Victory at Sea - Painting the Models

Many moons ago, I bought myself the old version of Victory at Sea by Mongoose Publishing. It was a nicely produced, hard-backed book that suffered (in its first edition) from very poor binding, leading to the pages falling out! This is the copy I’ve got!!

The rules were well supported on-line with downloads etc. and ultimately an additional book came out with more ship stats and updated rules. This was (thankfully) a perfect bound paperback.

The game was simple and fun and from what I remember, it split the naval wargaming fraternity, as to those who liked it and those who hated its ultra-simplicity.

1. Having glued the two halves together, I applied acrylic artist paste to the base to give it a "wave" texture

I purchased some 1/2400th scale metal ships to go with it enabling me to refight most of the RN vs. Kreigsmarine actions in the book’s scenarios.

2. Once dry, the whole model was given a spray coat of matt grey primer (from Poundland!)

Now I see another co-operative production is coming out from Warlord/Mongoose relaunching the game once more, this time in 1/1800th scale.

3. The decking area was picked out in Vallejo Orange Brown

I’m tempted (aren’t I always?) by the Pacific theatre starter set as I have never ventured into this part of WW2 so may weaken and get myself a copy when it is released sometime in August.

4. The hull sides were painted in Vallejo Dark Grey

The models look to be moulded in Ultracast resin and incorporate an oval base with the ship’s name embossed along the side.

5. The entire model was given a coat of Vallejo Light Grey Wash to darken the shadows and the base painted in Vallejo Pastel Blue

To get a feel for how these might look I took a quick look at what was available on-line to 3D print.
While there are one or two generic models (not necessarily in 1/1800th scale) on Thingiverse, there are a whole load of suitable models already to scale, available on Wargaming 3D’s website (https://www.wargaming3d.com/)

6. The Grey Blue base colour was given a coat of Army Painter Blue Tone wash.

These are all designed by Ghukek's Miniatures and whilst most files can be purchased for a modest fee, there are a handful available to download for free. He also has a range of suitable aircraft available on the same site for free, in 1/900th scale. These can be either used as they come (easier to print and identify on the table!) or scale down to suit the ships.

7. Finally the whole model was dry-brushed with Vallejo Game Colour White to highlight the upper surfaces. The waves were further enhanced with added attention to the tips of the texture. All that remains is a quick spray of varnish and this will be complete.

As an experiment I downloaded and printed out the 1/1800th scale USS Indiana battleship model – a South Dakota Class battleship.

I added an oval base before slicing the model along its centre line. I then printed out the two halves laid down on the bed with no supports or brim, so they required no clean-up, just sticking the two halves together.

To give the base some texture I applied acrylic artist’s paste with a pallet knife and left some “wave” like ridges.

Once dry I finished the model in acrylics. The picture captions will explain the process.

Nice scale to use. The model measures up as around 130mm (with its base) long, with ample detail, easy to paint and looks good on the table. You’ll need to ignore the highly unrealistic scale distances on the table though! I think I could enjoy the relaunched version…..time will tell.

Black Seas - First Frigate

When I bought myself the Black Seas boxed set late last year, I thought I'd have the models made in no time at all!

Experience with the two free models that came with WI left me under no illusion that these were rather fiddly little miniatures to finish to an acceptable standard.

My original foray into Napoleonic Naval warfare was using GWH Trafalgar Rules back in 2011 (http://timstanks.blogspot.com/search?q=trafalgar). For this I used 1/1200th metal castings from Warrior Miniatures. These were one piece hulls with masts and separate cast sails that were very easy to assemble and paint up.....and most importantly..........did NOT require any rigging!

So far from the boxed set I have only finished one model, a frigate.

I mistakenly assembled it completely...including the masts. This made painting the deck problematic and any future models will be assembled without masts for painting purposes!

Initial rigging using black thread. Note the blobs of super glue drying with a whitish bloom

I used Contrast paints as they worked well with a matt white primer on these models as there is lots of deeply engraved detail for the paint to flow into.

Once completed it was time for rigging.

I keep this simple. There are pre-moulded holes in the hull wall by each mast. I simply thread black cotton through these and form a triangle with the cotton secured at the top of the mast using a blob of super glue.  To speed up the setting of the glue I spray an accelarent...mentholated spirit!

I used to buy the Gale Force Nine Super Glue Accelarent from Firestorm (£3.60 per bottle) and it used to disappear in no time as it evaporates. A quick Google taught me that the key component in super glue accelarent was alcohol. A quick experiment with meths proved it works just as well and cost a fraction of the real thing!

Once these three bits of rigging were complete I run a length from the bow sprit via the main masts to the mizzen masts, fixing in place along the way with super glue.

When all this was done, I attached the ratlines. These are printed on acetate sheet and require cutting out with a sharp knife. Attaching them with superglue is a little awkward, and I found in practice they were 2-3mm too long. They look OK in most cases, just be careful to keep glue to a minimum as it dries with a white finish on the acetate.

Last job was the sails. These come pre-printed on thin card, and more importantly, pre-cut too. This speeds things up a bit!. Having pushed the sail from the sheet I added a bit of curl to them by rolling them around a paintbrush handle. hen I attach them to the appropriate mast or rig line using a single bead of superglue along the top edge only.

To accommodate the super glue and rigging at the top of the mast I cut a small notch out of the smaller sail first.

The last step,  was to attach a flag to the rearmost rigging. These come pre-printed on paper, but require cutting out with a knife. They then simply fold around the rigging and glue together with PVA.

I know they should strictly be facing the other way due to the perceived wind direction filling the sails. But you can't easily see them if you do, so I have them pointing the other way!

The very last job is to touch up the areas of superglue where it has the tendency to dry with a whitish bloom. This was done with contrast paint once again.

The finished article looks OK at tabletop distance and hopefully will prove to be reasonably robust.

The downside is fingertips coated in superglue😕

Black Seas - Wargames Illustrated Freebies

I tried to tell myself I didn't need Black Seas in my life.......

I already own two fleets of metal ships in 1/1200th scale and I enjoyed the GWH Trafalgar rules a lot...

And then Wargames Illustrated gave me two free Brigs in 1/700th scale for the forthcoming Warlord Games release.😉

These are great little models. Simple to assemble, nicely detailed and appear quite robust when completed.

The Brigs come two models to a sprue (there was alternatively a single free Frigate).

I've put some pictures below taking you through the process....

The hull is made up of three parts

The bowsprit simply fits into the hole on in the bow

The foremast has a rolled sail moulded on the lower spar.
 The mainmast needs to have the two horizontal mizzen masts added 

The lower mizzen mast is horizontal, the upper one is angled upwards at about 30'

And that's it! simple!

To paint the model I used a few contrast paints following the usual matt white spray primer.

The paints I used were; -

• Outer Hull sides and masts- Skeleton Horde
• Inner hull walls - Blood Angels Red
• Deck - Snakebite Leather
• Lower hull, cannon, top edge of hull, mast cross members - Black Templar

To finish these off I decided I would paint them up and add the paper sails that are downloadable from both Warlord and WI's websites.

On sheet two you can see the red guidelines to help with cutting out

I printed these out onto thin white card. The file is two pages and they should be printed out double sided so when you cut them out there is detail on both sides.

Printed as they come they are really too big even if you follow the red printed guidelines. With hindsight I think printing at 75% would have been fine.

I cut them out with a scalpel and then rolled them around a paintbrush handle to curl them. The carefully applying super glue to the cross-spars, I attached each sail one-at-a-time, and used a quick spray of accelerator to get the glue to dry instantly.

To attach the bowsprit sail I was going to have to use some cotton as the only way to fit it is to have it supported by rigging.

As I was going to do this I decided to add some basic rigging to the whole model using black cotton. Again this was added using superglue & accelerator to secure it at each point on the masts. The pictures will better tell the story I think.

Not full rigging by any means, but I think sufficient to give the look & feel of black powder era warship.

Needless to say, I weakened. I'm now the proud owner of a Black Seas Starter Set.....😚

Cruel Seas - First Game AAR

I played my first Solo game of Cruel Seas a couple of weeks ago and thought it might be worthy of an after action report. I had genuine fun playing this game which I have to say, really lends itself to solo play with the random dice activation mechanism.

I chose to play the 2nd scenario from the book, where a cargo vessel/tanker has to travel from right to left, protected by two S-Boats from three Vosper MTBs.

I played this on a 4 x 3 foot table area, using my GW Dreadfleet cloth play mat and some simple terrain (Modular hill doubling up for land and some random rocks).

Move 1: The three MTBs start from stationary as the S-Boats peel off to head them off before they can reach the slow moving tanker.

Move 2: A chance to find out how decisive (and bloody) Cruel Seas can be! My right hand MTB was caught off-guard by the two S-Boats and, with some lucky dice rolls, sunk!

Move 3: The remaining two MTBs continued regardless and positioned themselves to launch a brace of torpedoes each. Meanwhile the S-Boats swung round to attack them from the rear.

Move 4: The torpedoes from the centre MTB failed to have any effect and those from the left hand MTB completely missed the tanker. The S-Boats started to engage the remaining MTBs - one each.

Close up of the moment of impact

Move 5: The left hand MTB found itself in the path of the Tanker and a collision resulted. The MTB was left severely damaged, but managed to limp on past the Tanker, which was itself, largely undamaged by the encounter. The centre MTB was engaged by one of the S-Boats and sunk....

Move 6: The game was academically over now, but I played out the last few moves to see the Tanker leave the board. The nearest S-Boat slowed to a halt to avoid colliding with their Tanker, while the other S-Boat set off after the damaged remaining MTB.

Close up of the last engagement

Move 7: The S-Boat caught up with the MTB by the rocks at the top of the picture. A brief gun battle proved inconclusive (due to the relative speeds of the two vessels) and the last MTB made their escape. The other S-Boat manoeuvred while stationary, to avoid both the Tanker and the rocks.

Move 8: As the last MTB limped off the board towards safety, the two S-Boats were both having to do some careful manoeuvring to avoid hitting rocks/land obstacles. Meanwhile the Tanker exited the board - Victory to the Germans!

Naval wargaming for me is just a pleasant diversion from what I usually do. Therefore I don't see me buying any more ships than I have already (maybe print some though😄). However, I will certainly play the game again.....it's fun! I know there are a few house rules appearing to try and make things "more realistic" but, to be honest, I don't have any need for them on the experience I've had so far.

Hats off to Warlord, a jolly good game.

Cruel Seas - 3D Printing

One of the things about Warlord Games Cruel Seas that has impressed me is the amount of items that have become available for 3D Printing to support the game.

Double-sided Sticky Tape

A really good source of these is the "Cruel Seas - The Dock Office" Facebook group. It was here that I found my first 3D print - a three dimensional rendering of the cardboard freighter included as a template with the starter set.

Lifting prints - blue tape coming away from the bed.

Now I have a Wanhoa i3 hobby printer which has a very small (12x12cm) print bed. Most of the larger cargo vessels are much bigger than this and I'm afraid my technical prowess does not stretch to cutting up 3D designs to make them fit!

Trying printing with the parts orientated the other way...still lifted

Enter TheGreg1980 who has very kindly done just that! His  freighter model that can be found at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3345466, is cut into 3 pieces which will all fit on my bed at the same time! 

Third time lucky....about 5-6 hours to print.

I still suffer from the problem of prints lifting from my print bed as they build up, layer-by-layer. I started to use blue masking tape on the bed, followed by a liberal coating of Pritt Stick glue. This worked OK with smaller prints but not so well with anything larger.

MDF base added and florist wire masts

This time I had a brainwave and decided I'd try double-sided sticky tape on top of the blue masking tape!!

 Sea textured with acrylic paste

This worked OK - the print stuck rigidly to the tape - but the tackiness of the masking tape wasn't sufficient to keep that stuck to the bed. The upshot of this was lifting parts again.

Sides repaired with Milliput (before sanding)

I'm going to experiment with another hi-tack masking tape + the double-sided tape, next time.

Gaps filled and sanded

My first go at printing failed when the power lead mysteriously fell out of the rear of the printer and the printing stopped after about two hours.

Matt White primed

My next effort was going fine until I accidentally selected the wrong control and drove the heated nozzle into the finished rear hull with disastrous consequences.

Finally third time lucky I had a print I could use - albeit one which had lifted during printing.

Starting with the deck details

I straightened the hull parts as best I could using hot/cold water and decided the best way to assemble the model would be to mount it on mdf so I could ensure alignment and more easily fill any gaps.

I found two pieces of scrap mdf from another model, that glued together would make an ideal base. I then stuck the two hull halves onto the mdf using a "No More Nails" grab type adhesive, which had the advantage of filling most of the gaps around the hull base.

Finishing with hull etc.

Once thoroughly dry, I filled the remaining gaps and tidied up the sides of the ship with a little Milliput. Then textured the base using artists acrylic paste applied with a pointed pallet knife. This really is effective at simulating waves etc. The masts were added from florist's wire super-glued into the pre-printed holes and the bridge was super-glued to the superstructure on the rear hull.

I primed the vessel with matt white spray before painting the details with Vallejo Acrylics.

• The main deck - Dark Grey
• Rear Deck - Khaki Grey
• Windows - Sky Blue
• Lifeboat - Leather Brown
• Funnel Black with a Red stripe
• Hold Doors - White
• Hull and remaining superstructures - Light Grey
• Overall highlighting - matt white dry brush

The rust streak effects were made using a mixture of Flesh Wash + Orange Brown.

Sea painted with Blue Wash 

The sea was painted over with Army Painter Blue Wash and once dry, dry-brushed twice with Matt White to pick out the wave tips.

Hi-lights, weathering (Rust) and waves added to finished model

A quick coat of spray matt varnish to tie all the finishes together an she is ready for the table.

Ready to go!

A perfect replacement for the cardboard template, and a proper target for my torpedoes!

Warlord Games - Cruel Seas Finished Boats

Yesterday I completed the remaining vessels for Cruel Seas. All have been painted with a mixture of Acrylics (Vallejo & Citadel) followed by firstly a coat of Army Painter Satin Varnish and finally a coat of Anti-Shine Matt Varnish.

Vosper MTB I

Paints etc. used finishing both the Vosper MTB I & II were:-

• Poundland Grey Spray Primer - overall undercoat
• Grey blue - Deck & upper surfaces
• Light Grey - Cockpit, Torpedo Tubes and any other above deck fixtures
• Sky Blue - windows
• Desert Yellow - wooden features (i.e. poles)
• Yellow - Inflatable Dinghy
• White & Red - life belts
• Black - MGs
• Camo Beige - ropes
• Light Grey Vallejo Wash - over all surfaces of the  model
• White - very light dry-brush

Vosper MTB II

The pennants from the starter set were simply cut out with a scalpel, folded and glued with PVA. Once dry they were attached to the mast with a thin bead of superglue. Finally the cut edges were blended into the printed surfaces with light grey Vallejo wash.

The ID Number decals were from some old Dragon 1/144 AFV kits.

S38 S-Boat

Paints etc. used finishing both the S38 & S100 S-Boats were:-

• White Spray Primer (Wilko's) - Overall undercoat
• Dark Grey - Deck & upper surfaces
• White - Cockpit and any other above deck fixtures
• Chain-mail Silver - Torpedo Tubes
• Sky Blue - windows
• Desert Yellow - wooden features (i.e. decking)
• Black - Torpedo tips, Cannon Barrels & MGs 
• Light Grey Vallejo Wash - over all surfaces of the  model
• White - very light dry-brush

S100 S-Boat

Once again the decals came from my spares box. 

To fly a pennant a mast has to be added to the model. To do this I cut 20mm lengths of florist's wire, heated them in the flame of a candle and positioned them just behind the bridge. A small bead of superglue was added to ensure they never fall off.

The rust effect is obtained using a 50/50 mix of Vallejo Flesh wash + Orange Brown. This can then be added at likely rust spots (joins, edges doors etc.) and some "runs" added for effect.

Elco & Higgins PT Boats

And lastly my two free PT boats were finished in a Pacific Theatre finish. I've since learnt that they were supplied to the RN for use in the Mediterranean. So I could have painted them up the same as the Vospers. Oh well, not to worry. They'll come in for something one day.

Paints etc. used finishing both the Elco & Higgins PT Boats were:-

• Poundland Grey Spray Primer - Overall undercoat
• Brown Violet - Hull, Deck & upper surfaces
• Dark Green - camouflage pattern
• Light Grey - Torpedo Tubes
• Leather Brown - ship's boat
• Sky Blue - windows
• Yellow - inflatable dinghy
• Black - Cannon Barrels & MGs 
• Black Wash - over all surfaces of the  model
• Iraqi Sand - very light dry-brush

So there you go. All finished and ready to go. Hope its of some interest to those who have yet to start their paint jobs!