Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Fleets painted...

 

The two Hellenic destroyer/ torpedo boats.
At last, pretty much finished the naval forces for the First Blacklands War.  A couple of vessels I had to modify as I found better pics of their architecture.
Protected (Light) Cruiser Hamidieh.
TNS Hamidieh received some secondary armament, 8 x 5.9-inch (150mm) guns.  I made the shapes of the turrets more rectangular than triangular or trapezoidal as more robust.  I am quite consciously taking some liberties with the original design, but the whole 'cartooning' concept permits such deviations.  I think.
Coastal (Ironclad) Battleship Hydra
I closer examination of very good plan and elevation coloured pictures of  the Original Greek ironclad battleship Hydra, showed its forward main guns were barbette mounted, rather than behind casemates.  So I replaced the casemate guns, and mounted the 10.8-inch chaps either side of the bridge.  They are rather higher than they ought to be I think, and the vessel looks even odder than before, but I'll have to be satisfied with this result.
TNS Messudieh and HNS Hydra, facing off.
I'm thinking of a single ship encounter by way of a prologue of the naval aspects of the War.  This is projected to be a single ship action between respective coastal battleships, Messudieh and Hydra.  
Turcowaz and Hellenic fleets.
We'll close with a couple of plan views of the respective fleets.


18 comments:

  1. Hello there Archduke,

    Lovely job old chap! They will certainly look great in action - any thoughts on the rules you will be using?

    The Greek Psara, Kydra and Spetsai were rather odd looking - French built as I recall, which may well explain it - but are certainly on my list to look at a little more closely In due course. For the record the 1/3000th version does not really capture much of the shape of it!

    All the best,

    DC

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    1. Hi David -
      I was going to use Bob Cordery's Gridded Naval Wargames set, but I'm seriously considering modifying the gunnery stats for the single ship action I have in mind. All that will be explained in my next posting.

      I guess I'll be having a look some time at those other Greek vessels, but they might fetch up under another command...
      Cheers,
      Ion

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  2. Excellent work Archduke - are you going to put out some flags?

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    1. Still in two minds, Maudlin, as to what flags these ships should sail under. Greek and Turkish or maybe simply Azure, 4 bars argent for the one and straight gules for the other. My problem is that turcowaz is, well, TURQUOISE in other campaigns! (My, that Empire HAS had a lot of action lately!) The first action (this weekend) may not actually feature flags...
      Cheers,
      Archduke Piccolo.

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  3. Archduke Piccolo,

    The three French-built battleships (which were really designed to be coastal defence ships) were odd-looking even by French standards, and I think that you have captured the essence of their design very well.

    A simple ship vs. ship action sounds like a great way to try out the rules, and matching a old battleship against a new cruiser might be an interesting contest to fight.

    All the best,

    Bob

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    1. Hi Bob -
      I thought an action between two old coastal/ ironclad battleships, both of idiosyncratic design, might be interesting. Now under your rule system, the stats would be identical, but I noticed in your sample action that you modified them in the case of Hydra. I might have left them at that, and probably will in a fleet action, but for the single ship duel have set out a modified gunnery table for both. This will reflect (a) the numerical weakness of both primary batteries, (b) the greater range of Hydra's 10.8-inch main battery, (c) the powerful secondary broadside possessed by Mesudieh. We'll see how it goes.
      Cheers,
      Archduke Piccolo.

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  4. Gosh, there are more of 'em! They look so good Ion.
    Regards, James

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    1. Cheers, James!
      For the time being, that will be my whole naval inventory in this scale and style.
      Archduke Piccolo.

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  5. They have come up a treat. Consistency pays.

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    1. Hi Sun -
      I had a lot of problems with the painting, and still not satisfied with some of them, but overall, am very pleased with the result.
      Cheers,
      Archduke Piccolo.

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  6. A nice, neat job Ion. They look the bees knees.
    Regards,
    Paul.

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    1. Hi Paul -
      They sure look the part, I reckon!
      Cheers,
      Archduke Piccolo.

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  7. Wonderful looking fleets and quite inspiring!

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    1. Hi John Y -
      If someone, like yourself, finds these inspiring, I am well pleased!

      It is my habit when receiving a comment from a name I don't recall, to see where they might be coming from. You might well be gaining a follower for your own '54mm' blog (it will be under my real name).
      Cheers,
      Archduke Piccolo.

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