So, what's this heap of flotsam and jetsam, then? Well, hopefully, it is the small beginnings of a Nile steamer to support the 2mm sized troops of the Queen Empress in her Colonial campaigns!
Having had a good rootle around in the fascinating Melik website I linked in a previous post, I decided to follow through with having a go at scratch-building a suitable vessel, and as a model, went with one of General Gordon's 'penny steamers', the Bordein.
She has the distinction of having served for Khedival Egypt, The Mahdists, General Gordon, and later under Kitchener - so pretty much the full set of protagonists!
A rummage in the bits box produced the usual assortment of odds and sods of plastic and foamcore, and I embarked on an ambitious plan of drawing accurate 1/900th sized scale plans for a prototype vessel.
In typical fashion, however, these were soon abandoned and I went with something that would at least look the part, rather than being feet and inches accurate. If anything, I think a scale boat would actually look too large against 2mm troops, particularly as I am hoping to post a few on deck where possible.
So, we have progressed thus far, the hull measuring around 60mm:
There will obviously have to be quite a bit of work to get her properly 'ship-shape', but hopefully will be ready to serve whilst remaining as ramshackle as the original.
More updates soon, Mahdist uprisings permitting........ :-)
I found http://www.irvania.com/wargames/Yaluships.htm awhile ago. At first the bases looked wrong but more I think about it the better it is for picking up the figures.
ReplyDeleteMy clear bases look fine but you have to pick up the ships!
Andrew