Skill Level 0

3-D printing for gaming really shines in the space defined by the intersection of the ability to produce a 'one-off' model (generally referred to as rapid prototyping), and an acceptable price point that satisfies a low demand). In today's environment 3D printing is outside the mainstream traditional methods optimized to produce many figures at a lower cost.

Designers (what we used to refer to as sculptors) are using 3D printing vendors (what were traditionally referred to as 'casters') such as Shapeways to bring to life a variety of niche products that the conventional hobby industry understandably are reluctant to undertake.

Which brings us to today's subject - the model of USS Eastport produced by the Shapeways vendor Brown Water Navy Miniatures. Eastport had a short relatively undistinguished career on the western rivers before striking a torpedo and being abandoned and burned by the Union Navy. Eastport is notable for being an ironclad project started by the Confederacy, captured and completed by the Union Navy.

In 1/600 scale no manufacturer has modeled the Eastport. Gamers were left to their own devices - simply substituting a model of a similar vessel such as Choctaw or crafting their own conversion. But now there are two models on the market. One from Infernal Machinesand one from Brown Water Navy Miniatures. This review focuses on the Brown Water Navy Miniaturesmodel. Prompted by post from TMP member Hussar123 extolling the virtues of this model, I purchased a copy to add to my mighty squadron.

USS Eastport in broadside. The model has nice curves on both bow and stern.

This shot shows off the decking on all the surfaces.

Eastport was not a small ship, coming in at 280 feet in length. This is comparable to USS Chotaw and USS Lafayette both of which have a similar configuration. Checking the models dimensions against the data on file we find that it's not quite hitting the scale marks.

Dimensions	Actual (in feet)	Model (in cm)	Variance model to actual
Length	280	12.7	-9%
Hull Width	43	2.4	+12%
Width with wheels	32	3.42	-1%

* Measurement data from Silverstone, Paul H. 2001. Civil War Navies 1855-1883. Annapolis, Naval Institute Press.

The model is a little short and a little wide, but the overall width comes in almost on the money. Is it noticible? In my opinion...no. This is actually a very nice looking model! The proportions look quite believable and it makes an attractive looking ship.

The above scale critique is not meant as a condemnation of the model. You can find similar variances with other models from other ranges if you look. Instead this is offered as a somewhat objective standard so you can compare how it fits against other models available in 1/600 scale.

The stacks and wheelhouses both look believable for the scale. Gunports are modeled as a raise square cover. Which works for the period. The only thing that looks a little off is the deck 'etching'. Etching is in quotes as it's not really etched, it's part of the printing process and it's likely that this is more a limitation of the printers than an artistics failing.If you don't like the decking Brown Water Navy Miniatures

offers the model in a plain casting with no deck etching.

If you put it side by side with a model from Thoroughbred, Bay Area Yards or Peter Pig, the deck planks will look noticeably wider, but if you apply the standard gaming 'three foot rule', the model should look fine.

Stacks are a little shorter and thicker than conventional modeling, but the results are passable for the game table! If you look closely, you can see the deck planks and compare with Thoroughbred Models miniature in the top of the image.

USS Choctaw from Thoroughbred Models in background. Eastport should be about a quarter inch longer than the Choctaw model, but it's actually about a half inch shorter.

This didn't work so well with the black on white, but you can see the comparison between the two models.

The Verdict

I'm happy with this model. It should make a fine addition to my ACW naval collection. I recommend it to anyone looking for an Eastport model in 1/600.

Update: I traded e-mail with Brown Water Navy Miniatures regarding the scaling issue. They agree and will look into it when they get some time.

Check back for future installments to see how the Eastport paints up and looks when ready for the game table!

It's been another productive week getting work done on the ACW naval backlog. Several additional items are done, several more are almost done and a few new items have been added to the queue. So without further delay...here's week seven!

What's done
The big news here is that USS Varuna is ready for the tabletop. Varuna is a Bay Area Yards model that - unfortunately - is out of production. The model is of a warship with a short but distinguished history. Varuna fought with Farragut and was sunk at the Battle of the Forts during the assault on New Orleans.

Added the guns.

Just realized I didn't paint the yards on each mast.

And on a white background.

Next up, we have a couple of shore batteries. Both of these are from the Bay Area Yards line and both are still in stock.

The two gun battery position with bombproof. Guns are Thoroughbred Miniatures garrison guns.

One gun battery. Exterior is covered in flocking.

And both batteries together.

What's Almost done
The rigging on the Florida is installed. Remaining tasks are to paint the rigging.

There's a lot of steel wire in this image.

I'm still thinking the stacks need a darker shade of gray applied. This may be the week.

A chronic problem I have with the big ships is the base warping and rising as you could seen on the right.

There's not a lot new with the Lackawanna and the McRae this week. Kearsarge and Calhoun are stalled waiting on the weather to improve for their base coat of spray paint. It's an opportunity to get some more models ready for the base coat so we get those most bang for the buck as it were.

What's New?

A couple of new items. Broke out the model USS Miami that's been patiently waiting on the box for the last 17 months ago. I can't complain. That model of USS Varuna you see up the page? It's been in the queue since 2007. In addition, I received a model of USS Eastport from Shapeways. It should be relatively straightforward to finish, but it does require warmer weather suitable for spray painting.

Two double enders - USS Miami in the foreground and USS Sassacus in the back.

Two parts added to the hull - a mast and a stack. Miami apparently only has the one mast. There is a small length of styrene that I must admit I have no idea where it goes.

View from off the port bow.

Don't mind the dog hair - it gets into everything!

Well. Almost forgot to post an update for this week. And it's been such a great week!

Not much moved to the 'done' column this week. but lots of progress in the other areas.

What's Done?

Finished up painting the rigging on USS Varuna and got the matte coat of varnish applied.

What's almost done?

Good progress on the CSS Thomas Jefferson and CSS Patrick Henry. Both had their ordnance installed and the rigging is coming along. Finding some odds and ends to paint as this progressed. Should be done in the next week or two. (Did I mention that rigging in a pain?)

CSS Patrick Henry from Bay Area Yards.

CSS Thomas Jefferson with the guns mounted. Rigging is underway.

CSS Patrick Henry with the bow and stern pivots mounted. Lots of work left on the rigging.

What's 'In Progress'?

We had a gorgeous day on Saturday almost like early summer. Highs in the 70's, sunshine and dry air - spray painting weather! Several hulls that were ready for a primer coat got painted as did a whole mess of guns from Bay Area Yards.

CSS Calhoun. Good shot of the detail that went into this model. It's a great piece.

CSS Calhoun from Bay Area Yards.

USS Easport from Brown Water Navy Miniatures (Shapeways).

USS Kearsarge from Thoroughbred Figures.

USS Miami from Bay Area Yards.

Typical double ender. Big heavy semi-pivots mounted fore and aft.

Miami had a very different hull form than did the Sassacus or John Paul Jones class double enders.

In addition to the priming work, some general painting was done to CSS McRae and USS Lackawanna.

CSS McRae from Bay Area Yards. Working on the block painting before starting the detail work.

The masts cleaned up nicely!

Another week already?

Progress in the past week was much slower than in preceding weeks. This is due to two factors - 1 the nature of the main task (rigging) is by it's nature slow work for me. The other has been time devoted to another hobby (model trains) cut into my free time this week. This next week will be similar, mostly due to preparations for CINCYCON which is next weekend. I'll be hosting two games (ACW naval using Smoke on the Water and Mongoose Publishing's Starship Troopers). So time to work on the models will be somewhat limited.

With that out of the way, here's the progress from the last week.

Rigging on the CSS Patrick Henry continues. Actually, the rigging is installed -painting is the next task!

May have spoke too soon. The bowsprit needs another wire run to the foremast.

Looking down on the CSS Thomas Jefferson. Armed with two pivot rifles.

CSS Thomas Jefferson is getting there. four more wires to go!

USS Pawnee is just getting started.

USS Sassacus needs one more wire and then painting starts!

That's all for now!

I'm home and unpacked from Cincycon. okay in fairness, I was home every day as it's just the other side of town. But the con is over for me, which is kinda sad. I could not let fighting a cold all weekend slow down my commitment to hosting the two games I'd submitted. Plus, I got to shop, catch up with friends and squeeze in some game time for me.

General observations
Cincycon runs as a three day convetion over Friday-Saturday and Sunday. I showed up late Friday afternoon to light crowds. I get this - a lot of kids are getting out of school and we adults are wrapping up the work week. Walking in the door, you were hit with a boisterous fun game of modern skirmish combat hosted by the folks from Miniature Building Authority.

The Falafel house has been car bombed! A block over protesters mug for the CNN camera crew.

A most gorgeous table with lots of great details.

The airfield in the foreground. The ocean is in the background at the far end of the table.

Sadly, I had no time to play this game as I had to get my own game on the table - ACW Naval!

Round out the night, my friend Bob and I ended up playing the Atermis starship combat simulator. A series of linked PC, it creates the environment of the bridge crew working through encounters with hostile ships. What a hoot! It's a great blend of wargame with as much role playing as you want to bring to the table. Felt very much like being on the bridge of a ship in your favorite sci-fi series.

Our captain manages (from L to R) sensors, weapons and helm. I'm sitting at comms with Engineering at right. Main viewer in the right background.

I did get in some time to shop in Sunday. Purchases from three vendors. First up a 'vintage' copy of Wings of War Famous Aces. It was missing one card and I got a great price on the incomplete game. Three more maneuver decks and a forth for which I'll have to make a replacement card. Not bad for $10 bucks!

Miniatures Building Authority got some of my money. This time for restaurant tables and a register counter. If you worked in many restaurants in the 80's these look really familiar.

The three pieces. Another set has two tables and no counter.

The napkin holder and condiments are a nice touch.

Last was a few 28mm modern Afghans. Though to be honest, they look like they could be used from the 1980 invasion through today.

Two RPG's and a LMG on a bipod

REally like the prone sniper figure.

This guy is sure in a hurry to meet Allah!

At left, a Mongoose US Army SAW gunner. At right the Sangin Skirmish MG gunner.

At left a figure from Stan Johansen. On right, Sangin Skirmish figure.

A demo game table shows off the figures. Really well done work here!

Amazing work both on the figures and the terrain.

I ran a Starship Troopers game on Saturday night that was well received. On the table next door was an excellent Robotech RPG Tactics game which was beautifully excecuted.

The odd bits of green are the debris of a destroyed Zentradi warship floating in space.

This really brings back some memories.

Overall, a great show. Already looking forward to next year's event!

Cincycon 2016 featured an American Civil War naval game loosely based on Hampton Roads. This battle of Hampton Roads had some odds and ends. In addition to USS Monitor, the steam frigate USS Minnesota was off the shoal and joined by USS St. Lawrence being pushed around with the aid of a tugboat. The casemate ironclad CSS Virginia was joined by the gunboats Patrick Henry and Jamestown.

Rules: Smoke on the Water, from Canis Publishing.

Scale: 1/600

Models:

USS Monitor - Peter Pig
USS Minnesota - Bay Area Yards
USS St. Lawrence - Bay Area Yards
Union tugboat - Thoroughbred Figures

CSS Virginia - Thoroughbred Figures
CSS Patrick Henry - Bay Area Yards
CSS Jamestown - Bay Area Yards

The Confederates enter the roads from the southwest, the Union steam in from the northeast leaving the protection of Fortress Monroe behind them. St. Lawrence, realizing it cannot keep up, rapidly falls behind and out of the game.

Minnesota maneuvers to deliver the broadside.

Though starting cautiously, USS Minnesota soon accelerated into the center of the battle and drew fire from all sides. Three of the first four heavy rifle shots from CSS Virginia were DUDS, sparing Minnesota 30 points of damage. There was much grumbling about the quality of the Richmond primers and fuzes. In return, a broadside of the Minnesota (20 guns!) resulted in 1 pentration of the casemate by the 10" smoothbore, 18 bounced rounds of 8" and IX" gunfire...and a critical hit to the boiler! Steam filled the ship, scalding many crew men working the lower deck. The survivors abandoned ship. Leaving Patrick Henry and Jamestown to fight on or run away.

Fire burns on Minnesota while steam pours out of Virginia.

Well that's one way for it to play out, but not much fun at a convention, so ceding the Union a victory, play proceeded as if the boiler survived.

Minnesota took fire, caught on fire and deciding that today was NOT a good day to die, broke off and retreated to the relative safety of Fortress Monroe.

The action then shifted to USS Monitor. Monitor had a lot of trouble hitting the approaching gunboats. Their fast speed let them close in rapidly and with some good ship handling, both gunboats rammed the Monitor...

Minnesota sent the port broadside into CSS Patrick Henry causing moderate damage and a fire.

Sound collision!

Great ship handling - the CSS ships did the best possible job maneuvering to contact.

With little effect. Monitor suffered a machinery hit reducing her speed to slow. Didn't even lock together. Both Confederate ships attempted to board Monitor, but the attempt was repulsed with losses to both boarding vessels.

Monitor slowly backed off and unloaded the 11" guns into Patrick Henry. Between the heavy guns and the fire, Patrick Henry was crippled and sank.

Monitor did not escape unscathed. Accurate fire from the heavy guns on all three Confederate warships reduced the turret to scrap. Monitor limped away, taking fire from the Virigina, which could not catch up. Jamestown, seeing what fate had befallen Patrick Henry steered clear and went to the assistance of Virgina.

A fun little game with lots of action. The dice were hot as armor was repeatedly penetrated with generally low probability opportunities. Very far from the grinding slugfest that was the original battle, but perhaps an idea of what would have happened with guns firing shot at full powder charges.

Things will go your way if you hold on for one more day.

The landing boat from the TFN John Chard had set down hard in the clearing. AA fire from a Plasma Bug had crippled the vehicle. It had to be more than bad luck thought, Lt. Shepperd. Did the bugs know that the SICON Intelligence officer was aboard? No matter, after calling Fleet, Shepperd's orders were to hold the landing boat until relived by a combat repair unit from the 7th Cavalry. Shepperd ordered his platoon Sargeants - Barry and Snyder to unload the troops and set up a preimeter. The extensive stocks of supplys aboard ship meant that at least ammo should not be a problem. The squad leaders were all first rate, and there was a relatively clear fire zone in all directions.

The initial waves of bugs were easily handled. 1st Squad lost their war correspondent and a trooper, but continued to hold the line.

Warrior losses were high, but with "Endless Tide" in effect, the dead returned the next turn.

Lurking behind the woods was the Arachnid Overseer, a sort of 'Battle Brain'.

The skirmishing Warriors masked the approach of the tanker bugs, which tunnel up right at the MI line. The MI are in trouble.

That tanker is about to spit out some nasty acid stuff. The MI are mostly reduced to using grenade launchers to have any hope of injuring the monster.

But hold on - help is on the way!

The elements of the 7th Cavalry have arrived! They start pouring rocket and missile fire into the Overseer bug...

...taking it out! This throws the bugs into disarray for the next turn.

Getting a quick shot in for the newscasts!

While the MI finished off the first tanker, a second emerged from the group and laid down a devastating stream of acid on the MI. But the repair party did their work - the landing boat was repaired! All the survivors piled back into the boat.


Not a moment too soon as a Plasma bug appears in the distance and two swarms of hopper bugs sweep in toward the landing boat.

Firing up the engines, the survivors breath easier knowing they escaped a horrible death. Back the ship!

Good day and welcome to week 10!

As predicted in the week 9 update, very little was accomplished this week due to the demands of preparing for Cincycon 2016. However, very little means something was accomplished. To wit - rigging on several ships is completed or nearly so.

Completed
Two ships have their rigging completed - CSS Patrick Henry and the USS Sassacus double ender.

CSS Patrick Henry with the standing rigging installed. A quick coat of black paint and this model is complete!

Slightly different angle of the Patrick Henry

Sassacus class double ender. The masts are from Bay Area Yards, so the rigging does help keep things in place.

In progress

CSS Jamestown / Thomas Jefferson. Need to finish up the rigging. Maybe four more wires and it's done!

Back to the yards
Following the convention, USS Minnesota took a little damage to the forward standing rigging. It may be an opportunity to redo some of the standing rigging. The model was completed several years ago when the author's skills were not as developed.

USS Minnesota from Bay Area Yards. The masts and rigging were one of the author's earliest attempts.

Another somewhat slow week in the yards. The week started off with a bronchial-sinus cold that sucked away the will to do much work. But towards the end of the week, the weather cleaned up enough and my energy levels bounced back enough to accomplish a few things.

What's Completed
Good news everyone! Three models can be marked as finished - CSS Patrick Henry, CSS Jamestown and USS Sassacus all have the rigging installed and are ready for the game table. Huzzah!

CSS Patrick Henry

CSS Jamestown

USS Sassacus

What's in Progress?

A fair amount of activity this week. Basically a lot of small tasks that are not yet gelling into tangible results.

CSS McRae is slowly getting painted.

USS Susquehanna had the masts assembled and mounting holes drilled out this week.

A big side wheel frigate. A nice model from Bay Area Yards.

The post from the aft mast is smaller than the other two. I drilled to hole too large and the mast rattles around a bit.

USS Miami also slowly getting painted.

USS Calhoun getting a little pigment laid on. I'm thinking a mostly gray palette for this one.

Bit of a mess right now. Painting the superstructure is a pain with the hogging beams in place.

USS Eastport getting the base coat applied. Thinking white upper works and tan/gray decks.

USS Kearsarge with a dark gray hull color applied.

Slow work on USS Pawnee. Doing a good job on the rigging adds a lot of time to the modeling process.

A Milestone!

The two Lackawanna class sloops. The one in back is the last unassembled model in the queue. At this point every model is assembled and at least primed! Huzzah! Huzzah!

While I was laid up this week, I spent some time reading Donald L. Caney's book Lincoln's Navy. I wish I'd read this years ago. This book is loaded with great tidbits on ship's ordnance, ship handling and rigging that all influence how a model would appear in action. Knowing what I know now, I'd go back and change details on almost every model. Grab a copy if you find it!

A quick post for this week. Good progress was made this week. Several models moved through the painting queue fairly rapidly. Rigging continues for USS Pawnee and a new unit joins the fleet!

What's completed
One new model joined the squadron ready for action - USS Eastport. This model, from Brown Water Navy Miniatures, is a 3D printed model available via Shapeways.com.

Overhead view of the Eastport, base is styrene covered in Woodland Scenics Flexpaste and painted.

In this image you can see the deck planks that are printed into the model. A bit large for 1/600, but a nice effect.

More of a broadside shot. There are two gunports in the starboard broadside under the pilot house. The paint scheme used on this model is an effort to capture the Western Gunboat Flottila regulations for all upper works to be painted white. The muddy brown river is an attempt to model the Mississippi andthe Red River waters - the typical environment in which Eastport operated.

What's in Progress
Lot's of items in progress. Nothing left to assemble, so the work is either painting or modelling rigging (which could count as assembly, but it feels more like finishing details.)

Painting of the Bay Area Yards model of USS Calhoun is underway.

Overview of CSS Calhoun. In hindsight, the cabin walls should have been painted before assembly. Thinking that the hogging beam needs to be repainted in a darker color.

USS Kearsarge is getting a little bit of paint. The interior walls need a second coat of white.

The twins are getting painted. Both are Bay Area Yards models of Lackawanna and her sister should be done in a week or two.

Another model from Bay Area Yards. CSS McRae is moving along. A little touch up work, then it's mount the guns and rig the masts. McRae sees service with the Mississippi River Defense Fleet at New Orleans and Head of Passes.

USS Pawnee is sucking in the wire. When done, there will be close to three feet of wire in the rigging.

This really shows off the wire rigging.

USS Pawnee is one of the many models of Union warships available from Bay Area Yards.

After languishing for years (yeah, that's right - years) USS Susquehanna is advancing toward completion.

The mizzen mast needs to be mounted in place.

USS Miami (Go Miami!) Getting her paint on. the paddle wheels may get a coat of red to celebrate the colors of her namesake university.

The model shows off the space reserved for the bow and stern semi-pivots. Most images of the Miami only depict the single mast forward. It looks a little odd, but steamboats in combat mostly relied on the steam engine for propulsion.

What's New?
Not much - what's new with you? At this pace, the naval project may be finished by the end of April. The good news is there are two more big projects in the backlog - 25-28mm Anglo-Sikh War and the 15mm Sci-Fi / Traveller. It's a toss up as to which is next in priority. Leaning toward Sikh War if only to support a game for the fall convention season.

In a moment of whimsy, I thought I'd try painting the red anti-fouling paint around the base of Sussquehanna. I'm not happy with the look. It seems both too bright and too large. I could try again using a carmine red and clean up the paint on the hull and the base. But I may just go back to black.

13 weeks!

When I started the ACW Naval blog updates 13 weeks ago, the objective was to hold my feet to the fire and get the 1/600 models assembled and painted. After a quarter of a year, I can see that great progress has been made and that a fair bit of work remains. Time to take stock of the achievements and lessons learned and outline what remains to be done.

One achievement is that all the ship models have been assembled. Items that have languished in boxes since 2007 are assembled and based! Given that it was a 9 year backlog, this alone is cause for celebration.

New models have joined the tabletop fleet and are ready for play. This includes a salvaged Sassacus model, two Patrick Henry models, USS Varuna, USS Calhoun, USS Pawnee, USS Eastport, CSS Florida, CSS Selma, the Confederate Yazoo Monster, Battery Buchanan and assorted gun batteries. Not bad work for a quarter of a year!

Lessons learned

You don't have to do a lot of work all at once. A little work, when you can do it adds up over time. Don't feel like you can't tackle the project because you can't set aside enough time to do it all at once. Break the task into small parts and take each as time allows. It's surprising how quickly the results build up!

Sharing the results along the way has helped improve the finished work. Knowing that someone else will view these models pushes the quality bar higher and results in a better product than just a 'table ready' model.

Sweat the details. You'll be happier knowing you've giving the model the best effort you can muster. But don't drown in sweat - at the end of the day these are tabletop gaming models. Remember the 3 foot rule!

On to week 13 results!

What's done...
Two models join the fleet this week - USS Pawnee and USS Calhoun. Pawnee served on the Potomac River flotilla in 1861 and remained in service for the rest of the war.

Ready for action!


Seriously? Two wires are missing from the foremast?

This quarter view showcases the amount of standing rigging present on the model.

USS Calhoun from Bay Area Yards.

Calhoun has the distinction of starting service with the Confederacy before falling into Union hands. For such a small vessel, Calhoun was in the thick of the action through the war.

What's coming along...

Work on the squadron of Union sloops continues Kearsarge moving through the paint queue while the two Lackawanna class sloops have received their armament and await touch up painting and rigging.

USS Kearsarge from Throughbred Models.

USS Lackawanna from Bay Area Yards.

"Are we not the baddest sloops in the fleet, Lackawanna?"

"Yes we are Other Lackawanna. Yes we are."

USS Susquehanna is coming along with painting almost finished on the masts and the hull touched up after the recent red lead incident.

The model in the rear is an old TCS casting of a blockade runner in "not-1/600" scale. a fellow gamer cut off the deck fittings using industrial equipment. The conversion was done way back in the day before Bay Area Yards existed and was far beyond the current range of Thoroughbred models available. Given the limitations of the model and the modlellers skill the result continues to serve in Ray's fleet filling in for whatever large sidewheeler is required.

With the TCS model in the foreground. The masts are very simple posts. The mizzen mast was scrounged from a Throughbred Sassacus kit that as sacrificed for parts (but which was recently resurrected and refit - see earlier post)

USS Susquehanna and USS Miami.

Both models are from Bay Area Yards.

USS Miami is about ready to receive armament and rigging as well.

Apparently Miami only has the single mast forward. This might be unique as I cannot point to another double ender with the same configuration.

What's in the queue...
Finishing up the above project really leaves one big project in the queue with a couple of minor tasks to finish off the project. The big project is indeed big - Bay Area Yards USS Minnesota model. There's a bit of painting to do, then mount the formidable spar deck armament...and then the rigging.

That's A LOT OF MAST!

USS Minnesota in broadside, the masts tower over the hull.

As the ACW naval project nears completion, it's time to start the prep work for the next task - rebooting the Anglo-Sikh war gaming project. I've enough figures to game the battles of Mookdee and Ferozeshah, but not enough to do the big decisive battle of Sobraon.

Fortunately, I have a big backlog of figures to work with as a result of having backed Studio Miniatures Sikh Wars Kickstarter campaign back in 2013. The figures arrived at the end of 2013 and have been patiently awaiting paint.

The current task is rounding up all the figures. In addition to the Studio Miniatures figures there are additional figures from Foundry and Old Glory hidden in boxes. The quest begins by assembling and sorting the figures.

This box of odds and ends is mostly Old Glory and Foundry figures. Rocket launchers and camel guns - nothing unusual here. Five stands of painted and based HEIC infantry - a good start!

I've sorted the British back into their respective units, fished out the artillery and a camel gun. More British regulars than I can fathom every needing.

I'd forgotten how much progress I'd made with the Sikhs two years ago.

Assorted British mounted officers. I plan on updating the division command stands with these models from the Old Glory and Studio Miniatures line.

Stay tuned and watch the progress - with luck this project will be completed before the end of spring!

The first week of the second quarter sees the ACW naval project moving into the end game phase. All ships assembled and mostly painted. The single largest remaining task is rig the ship models, paint the rigging and touch up the paint post-rigging. As usual, here's the update on what was done since the last report, what is planned for the next week and what the challenges to overcome.

All this weeks models are from Bay Area Yards. Most of these are still available for purchase. So if you like what you see - go get one!

What's almost done?
USS Miami is almost ready to join the fleet. The rigging is installed and just needs a coat of black paint. This is an easy objective for the week!

Late war armament with two 24# mounted aft in place of the 80# pivot.

This angle shows off the rigging to better effect.

CSS Teaser had another gun mounted aft and a little touch up paint. Ready to join the James River Squadron!

What's in progress?
Most of the models are stuck in the rigging phase. There is a LOT to do here. The plan is to tackle it in blocks of work where each ship gets a wire added and then is left for the glue to set. It's tedious, but with good timing, 2-3 wires can be added to each model a day. Even so, this task will take at least the next two weeks to complete.

CSS McRae about a third done! Bay Area Yards model.

USS Lackawanna. Foremast is almost rigged.

USS Susquehanna with masts mounted.

Trying a different way of attaching the standing rigging to the bowsprit. It was easier to attach, but will wait for painting to see how it turns out.

What's next?
Slowly working on the last few models in the queue. No progress on USS Kearsarge this week. Instead, the focus was on painting USS Minnesota. The horizontal white stripe on the hull is done. Next step is likely painting and mounting the spar deck guns and then move on to rigging.

Needs a little touch up on the stripe. This thing is going to eat a LOT of wire for the rigging!

What are the challenges?
Challenges are non-technical. The house suffered a small siding loss in the storm Saturday, so that needs to take priority over painting. Plus there are external meetings and games for which to prepare. Progress on all the above models is expected, though few with the exception of USS Miami are likely to be completed in the next week.

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We had a spirited day of gaming today at one of our Friendly Local Game Stores - Epic Loot in Centerville, Ohio. Over the course of three games, many planes were shot down, exploded or succesfully bombed their targets.

We started with the a Stakken raid of two bombers on a target in England. While the targets were destroyed or heavily damaged and several RFC fighters were shot down, in the end, both Stakken were eliminated for a narrow victory to the Allies. This was a great scenario and would be a good candidate for a refight as there were lots of events that could give this a much different outcome.

I flew one Stakken. I suffered TWO explosion cards which did me in (on top of additional damage suffered between the two boom cards). I crushed my target dumping both bomb loads directly on the bridge and inflicting maximum damage.
I collided with Bill's Snipe, I took 2 points of damage. I don't know what Bill too for damage. In the end, the swarm of Allied fighters shot me down as I was on the return leg of my mission.

Die Stakken gekommen!

The two forces interpenetrate the lines. A Snipe rams into a Stakken.

Those Stakken are HUGE!

Target destroyed! The Stakken drops the bridge into the river.

The Stakken are turning around as the fighters move in for the kill.

Running for the friendly table edge, the Stakken is brought down by a burst of .303 from a Bristol fighter.

Game # 2 - Float plane Hell, WWI style!

The W.29, a W.12 and an Albatross W.4 close with the bombers.

The Handly Page bombers lumber along.

The bombers split up. Maybe not the most effective tactic, but it did reduce the amount of fire they took from the German fighters.

A pair of Albatross W.4 Dom's Decals on the left plane. Revirisco decals (from the W.29 decal set) on the right.

Circling around after the first pass.

Blue on Blue collision as a W.4 and the W.29 collide.

Another collision this time between the H-P bomber and the W.29

It's looking bleak for the H-P as the German fighters swarm about.

The Albatross W.4 continues to burn (and will explode at the end of the game). The W.29 cannot close with the bomber.

Good day and welcome to week 15!

A mixed week. More progress was made on the rigging front and less progress was made on the painting front. Good news is that week 16 is likely to be more of a painting week.

What's done?
Nothing! Absolutely nothing! Despite the plan anticipating the painting on the Miami would be finished this week, that did not happen.

What's in Progress?
Lots! Good progress was made rigging the models. In fact, CSS McRae joins Miami in the paint queue. The two Lackawanna class sloops will done t his week, assuming that the one with the 'minimalist' rig looks okay.

CSS McRae from Bay Area Yards

McRae again.

Lackawanna with the minimalist rigging. It's easier and likely more durable for the tabletop.

But the Lackawanna with the additional rigging looks so much cooler!

The additional wires are more likely to break off during a game.

What's on deck?

Finishing up the rigging on the Susquehanna and then tackling the Kearsarge and Minnesota. First step is painting the deck guns for both models.

Susquehanna just needs the mizzen mast rigging to move to the paint queue.

Nice quarter angle showing off the amount of steel wire on the model.

The guns required to complete the Kearsarge and Minnesota models. The guns on the stick came with the Throughbred Kearsarge kit, the others are Bay Area Yards guns.

Week 16? Seriously?

This plan is seriously working. Much progress was made this week. So much so that the end of the project can be visualized. But enough of that, get to the models!

What's done!

CSS McRae and USS Miami are done and join, the fleet!

USS Miami

USS Miami quarter view. Fine model from Bay Area Yards.

But, wait, there's more! USS Lackawanna and her sister are completed as well!

Beam shot of USS Lackawanna

Lackawanna, again.

What's in progress?

So what's in progress? Basically what is left in the queue - USS Susquehanna, USS Kearsarge and USS Minnesota. Susquehanna is close to complete needing just a little touch up on the paint.

Nice beam view of Susquehanna.

So much wire...

Seriously, that's a lot of wire. Several feet at least.

Overhead view of Susquehanna.

USS Kearsarge.

USS Minnesota with the early 1862 armament. (Plus the full gun deck under the spar deck.)

10" pivot forward with 8" guns on the spar deck. Guns are mostly from Bay Area Yards, but there are four Thoroughbred guns mixed in on deck.

What's Next?
Get cracking on finishing this project up! Install the last of the guns, touch up the paint and get busy installing the rigging for Minnesota and Kearsarge!

Making good - but slow - progress on the remaining ships in the queue.

Basically down to rigging the last few models. This is going to take a couple of weeks and may require additional wire. The Minnesota is going to require several feet of wire for the stays and back stays. But the end is in sight!

Before the starting the rigging, I googled "USS Minnesota rigging". Which gave no results for the Minnesota, but did return a nice schematic of USS Constitution. That schematic - when printed - accidentally scales out well with the Minnesota model and became a good guide for the stays and backstays. Pat David posted the original which you can find here.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/patdavid/4409524942

The Bay Area Yards model of the USS Minnesota before starting on the rigging, but basically done with painting.

Added the stays for the foremast. Lots of work to do here!

This is a LOT of wire!

Added the first back stay on the starboard side of the foremast.

The assembly on Kearsarge is complete. I was going to complain about how the instructions should tell you to install the guns before adding the railing. It turns out the instructions do say that, I'd just forgotten or not read that section. My bad.

Before adding the guns.

The Thoroughbred Figures model of USS Kearsarge.

After the guns are installed and the stays for the foremast are installed.

These pictures do help. Just realized I have to paint the bedding rolls on the railings.

Here's a secret - the broadside guns are from Bay Area Yards. It's because I screwed up and didn't mount the TB guns before putting the top of the railings in. The BAY guns are small enough to fit in the hole.

Not every project starts or ends as well as we'd like. Some you just get through and say 'good enough'. What follows are a few of those from a time that I just needed to get the models 'table ready'. Not my best work and they likely need to go back into the painting queue to be redone. (But still...table ready!)

Okay, the port stack snapped off during a game. So it was good enough to play with. The paint around the gun ports is ill defined, the deck planks need black washing to bring out the details and the hatch covers should be painted.

Where to start? Deck painting uneven. dripping/bleeding from casement onto fore deck. Excess glue where stack joins deck. WHAT is going on the with the pilot house? Need to paint the texas and the fittings on the upper deck.

The prior ship in profile.

Another tinclad. Nice mold line down the wide of the top deck! Pilot house painting is a hack job. Casemate is too dark. Sloppy painting around the funnels on the casemate roof. Didn't even attempt to paint/wash the windows and doors off the promenade deck.

Blech!

I think the only thing I like is the paddle wheel.

Shapeways redux - a review of Brown Water Navy Miniatures model of USS Eastport

ACW Naval status update - week seven

ACW Naval status report - week 8

ACW Naval review - Week 9

Cincycon 2016 is in the books

Tales from the Anaconda: The Battle of Hampton Roads. March 1862

Starship Troopers: Waiting for the Cavalry

ACW Naval update - week 10

ACW Naval - status update week 11

ACW Naval status update - week 12

Don't try this at home ( I wish I hadn't)

ACW Naval week 13 update

Work on the squadron of Union sloops continues Kearsarge moving through the paint queue while the two Lackawanna class sloops have received their armament and await touch up painting and rigging.

USS Kearsarge from Throughbred Models.

USS Lackawanna from Bay Area Yards.

"Are we not the baddest sloops in the fleet, Lackawanna?"

"Yes we are Other Lackawanna. Yes we are."

USS Susquehanna is coming along with painting almost finished on the masts and the hull touched up after the recent red lead incident.

USS Miami is about ready to receive armament and rigging as well.

The Sikh Wars - reloaded!

ACW Naval Week 14 status report

Anaconda is available again!

Wings of Glory - WWI Air War at the FLGS

ACW Naval week 15 status update

ACW Naval status update - week 16

ACW Naval - status update week 18

Squadron of misfit steamships

Work on the squadron of Union sloops continues Kearsarge moving through the paint queue while the two Lackawanna class sloops have received their armament and await touch up painting and rigging.

USS Kearsarge from Throughbred Models.USS Lackawanna from Bay Area Yards."Are we not the baddest sloops in the fleet, Lackawanna?""Yes we are Other Lackawanna. Yes we are."

USS Susquehanna is coming along with painting almost finished on the masts and the hull touched up after the recent red lead incident.

USS Miami is about ready to receive armament and rigging as well.

USS Kearsarge from Throughbred Models.

USS Lackawanna from Bay Area Yards.

"Are we not the baddest sloops in the fleet, Lackawanna?"

"Yes we are Other Lackawanna. Yes we are."