20 Gun Sloop - GHQ 1:1200

GHQ's 20 gun sloop is a beautiful model in 1:1200 of a type of small warship that would have been common to every European navy in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Three-masted ship-sloops performed a great variety of roles, from scouting for fleets, to commerce raiding, to convoy duty and more. Command of such a vessel might represent the first assignment for a newly minted captain, and many an ambitious young officer accomplished remarkable exploits in such craft.

I have rigged this model with nylon paintbrush bristles, and built my own bowsprit from brass rods for greater strength and detail. Sea base is a resin piece from Langton Miniatures, and the ratlines are from the same source.

Here are a couple shots of the sloop trading shots with an 18 gun brig, another GHQ model.

6mm AWI Continental Line - Adler Miniatures

The beauty of 6mm miniatures is that you can pack a whole lot of them in to a small space, and create units that are actually close in number to their historical counterparts. Below are Adler Miniatures Continental Soldiers, in this case the majority of the 1st Maryland Regiment for the Southern Campaign. They don't have as much detail as the larger scales of course, but there is plenty to keep the painter busy and to please the eye at close range.

For realism I've included a fair amount of variation in "uniforms," a word that has to be used pretty loosely for the Continental Army. Some soldiers have mismatched outfits, some are completely out of uniform.

I also have not yet done much work at all on the bases, just giving them a simple coat of green as a temporary measure. I need a few thousand more of these, so the full base treatment will have to wait a while.

In addition to the march pose Adler offers two others for infantry: firing figures and advancing figures.

Le Coureur, 8 Gun Lugger - Langton 1:1200

Here is a fun example of a type of rig seen often in the waters around France - the lugger. Langton's 8 gun lugger model is based on the historical ship Le Coureur, which was first laid down in 1776. This was a very sleek vessel, built for speed rather than slugging it out.

In 1778, before official declarations of hostility between France and Britain, le Coureur sailed with 3 other vessels that encountered a far larger British force. After refusing to surrender and trying to make a run for it, she was chased and brought to a fight by the cutter HMS Alert. After an hour and a half of battle 5 men were killed and 7 wounded (out of a crew of 50) aboard le Coureur, and she struck her colors. She remained in British service (as HMS Coureur) until 1780, at which time she was captured by Americans.

I have replaced the masts with brass rods for greater strength and better scale, and used nylon brush bristles for rigging. Base is a metal piece by Langton, mounted on plastic and then on magnetic sheet.

18 Gun Brig - GHQ 1:1200

Wait, where was I? I guess it's been a while since I added anything to the site. But I'm happy to have photos to share of the latest project I've completed.

This is GHQ's 1:1200 model of an 18 gun brig, a very common type of vessel used in a variety of roles by all the European navies of the time. It was in just such a ship that the famous British naval hero Thomas Cochrane encountered and defeated the Spanish Xebec frigate El Gamo in 1801.

I've created my own bowsprit out of brass rods (for better strength and accuracy) and used nylon paintbrush bristles for rigging. Sea base and ratlines are from Langton miniatures, and the whole is mounted on a plastic sheet with a magnetic layer on the bottom for ease of storage/ transport.

20 Gun Ketch - Langton 1:1200

Once upon a time the square sailed ketch was a fairly common vessel, and frequently served in military capacities in European navies. The distinguishing feature of a ketch is that it has two masts, and the foremost is the largest. Gradually this type of rig became less popular as brigs (with their larger main mast behind the foremast) became more common. Even then ketches were frequently seen as "bomb" vessels, carrying mortars forward of the main mast. This model however carries no mortars, but rather 20 cannon.

This is a 1:1200 model from Langton miniatures, with brass sails and shrouds. I replaced the bowsprit with one of my own construction made of brass rods, and rigged it with nylon paintbrush bristles. 

 For size comparison, here the ketch can be seen between a six gunner schooner in front and a 32 gun xebec frigate in the back, both also from Langton Miniatures.

6 Gun Schooner with Pivot Gun - Langton 1:1200

This is a very small model of a vessel type that was frequently employed on the Great Lakes during the war of 1812 - the schooner. This one carries six little carronades and a larger gun in the middle on a pivot. She's not the most formidable thing afloat, but she'll sweep up some gunboats quick enough.

This is a Langton Miniatures model in 1:1200 with photo etched brass sails and ratlines. I've replaced the masts and bowsprit with brass rod to add strength and be more in scale, and I've rigged it with nylon bristles from a paint brush.

 A size comparison shot: behind the Langton schooner is GHQ's 8 gun schooner, and behind that is el Gamo, a 32 gun frigate.

1:1200 Xebec Frigate - El Gamo

On May 6th, 1801, Lord Thomas Cochrane, commanding the diminutive 14 gun brig HMS Speedy, came across the 32 gun Spanish xebec frigate El Gamo. Instead of withdrawing before the dramatically superior force, Cochrane attacked the Spanish ship in a direct assault, bringing Speedy so close that Gamo's guns could not fire down in to her, while Speedy's elevated guns sent shot crashing up through the crowded decks. As the Spanish crew attempted to organize a boarding party, Cochrane stood off again and fired in to the massing boarders. He repeated this process several times and then, with a numerically inferior crew, boarded El Gamo and captured her, garnering a great deal of fame for himself and his ship.

I've had an interest for some time in representing El Gamo, but could find little information on what exactly a xebec frigate was. Clearly it had to be something larger and more formidable than the typical xebec rigs that were so common in the Mediterranean. Several of the guys over at TMP's Napoleonic Naval board squared me away, informing me that this type of vessel was in fact square rigged as any other frigate of the day, and owed its xebec name to certain hull characteristics - specifically the narrow prow and long raised poop deck.

I've used Langton Miniatures' 32 gun xebec frigate model, but since that comes with a xebec rig, I've added a 'small frigate' mast and sail package to it. Rob Eubanks at Waterloo Minis was a big help there, for which I am grateful. I did however leave the lateen on the mizzen mast, and left off the mizzen topgallant, as that is what I see represented in some of the paintings of the ship.

And here is a picture painted by the famous Antoine Roux: