Napoleonic Era Miniatures by Thukydides - 1/700 - 3D-Printed Hulls

[Thukydides]

Welcome to my build log for documenting progress on my semi-scratch builds for Napoleonic Era vessels for wargaming. These miniatures are designed to work with Black Seas by Warlord Game, though I am already planning on doing some homebrew rules to add a bit more realism and variety to the ships.

 

Related Threads & Resources

Black Seas Game

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Table of Contents

Log #1: Cutter - Masts

Log #2: Cutter - Yards & Base

Log #3: Cutter - Painting the Hull

Log #4: Cutter - Rigging & Crew

Log #5: Cutter - Sails

Log #6: Cutter - Flags, Anchors & the Sea

Edited February 12 by Thukydides
corrected log title

[Thukydides]

Log #1: Cutter - Masts

I was inspired by a recent new member post by @Linus Spjutsberg to take a dive back into wargaming. Doing a bit of research I realized that though the miniatures that come with the official black seas game from Warlord Games are very nice, they had a number of problems. In particular I thought the masting and rigging was often out of scale and I figured that it might be a fun project to see if I could improve on it. See below for an example of the models that come with the starter set.

The second issue was that the smaller ships were made at a different scale than the larger vessels. Presumably this was done to make them a bit beefier on the tabletop, but I wanted to have ships that were the correct scale relative to each other. So I found some 3d models from turner miniatures and got a friend to 3d print them for me.

 

Step 1 was to try in see what I could do with the mainmast. Below you can see my first efforts in various stages of completion for the three cutters I am building first.

For scale perspective, each of the above squares is 1cm. The mainmast was made from 1/32 in brass rod. This roughly equates to the right size at 1/700. I cut them to length based on the dimensions for Vanguard Model's Alert kit allowing a small bit extra at the bottom for where they insert into the model (A). I then filled the top 5mm into a square (C) and glued the topmast to this section (B). The topmast was made from 0.02 in rod sanded down to gradually reduce to 0.015 in. This was slightly overscale, but one of the main challenges with this build is balancing accuracy with durability. I need to be able to handle these on the tabletop.

 

The trestletree (D) was made by using some fine wire I had on hand (about 0.01 in thick) to make the framework. The stop to hold the main boom (E) was made by sliding an Amati copper eyebolt leftover from my Alert build onto the mainmast and gluing it in place. Once the glue dried I cut off the front part leaving only the semicircle piece at the back of the mast.

And here is the current state of affairs. I have also added the boom which again I made slightly oversized using 1/32 rod thinning it down to about 0.02 in at the front. My biggest problem at the moment is figuring how best to secure the driver to the upper part of the mast in such a way that it is not too fragile. I have some ideas, but more on this next time.

Edited February 7 by Thukydides

[wvdhee]

Very cool 😎 

[Thukydides]

Log #2: Cutter - Yards and Base

Work has continued on the cutters and I got the masts and yards all finished. I decided to use slightly different rigs on them all add a bit of visual variety. I used a bunch of paintings from the RMG as my reference.

The key part I discovered in adding strength to the joints was to file small indents and rough up the surfaces. This allows the super glue to bond better and I am hopeful that though they are still relatively fragile, one I have some of the rope reinforcements, rigging and sails on, it will be a fairly strong construction.

 

Once the mast were done I moved on to the bases. For these I used epoxy putty to form the seascape. I then pushed the models into it to bases to set the position of the cutters on them. I had to make sure that two were tilted starboard and one larboard in line with the positioning of the masts.

 

The models were then removed and the putty allowed to dry. Once dry I primed everything and began painting the bases. I used a combination of a dark blue, a mid blue tone and a turquoise as my three main colours. I wet blended this (all three added to the base and then blended at the edges) to get the desired gradients.

Then lighter blue and some selective white was added for foam. Having done this it had a bit to much contrast so I went back over everything with a very light wash of my mid tone to blend the different colours together more. 

Next up I need to paint the cutters themselves…

 

Edited February 7 by Thukydides

[Thukydides]

Log #3: Cutter - Painting the Hull

I decided to see if I could do one of the cutters in a style similar to Alert. As I have mentioned elsewhere, I like to use gradients and the placement of shadows next to highlights to increase contrast. Given how small this is, it is not necessary to do a perfect gradient (in fact that is not possible). So I just had to make do with a few different shades of each colour in lines next to each other.

As we are at a very small scale there is no need to actually try to reproduce the painted decorations. I simply have to give the illusion of them by putting small blobs of various contrasting colours next to each other. They are vaguely in the shape of the figures from the Marshall painting, but if you look too close the illusion starts to break down.

At this time I started adding edge highlights.

 

A similar process was used on the inside of the cutter.

Then finally it was a matter of adding the mast and some photo etch ratlines. The model is still relatively fragile and will remain so until I am able to add the sails which will hold all the yards in place rigidly.

 

Edited February 7 by Thukydides

[Linus Spjutsberg]

Very nice! Yes for smaller ships I use Turner minitures as his are straight 1:700 scale. Also tend to build my own masts.

[Thukydides]

50 minutes ago, Linus Spjutsberg said:

Also tend to build my own masts.

I have found that the scratch built masts are quite fragile (mostly this is a problem with the yards and booms at the point where they are glued to the mast). I am hoping that once I get the sails in place they will be more durable. Do you have any tips or suggestions to make them a little tougher?

Edited February 5 by Thukydides

[GrandpaPhil]

Thukydides,

  Those look amazing!
 

With small pieces in card, I use CA to stiffen them up.  

I don’t know if that would help for this application.

[Thukydides]

Log #4: Cutter - Rigging & Crew

Thanks to everyone who has stopped by and @GrandpaPhil for the suggestion. I will have to do some tests before I add the sails. My desire is to make them as thin as I can get away with (for scale reasons), but I also need them to hold everything in place so we will see where I end up with that compromise.

 

Next up on the task list was to add some crew. I found some 1/700 figures on the internet and boy are they tiny. Even with magnification it was hard to pick out which was the one I wanted and don’t even get me started about how careful I needed to be not to drop them. The paint job I could do on them was limited, but I think they look good enough. I only added a scattering of them on the deck. The goal here is just to make the ship feel alive rather than to get the correct historical number of crew.

You can see the Master & Commander there at the back watching how things are going.

 

Then it was time to start on the rigging. With a few exceptions (which I will mention in a bit) I wanted to get the rigging in place before adding the sails. This is because once the sails are there access to everything will be seriously limited. On the other hand this means I need to be super careful as everything is still rather fragile.

 

I should note here that before I began I decided to add some reinforcement to the yards in the form of tying them in place. This looks a little like the lifts wrapped around the yards and it helped a lot in making sure everything didn’t fall apart as I was working on the rigging.

 

One question with a gaming piece like this is how far to go? I need to be careful of ropes that might be caught by mistake and also the scale seriously limits what I can depict. On the other hand I want to have enough in place to make it feel authentic. You can judge whether I got the compromise right in the end.

 

Up first was the mainstay. For this I used some 0.2mm rope I had got from @BenD for the ratlins for Alert. It works out to about the right size for the mainstay. In general I am only differentiating between the really big ropes and the not so big ropes. I found that to secure things in place I needed to tie it around the gap in the stem where the bowsprit comes out of the hull. One thing I have learned about this process is I need to think much more carefully in advance about where I am going to secure the lines. They need to ideally wrap around something and I need to make sure that I plan for this in future models. I don’t have a picture with just the mainstay, but you can see it clearly in future pictures.

 

Up next were the running backstays. I decided to simplify these a bit so I am only depicting one “block” for them. I used 10/0 fly tying thread for all of the rest of my rigging in two colours. Dark brown for the standing rigging and white for the running. The below picture is not great, but it shows how I made the running backstays by tying the brown thread at both ends to two pieces of white thread. The knots essentially represent the blocks.

I then took this brown thread and knotted it around the mainmast so that the knot was facing to the stern. I dabbed super glue to hold it in place and then ran each end of the white threads around a gun port to secure them. You can also see in this below picture the forestay and the thread used to tie the yards in place.

Next up was the lift for the main boom. One of the keys I discovered to avoid breaking the model with also achieving sufficient tension was to make sure I was counterbalancing the forces. So first I used a small bit of thread to secure the boom to the quarterdeck so I could pull up freely without breaking it off. I then tied white thread to the end of the boom (as always securing with super glue) and then ran it up to the trestletree where I looped it over one of the pieces and ran it down to the bits at the base of the mast. This line also serves to illustrate how many lines ran down to the base of the mast.

 

Then came the topgallant backstays. Like the running backstays I tied them to the mast letting each end run down either side. The below picture show the state of affairs after tying them to the mast, but before I ran them down to the channels. You can also see the boom lift and how it runs down to the bits.

Around this time I also added the bowsprit shrouds. These were a bit of a pain as there was no obvious place on the bow to secure them. I ended up just gluing them to the side of the wales, but next time round I would like to come up with a better solution. The topgallant forestay I have not yet added. This is for two reasons: (1) It is easily caught and so I don’t want to add it until I have added the flying jib sail and (2) I am not even sure if I want to add it at all as I am worried it might get snagged when playing with it. I will see how things look once the sails are added before making a decision.

 

Then came the lifts for the gaff. These were by far the most challenging lines to add as I need to run them back and forth with tension, but there was no counterbalancing force to stop me from breaking the gaff. I did this by tying two pieces of brown thread to a long piece of white thread. These two pieces of brown thread were then tied around the mainmast and the gaff respectively to represent the blocks through which the line runs. I then tied one end of the white thread to the end of the gaff and carefully tensioned everything. I ran the other end through the trestletree and down to the bits.

 

You can see the result in the below picture along with the bowsprit shrouds and the line holding the boom down to the quarterdeck I previously mentioned.

Finally it was time to do the braces for the squaresail yard. These I made in a similar manner as described above by first tying brown thread around white thread off model and then carefully adding it. I ran these to under the counter as that was the only convenient place I could tie them off. This was also a very tricky part of the rigging as it is very easy to add too much tension to one side and break the yard. It was at this point I was very glad I had decided to reinforce the joint between the mast and yard with the brown thread. Below you can see what things looked like in the middle of working on the braces.

And finally here is the result once everything was done on my hand for scale. Next up I need to get the sails on and then it will be on to finishing up the water with foam and a gloss coat.

[ccoyle]

Muh eyes hurt!

[Thukydides]

Log #5: Cutter - Sails

Next up was work on the sails. I considered using a thin paper such as silkspan for this, but in the end I went with regular printer paper. The reason for this is I need the sails to add strength to the model and if I make them out of paper that is too thin, I won’t get the necessary strength.

 

So I coated both sides of the paper with a mix of 2 parts paint, 1 part water and 3 parts mod podge. The idea is to stiffen up the paper with the mod podge and to serve as a varnish.

I then cut off piecs in the appropriate shapes and added the pannel lines using pencil and darkened the areas that would be in shadow. There is no need to get smooth gradients for these shadows as though they don’t look the best zoomed it, at normal viewing distances they look fine. I also lightly erased the pannel lines as I found the pencil was too strong. In addition I drew on the bolt ropes with pencil.

Once the shape was set I added super glue to the edges that would not be glued to a yard/mast as suggested by @GrandpaPhil. This really stiffened up the whole sail and I can actually pick the model up by the mast now without worrying if I will break it.

 

I then added glue to the edges of the sails and placed them on the model. I didn’t take a lot of pictures of the process, but you can see the final results below. The only other additions I made (which can be seen in the first picture) is a small line from the foresail down to the deck and the topgallant stay.

With that the model is mostly done. All that is left is to finish up the water and then add the flags.

[vossiewulf]

Really nice work!

[Thukydides]

Log #6: Cutter - Flags, Anchors & the Sea

Thanks for all the encouragement, this post brings the first miniature to completion.

 

First up was the anchors I had neglected to add earlier. To make these I bent some brass wire and flattened the ends. I then used super glue to attach a straight piece and used card to simulate the anchor stock.

This would have been easier if I had added them before painting…

 

Then for the flag I printed some off the internet and coated it in mod podge and attached a piece of fly tying thread which I had run through some super glue to stiffen it. Like the sails, I added super glue to the edges of the ensign and pennant to help hold their shape.

Then it was just a matter of super gluing them to the model and touching up the water with some water texture and then some water texture mixed with white ink to simulate the foam. You can see the final result below.

And here is a picture of little Alert with big Alert for scale.

[CiscoH]

I assume the cannons  are fully rigged?

[Thukydides]

Time for a minor update. I have made a fair bit of progress on the next two cutters. They are moving along much faster since I know what I am doing now. I modified the order of operations a bit based on lessons learned the first time round. The bowsprit shrouds, fore stay and running backstays are in place as well as the crew and anchors.

 

The brown one will be a French cutter and the yellow one another British one.

[Thukydides]

Log #7: Cutter - Final Pictures

Unfortunately since the last update I noticed a problem with one of the cutters I was working on. You may have spotted it in the photo, but the mast is too high on the brown cutter. I didn’t realize this until the rigging was pretty much complete so I decided to scrap it (in reality I am planning on putting it aside and maybe turning it into a wreck or something like that.

 

For the yellow cutter I wanted to try and depict it with a different rig than I had done for the Alert look alike. I was inspired by this image from the NMM:

I thought it would be cool to have the ship tacking and so I took a stab at replicating this image. The sails were constructed in much the same manner as before. The most significant change from the last time was that I waited until last to attach the shrouds and didn’t varnish until everything but the water was done. I decided to go with an early French revolutionary flag for the ensign.

 

The final pictures of both cutters together (the french one in the foreground and Alert in the background) are below: