From Sylvain: 1:2400 WWII Royal Navy for Mers-El-Kebir (24 points)

From Sylvain:

Above is what I have painted so far for the Royal Navy. Unfortunately, I will not be able to paint any more until the 23rd of March, so after the end of the challenge. I am seriously considering early retirement in order to be more competitive next year :-). 

This time, I am submitting HMS Valiant, HMS Hood, HMS Ark Royal, HMS Enterprise (a light cruiser) and 6 destroyers. The first two ships mentioned are from CinC, all the rest are from GHQ. HMS Hood is not in WW2 configuration, but only experts like PeterD can tell the difference. 

What do all these ships have in common? They fought at Mers-El-Kebir.  PeterD has in his collection the remaining ships present at the battle.  So it is now a matter of time before you read a battle report from Algeria in 1940. 

This close-up of HMS Ark Royal shows heavy weathering. When I asked PeterD what color he painted his own Royal Navy models, he mentioned that British ships were at sea most of the time and, therefore, battered by the elements. It's a little difficult to "scale down" rust at 1:2400, but I am quite pleased with the result. Liferafts were usually grey, but I cheated and used a dull orange to create some contrast. 

Here is HMS Hood, eternally associated to the hunt for the Bismark. But Hood also played an important role at Mers-El-Kebir. I used Hood to test colors for the Royal Navy and was not really satisfied with the result. But since it's a CinC model I got for cheap, I'll just keep it the way she is and will eventually buy the GHQ model. Sorry CinC, but the details on GHQ models are just too awesome. 

Best of luck to all the participants in the challenge!

Lovely work Sylvain! I"m really looking forward to you and Peter putting these through their paces at Mers-El-Kebir in the near future.

These ships from the Royal Navy will give Sylvain 24 well-earned points.

From SylvainR: 1:2400 WWII French Naval Force (86 points)

From Sylvain:

This is "La Royale" in 1940, as French sailors affectuously refer to their "Marine Nationale", even centuries after beheading Louis XVI.

I just finished a batch of 14 destroyers, 14 cruisers and 4 battleships. The cruiser category includes 6 light cruisers, 5 heavy cruisers, 2 old battleships (Lorraine and Bretagne) and 1 carrier (Béarn). Note that one of the modern battleships, the "Jean Bart", does not have a B-turret, as it was not completed when she had to flee France for Dakar.

This close-up shows an old WW1 era battleship close to a Dunkerque-class battleship and a Richelieu-class battleship. I decided to have a unified color scheme: the French Navy in 1940, instead of painting the most fancy camouflage scheme for each ship. "Gloire", a light cruiser, had what is probably the most disturbing razzle dazzle camouflage ever seen (see picture 44).

A light cruiser, a heavy cruiser and an aircraft carrier (seen at top of post). The cruisers were built as responses to the Italian vessels of the same type, that were fast and well armed.

Three destroyers and a light cruisers. It is difficult to appreciate how big the destroyers are in reality, and I have no British destroyer handy to make a comparison. The Washington treaty did impose strict weight limitations on battleships and cruisers, but none on destroyers. So the French produced destroyers on steroids that were the size of older light cruisers and were designed to go as fast as 45 knots (in theory).

Excellent work Sylvain! I'm very impressed at your progress with this project, bravo! I also look forward to having you and Peter dream up some scenarios for us to try these models out.

Sylvain's French fleet will garner him a well-earned 86 points. Great job!

From ChrisP: 1:285 Modern Vehicles and Infantry & 1:2400 USS New Jersey (108 points)

From Chris: 

Here are the 6mm I promised. I was waiting to have them all done before sending them through, some have been done since the first couple of days of the competition! 

Anyway, it is more 6mm stuff from me, this time, some Russians and some US support stuff. Miniatures are from Heroics and Ros and Scotia. 

First up for the Russians we have 6 T-80 MBT (see above), then 3 T-62 and 3 ZSU-57mm AA, all done in two tone camo. The camo worked out really well, I am looking forward to acquiring more of them and having another go at it.

Then we have some of the cooler support weapons, first is 6 PT-76 amphibious tanks for the Naval Infantry, and 3 ASU-85's for the Airborne. Both were specialised pieces of kit- the PT-76 can swim well (how well depends on how much you believe the Russian designers), the ASU-85 was designed to be air transported and to give the airborne some AT support! 

As ever, an army needs transport. The Russians have it in the form of 9 plain green trucks.Not much to say about them except they are darn useful! Much better than walking.

Lastly for the Russians we have some missile support, in the form of 3 Frog-7 Ballistic Missile launchers. Used by the Iraqis against coalition (and civilian) targets, carrying a conventional, nuclear or chemical warhead these are some scarily big missiles with red noses! 

On to the Western forces.

First for them is 3 M60 MBT, along with 1 M113 ACAV. The ACAV is definitly from Scotia, and is pretty horrible. But.. it is one of those things which I couldn't resist painting! So I gave it a vietnam era colour scheme, and it will sit on my shelf as a reminder to buy GHQ. The M60s are in desert colours, and may well get used as Israelis.

Then, we have a collection of infantry support weapons. Front rank is 3 Browning M2 50cal machineguns, followed by 6 81mm mortars. These will form a support formation in the rules. Infantry are from GHQ.

Of course, the West needs a ride too, so we have just the 9 trucks for them as well. Desert yellow, with an orange air recognition panel on the bonnet. I am not super happy with how these turned out, but I am not so unhappy with them that I want to redo them.

Not to be out-rocketed by the WARPAC, NATO now can call on support from a Lance SSM battery. Not much to say about these, the models are a bit so-so, but they paint up ok.

Lastly, we have some serious firepower support in the form of the USS New Jersey, ready to unleash fire from it's three primary turrets, or it might just lob a cruise missile or two. This is a GHQ model, which I have had for a really long time. I found it in the move, and figured I should paint it!

Another great batch of microscale models Chris! These will give you 108 points.

From PeterD: 1:2400 British Naval & 1:1250 Aircraft (39 points)

Peter apparently shares the same writing style as myself in believing 'why use 10 words when 10,000 will do' ...

From Peter:

HMS Renown c1917.  These were part of the grab bag that I acquired from Sylvain.  Although CinC lists these as WW2 models, they in fact represent the Renown and Repulse as built in 1916-7!  Even in WW1 these two went into dock for upgrades so often that they were dubbed HMS Refit and Repair.  The fact that they were armoured on the same level as the I class battlecruisers that had blown up at Jutland didn't help their reputations either!  Between the wars they became very different ships - in fact they were far more valuable fleet units when 20 years old then when they were brand new.   The CinC casting is a complete failure for WW2 but works very well for WW1.  In fact I think they are the only 1:2400 models of these ships for WW1.

HMS Renown

In response to the air fleets launched from HMS Eagle, I've finished some elements from the Italian opposition.  Here we have a formation of 6 SM79 Sparvieros accompanied by two Macchi C200 Saetta.

The SM79 was likely the best Italian aircraft of WW2.  Originally designed as a passenger aircraft, it served in the Spanish Civil War, WW2 and into the 50s.  It was used as a medium bomber and as a torpedo bomber and was especially effective as a TB.  The MC200 Saetta was a fighter than was able to take on the British Hurricanes and P40s and served ever where that the Italians did in WW2.

These are all Cap Aero 1:1250 models mounted on florists wire (visible beneath one of the SM79s in the lower photo).  While the wire looks clunky in unpainted form, I find that you can acheive a disappearing act by painting it blue to match the bases. 

In these photos we see the Regia Aeronautica in action with elements of the RN's Mediterranean fleet (both of WW1 vintage but heavily modified for WW2).   We have HMS Warspite (a ship that should need no introduction) and the C class AA cruiser HMS Cairo.  The ships are of course GHQ 1:2400 models.

HMS Warspite

Finally we have two elements of the Regia Marina at sea, in the form of the Battleship RM Guilio Cesare and the cruiser RM Luigi Cadorna.  These two have been shadowed by two FAA Walruses (single bases) who have vectored in a flight of RAF Beaufort  torpedo bombers (reported piloted by Lts "Brutus" Smith and "Cassius" Jones). The ships are GHQ and the planes CAP Aero.

RM Guilio Cesare and RM Luigi Cadorna

The Cesare was a WW1 design that was upgraded (ok considerably rebuilt) in the 30s.  She served at the Battle of Calabria, where she set a record of sorts thanks to the long range hit that HMS Warspite scored on her.  She also sortied numerous times to intercept British convoys, notably the First Battle of Sirte.  After the war she was transferred to the USSR and served as the Novorossiysk before being sunk by ex-German mines, Italian frogmen or random gamma rays from Mars.  She had two sister, the Leonardo Da Vinci (sunk in WW1 by unstable ammo) and the Conte di Cavour (sunk at Taranto by FAA Swordfish).

The Luigi Cadorna was part of the second group of Condottieri cruisers.  She served in the Spanish Civil War and WW2 and was present at Calabria.  Being considered too weakly protected for fleet work she was assigned a range of more dangerous tasks!  These included minelaying and serving as a fast fuel and ammo transport.  She also took part in attempts to intercept RN convoys.  She served in the RM until the early 50s.  A sister the Armando Diaz was sunk by a RN submarine on the Libyan transport run.

(Falls sleeping from chair.) Right!  Oh, are we done? ;p  Seriously, great job on these Peter. I don't know if you need to rework any future flight stands with a pin vise etc. as these look brilliant to me. It's interesting how the difference in scale between the ships and aircraft really makes no difference in the overall aesthetic.

This group of ships and aircraft will give Peter 39 points. Nice work.

From SylvainR: 1:2400 WWII Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Tirpitz & Graf Zeppelin (12 points)

From Sylvain: 

I've just finished the last four units of my Kriegsmarine project:

Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Tirpitz and Graf Zeppelin. Above, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau are sporting the colors of their most famous sortie: Operation Berlin. The ship on the right is from CinC while the left one was made by GHQ. CinC's details, like the guns, are more to scale, but they are much fragile. I prefer the exaggerated details on the GHQ units. I also think the planes and the lifeboats add "life" to the model, details neglected on CinC units.

Tirpitz is escorted by the Bismarck in the foreground and the Graf Zeppelin in the background.

Lower image, Graf Zeppelin is escorting a U-boat. Since this aircraft carrier was never commissioned, I chose to paint it in the same pattern as the Bismarck, a pattern also featured on many other Kriegsmarine units. Apparently, Graf Zeppelin's primary mission was to serve as a spotting platform for U-boats. The planned complement of aircrafts included 20 spotter planes out of a capacity of 43 airplanes. It will be fun to see what kind of trouble these ships could have caused to the royal Navy if they would have operated together.

Next up, another enemy of the Royal Navy: la Marine française!!!

Excellent work Sylvain. I really like the Graf Zeppelin in the 'Razzle Dazzle' paint scheme. 

These four ships will give Sylvain 12 points. I look forward to seeing the upcoming French Fleet!

From SylvainR: 1:2400 WWII Kriegsmarine Cruisers (22 points)

Sylvain, the 'Lion of Hillsdale' sends us some more microscale German ships for us to marvel at.

From Sylvain:

Here is my new batch of German ships. There are 11 cruiser size ships.

First, 6 light cruisers.

Top: Emden (first German modern light cruiser, totally undergunned), Nurnberg and Leipzig.

Bottom: Köln, Königsberg and Karlsruhe (the "K" class)

3 heavy cruisers.

Top: Blücher on her way to invade Oslo and impress the fortress garrison with her 8" guns and Admiral Hipper, with her signature camouflage.

Bottom: Prinz Eugen in one of her many attire. She's like a princess with so many

dresses. I chose the camouflage of early 1941, similar to how the Bismarck was painted on her last voyage.

Note now colourful the ships are with their turrets featuring air recognition colours.

They almost rival the Italians.

Now, Top: The Altmark, cruising under the sun with the Graf Spee in the background (previously painted).

Bottom: the Scheswig-Holstein, a pre-dreadnought battleship known for firing the very first shots of WW2.

Next up: German capital ships.

Lovely work Sylvain (though likening the Prinz Eugen to a 'princess' made me tilt my head a bit) . These eleven will give you 22 points. Well done!

From PeterD: 1:2400 British Carrier HMS 'Eagle' & 1:1200 Aircraft (25 points)

Peter actually sent in this submission early yesterday but the reason for the delay in getting them up is that his pictures looked like they were taken from a Japanese reconnaissance plane under heavy flak. Since we were getting together for a game last night (more on that later) I offered to take a few shots of them after a steadying shot of eggnog (and perhaps something else added, can't remember).

From Peter

This is HMS Eagle circa 1941, a GHQ 1:2400 scale model, with air cover provided by 10 1:1200 models from Cap Aero (Fairey Fulmars and Swordfish).  The Eagle was started as a Chilean super-dreadnaught.  Work stopped during WW1, but the incomplete hull was purchased by the Royal Navy and converted to a fleet carrier in the 1920s.  She served nobly in the Med during WW2 until sunk by a U-boat on the Pedestal convoy of 1942 that saved Malta during its darkest hours.

I've painted Eagle in a camouflage pattern based on pictures off the interweb.  These all showed her starboard side, so I had to wing it on the port side.  The Cap Aero models are mounted two to a base to represent a flight of aircraft with florist's wire supports.  When I get around to the float plane scouts I will mount those one to a base.  The Cap Aero models are beautiful but fiddly, especially the bi-planes which need their top wings glued on.   There are 3 bases of Swordfish and 2 of Fulmars for a total of 10.

Excellent stuff Peter! While the carrier is great I really like the aircraft bases and the you did a super job on the aircraft themselves. 

I'm going to give Peter 25 points for this lot. 

From PeterD: 1:2400 WWII Merchantmen (17 points)

Peter sends in a juicy group of WWII merchantmen for rapacious sea raiders to hunt.

From Peter:

I finished up a set of 11 WW2 merchantmen while watching the Dr. Who Christmas special this morning.  These are 1:2400 resin casts from Panzerschiffe - a large range of solid, workman like ships that covers many ships not available otherwise.  I find them too crude for warships but the 2 packs of merchantmen I picked up were tremendous value for money. 

They come cast in battleship grey with a blackened funnel cap, and could be used straight up.  For a while, I considered drilling holes and adding masts and cranes (using wire and GHQ spares) but in the end I opted for a utilitarian approach and painted them as is.  And yes, I repainted the grey, then added layers of washes to simulate rust and grime. 

The photos include 3 Hunt class DDEs which predate the painting challenge so shouldn't be counted.  As for the point value, I will leave that to our moderator and chief judge Curt.

Very good work Peter. I look forward to sinking (or convoying) these in our upcoming engagements on the Med.

These eleven ships with their sea-bases will give Peter 17 points for his entry on the points roster. Welcome aboard Peter!

From SylvainR: 1:2400 WWII German Naval & Ronin #45 (58 points)

Sylvain opens his gambit with a wonderful selection of microscale WWII German U-Boats,  Z-Boats and his Challenge Ronin (#45).

From Sylvain:

Here is my first entry:

10 U-boots & 9 Z-boots, all at 1:2400, from GHQ. I've provided a close-up of a type IX U-boot hanging on my finger.

There is also my entrance fee, a samurai archer.  I don't know the maker. There is this notice on the base: AEG - Murch. I got this one from a friend in Montréal a long time ago.

Next up: Kriegsmarine light cruisers.

Beautiful work, Sylvain, and on such tiny castings! Very impressive. I also really like the basing you've done. Can't wait to play a game with them.  :)

With the work on the basing I'm going to score these ships the same as a 6mm vehicle, so 2 points each. Along with the samurai archer (Thank you again, Sylvain!), this will give him 58 points as a basis for his climb up the points roster.

"Worst Case Scenario #3" - Battle of Coronel - November 1, 1914

The Scharnhorst, Gneisnau and Dresden (1:2400 GHQ).

I put together this scenario a few years ago, being inspired by Robert K. Massie's brilliant WWI naval history, 'Castles of Steel'. 


A word of warning: This is a rather lopsided scenario. The British are all but  doomed to defeat, but the battle featured some poignant characters and has real guts behind it.  The German players will be sorely tested to do as well as von Spee while the British side will have to strive to see if they can come away better than Craddock. (I've added a 'what if' option to the British to even the odds somewhat.) The scenario seemed to be well-received the couple times I rolled it out - anyway, if you're interested give it a try and see what you think.


...

Dystopian Wars - Prussian Sky Fortress 'Ziethen'

Here's another update to my Dystopian Wars diversion, a Prussian 'Sky Fortress' which I've christened as the 'Ziethen'.

It only follows sensible reasoning that if Zeppelins are cool, and Steampunk is cool, then a Tesla-armed Zeppelin with an airfield on top must be the total cat's pyjamas. Actually, it was this model alone that sold me on the whole Dystopian Wars venture.

I really wanted to put a set of huge Maltese crosses on this bad boy so I poached a few decals from a 1/72 Albatross kit.

You'll have to excuse my arty 'cloud' composition but I was having a bit of fun with the pillow ticking...

Here we see the 'Ziethen' as she steams amongst the clouds, her lederhosen-wearing crew listening to 8-hour operas, reading Goethe and debating where they should land for Oktoberfest.

Coming Soon: We will return to our regular programming with some new Napoleonic Russians! (The first of what I'm sure will be many posts were I publicly shame Sylvain in his glacial progress with his own Napoleonic-Russo 'painting commitments'.)