Before diving further into my Lake Erie project, I need to wrap up the last model I haven't posted about on here from the Analogue Hobby Challenge. This is a Bomb Ketch, a ship made for launching mortar shells at land targets, although in game, you could try to target a ship. But good luck with that.
As I'm sure you all can see, I've been obsessed with little ships lately. When it comes to painting, I've just been going along, painting an English ship, then a French, a Spanish, an American, and then a grab bag. Not that there's anything wrong with that style, per se, but I wanted to try something a little different. I took some inspiration from JJ over at JJ's Wargames, where he picks a particular battle, then gathers all of the ships involved, models and paints them, and finally creates a suitable scenario.
The last project he chose was the Battle of Camperdown, which is a sizable battle. I, however, am a simple minded man with not enough patience for that (yet). So I've decided to go small-er. Not so small as single ship actions, mind, because that's way too easy to do. Instead I'm taking a look at the War of 1812, specifically the Battle of Lake Erie.
The one that started it all. Old Ironsides herself. Yes, I finally got around to the USS Constitution, my favorite ship in history, and fiction for that matter. This particular rendition is a resin and metal model from Warlord Games Black Seas. Let's see how the model holds up.
If you purchase one of the various starter fleet boxes for Black Seas, inside you'll find plenty of plastic ships along with some metal bits. These metal bits let you customize your frigates and 3rd rates into bespoke famous ships. The United States has 3 normal sized frigates in their box: Congress, Chesapeake, and Constellation. Interestingly, they provide 3 stern plates and 4 figureheads. Intrigued, I looked into it. The figureheads match the USS Constellation, but there were two of them: the first one of the original six frigates, and the second a sloop-of-war from the American Civil War era. The stern plate and the carved wood figurehead belong to the sloop-of-war, which now sits in Baltimore. The more ornate, angelic figurehead matches the original Constellation. I set that aside for now, and I decided to work on the 1854 version.
I went really big, now back down to the really small, to the second smallest seagoing ship-type in the game: a large cutter. But unlike all of my other Black Seas ships so far, this is not a Warlord Games model. This is a cutter from Hagen Miniatures, a miniature company from Germany.
Because being technically right is the best kind of right, Speedy does not get the designation HMS, as she is not a ship, as she does not have 3 square rigged masts. So she is His Majesty's Brig Speedy. This ship, and her captain, are famous for punching way above their weight class. Which is ironic, as Warlord Games decided to cast this in all metal, making her incredibly heavy for her size when compared with the other ships I've painted so far. So an extra coating of matte varnish to keep from chipping.
After I established my paint recipe for French ships, it’s time to toss that aside for some “historical” realism. You see, this ship exists today. Sure, it’s a replica of a past ship, but all the same there are actual reference photos that exist. So for the Hermione, I went with the colors, or a close approximation, that she currently is painted in.
Another turn around the sun and we find ourselves facing another year. New Years can be new opportunities, or a chance to finish the ones we set out for ourselves last year. I've taken some time to clean up the hobby desk, organize some collections, and generally make things more accessible to make my goals a little easier to achieve. Now lets see what I plan to do.
