Missile Boats and LST updates

I finally finished painting the two Osa II and converted Matka missile boats. They still need to be mounted on bases. But since I'm trying to put up a new post each week, I thought I'd show off the painted ships.

Project 206MR Matka (top) and two Project 205 Osa II (bottom) missile boats

The deck color should probably be a little lighter and redish, but I think it will pass. It also give a little variation from some other ships I've done.

Overall, I think the Matka conversion turned out pretty well. When I base it I'll need to figure out a way to show the extra spray when it is foil-borne. I'm not exactly sure what I will do, since I would like to show when it is going slower too.

Project 206 MR Matka profile

A little higher view of the ship

I went for a pretty standard Soviet era paint scheme for the Osa II boats. The boats paint up well, although there really aren't too many details to pick out on the Skytrex models. That said, the boats are pretty sturdy and I expect they will see a lot of service in various games.

I finally finished up the basic work on the LST. I spent about a half-hour with an electric hand-sander getting the hull down to the right size and then began working on the superstructure. I used the styrene strips to create the superstructure, bridge (including the wings), exhaust stacks, and mast. I then added some light guns, a crane, and a ships boat to add some character to the LST.

Profile view of completed LST

3/4 view with a better look at the superstructure

The right side of the LST got scuffed when I was sanding, but a little putty will fill it right in. I think it will give the ship a used look.

Completed LST showing a little scuffing

Here is a low-level profile picture so you can see how big the LST is compared to an Osa II.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the scratch-building job I did. It would have been nice to make it a little bigger, but the size should work with most of the games I'll be playing.

I'll post more photos when I'm done painting the ship.

LST Scratchbuild Update and a New Ship

I've been a little slow in finishing up the LST for my Enfilade scenario, but I wanted to post a short update with a few picture of my work.

First off, just a short review. I'm scratchbuilding an LST based on the Iranian Hengam class, but my version will be a little shorter. A real 1/700 scale ship would be over 5 inches long, while I'm cutting mine back to 4 inches. So the final version will look a somewhat squished.

I'm using 1/4 inch basswood as the base of the hull. I originally glued two pieces together for the hull, but later figured out that would make the ship too tall (I had to go back and revise the design a little after these pictures were taken). Below you can see the original base hull design.

LST base hull design from basswood, with a cutout area for under the helicopter deck

After getting the base hull done and sanding it to be a little smoother, I added some sheet styrene for the main deck and the raised forward part of the ship.

LST- main deck in place

Now I was ready to add the side of the hull, which will be done with very thin sheet styrene. I used a continuous piece of styrene that wrapped around the right side, the bow, and then the left side. I will cover the aft end later.

LST - sides of the hull added

It was really at this point I decided the ship was too tall (I should have figured this out earlier, but didn't). I need to reduce the height by about 1/8 inch. It will still be a tall ship, but I think it will look better. Right now I'm working on reducing the height and I'm building the superstructure for the ship.

I will have some more photo updates of the LST and the painted missile boats, including the modified hydrofoil, next week.

Finally, I decided to buy a few things during the PT Dockyard's Winter Doldrums Sale. I got a few Taiwanese missile boats (those are for a later project) and I got a USS Independence LCS-2 ship. I had procrastinated on ordering my ships and Dave had removed the LCS-2 from the website just when I was sending my order (if you check the website you will see that it is no longer there). After a few e-mails back and forth, he said he would make one last ship for me. I thought I would share some pictures of the ship.

USS Independence LCS-2 hull

It is a really big model (and uses a lot of resin), especially when compared to most of the missile, PT and gun boats PT Dockyard makes. It measures almost 7 inches from bow to stern and the back end is around 1 3/4 inches wide. There are a lot of panels and doors on the sides of the ship (I'm not too sure how they look in the photo, but you can click on it for a slightly larger view). Here it is in comparison on to some of my bigger 1/700 scale ships. 

LCS-2 and OH Perry FFG size comparison

LCS-2 and OH Perry 3/4 view

LCS-2 and Burke DDG size comparison

LCS-1 and Burke DDG 3/4 view

The LCS-2 is a nice looking model, but because of its size and amount of resin that goes into each one, I can see why it is being retired from the PT Dockyard line. I'm looking forward to working on the model, but not until I finish my Enfilade projects.

Hydrofoil Conversion Update

My real job has been keeping me busy lately, but I wanted to post an update on my building efforts for my planned Enfilade games.

 

I'm cutting and shaping the hull for the Iranian Hengam class LST for the Operation Morvarid scenario. I'm using 1/4" thick basswood as the basis for the hull. I'm going to apply some thin sheets of hobby styrene to the hull to smooth it out (so that I don't have to worry about the wood grain). The final version won't quite be 1/700 scale and I'm sure I will miss some of the details, since there aren't a lot of great pictures/drawings of the ship, but will be pretty representative of the class. There isn't much to see right now, so there aren't any pictures.

 

I've just about completed the conversion of the Project 206 hydrofoil from a torpedo boat to a missile boat. While I talked through the conversion in my last post, I decided to cobble together a couple side view drawings so you could really see differences between the 206M and 206MR

And here is how my version looks.

Modified Project 206  Turya profile view

All things considered, it is turning out pretty well. I might add a few more details and shape some parts a little more, but basically the conversion is complete. The major changes from the base PT Dockyard Turya kit were:

• The bridge structure was reworked slightly.
• The forward 76mm gun is scratch-built from some styrene and wire.
• The superstructure was lengthened with styrene and filled in with putty.
• I modified the mast and added the rear gun and missile tubes (which were left over from another kit).

It was a fun little project and it should look better once I get some paint on it. Here a picture of the Project 206MR with a Skytrex Osa II for some size perspective (each square on the mat is 2 inches).

Osa II and Matka size comparision



Thinking about Enfilade

Registration for Enfilade, the NHMGS gaming convention has opened up and it looks like it is time to figure out what games I want to run at the convention. There are six gaming periods at Enfilade (two on Friday, three on Saturday, and one on Sunday) and because I want to get some gaming in, I only thinking about two games this year. Although I have offered to help out with Keivn's Sluys Project, which I think will happen on Friday night.

Right now I'm thinking about a couple games, one game will be a missile boat action loosely based on Operation Morvarid from the Iran-Iraq War (more boat action and fewer aircraft) and the other game will be a WWII Pacific PT Boat action. I think I have, or can borrow, most of the ships needed for both of these games, which will allow me to direct my limited gaming funds for this year into the on-going Age of Sail project. Even though I keep hearing PT Dockyard's LCS-2 model calling for me to buy it (maybe later this year).

To start off with, I'll talk about the ships I'll need for the Operation Morvarid scenario. For the Iranians I'm thinking of the following: 2 Kaman class missile boats (I'm going to borrow these), 1 Cape class patrol boat (I'm using a stand-in for this one), and a Hengam class LST (I'm going to try scratch-building this one). I will also have some helicopters for the Iranians.


Iranian Hengam class LST

On the Iraqi side I'm looking at the following: 2 P-6 torpedo boats (from PT Dockyard and already built), 2 Osa I missile boats (from Skytrex already built) and 2 Osa II missile boats (from Skytrex, which are not built).

I've put together other kits from the Skytrex Seastrike line (I used these ships in the 2007 DANG Arab-Israeli War game). The Skytrex Osa boats, both the type I and II, are both pretty basic. There isn't a lot of detail on hulls or other parts. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, since there isn't any flash, as you can see in the picture below, and the parts all fit together easily.

A pair of Skytrex Osa II ships

I'll post more pictures as I assemble and paint the boats.

As I prepare to scratch-build the Hengam LST, I've pulled out another modification project to hone my skills a little. I'm starting out with a PT Dockyard Soviet Turya Project 206M torpedo hydrofoil and converting it to a Matka Project 206MR missile hydrofoil. I've been thinking about doing this for a while, basically since the Russian-Georgian Conflict when there were rumors about a naval engagement between missile boats in the Black Sea. So, I'm really trying to turn the Turya kit into the Georgian missile boat Tbilsi. 

Project 206MR Matka missile boat

The PT Dockyard Turya is pretty nice, but there are a lot of armament difference between the Turya and Matka. 

PT Dockyard Turya with torpedo tubes removed

The Turya comes with 4 torpedo tubes a forward 23mm gun and an aft 57mm gun. The Matka has 2 SSN-2 missile tubes, a forward 76mm gun and an after 30mm gun. So about the only thing that will be used from the kit is the hull, mast, and Bass Tilt radar director. The missile tubes and 30mm gun will come from some leftover parts from a Dragon Soviet Missile boats kit, but I have to scratch-build the 76mm gun.

I'll start the conversion process by cutting the torpedo tubes off the hull, filling and flattening out the area above the bridge, and lengthening the superstructure. Then I'll scratch-build the 76mm gun and mount all the weapons on the hull. Hopefully this will be as easy as it sounds.

Drumbeat 2011 Recap

Drumbeat was held on Saturday and turnout was good enough that the event basically broke even. The space was a good size, with lots of tables, and there was plenty of food within walking distance.

There was a morning and afternoon game period with about six games per period, along with DBA all day. Kevin and I ran the Taiwan Strait game in the morning and in the afternoon I played in Kevin's 'Arrest Lewis and Clark' game. I did grab a few pictures of some of the other games at Drumbeat, which are posted after my battle reports.

The Taiwan Strait game was basically a repeat of the playtest game Kevin and I ran a few weeks ago. The PLAAF had the choice of taking six J-8II fighters or a pair of Su-27s as the escort for their six Q-5 Fantan bombers. The PLAAF mission was to sink the Taiwanese frigate. The PLAAF players opted for the J-8IIs, although I almost had them talked into taking the Su-27s. On the Taiwanese side, a pair of Mirage 2000s started on the map near the frigate and a pair of indigenous Ching Kuo fighters would arrive on turn 3.


The PLAAF planning its attack.



A pair of Q-5s with the J-8II escorts.

There were several early missile shots by the Mirages that missed or only did minor damage. Things started to change when the Ching Kuo fighters arrived.

The Ching Kuos arrive.

They quickly knocked down two Q-5s and became the center of the PLAAF's attention. The J-8II's fired off a majority of their radar missiles at the two fighters, knocking down one of the
Ching Kuos. A close gun attack hit the other, starting a fire on the fighter.

Ready for a head on gun shot.

Ching Kuo on fire.

But the Ching Kuo had gotten off another missile shot that took out another Q-5. The remaining bombers continued to close with the frigate. They were able to get within one move of the frigate before missiles from the frigate and returning Mirages knocked them down. In a final attempt to do something to the frigate, a J-8II fighter dove down to strafe the frigate, hitting and doing light damage to the ship. But the pilot's happiness was short lived as the 76mm and 40mm guns on the ship blew his plane out of the sky.

In the end it was another Taiwanese victory, but the PLAAF did get close and the strafing actually did a little damage to frigate (which is a first for this scenario).

The 'Arrest Lewis & Clark' game was a hypothetical game based on attempts by the Spanish to intercept the Lewis & Clark expedition. In this case, a group of Spanish regulars, militia, and Indian allies caught up with the American encampment along the Missouri River. I was playing the Spanish Regulars and wasn't really very confident in the ability of my troops to get the Americans.

The American encampment with the beached keel boat.

The Spanish militia, which included a group of mounted lancers, and Indians were able to catch a couple groups of American out foraging and inflict a bunch of casualties on them. I took the regulars toward the encampment and boats. I did shoot up a couple groups of Americans with only a few losses (one of which was the overall commander). But bad American die rolls and good Spanish ones decided the game in favor of the Spanish. Kevin used the Brother Against Brother rules for this game. They played fast and easy, without too many questions.

Here are a few photos from some of the other games from Saturday.

There was a game of Ambush Alley on the table next to ours. It looked like the players had a pretty good time and the system seems to play pretty well.

There was a Napoleonics game using the Black Powder rules. It was Austrians vs. French and I think that the French ended up winning both times it was played.

In addition to the DBA ancients games, there was a game of Tactica II, but I didn't hear how that one turned out.

There was also a Mexican-American War game that used the Fire & Fury Regimental rules. this looked like a fun game and the Eureka figures looked great.

There were several other games that I didn't get pictures of or the pictures just didn't turn out (sorry about that).

Overall, it was a good day of gaming and it seemed like everyone had a good time.

Back to the Shipyard

Now that the Lepanto game is done, I'm getting back to work on my 15mm Age of Sail ships.

I've gotten some more work done on Thoroughbred cutter and gunboat, first reviewed in this post and shown assembled in this post. I searched around for historical paint schemes for these types of ships, but I couldn't find much on how small ships were painted. It mostly seemed like it was up to the captain and depended on whatever was available at the time.

With that in mind, I decided to give the cutter a black hull with a pale yellow stripe around the gunports and a red interior (although it turned out a bit blotchy in places). I think the colors give it a bit of a Royal Navy look. The deck was given a light sandstone color and still needs to have a wash put over it to bring out the lines in the deck.

Painted Thoroughbred cutter

A better view of the deck

As you can see from the photos, I haven't mounted all the cannon or the yards and sails, but you can see the gaff and boom. I plan on keeping the mast and sails removable to help show battle damage. I don't know if that will really work, but I'm going to give it a try.
For the gunboat I went with the basic black hull with a brown upper edge. The trim around the edges of the deck grating got a nice red color. The gunboat deck needs to be washed too and the mast was borrowed from the cutter (the rigging for the gunboat is similar to the cutter).

Paint Thoroughbred 2-gun gunboat

Finally, I wanted to show a size comparison between the two vessels. The cutter is just a little longer and wider than the gunboat. The cutter will be armed with ten 18 lb carronades and a pair of 12 lb long guns, while the gunboat has a pair of 24 lb long guns. 

Cutter and Gunboat size comparison

I expect the cutter would probably win any battle between these two. But, it could be an interesting fight to see what damage the gunboat could do before the cutter got close enough to use its carronades.

I'm looking forward to getting more done on the sailing ships, but I know there will be other stuff to distract me. Next weekend I'm helping to run an AirWar C21 game at Drumbeat and I'll post photos of the game when I get a chance.

Junior Birdmen

I have always liked air gaming and enjoy playing various air games. However, for the past several years most of my time has been spent on naval projects. Mainly because there haven't been a lot of other people doing naval games, so I felt I needed to wave the naval flag for a while. Now I'm looking at getting back to a little air gaming, while still playing

Over the past couple months Kevin and I have been talking about trying to get back into some air games. One of the things that was holding us up was deciding what set of rules to use for some jet games. We both have lots of different sets of rules for jets, including my own adaptation of the Mustangs game called Phantoms, but most of them are hex based and we have been thinking about moving away from having to play on hex-mats (mainly because we don't have the hex-mats). When looking through the various rules out there, we decided to give the AirWar C21 rules a try.

Kevin's late November blog post about his jets, got us moving forward again. We have talked about putting on a game for Drumbeat, the upcoming local one-day miniatures gaming event, and since Drumbeat was pushed from the beginning of January to the end of the month, we decided to get to work on a game.

Because we wanted to use the planes we have on hand, we are planning on recycling an older scenario; The Taiwan Straits. This scenario covers an attack on a Taiwanese frigate, supported by some land-based fighters, by a bunch of Chinese Navy (PLAN) jets. The Taiwanese players start with a pair of fighters (either Mirage 2000s or the indigenous Ching Kuo) and the frigate on the board and will be reinforced by additional fighters during the game. The PLAN players choose their fighter escorts: either six J-7s (MiG-21s), or six J-8IIs, or two Su-27s, then they pick the attacking aircraft: either six J-7s armed with rocket pods or six Q-5 armed with four dumb bombs or two laser-guided bombs.

Target for Today: a Taiwanese Kuang Hua I (essentially an O.H. Perry) class frigate  

Kevin and I got together yesterday to run through the scenario with the AirWar C21 rules (the first time either of us had played the rules). I was sort of hoping we would have a couple other people show up, but most people were probably watching the Seahawks - New Orleans Saints football playoff game. The planned scenario is really too big for just two players, so we reduced total number of aircraft to a more manageable number, with Kevin running six planes (three J-8 fighters and three Q-5 bombers) and me running the frigate, two Mirage 2000s, and two reinforcing Ching Kuo fighters. 

Taiwanese Mirage 2000

Chinese attacking planes

Even with this being our first time with the rules, the game moved along at a good speed, with only a few minor questions along the way. Early in the game we both tried out a lot of different maneuvers, fired missiles, and tried to figure out the best way to fly the planes. Neither of us had much success with our initial missile attacks, the PLAN plans swept by the Mirage 2000s, and it looked like the Q-5s were going to easily make it to attack the frigate.

A Q-5 and J-8  zip past one of the Mirages

But then the attacking planes moved into range of the frigate's missiles. The frigate started firing off missiles and quickly knocked down two of the incoming Q-5s. The remaining attacker was able to avoid the SAMs when the ship failed its lock-on attempt, but the frigate's 76mm gun was able to knock it down before it could drop its bombs.

The Q-5s close with the frigate while missiles go after them

The Taiwanese fighters were only able to knock down one PLAN fighter; while the PLAN was unable to shoot down any Taiwanese fighters, but did damage one with a gun attack and almost got lucky with a 'Golden BB' roll on the damage table. 

A J-8II tails a Ching Kuo

Overall we thought it went pretty well and that we are in a good position for the game for Drumbeat, which is on January 29. I'll let you know how it turns out.

The frigate sails off to prepare for the next battle