 |
| Paddle Frigate and Screw Sloop |
 |
| HMS Scorpion and HMS Wivern |
 |
| HMS Hotspur |
 |
| HMS Devastation and HMS Thunderer |
I spent some time this afternoon when I got home from work, gluing together a few assorted 1/2400th scale warships to finish off the Royal Navy element of the Broadside and Ram ironclads project. These include the ironclad ram HMS Hotspur, the turret ironclads HMS Devastation and HMS Thunderer, the aforementioned turret ships HMS Scorpion and HMS Wivern, and an unarmoured small paddle frigate and screw sloop.
I thought I'd try out the furled spars that Tumbling Dice provide as extra accessories, having not used them before, so added them to the paddle frigate model (ASV17 HMS Retribution). I quite like how they look and it will certainly make painting a lot easier, although what I'll do with a paddle frigate I have no idea? I'm now thinking of gluing together HMS Minotaur as a final addition to the fleet but it's got five masts and loads of sails, so I might just chicken out of that one!
Reading a book on WW1 naval warfare but it make reference to how the Dreadnoughts developed from the period you're wargaming. Essentially the French reaction to superior British gunnery post Napoleonic era was for faster iron clad ships. The main problem for the French was that as their revolutionary naval development commenced and developed, superior British engineering and manufacturing meant the Royal Navy were usually at least one if not two steps ahead in terms of ship and gun design. The dreadnoughts were the culmination of this development...to stay ahead of the pack. It was only post WW1 where the daily rewards to grasp the potential for superior aircraft and aircraft carriers that saw the decline
ReplyDeleteNice work. Paddle frigate = commerce raider?
ReplyDeleteReally interesting stuff and very much what I've been reading about too. It seems that the French could never quite keep up, so diverted their strategic effort into feasible alternatives i.e. torpedo craft etc.
ReplyDeleteGood idea AJ...blockade runner might work too.
ReplyDelete