From PeterD More Sino-Japanese War Ships (24 points)

I've got some more ships for this obscure war, all are 1:2400 scale castings from Tumbling Dice. These are mostly tidying up loose ends so that I can fight out the climactic Battle of the Yalu River, and most of the ships are sisters of ones completed earlier in the challenge.  I want to give a shout out to TD for prompt and excellent service here.  I placed two orders from them during the Challenge and they arrived in time for me to fully paint the first and mostly paint the second lot before the Spring Solstice.  Plus he didn't have one of the packs of TBs that I'd ordered, so sent me three other packs instead.

Three Japanese cruisers.  Takachiho was sister to the Naniwa and had a long career, until she was sunk by a German destroyer in 1914 during the siege of Tsingtao.  Hashidate was a member of the overmanned Matshushima class, and the only one of the three built in Japan. Akitshushima was intended to be a fourth Matshushima but the design was changed (and made more sensible) after the pro-Biritsh faction of the IJN intervened.

When I went to I glue the labels on last night, I found that I didn't have one for Saien.

Some Chinese ships, or at least they started that way.  The battleship Zhenyuan was the sister to the flagship Dingyuan.  Damaged at Yale River, she was repaired in Port Arthur.  Forced to relocate to Weihaiwei before the Japanese captured Port Arthur, she was badly damaged hitting a rock entering that port.  With no dry dock available she was unable to go to sea afterwards and was scuttled before the port fell.  Raised and repaired by the Japanese, she served as their first battleship under the name Chin Yen.  The cruiser Jiyuan had the most checkered career of all.  Originally ordered as a third Dingyaun, she was downsized by budget cuts.  She was badly damaged and lucky to escape the Battle of Pungdo, with her captain accused of cowardice.  She fled the Yalu River battle early and was the least damaged of the four Chinese ships to survive the battle.  This time her captain was executed for his actions.  Captured after the siege of Weihaiwei she was commissioned into the IJN as the Saien in time to be used against her former owners.  She was  finally being sunk by a Russian mine in 1904.  The TD pack came with two hulls, even though she was a single ship class.  I therefore completed one as the Japanese Saien.

Next a grab bag of smaller ships.  Two small unarmoured Japanese Cruisers used as despatch vessels and 2 torpedo boats for each side.  Total of 12 hulls is 24 points, leaving me just over 30 points shy of my official goal.

I've got a few odds and ends to finish off the full campaign list, but these give me the forces for Yalu River.

I didn't meet my goal but I've enjoyed this year's challenge.  This was a nice change from last year when I burnt out and got overwhelmed by the lead mountain and lack of space to fit new work. I ended up parking my challnge in January.  This year I focused on enjoying the painting and working on pieces that spoke to me, and did stuff that stowed easily.  I've also been inspired to order in some BoB stuff by DaveD.  Now I just need to sell of some stuff to store it.

From DaveD . Well that’s a fine array of little obscure ships  indeed . A mid challenge top up is always an indication of mad progress I think . I look forward to seeing some BoB stuff next year . There are lots of options and an ability to interpret it your own way .  Challenge total is just a number , and you say you have enjoyed it - so that is a win .