Sunday, November 10, 2013

1/1800 Ships

The helping hand of Poseidon

In the previous post, I indicated that I had made a miscalculation on the scale of ships to be used for my imagi-nations project.  That is, the 1/1800 ships don't match my existing BMC fleet. For example, armored cruisers in comparison. 



But, since I have the 1/1800 samples, let's at least see what we've got here.   Shapeways is an option if you like the 1900 era in this scale. Of course, the A&A War at Sea tie-in is at play for the Shapeways ships.  So as you might expect, WW2 is much in evidence, as well as some very nice what-if ships for refighting scenarios from the Bywater novel, The Great Pacific War.  But, there are ships for the Spanish-American War.  Here we have a good portion of the Spanish fleet on a sprue.



I painted the Brooklyn. Interesting that this ship is cast in the semi-transparent plastic as used by WTJ, vs. most being the white plastic as seen above. I added the .015" masts and shimmed the base with a thin layer of styrene.


Next up, the HMS Thunderchild. HG Wells aside, It's a good generic pre-dreadnought, suitable for British or Japanese battleships in this style.  A sturdy model with the masts already done. The white plastic is slightly rough in texture, but hardly noticeable once the paint goes on.




You do get good value for the money at Shapeways, but for high caliber models, nothing beats the Rapid Prototyped WTJ ships.  http://www.wtj.com/store/index_paint_guide_hist-photo.html

First up, we have one of my favorite pre-dreads, the Russian Retvisan. Built in Philadelphia, I like the look of it compared to the French style of most of the Russian battleships. Painted her in the peacetime livery.


And a German battleship, Kaiser class. Some care must be taken with these models, they are tough but not indestructible. Unlike the 1/1500 ships, these examples have no pre-drilled hole for the upper masts, should you care to add them. I ham-handedly snapped off the rear mast of this ship while inserting the wire, had to drill and pin it to the deck to salvage the model.  I also trimmed the wire a little too close, but once done there was no turning back.



Kudos for WTJ for a process which packs such detail into a small package. But what I like best is the scaleability.  The same ships, your choice of anything from 1/1500 to 1/3000.   And my final decision for the Weltkrieg project ?  1/1500.  Fortunately WTJ had some samples in stock, and thus allowing me to avoid the production queue time,  I ordered some.  Love the bigger ships and examples to follow shortly. 

6 comments:

  1. Hi Steve,

    Lovely looking models as usual. I like the darker brown upper decks/walkways and the portholes - they really seem to bring the ships to life. Now that you have settled on the the scale email me your address as I have something for you....;-)

    All the best,

    DC

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  2. Thanks, David.

    Yes, the portholes are a good example of the detail of WTJ vs. the simpler Shapeways models. If they're already cast, not hard to highlight but I wasn't going to paint them from scratch on the Shapeways ships.

    And I'll send you my address !

    Regards,
    Steve

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  3. This has all been very useful, Steve. I'm glad I didn't dive in as soon as you started your Weltkrieg project. The 1/1500 do seem to be the right choice. Cheers!

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  4. I'm glad the post was of use to you, AlFront. That's been one of the more gratifying aspects of blogging: as well as providing a creative outlet or providing some eye candy for people to look at, that something of value to others can occasionally come of the postings.

    Regards,
    Steve

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  5. Nicely done. I already use 1/2400 for my Pre-dreads. Most are from Panzerschiffe, but I plan to add a few WTJ now that they make 1/2400 as their line expands.

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  6. Thanks, Aaron. Good to hear from you. It'll be good to see your WTJ ships in 1/2400.

    Regards,
    Steve

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