Summer Naval Projects

I have a half term break in a couple of weeks time, so have been thinking about holiday projects. I am still working away at the 1/2400th scale ironclads so will be tied up with that project for the rest of the month, but in the longer term I have plans for more naval wargaming projects for the summer. One of these is to re-base my 1/3000th scale French WW2 fleet to match my blue sea cloth and to paint up another fleet for the opposition. I have set aside some British and Italian ships for this but also really like the idea of a 'what if?' clash with the Imperial Japanese navy in September 1940.

I played a Victory at Sea scenario based on the invasion of French Indochina at the club a couple of years ago and it was great fun, so I thought I'd add some Japanese warships as an alternative to the usual RN and Italians. I have ordered a 1940 battle pack of 1/3000th scale Davco ships from Navy Models and Books today, adding the aircraft carrier Hiryu as it was involved at the time, so have a really good basis for a Japanese invasion force. I have also ordered some 1/600th scale Zeros and Vals to act as the carrier air wing, which was based on Hainan island for the invasion of French Indochina. 

I think this is a much more interesting direction to go in, rather than the usual Mediterranean Theatre, and it will give me a fleet that can be used for the early war in the Pacific too. I also have several new sets of WW2 naval rules to try out including Battleship Command, Find, Fix and Strike and Naval Thunder, so there's plenty of scope for some interesting and refreshing games. I may even make this my project for the summer holidays, when I'll be off to France again for a few weeks. Watch this space!