Here, There and Everywhere

 My first thought for this post was to paint several of my modern Royal Navy ships, and put together a post under the title, "The Grey Funnel Line."  Instead, I fell victim to Gamer Attention Deficit, and painted around a couple of different projects.  Hence, this post (and title).

My first turn was back towards the Cod Wars project.  I started off by painting a couple of stern trawlers for that project.  Unlike the sidewinder trawlers, I wasn't able to come up with any specific names for these.  It seems like these more modern ships just didn't have the love and respect that went to the more traditional trawlers.  Loved or not though, they were still used so we need some for the table.  Here they are in all their fishy glory:

These aren't heavily rusted like the sidewinder trawlers, and that's based on the pictures of them I've seen.  That's not to say that they don't rust, especially along the scuppers that line the net handling deck.  They are not, however, as rusted along the sides as a traditional trawler is.  I imagine that's because the sidewinder trawlers are always hauling netting and gear over the sides.

Of course, those little trawlers are going to need someone to protect them from the Icelandic Coast Guard, and for that only one outfit will do.  Enter the Royal Navy.

HMS Gurkha

Sister ship HMS Tartar

My interpretation of the Tribal class.

The ship I chose to model is HMS Gurkha, one of the seven Type 81 Tribal class ships that served from 1961-1982.  The class was originally built for "colonial gunboat" type duties, and had several innovations designed in to make that easier.  Among those were air conditioning, all bunk accommodations (no hammocks), and a combined gas and steam propulsion system, referred to as COSAG.  COSAG meant that the ships could leave port quickly in the event of war, instead of waiting several hours to fire up steam boilers.  Unfortunately, the ships were designed with a single propeller. That, and a hull designed for calmer waters than the Atlantic limited their speed and maneuverability against the ships of the Icelandic Coast Guard.  Both Gurkha and her sister ship, HMS Tartar served in the Third Cod War in 1975-76.  Both ships were activated from reserve during the Falklands War, but did not go to the South Atlantic, serving in home waters as guard ships instead.

Speaking of the Falklands, that is a perfect segue to the next ship.  She's the Type 22 Batch 1 frigate, HMS Broadsword.  I think this model was made by Oceanic back in the 1990's.  Whoever made it , she is certainly a good example of how our expectations have changed over time!  The mold lines and flash were terrible; in fact, I wasn't able to completely remove the mold line around the hull.  The overall shape of the model was also, to put it nicely, rather basic.  I have about 15 photos taken during modifications to try and improve the look of the ship, but decided not to dump them all here.  That poor model and the various modifications might be a future blog post all by itself.

OK, that kind of looks like a ship.

Even these photos don't really show how 
rough the hull is.

Why didn't I go with a Shapeways model?  Well, the problem is that no one makes a Type 22, Batch 1 frigate in 1/1200 or 1/1250 on Shapeways.  One person makes them in 1/600, but he never answered my request for a 1/1200 version.  So, the rough 1990's model it is then.

In truth, I would have been a lot happier with the ship if I could have gotten more of that damned mold line on the hull to grind away.  As it was, I was already on the verge of changing the hull shape so decided to stop before I made things even worse.  So she is a "rough and ready gaming model," but given the lack of alternatives available, she'll do.

I have to say that this post has been about half-written since October of 2020.  Once you get out of the habit of writing and photographing, it is hard to get back into it!  I wasn't completely dormant during that time, though.  Indeed, taking a break seems to have breathed a new life into wanting to blog.  There should be several sailing ships available for the next post, as the Trafalgar Project inches along toward completion.  So, until next time (which shouldn't be four months), smooth sailing.

Love in the Time of Coronavirus, Part 2

If you read the previous post, you saw the 1938 Gran Prix cars that are one of my unfinished projects.  I think that's one of the fun things about a post like this; you get to see some things that normally probably wouldn't be shown on this blog, given my focus on naval stuff.  I can even hear you asking, "what OTHER kinds of minis does he have that he hasn't shown us?"  Well, there's WWII, American Civil War, mobsters. . . Oh wait, you say you didn't ask that?  Bummer. 😞  Well, for the purposes of this post, I'm going to just pretend that you did ask.

My friends who game with me regularly already know my opinion of air power in naval games.  I think aircraft are sneaky, underhanded contraptions that are barely one step above submarines in terms of ruining a good naval fight.  Zeppelins fall into the same category, so don't think the lighter-than-air people get away either.  In short, if it moves under the sea or flies over it, I'm not a fan.

Now, airplanes fighting airplanes?  That's cool, and even more if they're jet powered.  That's probably why I've got a few sets of rules, and a box of airplanes to play with.  The set of rules I use is the one that is most popular in my area.  To wit:

They give a fun game, are easy to teach and give reasonable results.  Using these rules, I've played everything from Sabres over Korea (and other places) to "MiG-28's" from the original Top Gun. I've also played the WWII version, but the faster planes are more fun to me.

So what types of air wars do I like to play?  Well, there are a couple of periods with another in the planning stages.  As an American, I can't ignore the big dog in the room, which is Vietnam.  I've managed to mostly resist the obvious temptation to buy USAF and USN aircraft, restricting myself to USAF.  It's an interesting period because most of the Vietnamese aircraft in scenarios are MiG-17's, with an occasional MiG-21 or 19.  MiG-17's are fun to "fly."  They are quick, and maneuverable enough to run rings around any US aircraft.  Their biggest disadvantage is that they don't have any of these:

the robotic flying boomstick of DEATH, aka the Sidewinder missile.  It seems that my destiny as a Red pilot is to get hammered by one of these 🤬every time we play.  The funny thing is, they are actually pretty unreliable in game terms.  Still, they get me more often than not.  I didn't post any pictures of the Vietnam aircraft, because they were some of the first ones I ever painted.  I'm no longer happy with how they look, since they're what taught me I'm no good at using washes.

Since missiles seem to be my nemesis, the best thing to do is step back to a period where there aren't any, or not very many.  No, not Korea, as those planes aren't fast enough.  For real fun, you gotta try these:

"Oh, I recognize those.  They're, . . . wait, whut?"

Those are planes for the Indian-Pakistan War of 1965.  While the ground war ended up being a bit of a stalemate, the air war was not.  The general consensus was that in this round of the ongoing Kashmir crisis, the Pakistani Air Force (PAF) was the winner.

As a game, the air war has a lot going for it.  It's short, only about three weeks.  The Indian Air Force (IAF) is flying a grab bag of British, French, and Soviet equipment, but the PAF is flying American aircraft exclusively.  The aircraft themselves range from outmatched WWII gear:

deHavilland Vampire.  First flight: 1943
Miniatures by MSD Games, flight stand by Fight's On! (https://www.fightsonstore.com/)

To evenly matched dogfighting rivals:

F-86 Sabre and Hawker Hunter. Both minis by I-94 Enterprises
(main site: https://i-94enterprises.com/ store: https://raiden.25.ekm.shop/ )

To the limits of 1950's technology.

F-104 Starfighter and MiG-21 F-13.  Both by I-94 Enterprises.

There's not just fighters, of course.  Bombers and attack planes play their part as well:

English Electric Canberra and Dassault Mystere IV
Canberra by ??? and Mystere by I-94.

There are still more planes, but this is already getting to be a long post.  So how did I find out about this offbeat conflict?  As with so many other things, I read a couple of books:

I'm not saying which one I read first. 😎

Back in part 1 of this post, I promised you that I would tell you about a new project that somehow tied in a little closer to what I normally do.  So how does all the above stuff about airplanes tie into that?  Well, that will take a couple of more photos.  Let's look at some stuff on the painting table, shall we?

Now where could they be going?

Well, those are some good-looking ships, even if one isn't quite finished!  Pretty much the epitome of the Cold War Royal Navy.  Got to be a project set in the 1980's then.  World War III at sea, maybe?

Geez, more 1:1200/1250 aircraft carriers.  The one on the left has a ski jump and no angled deck, so clearly not US Navy.  The right hand one doesn't quite look American, but not British either.  With so many modern(ish) aircraft carriers around, there's got to be some airplanes. . . 

Oh, hello!

Well I would guess that is a naval airplane, given the anchors painted on the wings.  Maybe he can fly by again, so that we can get a better look at his markings. . .

OK, thanks.

Obviously, I'm going to start doing some of the air attacks during the Falklands War in 1982.  It gives a chance to run a small campaign using both naval and air forces.  Yes, the ships will be stationary targets, but they still need to look good!  Besides, they can shoot back with their anti-aircraft defenses like guns and missiles.  I really love Check Your 6 Jet Age, and so this project should be a lot of fun.

In closing, there is one company listed here that I would like to give a little more of a shout out to.  That company is Fight's On!, and their website is: https://www.fightsonstore.com/ .  They make terrain and accessories for air games.  Their best-known product, other than missiles are the "Cadillac of the Sky" flight stands that you saw in the pictures above.  The stands can track movement and altitude by using magnetic rods of differing lengths.  It sounds complicated, but is really not.  For some photos of them in action take a look at: https://www.fightsonstore.com/product-page/cadillac-of-the-sky-flight-stands .  Full disclosure: The owners of the company are gaming buddies of mine.  You can tell them I sent you, but I don't think it will get you a discount.😁  

Love in the Time of Coronavirus

Before anyone wonders what song this title is related to, for this post I am changing the rules slightly.  Instead, it's a reference to a book title.  In this case, the reference is to Gabriel García Márquez's novel, Love in the Time of Cholera.   After all, nothing says we can't class the place up once in a while!

From a gaming/painting viewpoint, I'm finding this quarantine period a bit confusing.  From reading TMP, TWW, or other people's blogs, it seems like everyone is getting loads of figures painted.  Indeed, it seems to be our patriotic duty (no matter what country you're in) to sit on your backside and wield a paintbrush,  So far, this has not been my experience.  Instead, I'm finding it more interesting to play on the Internet, catch up on some reading, or even helping my wife cook.  I can hear what you're thinking out there: "Gee Brian, you're just in a slump.  It happens to everyone; it's even happened to you in the past."  Normally, I'd agree with you, but I'm not ignoring the hobby.  Instead, I'm doing something that I'm afraid is much, much worse.  What, you ask, could I possibly be doing that is so horrible?  Well, I'll tell you.

I keep catching myself looking around for new projects.

  Even though I've said many times that I don't want any new projects, the call of something shiny and different still beckons.  For example: On TMP today (4/14) there was an article saying that a set of sci-fi rules were on sale at Wargame Vault.  "Ooh," I say.  "That could be fun.  After all, they're just navies in space."  Never mind that I have several sets of space battle rules; I'm still looking at these.  I manage to talk myself out of the idea before I start looking at spaceship miniatures though.  Some might call it strength of character; I would call it sheer laziness. 😒 

OK, so not completely new projects then.  Now, I'm looking through the unpainted miniatures, along with finished projects that haven't been shown here wondering if I can expand them.  Trouble is, I've got a LOT of miniatures that aren't on this blog.  Heck, I've got miniatures I don't even have rules for.  Take these guys for example:

These are the 1/72 scale 1938 Gran Prix cars produced by Minarions Miniatures in Spain ( https://minairons.eu/en/ ).  This has always been one of my favorite periods of racing history, probably because of a book I got when I was a child.  When Lluis at Minarions announced this project, I was all over it.  In fact, I have three of his new cars somewhere in the mail waiting to arrive.  The different makes of cars are pictured below.

Auto Union Type D.  The driver in the yellow sweater is Tazio Nuvolari.

Mercedes Benz W154.  The car noses are colored to help the pit crew
distinguish the drivers.

Alfa Romeo c12/312.  Italian racing red was not a uniform shade at this time,
and could be almost maroon.

ERA. This British make was popular with private teams.  The colors are,
from L to R: Belgium, Great Britain, Siam.

A lack of rules shouldn't be a problem, because I wrote a set of stock car racing rules for Two Hour Wargames.  Called Win or Go Home, it was fun but didn't sell very well and is no longer on the THW website.  It did, however, give me some ideas and was working on other versions before it tanked.

My baby.  My poor, orphaned baby.

So, I will be modifying these, but will also be writing a rules set that uses a complete track, like the old Speed Circuit boardgame.  My rules assumed that you were part of the pack on the lead lap, so only had enough "track" to hold all the cars.  Apparently, most racing game fans prefer a game with an entire track to chase each other around.  Why two separate sets of rules, you ask?  Well, I do want to use these cars, so will use whichever set most people like.

I have some other projects too, but I don't want to turn this into some sort of long, run-on post.  You can expect to see them in another post that will be up soon.  Whats in the next one?  Well, let's just say that these other projects are a little bit closer to what you might expect from me!

Cod Wars? Yes, Because . . .

I'm of the opinion that anything which floats can be made into a good game.  For that reason, if you put on a game that has ships of some sort then chances are I'm going to enjoy it.  Due to this, I've played with everything from sailing ships to World War II battleships.  I haven't played any ancient naval (but want to try it), and I've even played Greenpeace protesters in a "Save the Whale" game.  So, I don't mind trying out an oddball game.  Keep that in mind as you read this.

One of the regular members of our gaming group likes to ram things when we play naval games.  He's at his happiest when he can bang into other ships on the table.  Preferably, the rammed ships are his opponents but I'm not sure that's completely necessary.  This has actually become a bit of a running joke among the group.  Unfortunately for him, ramming things with a sailing ship is really bad for the ship where rigging and the bowsprit are concerned.  Because of this, I've been on the lookout for rules other than ancients where ramming is actually a viable tactic, and that wouldn't require a lot of ships.  After all, this is a side project and not anything major.  Well, I finally found something that I think will fit the bill:

I know what you're probably thinking: "Cod Wars?  Huh?"  These were a series of disputes between the UK and Iceland over fishing rights in Icelandic waters.  They weren't really a war in the sense that wargamers think of one: there was only one fatality and the naval forces of the two nations never actually shot at each other.  The actions of this set of "wars" consisted of the Icelandic Coast Guard cutting the lines of trawlers in Iceland's territorial waters, and vessels from both sides ramming each other.  Not necessarily ramming to sink another vessel, but more like the traditional 'bumper boats' that the US and USSR played with each other during the Cold War.  Well then, sounds perfect for my needs.

After buying the rules, I was pleasantly surprised (and somewhat relieved) to find that all the miniatures you would need to play a game were available on Shapeways.  I bought what I would need to run the game, and was again pleasantly surprised when they arrived.

L to R: ICGV Baldur, ICGV Tyr, 3 side trawlers, British tug Lloydsman

L to R:  ICGV Odnin, ICGV Aegir, 3 stern trawlers

L to R:  Star Polaris, Star Aquarius, HMS Exmouth, ICGV Ver

Those  three sets provide more than enough ships to run any scenario, and most of the ships needed for a campaign (which is included in the rule book).  This is my first experience with 1/1200 ships printed by Shapeways, and I have to say that I am very impressed with them.  The detail is fantastic, as I hope the closeup below will show:

I will also try and get some extreme closeups before I start painting any of the models.  The fact that the ships are printed in a translucent plastic doesn't help much in seeing the details from a photograph.  To give you an idea of the detailing, the two ships at the top of the photograph (Star Polaris and Star Aquarius) are actually different from each other.  One has slightly larger funnels than the other, AND it also has an extra crane and rubber boat on board. 

You don't even need to label their bases.

As you might guess, I'm very impressed with these.  I'm looking forward to getting them painted and out for a game, just to see what everyone thinks.

Brief Interlude 5: A Sneak Peek at an Upcoming Project

Like the title says, here's a sneak peek at a major project I'm starting this year.  I'm pretty sure it will be a LONG time before this one is completed.  Keep in mind that in this photo, the pieces aren't even glued down yet but the layout you see below is set.

The plan is to fill in the space between the rear of the dock and the edge of the sheet metal with wood of the same thickness.  That's where the warehouses and other dockside structures will be.  Other city blocks will go behind those, but will be modular so they can be swapped in and out.  How, you ask?  Not totally sure yet.

A Quick Update, and an Upcoming Anniversary

I'm sorry that I haven't posted anything this month.  As we all know, Real Life™ has a way of occasionally interfering with hobbies, and that has sort of been the case this month.  Between the usual inconveniences of life like failing appliances, and the attempt to improve my health by being more active, I'm just not spending as much time blogging or painting as I have been.  Now, this doesn't mean I'm not doing anything, as the picture below should demonstrate.

Yes, the masts are finally in my North Carolina, and it's only taken from September of 2014 to get here, so 3 years and 5 months.  Given that the original was started in 1818, launched in 1820 and commissioned in 1824, I think I'm comfortably ahead of schedule!

My first post on this blog was March 8, 2017 so the one year anniversary is coming up soon.  There will be an anniversary post, looking at the usual stuff: How many posts, how many visitors, and etc.  For the five people who follow this blog, thank you and there will be more frequent postings in the future (I promise!).

The post-storm, . . . um . . ., post.

When I heard that there was a storm headed for the southern Texas coast, I decided to devote that time to painting miniatures.  The storm was coming in well to the south of us, so there was no worry about wind damage.  I had plenty of stuff to paint, and the rain would keep me inside, so clearly it was time to catch up on painting, and several of my posts that have been in draft for a while.  After all, there's nothing better for productivity than enforced idleness, right?  Well, several trillion gallons of water later, I have an answer to that question.  The answer is NO!

First of all, let me state that my family has been incredibly lucky/blessed/whatever you want to call it.  We live in a suburban city on the east side of Houston, and that city has spent a lot of money on drainage. Consequently, we got no water in the house.  It did get up to the edge of our garage, and a little bit came under the garage doors due to jerks in their pickup trucks driving through the flooded streets and forcing their wakes under the door seals.  However, it wasn't enough to hurt anything and only went about 2 feet inside the garage.  So, not really anything to complain about, especially when the houses across the street got water inside them.

It turns out that having a 1,000/10,000 year flood event in your general vicinity kind of distracts you from doing stuff like painting.  I say 1,000/10,000 year event because no one seems to be really sure just how bad it was yet.  We blew past the 500 year flood mark by Sunday, I think.  One television weatherman called it "biblical," and that certainly seems to be appropriate.  Instead of a relaxing bout of painting, I spent my time doing two things.  While we were being rained on, I kept going to different parts of the house to make sure we weren't getting water inside.  After the heaviest rains were over, I divided my time between watching the news to keep up to date, or keeping in touch via text messages with friends and family so I could see if they were OK.  Now, this was not my first hurricane; far from it and I daresay that it won't be my last.  However, if it's the last one for a while then I'm certainly OK with that.

I don't want it to seem like I got nothing done due to the storm.  I was able to finish up some things that will be up on the blog shortly, once I get pictures taken.  I've finished my star fort for land scenarios, and have had another ship done for a couple of weeks, but have taken no photos yet.  So, if you read this blog, I haven't given up on it.  I've just been a little distracted here lately.  I promise to have some eye candy in place soon.