship sloops sorted out based on the books by Winfield on the Royal Navy. I have started work on the Brigs but have much more work to do. There are still Schooners and Cutters to start.

I just started to 3D printing again. I have started on a small Bermuda Sloop and a skiff that I have scaled down from the original 28mm models down to 1/700th scale. I am experimenting with the support density as I previously had too many and the models broke when removing supports from the models. Hopefully this will be successful. In Chitubox, the models looked like they would work.