Blackhawk UP! Brown Water Navy's 3D printed gunboat model in 1/600 scale

I know, it's been a while since I've posted. Lots of projects that pull me in different directions.

Regardless, I found some motivation with a new batch of ACW ship models I acquired from Matt at Brown Water Navy. Today's focus is one of the new models, the USS Blackhawk.

A large sidewheel tinclad, Blackhawk served as Admiral Porter's flagship for the Mississippi River Squadron. Spacious, with room for Admiral Porter's horse, Blackhawk served in multiple campaigns including the Red River and Vicksburg.

For nearly 20 years my gaming needs for a Blackhawk were filled by pretty much the only game in town in 1/600 - Peter Pig. Models aimed squarely at the gaming market, The Peter Pig model cleaned up into a serviceable model with good painting and the addition of some boom and masts. Now the Pig has a competitor for this model - Brown Water Navy. You can check out the websites of the each respective products, but what really works here is pictures. So here you go...

Here's the BWN model in the forefront

and with the Peter Pig model up fron

Both compared to a Thoroughbred City class ironclad

And overhead view. You can see that there are variations between the two models is cabin length, the texas, sky lights and stack location

 More to come!

Assembling the Manassas, part 2

Completing the assembly of the Manassas. Cutting the stacks off the sprue and filing the ends flat was straightforward.

The mount for the stacks was a little more complex. The mount has a hole for each stack to sit in. It's a good design and it's spoiled by one thing. Either each hole contains a mounting post for the stack, or there was a bit of flash in each hole. Either way, the metal had to go. A Goldilocks trial and error process of sorting through the drill bits found one that fit without being too big or too small (a #44 for those wanting to know). Slowly and carefully I used the drill to bore out the offending metal.

With that resolved, a good thick, heavy duty CA adhesive was applied to the end of the stack and inserted into each hole. It was a little tricky as the hole was not a tight fit, but the stacks did stand up.

With that - assembly is completed.*

And here's the assembled model.

With the stacks installed! 

View from the forward port quarter.

Port broadside view.

Hmmm...what's the tiny guide hole? Uh oh - I've misaligned the stacks! 

Here the BAY model (on the right) next two the Thoroughbred Figures model on the left.  Two interpretations of the same model. 

From the images you should be able to see that the Thoroughbred model sits higher above the water than the BAY model. Both show many of the same types of details, though they vary slightly in terms of position. 

* I may come back and add the jackstaff for the flag later.

See how the painting went in part three! 

Back to Civil War Naval...

...but did I ever really leave?

Even more 1/600 models added to the backlog of ship models to be assembled, painted and brought to the gaming table.  This time, it's a batch of models from Bay Area Yards with a smattering of Thoroughbred tossed in.

First up, I've had a recurring itch to game the naval action(s) of the 1867 Haitian Civil War. It's an easy stretch goal for the ACW naval gamer as many of the ships models are all surplus US Navy vessels. The most impressive ship in the war would have been the ironclad ex-CSS Atlanta, which was purchased and on the way to intervene in the civil war when the vessel sank off the East Coast of the United States.

A challenge though is modeling two stalwart ships of the former US Navy - the Mount Vernon and the Quaker City. These side wheel steam ships were former blockaders in the American Civil War. In Salnave's War, these ships were practically battleships and key vessels in the handful of naval actions waged in the war. Unfortunately, neither ship is currently modeled in 1/600 scale. I'm hopeful that I can use these Bay Area Yards models as the basis for creating conversion that will capture the look and feel of the actual ships.

Hull of the Confederate gunboat Varuna. No upper works or fittings. But a great hull! 

Model of the French Gassendi class sloop. Another conversion candidate.

Fore and aft of the Gassendi models

Hull of  the Star of the West. Another prime conversion candidate.

The Star of the West will assorted parts mocked up for sizing.

Add caption

Hull of USS Mississippi

USS Powhatan model. On the large end of a a conversion candidate. 

Second item - a model of the USS Harvest Moon. A nice little sidewheeler that I've never added to the fleet. Helps to round out the collection.

The model is in roughly three parts. I'll need to model the stack. 

The parts stacked together.

and lastly - two nice additions: Forts Jackson and St. Phillip from the New Orleans campaign.

St. Phillip

Fort Jackson. That's a LOT of fort! 

ACW Naval - Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.

Earlier in 2016 I finished building and painting my back log of 1:600 scale American Civil War naval models. What an accomplishment! I was able to move forward and wrap up the 1;144 WWI airplane project and begin focusing on the 25mm Sikh War project.

And then, that quote from the Godfather III pops up.

While at Fall In 2016 in November, I found two 1:600 Ellet Ram models in the flea market. Okay, great - I could use more rams.

A Thoroughbred Miniatures ram, but with different stacks than the stock kit. Still a good gaming model. 

And a stock Ellet ram, with a good primer coat laid down. 

And then a few weeks ago, a friend gifted me with his unpainted, mint in box collection of 1:600 Thoroughbred Figures kits.

Huzzah! A third Ellet Ram! 

Another one!

You always need more tugs and barges! 

Another Sassacus class double ender! 

Again? Guess we'll have to reinforce the Carolina coastal squadron. 

Back to the Mississippi! 

And just like that, I've got a backlog of ACW models to work through again. It's a good thing there were 28 ships in the Sassacus class, because at this rate, I may end up with all of the them!

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.

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 - status update week 18

Making good - but slow - progress on the remaining ships in the queue.

Basically down to rigging the last few models. This is going to take a couple of weeks and may require additional wire. The Minnesota is going to require several feet of wire for the stays and back stays. But the end is in sight!

Before starting the rigging, I googled "USS Minnesota rigging". Which gave no results for the Minnesota, but did return a nice schematic of USS Constitution. That schematic - when printed - accidentally scales out well with the Minnesota model and became a good guide for the stays and backstays. Pat David posted the original which you can find here.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/patdavid/4409524942

The Bay Area Yards model of the USS Minnesota before starting on the rigging, but basically done with painting.

Added the stays for the foremast. Lots of work to do here!

This is a LOT of wire!

Added the first back stay on the starboard side of the foremast.

The assembly on Kearsarge is complete. I was going to complain about how the instructions should tell you to install the guns before adding the railing. It turns out the instructions do say that, I'd just forgotten or not read that section. My bad.

Before adding the guns.

The Thoroughbred Figures model of USS Kearsarge.

After the guns are installed and the stays for the foremast are installed.

These pictures do help. Just realized I have to paint the bedding rolls on the railings.

Here's a secret - the broadside guns are from Bay Area Yards. It's because I screwed up and didn't mount the TB guns before putting the top of the railings in. The BAY guns are small enough to fit in the hole.

ACW Naval Week 14 status report

The first week of the second quarter sees the ACW naval project moving into the end game phase. All ships assembled and mostly painted. The single largest remaining task is rig the ship models, paint the rigging and touch up the paint post-rigging.  As usual, here's the update on what was done since the last report, what is planned for the next week and what the challenges to overcome.

All this weeks models are from Bay Area Yards. Most of these are still available for purchase. So if you like what you see - go get one!  

What's almost done?
USS Miami is almost ready to join the fleet. The rigging is installed and just needs a coat of black paint. This is an easy objective for the week! 

Late war armament with two 24# mounted aft in place of the 80# pivot.

This angle shows off the rigging to better effect.

CSS Teaser had another gun mounted aft and a little touch up paint. Ready to join the James River Squadron!

What's in progress? 
Most of the models are stuck in the rigging phase. There is a LOT to do here. The plan is to tackle it in blocks of work where each ship gets a wire added and then is left for the glue to set. It's tedious, but with good timing, 2-3 wires can be added to each model a day. Even so, this task will take at least the next two weeks to complete.

CSS McRae about a third done!  Bay Area Yards model.

USS Lackawanna. Foremast is almost rigged.

USS Susquehanna with masts mounted.

Trying a different way of attaching the standing rigging to the bowsprit. It was easier to attach, but will wait for painting to see how it turns out.

What's next?
Slowly working on the last few models in the queue. No progress on USS Kearsarge this week. Instead, the focus was on painting USS Minnesota. The horizontal white stripe on the hull is done. Next step is likely painting and mounting the spar deck guns and then move on to rigging.

Needs a little touch up on the stripe. This thing is going to eat a LOT of wire for the rigging!

What are the challenges?
Challenges are non-technical. The house suffered a small siding loss in the storm Saturday, so that needs to take priority over painting. Plus there are external meetings and games for which to prepare. Progress on all the above models is expected, though few with the exception of USS Miami are likely to be completed in the next week.