Thursday, March 15, 2018

Set sails IV: A British 74



There hasn't been much time for gaming and hobbying lately due to family life.  Something we all content with time to time; not that it's bad.  But it does produce moments where I briefly walk into the hobby room while doing some chore, or pause in the garage while taking out the trash (my miniatures are stored in the garage), and glance longingly about the miniatures and sigh.


Even More British 

Anyways...despite me complaining there has been a few hours spend here and there at the hobby desk, in the wee hours of the night while everyone else sleeps (I mean 9 PM) so I've managed to complete a ship of the line.

Fresh from the ship yard is a British 3rd rate 74 gun Ship of the Line.  Painted in dazzling 'Nelson Checker.' 





I think this ship came out really well, if I do say so myself.  This is my 5th ship, so practice effects are apparent as I get better at getting the details of the deck down right (which are hard to see in pictures but more visible to the naked eye, but trust me; they're splendid!).






I have found that the double jib sails are a pain, they never seem to fit right with the foremast and I always have to bend them up and around.  I much prefer the bowsprits with a single jib, but when you order the sails it seems to be random on which one you get.



This ship is at 'fighting sails' with the t'gallant sails (upper sails) and courses (lower sails) furled, with only the topsails (middle sails) deployed along with the spanker (sail hanging over the stern).  This is just to be different from the other British ships that are at 'easy sail.'   I was initially toying with the idea that all the British ships could be at one sail set and all the French ships at another for the purpose of easy recognition, but now I want variety.





TLDR version: "Lookit, I make ship, she purrty."

Thanks for looking.

16 comments:

  1. Purrty indeed - A lovely job that you can just stare at for ages.

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    1. Thank you, I hope the ships will last for ages to come. 😀

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  2. That looks splendid Stew and I am mightily impressed by your tugging and painting skills let me assure you. Unfortunately it’s a skill I have not got and I doubt I would have the patience to do the wonderful work you gave completed. How many have you got now?

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    1. Thanks! Though I assure you that if you can paint Napoleonic uniforms you can paint a ship. 😀

      How many? Just this 1 after the previous shipping disaster. 😀 but there are 5 others really just wanting rigging (or re-rigging) so the total will “soon” be 6.

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  3. Well rendered age of sail miniatures are in a class all themselves—both appealing and worthy of study. Splendid results, indeed, on display here!

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    1. Why thank you kind sir. You are too kind.

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  4. Nice, always amazed at the detail people get on these little ships.

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    1. It helps that the models come with lots of details, though I do like to post pics that have my tubby fingers in them to provide an idea of how small the ships are. 😀

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  5. Incredible details, a wonderful job!

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  6. Purrty indeed! What are you using for basing on these?

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    1. Thanks very much! The ships are based on the ‘sculpted sea base’ that you just buy when you’re buying the hull and sails, so really just part of the kit. Nothing special. Just paint it blue-ish and dry brush the waves.

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    2. Oh, but then you add a magnetic layer? It looks like two parts on the picture is all.

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    3. Exactly. The sea bass is glued to a magnet ordered from Shogun Miniatures that is the same size as the base. This does double duty as providing a method for storage and increasing the thickness of the base so the ship is easier to hold / move.

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  7. Lovely work on this 74, the classic of it's time great rigging, good practice for the other five I guess?
    Best Iain

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  8. Thank you!
    Ha! It’s a little funny that by the time I’ve finished all 6, I’ll actually have the experience of rigging 10 (because 4 are repeats). That’s life for you.

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