Merchantmen Painted

Unfortunately the photos I took did not turn out very well . . . but I have now painted the nine merchant ships that I got from Panzerschiffe's 1/2400 Merchant Ships package MG-5.

I chose that group of merchant ships because it seemed to include the highest number of freighters.

As you can see, I've painted them in rather bright colors so that there will be a good contrast between them and the various naval warships that they might encounter.

(Note: "click" on photo to see a larger image.)

-- Jeff

Naval Reinforcements Arrive

Yesterday (Friday, October 22) I received a package from Panzerschiffe. In it were the seven armored cruisers from the Battle off Ulsan, five protected cruisers, six flotilla craft and a package of nine merchant ships. I was a bit surprised that it was delivered so quickly . . . most mail here in Canada is on the slow side.

All 27 ships are now temporarally mounted on craft sticks and have been primed. A few thoughts . . .

First, the flotilla craft (D-311 Russian TBs and D-312 Japanese TBDs) are TINY. I mean very very small. Both are about an inch long and very thin . . . which is giving me pause as to my planned basing.

Second, I am in a way disappointed by the merchant ships. But don't get me wrong, they are really very nice . . . and all nine are unique . . . but most appear to be larger than the battleships and armored cruisers. I was expecting them to be a tad smaller.

Incidently, my plan is to paint each of these merchantmen with a different color pattern . . . which should be fun.

-- Jeff

The Sea Surface & More Ships

I recently purchased a vinyl mat for my naval gaming. It isn't quite large enough to reach the edges of my 5' wide table . . . but at around four and a half feet there will only be a few inches of table on each side. It is a tad over 11' long, so it fits my ten and a half foot table well.

I've also got some paints that mix to virtually the same color as the mat . . . so that will work fine. And I've pretty much decided upon Pre-Dread bases of 30mm x 100mm (roughly 1 1/4" x 4") because I do want some sea room between ships.

I've located some pre-painted (white) flat wood "door stops" at our local Home Depot. They are fairly thick (9.5mm or 3/8"), but that's fine since I want to see the ships handled by the bases and not the vessels themselves. Furthermore my plan is to put the ship identification on the sides of the bases; not on the upper surface.

Finally I just ordered another mess of ships from Panzerschiffe . . . 18 cruisers (a mix of Armoured and Protected Cruisers for each side) and 9 merchant ships (set #5) for convoy and commerce raiding use.

-- Jeff