Hobby | Ye Olde Telegraph

Amazingly, somewhere in between Oblivion Remastered sessions and baby care, I've got some painting in. Not for the Battle of Lake Erie though; I've done so many schooners that I was in a mood to do something completely different. Something that's great about naval wargaming is that terrain isn't a necessity, other than an ocean mat. Staring at an empty ocean isn't all that fun either though. While I like what Warlord has on offer in terms of terrain, I've turned to Hagen Miniatures, a German company, for this particular venture. Their catalogue has a plethora of terrain, accessories, and even ships that are all in scale with the Warlord range. What we have here is a Chappe telegraph diorama. 

Hobby | Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge XV Wrap Up

The Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge is done and dusted, and I was able to hit my goal with exclusively Black Seas models. Turns out you get a lot of points for submitting naval miniatures on account of all the extra stuff you have to do. For my last post, I took some glamor photos, and well I enjoyed them so much that I wanted them to be here on my own blog as well. 

Tutorial | Sloop-of-War Conversion

This post is a sort of part 2 to the Converting a Brigantine post I made not too long ago. But, in the interest of each post being a complete bit of content in case this is the first one that you encounter, there'll be some repeat photos. The beginning steps are the same as you produce hulls for each ship type. 

Tutorial | Converting a Large Cutter

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. 

Hobby | Black Seas Santa Ana

Now that I've run through all of the ship sizes in the game, it was time to go big. This is the generic Spanish 1st Rate, cast in resin with metal masts. I decided that I would paint her as the ship Santa Ana, as the generic model fits closely with her look. Warlord does provide a unique Santa Ana model, but I don't feel like hunting that one down when this will do. 

Hobby | Black Seas HM Brig Speedy

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. 

Hobby | Black Seas L’Hermione

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. 

Paint Recipe | Black Seas Spanish Navy

I’m moving through all of the major nations present in Black Seas, and now it’s the turn of the Spanish. I have painted a Spanish ship before, a large merchant vessel, but it’s not the “official” scheme used by Warlord Games to denote our Iberian friends. I use official loosely, as there weren’t really standardized paint schemes in this timeframe, more like pick a color out of this pot, and it was almost always a variation of yellow it seems. Regardless, here’s the red version.

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 | Black Seas 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. 

Hobby | Funboat Gunboat (Season of Scenery 2024)

We now return from outer space, away from the high tech past into our much lower tech past with some gunboats for Black Seas. The name makes them sound more threatening than they are, but if enough of them get into your face you can be in a world of pain. 

Hobby | Black Seas 38-gun Frigate (Season of Scenery 2024)

Back from space ships to sea ships, I have another Black Seas model completed, also in Royal Navy colors. This time it's a 38-gun frigate, one of their models from the plastic range and provided in the starter set. 

Hobby | Black Seas Brig (Season of Scenery 2024)

With the Mordheim campaign in full swing now, Black Seas is taking a pause, but not before I finished painting one of their plastic ships, the dimunutive brig, this one in Royal Navy colors.

Space Din-O-Pinions | New England Escapades

Hello all, it has been a little bit since I last had a post here, and apologies for not leaving any comments on all of your blogs. I've been out on a much needed vacation, touring about the New England coast. Now that I'm back, fully refreshed, I'm ready to get back into the hobby groove, but with some new additions on the horizon.