From RaulM - AHPC XV Wrap up

I had a blast joining the challenge for the first time, it was a great source of motivation! I've loved posting and getting great comments from everyone, and I've spent hours just browsing through and admiring everyone's amazing work. I knocked out a ton of 1/700 scale sailing ships from the Black Seas range, and here they all are together for the first time. 

While that photo is great and all, it was a great time to squeeze in some glamor shots. So here we go, for each nation: 

The United States Navy

The Royal Navy

The Spanish

The French

Constellation vs a Barbay Xebec

Again, this was an amazing time. Big thanks to Paul for reviewing all of my posts and for all of the generous extra points. It helped me reach the goal I set out the beginning of 200 points, and I was even able to get a few points more and ended up with 235. I'll see all of you in next year's challenge, but in the meantime, I do post all of work to my blog, The Space Dinosaur Miniatures, if anyone wants to continue seeing my Black Seas and other games work. 

See everyone then! 

From RaulM: Black Seas Cutter and Schooner (20 points)

Life has been particularly busy for me as I just became a new dad, so this will more than likely be my last post for this year's hobby challenge. I was working on a Battle of Lake Erie project, and as part of that I have these two vessels: a cutter and a schooner. 

Both are metal models from Warlord Games Black Seas, although I do think that the schooner comes with resin hulls nowadays. They're fairly simple to build and paint as the sails are sculpted onto the masts, which eliminates a step when compared to the standard Black Seas models. 

The cutter comes in two varieties, an armed and unarmed version. I used the unarmed version, but added a 12-pdr gun to the fore and aft, run out on opposite sides. I based the look off of the HMS Little Belt, that itself was actually the Friends Good Will, of which a replica can be found at the Michigan Maritime Museum. It was fun to use some different colors than yellow and black. 

The schooner got the standard US Navy colours that I've established thus far. It has a little bit of stern detailing, that I embellished with a metallic gold paint. 

These are both planned for a Battle of Lake Erie scenario at some future time. 

As for points, they're both quite small, so I'm taking 5 points each for a total of 10 points. 

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I must admit to getting a bit excited each week when I see that Raul has a post ready for Minioning :-)

And this week's entry is no disappointment either! Two more lovely additions to your Fleets and the great lakes are a wonderful place to sail the lighter hulls. I really like the darker stains on the canvas on the Yankee Schooner too - reminds me of the effect sails get when furled not quite dry.

Lovely work as ever on all the details - worth 10 points each at least!

Most importantly though - hearty congratulations on becoming a Father!!! I'm thrilled for you, as I'm sure everyone else here is too. And you thought Wargaming was expensive.... :-)

- Paul

From RaulM: Black Seas USS Constitution (50 Points) (Lust)

She was lusted after by Paul in my last post, and so I have delivered in the first ring of the Abyss. I've painted Old Ironsides, or USS Constitution, a resin and metal model from Warlord Games Black Seas. 

This ship is the reason I got into Black Seas, as upon my visit I was enthralled and needed to get into some kind of naval wargame where I could use this model. I believe it's one of the earlier Black Seas resin models to be made, as some of the details are quite chunky when compared to the latest releases. All the same though, I like the look of this model. 

I kept the metal masts this time around, as they were thick enough to withstand some touching. With all of the rigging and sails in place they're quite solid. The kit came with a stern davit, but it covered all of the beautiful stern detailing, and I couldn't bring myself to the do that to the model. Instead, I stole the quarter-davit boats from the USS United States model, and I think it nails that iconic look of the Humphrey's frigates without obscuring any critical details. 

I do think the bow railing is a tad chunky, but I think that was a limitation of the casting, as otherwise all of this detail would have been too difficult to cast. I think the Black Seas ships are a "heroic" scale for naval miniatures, as details like figureheads and stern galleries are larger than they should be just so that you can actually read what's going on. And I'm totally ok with that and actually prefer it. 

Based on ratings I've done for previous ships, I'll score this at 20 points, as it's larger than a standard frigate, almost about the same size as a 3rd rate. I've claimed the Lust bonus for this one as Paul wanted to see this model before the challenge was up, and I also have really wanted to point this one. That gives me 40 points total for the post. 

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A fabulous beauty she is too Raul, well worth waiting for! As ever, your work on the rigging, sails, pennants and flags is top notch and worth some bonus points too. 

Thanks indeed for prioritising "Old Ironsides" - thats made my week!

- Paul

From RaulM: Black Seas USS Constellation, Sloop-of-War, and Bomb Ketch (80 Points)

Yup, you guessed it. More Black Seas. I've got another 3 ships done. The USS Constellation from 1854, a British ship-rigged sloop-of-war, and finally a a generic bomb ketch. 

The USS Constellation is one of the named ships that comes in the US Navy starter fleet from Warlord Games. The intent was for it to be one of the original six frigates of the US Navy, but the supplied bits were for the later version from 1854. I did a fair amount of conversion work to the stern to integrate that piece, as Warlord does not make a frigate with a rounded stern. 

This Sloop-of-war is an even heavier conversion, albeit a common one in the Black Seas space. I fused two of the smaller brigs together to make this 3-mast ship. I also took a plastic stern plate from the frigate, and molded it to the back. Finally, I raised the stern deck to create a raised quarterdeck. I did all of this conversion work a long time ago, and I finally decided to paint it so that'll be my exit from Limbo and into the larger world of Dante's Inferno. 

Finally, the Bomb Ketch. Nothing special was done to this vessel, other than that I didn't give it a nationality. I only have 3 of these, and instead of limiting each one to a nation, I decided to keep it generic so I can use it with any fleet in any scenario. 

 For the final points tally, I have:

USS Constellation: 15 points

Sloop-of-War: 15 points + Limbo 20 points

Bomb Ketch: 10 points

For a total of 60 points. 

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What a treat you've sailed in again Raul! You are really doing some fantastic work with these Black Sea ships. The rigging, rat lines, sails and pennants really are top notch. Please take a bunch of bonus points for the great eye for detail in your modelling

I'm hoping you do a USS Constitution during the challenge too: I've been aboard 'Old Ironsides' on three occasions including being "rung aboard" formally, and my name is inscribed on the protective copper hull sheeting under the waterline :-)

- Paul

From RaulM: Black Seas 1st Rate, Xebec, and Cutter (60 points)

My second post for the challenge is even more Black Seas, covering a spread of vessels that all could have been found in the Mediterranean during the Napoleonic Wars. A Spanish 1st rate, a Barbary Pirate xebec, and a French cutter. 

The Spanish 1st rate is one of the generic resin Spanish 1st rates that Warlord offers. I didn't like the white metal masts provided, so I took the yards and the fighting tops and attached them to masts I made with brass tubing. The paint scheme is based on the Santa Ana, who fought in several fleet actions, notably surviving the Battle of Trafalgar. 

The Xebec is another Warlord resin model, the large xebec. I kept the metal masts for this as they are chunkier and therefore not as prone to bending. The paint scheme is nothing special, very similar to the official box art that Warlord uses. 

Finally, the cutter. This is a metal model from Hagen Miniatures, with quite a bit of conversion work done to it to add the 12 guns on the deck and the square topsail. I used the Renard for reference, as it was the first thing that came up on google search when I was looking at French cutters.

For points I based it on the small brig being 10 points and the medium frigate as 15 points, so a 5 point up or down based on the size the vessel is given in game. 

1st Rate (XL): 25 points

Xebec (S): 10 points

Cutter (T): 5 points

For a total of 40 points. 

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Stunning work Raul - anyone who has dabbled in the majestic art of naval warship modelling (the creme of the hobby obviously, apart from Miles that is) knows what fine work this is. Wonderful lines, dynamic flags and billowing sails. Stirring stuff!

I'm awarding 20 bonus points for the conversion work, scratch building new masts, the lovely ratlines and taut rigging work - beautifully done!

Fair winds and following seas to you Raul!

-Paul

From RaulM: Black Seas Speedy and Hermione (25 points)

This is my first time posting to the Challenge, so I'm excited to dive on in. With a lull in the action between Christmas and New Years, I had some time to get some hobbying done. My first offerings for the challenge are two vessels from Warlord Games Black Seas: the HMS Speedy and L'Hermione. 

Speedy is an English 14-gun brig-sloop, famous for her action against the Spanish xebec-frigate El Gamo. The hull and masts are metal, and she's painted in the typical Royal Navy fashion with a yellow stripe on a black hull. 

The Hermione is a French frigate, which I based off the current replica of the ship. This is the standard plastic 32-gun frigate model with bespoke metal sternplate and figurehead from the French starter navy.  

Based on some past posts of Black Seas ships, I scored the brig at 10 points and the frigate at 15, for a total of 25. 

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First, welcome to the Challenge Raul! Every year we have new faces in the ranks which I always enjoy to see.

These two tall ships look absolutely tremendous Raul. I'm especially impressed with your shading on the sails, the pennants and flags and the tidy (and painstaking) job on the rigging. Bravo! A great opening broadside for your Challenge debut!

- Curt