Tutorial | Making a Brigantine for Black Seas

Black Seas has a great set of models, but if there's one ship type you get a lot of, it's brigs. Not that there's anything wrong with brigs. It's just that, at least in terms of plastic models, you jump from tiny little un-rated brigs up to 5th rate frigates. And there's also a jump from the even more minuscule gunboats to the brig. Yes, there are resin models that fill those gaps, but they are harder to acquire as you have to get them direct from Warlord Games, which gets expensive, or hope you get lucky on Amazon or Ebay. Luckily, other folks have noticed this problem and have converted up some solutions. This is my attempt.  

Hobby | Stop, Martello Time

One thing that's really easy about naval wargaming is that the terrain can be really easy; just throw down a blue cloth and you're done. That doesn't mean that there's no terrain either though. A lot of naval actions happened fairly close to shore, or involved land elements as well. That includes these little guys known as Martello Towers, which is a misspelling of the Italian martella, or hammer. 

Paint Recipe | French Navy

I’ve been working my way up in ship sizes to the largest plastic model available in the Black Seas range: the 3rd rate. They come with generic figureheads and stern galleries on a standard 74-gun body. However, you can also purchase unique ships that come with their own bespoke ornaments cast in white metal. This particular example is the Bucentaure, of Trafalgar fame, that comes in the French Navy box. 

Paint Recipe | United States Navy

Last post, I painted up an American brig using more generic ship colors. That wouldn't do for the USS President, one of the famous six US frigates. I went for the classic black hull with white stripe that you can currently see on the USS Constitution in Boston harbor. I visited that ship earlier this year, and what I saw informed a lot of the decisions I made. 

Hobby | Black Seas American Brig

With the Necromunda campaign wrapping up soon and a lull in the action as we look towards another Mordheim campaign, I’ve been venturing back into the world of Black Seas. I have another brig painted up, this time for the American side of things. However, I didn’t paint this up in the “official” US Navy color scheme, instead opting for a more generic look befitting a privateer or a merchant ship pressed into service with the fledgling navy.