Monday 9 January 2023

KenR : 1/700 WW2 Liberty Ship (40 points)

 

It's been a very slow start for me this year and in an attempt to get things going I've changed tack, and done something Naval to get things moving. I started a 1/700 Project towards the back end of last year and I have a few ships built and primed ready for this challenge, so here is the first one.

The model is a 1/700 scale Liberty Ship called John W Brown from Trumpeter. If you look very closely you will see some 1/700 sailors on the deck which are from a company called Eduard. The actual ship still survives today as a museum in Baltimore, Maryland.

Liberty ships were mass produced in the US to a British design during WW2 and 2,710 were built and certainly had a major part to play in keeping the West supplied during the conflict.

The crew in this shot are the closest I could get 1/700 figures to YMCA 😉

Points wise I'm not sure looking back no one has done a WW2 ship in this scale before. To give an idea of size the base is 22cm x 6cm. Time wise it took me a whole day which is about the time it would take me to do 6 to 8 28mm so I'm guessing 30 to 40 points, don't for get the 10 1/700 figures 😆 I've got a few of these I hope to do during the Challenge and I'm already working on Bismark and a British Destroyer.

I'm currently working on a unit of 28mm French Chasseur a Pied which I hope to have done soon.


Today on Jeopardy the answer is KenR.  The question of course is Who in their right mind tries to game with 1/700 scale WW2 ships?  And I speak as someone who has run a ship for ship refight of the Run to the South at Jutland and someone who set out to paint up every Allied destroyer that served in the Med in 1941.  If you are not aware, Yarkshire Ken here has been collecting fleets in this scale and does  games with them (see his blog and other social media channels for more evidence).

Sanity questions aside, your work here is stunning and really belongs in a Museum not a war-game table.  The bashing weathering and crew (again are you nuts???) are things to behold. 

 But seriously where are you planning to play these games On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at?

34 comments:

  1. I like the attention to details, like the rust and rough sees. All you need is to paint up a periscope and you have enough units to play a basic "Battle of the Atlantic" game.

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  2. Stunning work, Ken! I love all the attention to detail you've put in this model. I find the wave effect particularly effective. Gorgeous.

    Peter, I don't see the big deal of using 1/700 scale for gaming as many folks (including you) play 'Cruel Seas' at 1/300.

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    1. Yes using MTBs with 40mm cannon, not BBS with 15" guns!

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    2. No, we have large freighters on tap as well, and I remember DaveD doing larger 1/350 ships in the past. Again, no big deal, depends on the rules - horses for courses, I say.

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    3. Many thanks guys, no point just talking about Big Games 😉

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  3. Fantastic painting and amazing work on those bases

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  4. Another brilliant addition to the collection Ken

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  5. Lovely ship, Ken! :)

    YMCA? Surely they should be doing "In the (Merchant) Navy"

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    1. They should but at one figure per letter, they wouldn't fit on the roof !

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  6. Call yourself a gamer .. where is the rest of the convoy ! Grand job Ken

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    1. The rest of the Convoy is in the build box 😁👍

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    2. Good lad .. I hope there is Sunderland , Liberator or Condor for the airforces too !

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    3. Oh yes please - a flying boat would be wonderful.

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  7. Awesome looking liberty ship! It's great!
    Best Iain

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  8. Great work Ken. Love those tiny people in their dungarees (at least that’s what they looked like to me 😀)

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  9. Flipping heck.. so much to take in and such a smalls scale.. fantastic work there Ken! Especially the wave effects around the ship. Always scares me to try such things..

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    1. Many thanks, I've really enjoyed trying out some new stuff on these 👍

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  10. Absolutely beautiful work- the weathering, the basing, the village people....

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  11. Ok then… Now I’m a bit apprehensive of the thought of the Bismarck in this scale! The liberty ship is already fantastic, great painting and details, and I really like the seabase too!

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    1. I've already done HMS Hood and Bismark is a bit smaller 😁👍

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  12. This ships you are working on at present are amazing. How do you do the shell splashs 😇😉GHorwood

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    1. I didn't put any splashes in these photos deliberately 😆

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