Churn at the Shipyard

This week my southeastern Pennsylvania shipyard has been prolific. Completing the 14,394-ton SMS Braunschweig, the American protective cruiser USS Olympia as well as two versions of the 9,745-ton Spanish battleship Pelayo.  (I do have to say I like the look of the WTJ miniatures.)

It is the smallest of the lot the HMS Endurance impresses me.  This is one of the most important ships of the second half of the twentieth century. At 93 meters in length and 3,600 tons displacement this ice patrol ship would easily be over looked in most naval ports. But she is an icebreaker with a pedigree.

Yet this little ship over a misunderstanding started the largest naval adventure in the South Atlantic since the Hunt for the Graf Spee, in 1939 not to be confused with the 1914 hunt for the squadron under Admiral von Spee. It was her planned withdraw from the South Atlantic they gave the Argentines the perceived signal that the British were no longer concerned with the Falkland Islands.

This is understandable as she was the sole patrol ship for Her Majesty Government in these waters. With her withdrawal and no planned replacement the Empire appeared to be giving up her interests in the Falklands and South Georgia island over European Cold War issues.

Once war was to come to the Falklands the HMS Endurance fought bravely carrying marines and support helicopters allowing for the retaking of South Georgia island. She was also the primary platform for the attack that sank one of Argentina’s two operational submarines, the ARA Santa Fe. Not a bad return on an investment of buying a second hand Danish icebreaker.

Would the Junta lead by General Galtier have conducted the invasion if they knew Prime Minister Thatcher was not going to back down? Probably not, but that is far from certain. There would never have been an invasion though if they knew of the pluck and spirit of the Royal Navy and the HMS Endurance.

Painting Table VI

Here is my table and as it is after Cold Wars I am trying to finish up few projects. The Germans are now ready for the Battle of Coronel and the tanks are almost done. I have added the new WTJ miniatures to the queue along with two new buildings I picked up at Cold Wars that are suitable for The Great War (Nery) or World War II.

I am concerned that I may have a problem with my recent ship builds. So far this year I have completed 81 ships. That puts the 2014 fleet between the Republic of Korea Navy at 80 ships and the Turkish Navy at 91. Do you think I have a problem?

3D Printing

Be afraid, be very afraid. If I was a major miniature manufacturer I would be very concerned about the present state of the industry. Today gamers and collectors have access to hundreds, if not dare I say (Dare, Dare!) thousands of high quality miniatures and gaming pieces do up with 3D printers.

Found on tables of both gaming conventions and local clubs, where you find them engaged in naval battles of the dreadnought era or in the skies over Europe (both WWI and WWII).

So why is there such interest? Costs are the similar or less than conventional white metal or pewter figures. And the quality is over the top. The 1/6000 and 1/2400 scale naval miniatures I acquired miniatures from Shapeways and The War Times Journal and find them superior to anything else out there.  Detail and scale are exceptional. Detail is comparable for 1/144 scale aircraft foe The Great War and choices are incredible.

The WTJ miniatures complement other miniature lines out there with their pre-dreadnoughts, but I hope in time they will design the ships to replace those in other lines. The people that produce 3D miniatures for Shapeways bring out new miniatures each week. There is an abudence of riches here. Their are at least four gamers in two clubs that I play at that are using 3D printed miniatures.

USS Olympia and the Pelayo by both WTJ and Panzerschiffe. SMS Braunschweig is by WTJ. The Olympia and Pelayo have never looked better. Click on the image for greater detail.

The WTJ are newly arrived and based so they are only initially painted. I wanted to show off their great detail. I really like the ship's boats on the SMS Braunschweig.

I wonder if the major producers have a plan on how to compete with this new market? Are you using this new technology?

WTJ Miniatures

With more snow on the way what can we do?

Well I put my fleet to sea hoping the Royal Navy will be able to find the elusive SMS Goeben. Well they did. Currently the HMS Duke of Edinburgh has taken it on the chin with two critical hits one of which is a fire from the opening salvo. As it looks to be a long game, I took a time out to take pictures of a recent purchase that showed up yesterday.

On Saturday arrived 16 new ships for the American, Spanish and German pre-dreadnought navies. I now have Dewey’s squadron done to a higher quality than my ancient 1/2400 miniatures purchased in 1985. These new ships from WTJ need to be based and primed but I want to give you my initial reaction. WOW!!!

These are crisp and clean and look spot on for the scale. The dimensions are not chunky as many resign and white metal castings can be. While in the raw they do not photograph well I have included a few images to show off their quality.

The pictures include the USS Olympia with an older resign cast next to it as well as the armed merchant cruiser St. Louis and the predreadnoughts Pelayo and SMS Braunschweig.

I have always liked the look of the Pelayo and look forward to paining her. How will she do against the Americans, I am not so sure.

The SMS Braunschweig was a surprise as it is a new release and is currently not on the WTJ website. She will be an asset used in the Baltic as soon as she is based and painted. She will also get her own blog post once she is primed. 

Over all I have to say that WTJ will be my preferred method of buying 1/2400 scale ships. Currently their fleets are limited but they are adding to them faster than most other companies. The company is accessible and they respond to inquiries quickly. Packaging and shipping was fast and efficient, with little chance of damage to these 3D prints. The ships were in sealed bags. I will write more once the bases I ordered show up. Not all companies are as fast as WTJ.