Saturday 15 January 2022

From TeemuL: Oceanic Motor Torpedo Boats [Perelandra] (35 points)

We dive to the Middle Ring, and find a tempting planet called Perelandra and we take a closer look at this oceanic planet. And what we find from this place, G-5 MTBs (they are not mountain bikes and I'm not a naval expert by any means) going full speed and guns ready. G-5 class of Motor Torpedo Boat was a Soviet design before and during WW2. Three of them were captured by Finnish forces (hooray!), but only two saw action under Finnish flag before they were returned to Soviet Union after Armistice. Well, here we have four boats, so this is not the Finnish navy. :) They have white flags with red star, so they are clearly Soviets.

The white spots in front are intentional

I don't know much about naval warfare or ships (or boats), but a lot can be learned from Wikipedia, like most of the stuff in the first chapter. I got these from a Warlord Games mystery box (hinted by someone during previous Challenge (or a Challenge before that)) among other things. Like I said, naval battles are a mystery to me, but they are a great fit for the Perelandra planet - I knew they would be useful. I basically followed the cover art on these little boats, painted the windows, spotlights, crew members, coated everything with grey Contrast before using brighter colors to pick up the details - for example the crew members have dark blue uniform, rather pale skin and green helmets.

Since I don't play with these things, basing was a bit difficult. Should I base them or not, and if yes, what bases to use. Without bases they get easily broken in the storage box sitting calmly on a shelf for half a century, I decided to base them. And base them like a small diorama (vignette? dioramette?), which should protect them from wear and tear and also look rather pretty on the shelf by themselves. The base is mdf base from Warbases (terrain base, maybe) and I glued the boats on it in a nice formation. I wanted to create some wave effects, but decided to do it in 2D. I could have looked at reference pictures, but that would have given me pressure, so I ignored it and just painted dark blue first and then gradually lighter tones until fine white lines and spots here and there. It was quite fun, also painting these small boats was fun, but I have no reason to buy more of these, right?


I looked at the posts from previous Challenge, and these 1:300 Cruel Seas ships have been scored as 15mm vehicles for 8 points a piece. And there has been points given for small crew members as well. 8 points for this vehicle is a bit too much in my opinion, but I'll take it. And 1:300 scale is pretty much same as the 6mm scale, so half a point for full figure is reasonable. There are 8 more or less half crew members, so that's 2 points for the crew and 32 points for the boats, total 34 points and a squirrel.


Closeup

My personal Squirrel count: 6

- 20mm Napoleonic

- 28mm Sludge

- 28mm Pulp

- 28mm Warhammer 40000 Xenos

- 28mm General (including Gloranthan) Fantasy

- 1:300 Cruel Seas

From Millsy:

Super stuff Teemu! There's not a lot to work with in terms of colour with these guys so the effort you've put into the water effect really lifts them up. The high contrast styles is really convincing and gives a real sense of speed. Have an extra point for the flags mate.

27 comments:

  1. I love the basing work on these, great job

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    1. Thank you! I was a bit uncertain how it would work, but I guess it worked out.

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  2. Thanks Millsy, I was thinking of some 3D waves, but I had no idea how to create them, so I tried painting. :)

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  3. Great job Teemu. Naval stuff is always so strange to me, so this as a good read 😀

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    1. Thanks Greg! It is always useful to try little but of everything.

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  4. Top Jon Teemu, lovely Flottila 👍

    Regards KenR

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    1. Thanks Ken! You see, I'm hopping from one range to another. :)

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  5. Nice boats Teemu, well done on the sea effects and flags. If you ever base ships again I’ll supply a couple of tips that I use.
    Modelling gel or similar can be used to build up wave effects
    A top coat of acrylic gloss medium will give the sea a nice shimmer.

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    1. Thank you Peter! I guess I'll paint some naval stuff in the future and I try to remember your tips.

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  6. Hi Teemu:
    I really really like how you did these bases. I may copy this technique for my ACW ironclads, though they move a lot more slowly!
    Cheers, MikeP

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    1. Thanks Mike! Feel free to copy and enhance, that's why I wrote me recipe!

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  7. Great work Teemu. I like the large irregular shaped base, and your 2D effect turned out fabulously.

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    1. Thank you Curt! I guess my idea for irregular bases comes from some project of yours where you mounted infantry on similar bases.

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  8. Good looking boats and a great technique with the basing!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thank you Iain! It is almost like a display piece, at least on the idea level.

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  9. The way you’ve based these makes them a very pleasing display piece.

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    1. In a way yes, a little diorama, but I wouldn't call it a display piece yet. :)

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