28 July 2009

Imperial Russian Navy links

Here are a couple of interesting Wiki links for pics of the Imperial Russian Navy:

World War 1 Ships of the Russian Empire

World War 1 cruisers of Russia

World War 1 destroyers of Russian Empire

Imperial Russian Navy destroyers


Very useful in my opinion - they are mostly based on Russian sources.

27 July 2009

Action off Gotland, part 3

While sorting through the painting table, I made an unwelcome discovery - I do not have any paints suitable for naval vessels! None of the typical greys that one would need. Now, I could just mix my own, and I do not mind doing that in a very limited manner, but large-scale paint formulation is not what I want, especially as I do not need large quantities. So, along with the ships I will need to purchase some paint. Sigh...

On a good note, I have found some interesting web sites pertaining to the naval situation in the Baltic during WW1. I'll post them very soon.

20 July 2009

Progress

Progress is being made at the El Grego shipyards - being back on-line (after work on the building and a 'slight' hiccup in our internet connection) is the major one! I have placed the first order for 1/3000 minis with WTJ; German and Russian cruisers mostly, with a few torpedo boats thrown into the mix. Hopefully I will place an order with NavWar this week for the remainder of the ships I desire for the 'Action off Götland' scenario. I'll post pics as soon as the minis arrive...

08 July 2009

Old format

Hmmm, back to the old format!


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05 July 2009

Action off Gotland, part 2

After much deliberation, and the confirmation of a slow-down at my place of employment, I am reconsidering my decision of using 1/2400 scale ships, especially the beautiful but expensive GHQ models.

If you look at this post on A Wargaming Odyssey, and again at this post on SteelonSandBlog, you will see some very nice examples of 1/3000 naval ships. With the prices for these minis running at least 50% less than GHQ, they are great bargains.

Also, Navwar makes a specific SMS Albatross mini, and WTJ has an awesome SMS Prinz Heinrich! Neither of these ships are available in 1/2400.

04 July 2009

New format

Things have changed a bit - is it better or worse?

I was trying for a bit of Mu'ugalavyá (the 'Red Hats' of Tékumel) but is it still readable?


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03 July 2009

The 6mm Distraction, part 2

I'm slowly getting more done with these new minis. So far, I really like these new toys, a lot. So much, my thoughts are racing with new ideas and projects. Of course, most of those will never see the light of day - I need to get these first steps done first!

As a reminder, here is what I started with:


Macedonian phalangites.

Here is what they look like now:


I trimmed down the shields, making them much more oblong, and added long spears made from 0.5mm diameter plastic rod. My original post on making spears from plastic rod is here.

Another pic, with a different background:


Looking pretty nifty so far. I do still wonder if those plastic spears will hold up to rigorous handling...

I also added a plume to the back of the helmet:


The plumes are made from the same plastic rod as the spears, with the exception of the trooper on the far left - that plume was made with a small chunk of a Baccus ashigaru's yari. I think that I will save the metal pieces for the unit standards, which will need to be longer and more flexible.

Hopefully, these 6mm conversions will look something like this:


The paint will be the final arbiter in this, but so far they look remarkably similar.


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