Ottoman Navy - First Three.

Ive have got the first three of my Ottomen Ironclads up and ready, giveing me enough to play a game. Yippie.


The large and powerful Ironclad Frigate, Messudieh. She has a main armliment of twelve (!) 10" muzzle-loaders.



The Ironclad Corvettes Avni Illah and Muin-I-Zaffer. Both are compact and powerful ships, each armed with with four 9" guns and procted by a good thickness of armour. Very powerful for their size, they can confidently lock horns with the larger ships of the Russian fleet.

I dont know how well these photos show it, but these ships are painted dark green rather than the usual 'ironclad grey', as as far as I can tell, the ottoman navy was painted green thoughout swathes of the late 1800s and early twentyeth centry. Im rather happy with them. Not sure if the dark green looks so great really, but they dont look awful. Please feel free to tell me what you think.

Over the next few days (by the weekend) I plan most of the rest of the ships I have painted and ready for battle, including some nice paddle-sloops and the worlds last and most advanced Ship of the Line. I have also (finaly) got around to ordering some RE magnets, so can my pile of airships into the air as soon as they get here.

Khaptain

Got this one painted up tonight so I thought Id post it up too. Without further adue, the third hand Turret Ironclad, Khaptain.



The model is that of the infamous and unique British warship HMS Captain. For those that dont know the fatefull history of this ship she was designed as the royal navys first large oceangoing warship to mount its main battery in the revolutionary revolving turret. It was the grand design of the famous Captain Cowper Coles, the man responceable for the Coles turret. It was built as a responce to public and political pressure rather than because the admeralty wanted it. Although a valid but kinda 'out there' design, errors were made in construction that resulted in her having a dangeriously low freeboard, be dangeriously overweight and have a dangeriously high center of gravity. She passed her trials, but within months of her launch she capsized in mild seas in the Bay of Biscay with the loss of all but 18 crew (her compliment was over 500). This caused reprocussions in British Naval History, with the admeralty gaining greater control over themselves (they blamed the deaths on the fact the ship was built due to public pressure) and in general the total falure of this state-of-the-art ship led the admeralty to avoid adopting new developments in technology without the greatest of caution.




Clealy though, I appear to have modeled this sunken ship and placed it in Russian Survice. I did this for two reasons - First, I really liked the ship and the model (from Tumbling Dice) and Second, I needed a major capital ship to bulk up the Russian Black Sea Fleet for a Ottoman/Russian naval campain that I am going to run for my friends.

So, I present the following counter-factual situation to allow the HMS Captain to become the Khaptain;

Rather than being lost at sea, the Captain of the Captain, took the desision to run the ship aground, wrecking her on the Southern Cost of France. In the insueing politcal arguments over the disaster, the disision is made not to recover the ship and to sell her off to avoid further embarisment. She would most probably end up in the hands of the French and then move from there into Russian hands.

Russian Ironclads

Ive got a fair bit done this week towards finishing my little 1/24th scale ironclad project ready for games.



Russian Baltic squadren. General Admiral on the left, Petr Veliki to the center and Kreml to the right.


Close up of the armoured cruiser General Admiral


Petr Veliki



Kreml



Tsesarevich


All of these ships have been shown before, but since last-time I have added 3mm bases made out of balsa wood that allow me to acctualy pick the things up and move them around the gaming table. They should also greatly increase the durability of the models as people will be much less inclined to handel them by the model. I have also added small flags to the rear starbord quater of the model to denote its nationality. The ships names and ID numbers are unde the bases, but you cant see them.


Also, three Black Sea Cost Defence Monitors




The two larger monitors are the Russalka and the Chichgov.






The smaller, circular monitor is the infamous Novgrod. I have the rules written up for her, including a rule for her spining out of control! No model is avalable in this scale, so I made one. Its a goblin shield with vairous bits and peices added to it. Im really rather happy with it.

 

WIP photo.


Also, a trio of murchantmen to be targets in some cruiser games. Im not sure what little flags to put in the corner of their bases. Any ideas are welcome.







Hope you like them. Tell me what you think!





 

C'zarist Baltic Squadren.

A post at last!

I've been painting a Baltic squadren of Russian Ironclads over the last week, circa the 1880's. They are 1/2400 scale. I'm hoping to put them into action against my friends Home Fleet, whenever he gets round to painting them. 

^ The squadren all together.

^ General Admira, 'The Queen of the Queens of the Sea'. The worlds first armoured cruiser. The model is from Tumbling Dice, to which I have added a box battery to out of balsa wood. I really, really like this model.

^ Kreml, a run of the mill Ironclad. Another Tumbling Dice model.

Petr Veliki, [Trans: Peter the Great], a rather large and powerful Russian Turret Ship based around the basic design of the HMS Devistation. TD again.

Tsesarevich, the Russian Battleship-of-the-line. I know its a little out of period (the real ship being from 1899), but it was a fairly old design when it was constructed (by the French) so its not too much of a strech to use it a few years before. Shes from GHQ, and cost far more than the others. The increase in price really shows though in quality and detail though. Its perfectly cast without a single mold line and the detail is better than most of the 1/600 ships that I own. Totaly worth it.

I'm looking forward to adding some more ships whenever I get round to it, probably rather soon. 

Marx