The Pacific War/Militarists vs. Nemo factions have recently seen some reinforcement after a kind of Summer hiatus here at SteelonSand Towers - I've promised myself that I will spend more time at the painting table, so hopefully the queue of naked lead should get some attention in the coming weeks, and I'll be able to organise things via the Blog.
The Tumbling Dice factory elves were put to work recently to supply a further order of 1/2400th Ironclad vessels for yours truly, principal amongst which were the ASV13 Screw Gunboats, to provide ships for both Chile and Peru, the ASV11 Screw Corvette to act as the Chilean Chacabuco and Esmerelda, and the ASV52 Monadnock to stand in as Peruvian Monitors.
As you can see both above and below, the Screw Corvette is a nice model with a full set of sails and also rat-lines integral to the sculpt, making it easy to paint in a hurry, which is my favourite style!
Obviously, the vessels here are still a work in progress, and have yet to be matched with their metal bases as provided, but I think you'll get the general idea of the level of detail and character available from this excellent range.
The Screw Gunboats pack provides three examples, which will be used as the Chilean Covadonga and Magellanes, as well as the Peruvian Pilcomayo:
These come pre-mounted to a small base part, in a manner reminiscent of the 1/4800th Napoleonic naval range of ships.
Next we spy the competing Corvette Union and the Ironclad Almirante Cochrane, with in the foreground, the first ex-American Monitor, the Mano Capac - converted here from the Monadnock models from TD:
The company does a number of Monitor types in various packs for the ACW period onward, but it is difficult to find one that exactly matches the Catawba class single turreted versions.
I therefore went with the ASV52 Monadnocks, as they are in the same general area in terms of length and breadth, whilst offering the chance of conversion with some judicious filing.
The large fore-funnel is removed entirely, along with the rearmost Dahlgren Gun Turret:
This approximates the look of the two Peruvian Monitors, and this scale is quite forgiving in terms of glossing over the more irreconcilable differences; these comparison shots show how the finished product comes out - compare them with the originals here:
Monadnock:
Mano Capac (USS Oneota):
http://maquina-de-combate.com/fotos_y_videos/Buques-en-la-Historia-del-Peru/Monitor_Manco_Capac_0003
I've yet to decide whether to attempt to add the Turret-top conning tower/sunshades seen on the originals - maybe I can ignore these, given how small and fiddly these would end up being!
The other issue is that of a suitable colour scheme -period photographs are notoriously difficult to interpret accurately, and I have seen any number of artist depictions from black to grey to white - perhaps I'll go for a different colour to differentiate the sister ship, the Atahualpa.
Anyway, whilst I shake off the accumulated rustiness of the Summer Holidays, why not take a look at some spirited recreations of the Pacific War originals in action:
and the real thing here:
Hasta luego!
Those look great. Nice work. I particularly like the conversion you've done on the Monadnock, very effective.
ReplyDeleteYou've encouraged me to get in with my TD Victorian ironclads now...although I'll have to shift a load of other stuff first.
Same old story!
Thanks Jim, glad you like them, still very much a work in progress, though!
ReplyDeleteI've just realised that in the photos above, the unpainted/unconverted mini of the Monadnock is reversed, bow to stern, as it were, but I'm sure you get the idea over what to file off.
good news about your TD Ironclads - with your work rate, I'm sure it'll be no time before we see them cleared for action. ;-)