Galleys & Galleons, part 3

Now that I have some ships together (see previous post), my thoughts have turned to getting them painted.  First, primer.  I have found that my usual primer, Reaper Master Series Brush-On Primer, has seen better days and has mostly settled out in the dropper, even after much shaking:

The two on the right were 'primed' with my remaining Reaper primer - you almost can not tell that there was anything there.  The pair in the middle were coated with Vallejo Surface Primer.  While the coverage is good, this stuff has a bit of a stench to it, and I do not think that I will try it again.  On the left pair, I used a 1:1 mix of white gesso and grey gesso.

The gesso seems to be working OK.  I have used gesso before, but mostly on 28mm figures and I am concerned about covering in details on these small ships.  The gesso is not fully cured, though, so we will see...

New blog, with a painting tutorial

A new blog (not mine  :) ) has sprouted up - The Great War at Sea by Grant.  He has posted a two-part painting tutorial, with Part 1 here and Part 2 there.

He has some beautifully painted 1/2400 GHQ miniatures - take a look!

Egyptian ships

After reading the books I received about ancient Egyptian ships, I was able to piece together a list of common building materials for the Pharaoh's navy:

Acacia
Sycamore
Cedar (red and white)

Also used, but much less often:

Cypress
Pine


Cedar, of course, would be imported from the Levant and was often used for funerary barges for the high-ranking citizens and royalty.  I intend to paint up only a few ships in red cedar, and the rest in a more tan color.  Masts, as another nifty detail, were often made of the same material as the hull.

German ships, part 1

We saw the state of the Russian fleet last time - so here are the Germans:


The bases are not quite finished; those that are blue will get one more coat, and the metal ones will get two! The torpedo boats do look dark and sinister, as they should, although when I paint the wakes on the bases they will pop out more.




A broadside shot of the fleet. The closest ship, minelayer Albatross, is not nearly done, but if you look past her to the cruisers you can just see that I tried to paint the two-tone scheme that was used by the Germans in WW1. Too subtle, maybe, but in absolute scale terms probably too dark. I do like the effect so I think I will keep it...

Ship mini painting, part 1

Been awhile, hasn't it? I am making some slow progress with the minis:


Here is a pic of the WTJ minis, with masts of brass rod added and a coat of primer(Reaper Master Series Brush-On Primer). I have glued them to a nail for easier handling.

I am also experimenting with paint choices:


1. Reaper Master Series Pure White
2. 1 part Pure White + 1 part Reaper Master Series Misty Grey
3. Misty Grey
4. 1 part Misty Grey + 1 part Reaper Master Series Cloudy Grey
5. Cloudy Grey
6. 1 part Cloudy Grey + 1 part Reaper Master Series Stormy Grey
7. Stormy Grey
8. Delta Ceramcoat Charcoal Grey
9. Delta Ceramcoat Black

To my eye, #3 will be a good choice for German hulls (except DD's), with #2 as the color for the upperworks. #4 will be the overall color for the Russians (except DD's). I still need to decide on a deck color, however.

#5 could be the color for the Russian DD's, with #6 for the Germans. I might use #7 as the color for the decks of all the DD's.

Dazzle Camouflage patterns

The Rhode Island School of Design has a collection of 455 plans of dazzle camouflage as used on US ships in WW2; here are some dazzle plan samples