Tuesday 22 December 2015

From MilesR: 28mm War of 1812 US Gunboat

 Here's my last submission for the first day - a US Gunboat from the War of 1812 in 28mm scale.  The boat is a laser cut kit that's available from LaserDreamworks and was fairly easy to build.  It's just under 18 inches long and was a nice change of "paint scale" pace.

A previously painted 28mm figure is provided for scale (no points for the figure).

 It looks a little bare on the crew side as the figures I ordered for the crew are still in the post.  I'll add them in a future post once they arrive.  There are a few other ships I need to complete also.

By the end of this year's challenge I hope to have a small fleet of US and British ships complete with crews.  This one is in the "mid-size" range of what's planned.

These gunboats were fairly common as river defense units and could either be sailed or rowed into position.  Once battle was joined (which was rarely) the sails would be put away and the ship rowed.  The ship packs a pretty good punch for her size by mounting two 32 pound carronades on rotating mounts.  During the British campaign in the Chesapeake Bay (you know the time you so rudely burned the White House down) these gunboats would dart in and out of the many inlets and creeks up and down the Bay.  The boats didn't have a keel so could go into very shallow waters which the larger British ships couldn't pursue into.

I've left the model "sans rigging" as I want to playlets it a bit to see how it works on the tabletop.  This model will be used in my upcoming Historicon game along a few other ships and there will be lots of board actions and timbers being shivered (hopefully).

Ohh wow, how lovely is that! Wonderful stuff Miles. I know you have purchased a few of these kits and look forward to seeing the rest of your flotilla.

As for scoring, hmm... Based on its mass, let's call it the equivalent of four 28mm vehicles, so 60 points. Excellent work.



32 comments:

  1. It's only day 3 and I'm already amazed by the diversity of miniatures on show..... That is if you can call this beast a "miniature"! Really nice work, ship/boat action at 28mm must look fantastic.

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  2. Cracking work Miles! Can't wait to see what else you come up with for this project!

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  3. This is a really nice model, very clean. Very interesting project, too.

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  4. What a good boat. What a big project, already salivating for more!

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  5. wery nice work and good look model

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  6. Thanks for the comments - I really do like building ship models and have a fair number more to complete by the end of the challenge!

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  7. Excellent stuff. The fleet will look impressive

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  8. A very fine piece I look forward to seeing the crew.

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  9. Although I am a complete land lubber, there is always something very enticing about model ships. This one is a real beauty.

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  10. Lovely, lovely stuffMiles. Well done.
    Cheers, PD

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  11. That is a beaut of ship model for being waterlined. From bow to stern, lots of nice details and very well painted!

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  12. Really cool! Great work Miles.

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  13. That is a lovely US gunboat, Miles. Shame the British guns are going to sink it!

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  14. I checked the LaserDreamworks website. They have some super models available!

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  15. Very lovely work (and, as a Canadian we are always happy to see anything from "our" 1-0 record Vs the Yanks ;p). Great stuff.

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    1. Technically your 1-1 since you were involved in the AWI when Benedict Arnold invaded you!

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    2. Never let facts get in the way of good fiction! I was explaining to curt when I was a little kid in Virginia I would tease my best friend about that, fortunately he didn't have your rebuttal! Cheers

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    3. Attempted invasion on Arnold's part leading yo a retreat in ignomy, the same fate suffered by invasions from the South in 1759 and 1812-14.
      Cheers, PD

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    4. Plus the failed Fenian raids of 1866-71. Does that make it 4-0?

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    5. details, details - we got the best part of Cananda when the Acadians relocated to Louisiana - the guys left up north aren't nearly as much fun and their cooking isn't as good!
      :)

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  16. Radical. Very nice piece of kit to play games on. cheers

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  17. One of the things I love about the Challenge is finding out about periods or genres I wasn't very familiar with prior. Had no idea these sorts of ships existed or fought in the War of 1812. Thanks for sharing the awesomeness!

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