My third submission for the challenge is a 1/600 scale model of the British broadside ironclad HMS Hector. The Hector entered service in 1864 and was armed with 20 68 pounders and 4 110 pounder guns. She had a top speed of 12.6 knots, which was very fast such a large ship in the era. Note - there's a wisp of thread for the rigging along the stern - sorry about that!
A broadside ironclad is exactly what the name describes - these steam/sail powered ships were armored along the sides but had little to no armor across the bow or sterns. The armor thickness was 114mm on top of 457mm of wood - pretty good for the age.
The Hector will be joined by the HMS Warrior and HMS Scorpion as part of a British intervention force I'm building for a convention game this summer (Historicon). The game will be split in two parts - the first day will be a naval encounter with the British trying to force a landing and the second game will be a land based battle using 28mm figures including the new Perry British intervention force. The specific scenario will be influenced by the outcome of the naval game.
From a modeling perspective, this was a tough/frustrating project. The final model is about 90% scratch built. I did purchase a hull casting for a merchant but found it unusable - except for the smoke state. The rest of the hull has been redone by myself and the mast/furled sails are are scratch built. It's still a serviceable model from a game perspective.
The model is 5.5 inches long and four high. In terms of scoring, I'll leave that up to Mr Curt. I'm just glad to have the darn thing done! I suspect you'll see some other British ships and maybe even French ironclad relatively soon.
From Curt:
Fantastic work Miles and a very interesting project (I quite like the sound of your interventionist scenario). Will we be seeing some of the Perry Interventionist models during the Challenge? I hope so.
Due to its size, complexity and the fact that it was largely scratchbuilt, I'm going to score this like a modified 28mm vehicle, so 20 points. Again, great work.
Tremendous work. And well deserved place at the top. I won't catch you> But will another.
ReplyDeletegood job. i think. should write the name of the vessel on board.
ReplyDeleteAt 1/600 scale?! Riiight...
Deletesometimes people draw eyes of 10mm miniatures ^)
DeleteNow that I've seen mustaches on 6mm figures, I suppose I have been derelict in duty and shall properly adorn The Hector with her name.
DeleteSometimes I wonder if I'm descending into madness....
:)
Great work from your own shipyard, Miles. And very interesting gaming idea!
ReplyDeleteImpressive!
ReplyDeleteI like that.. Look forward to seeing the Warrior. , fond memories of working on its restoration .
ReplyDeleteExcellent ship Miles. :)
ReplyDeleteNicely constructed and painted. Now, "come cheer up my lads..."
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful model and project. I'll be following this with real interest. I second Curt on wanting to see the Perry sculpts for the Challenge.
ReplyDeleteInteresting information. 457mm thickness wood under iron. That's almost half a meter of wood. Crikey.
ReplyDeletecheers
These ships were really marvels of engineering in their day - it's fascinating to read some of the captains log entries on daily life aboard
DeleteWhat a splendid piece of work.
ReplyDelete"Sometimes I wonder if I'm descending into madness...."
ReplyDeleteI think our being here shows that we're all taking that downwards staircase, you're just ahead of the rest of us. :)
Especially nice work for a scratch built model. That game at Historicon interests me.
Cheers,
M
Scratch-built?? I never would have guessed. Who cares if you're mad when you get such good results? ;)
ReplyDeleteFantastic work on this ship! Scratch built model in this scale? I take my hat of Sir!
ReplyDeleteGreetings
Peter