Two French Hens...

Painting on the two recent Shapeways models is underway. The two models are the Caudron R.11 haevy escort fighter and the Letord light bomber / recon kite. Both planes shall be painted in the French four color camouflage used to the end of the war.  My friend Scott had experience painting a pair of Salmson's using this pattern and recommended the following color palette;

Folk Art Forest Moss -
Vallejo Reflective Green
Vallejo Camo Orange Ochre
Game Color Charred Brown
Vallejo Black
Undersides: Folk Art Lemonade


I made one small tweak to accommodate paint that I had on hand;

Folk Art Forest Moss -
Vallejo Reflective Green
Vallejo Camo Orange Ochre
Vallejo Flat Brown
Vallejo Black
Undersides: Folk Art Lemona

Here's a good overview of the R.11. It's a nice clean casting and the repeated
coasts of gloss coat have filled the surface nicely.

View from the starboard quarter. 

view from the port quarter.

The Letord is a similar project, but for variety, I've reversed the color pattern on the wings.

In this view the flat brown has been painted on the rear fuselage. Compare this to the prior photo. 

The Letord had prominent radiators and engine struts. Combined with the negative stagger on the wings and you've got a fairly unique airplane! 

Those magnificent men in their (heavy) flying machines - The Letord and R.11 hit the work bench

Two new arrivals on the table, both twin engine aircraft.

The Letord is a French observation/bomber introduced in early 1917 and used throughout the war. This particular model is armed to the teeth with each observer having a pair of machine guns in a flexible ring mount. With this much firepower, the Albatross might find that this prey has fangs.

The Letord after surface preparation and  a primer coat of generic tan. 

Nice modelling of the wing and fuselage ribbing.

Our other arrival is a Caudron R.11 heavy escort fighter. More of a late war aircraft, the R.11 mounts an impressive five machineguns including one the fires to the rear and down through the bottom of the plane. Typically used as an escort to the BR.14 bombers. It may not be agile, but it packs a wallop!

The R.11 has nice big, streamlined engine nacelles. 

The R.11 evolved from the G.6 bomber design (you can see it in the back)

And now in the front. The R.11 is larger than the G.6

The R.11 on the left and the Letord on the right. The G.6 is stuck in the middle.

It's an all Caudron mission. Two G.6 escorted by the R.11.

More ships points for Anaconda...

Added a new document to the wargamevault.com website with the point values of a bunch of additional ship models that are available in 1/600 scale. Click here to connect to the product page.

For those of you that already own Anaconda - it'll save you some time doing the research. There are a number of 'what if' ships included such as Dunderberg and the Yazoo Monster.

Mostly done - the Shapeways Fokker D.VI

I've finished another 1/144 model to add to the collection of World War I fighter planes for use with Wings of Glory - the Fokker D. VI. It's an interesting model. It's parentage is clear - the body of a Fokker Dr. I triplane married to the wing form of the Fokker D.VII biplane.

Production was authorized in 1918, but it was a case of too little too late. The shortage of appropriate rotary engines, the shortage of castor oil and the poor quality of the synthetic replacement "Voltol" hampered engine performance and durability.

56 aircraft were delivered, seven of which were sent to the Austro-Hungarian Air Service.

The model was from the shapeways shop of Kampflieger. The model was printed using Black, Strong and Flexible as it's an improvement is surface quality over the standard White Strong and Flexible. After you've smoothed the surface of a bunch of 1/144 WSF models, the upgrade to BSF is worth it!

The model is depicted as one of the seven aircraft delivered to the Austro-Hungarian Air Service. The summer lozenge camouflage is from the shop of 1/144 Direct. These decals are superb and the shop is a superb retailer. I've placed multiple orders without a problem.

This overhead image was taken after topcoating with the gloss and matte finishes. The gloss was a little sticky and when the plane was inadvertently flipped, some of the decals got scraped off. 

A front on view.

Those chips and scrapes in the decals really bothered me.

...so I fixed them with a little painting touch up! 

Almost good as new.

Ready for the tabletop! 

The ACW Naval building project 2015 - 2016. The final posting.

It's done.

I've completed the assembly and painting of all the ACW naval models in my collection. If took more than half a year, but it's done.  The last two models - USS Kearsarge and USS Minnesota were stubborn. The standing rigging on Minnesota took the better part of a month. I don't want to think about how many feet of wire are on the model.

Port beam of the Minnesota from Bay Area Yards. Stripped down for combat with her boats lowered away. 

 Bow quarter view of the model. The steel wire really helps stiffen and support the masts - just like the real standing rigging! 

USS Kearsarge from Thoroughbred Models. Ready for action! 

Now I can do two things - reorganize the painting table for the next project and start playing some games using these models!

ACW Naval update - week 23

I know, you're asking yourself, "what happened to week 22?" Well, it sorta got swallowed up with a bunch of activities around Memorial Day weekend.  I spent a weekend in Houston doing assorted things.

This young man build a set of Brotherhood of Steel power armor out of cardboard and duck tape. The helmet started life as a Clone Trooper. Nice representation of a laser rifle too!

And the Fallout references continue with this absolutely sick 1:1 model of Mr. Handy.

What's this? The entrance to a Vault-TecVault? Nope! It's a armored door onboard USS Texas, a battleship commissioned in 1914.

Are you sure it's not a Vault? Yes! This is a connecting passagway on the second deck (under the main deck).

Casemate battery on the main deck. These 5" mounts represent gunnery 55 years after the Civil War. While the optics and recoil mechanisms have improved and the gunports are huge, it's still gives you the feel of what the gun deck on a casemate ironclad must have been like.

Work continues - rigging on the Minnesota is almost done. While I missed the end of May deadline, Minnesota shall be complete before mid-June.

Work is focused on the mizzen mast standing rigging. That and a few load bearing lines for the mizen boom and spar and it'll be completed!

The addition of the standing rigging really transforms the size of the model.

While I've been procrastinating with the Minnesota's rigging, I've made progress with prepping and decaling a Shapeways 1/144 model - a little seen Fokker D VI. It's a composite of the engine and fuselage of the Dr. I and the wing design from the D. VII. It was a produced in small numbers serving in both the German and Austro-Hungarian air services. 

 Slow progress here. Need to repaint the engine cowling.

Still need to decal the stabilzers and control surfaces.

It's very glossy right now as it's still under construction. Once decaled, the last thing it gets is a matte finish to dull down the shine.

ACW Naval update - week 21

No update last week for multiple reasons. This week has some good progress.

USS Kearsarge has the rigging installed.

Last task here is to paint the rigging and call it a day...


USS Minnesota - work continues on the rigging. As indicated earlier, this thing is a beast. About 2/3 done with a little bit of the main mast and the the mizzen mast rigging remaining.

Trying to finish this in the next two weeks.