20 Gun Corvette La Fauvette - GHQ 1:1200

Here is a 1:1200 model from GHQ of a ship with a nice claim to fame. In February of 1793, a 23 year old Napoleone di Buonaparte set sail in the 20 gun corvette La Fauvette as part of the ill-fated expedition against holdings of the Kingdom of Sardinia. The campaign brought no glory to the French (or Corsicans) but immortalized the name of a humble sixth rate ship.

I love the lines of this model. It's a sleek, low-lying ship that looks like it can pack on the speed. I have rebuilt the bowsprit from brass rods for greater strength and to add detail, and mounted the model on a resin base from Langton Miniatures, which in turn sits on top of a plastic piece and a magnetic bottom. Ratlines are photo etched brass from Langton. Rigging is nylon paintbrush bristles.

For the sake of size comparison, here the corvette is seen between a 20 gun sloop on the left and a 32 gun frigate on the right, both of them GHQ models.

Single-Masted Sloop - Langton Miniatures 1:1200

Langton Miniatures' 1:1200 Great Lakes line of models includes some fascinating small vessels, representing some of the wide variety of craft that plied those waters in the War of 1812. Here is one of those models, a single-masted sloop. In form it looks like a miniature cutter, but in power it is not much more than a large gunboat, mounting 2 guns on pivots.

Sails and ratlines are photo etched brass from Langton. Rigging is with nylon paintbrush bristles. Sea base is a metal piece from Langton.

Here the pivot guns are seen to good effect, along with the fact that the deck is not flush, but seems to be covered over with rowers' benches.

To give a sense of size, here the sloop is seen between two schooners. On the left, the 10 gun schooner from Langton's Great Lakes line. On the right, the larger 10 gun schooner from the normal Napoleonic Naval line.

10 Gun Schooner - 1:1200 Langton Miniatures

Here is yet another model of a ten gun schooner, though a larger one than the last. This is from Langton Miniatures' regular Napoleonic line of 1:1200 model ships, as opposed to the Great Lakes line - the members of the latter being rather smaller in size. See the last photo for a size comparison shot.

Schooners of every type were very common ships in the period, and vessels such as this one could have been seen anywhere the navies of the European powers sailed. With their fore-and-aft rig they would not have made as much speed as a square rigger in certain wind orientations, but they could sail faster closer to the wind, and required less crew.

To tweak this model to my liking I've sanded down the hull a lot to make it sit lower in the water, built masts and bowsprit from brass rods, and rigged with nylon paintbrush bristles. Ratlines and sea base are Langton products too.

To compare sizes, here the model is seen in between Langton's 10 gun Great Lakes schooner in the front (a very small ship indeed) and GHQ's 32 gun frigate HMS Cleopatra behind.

1:1200 10 Gun Schooner - Langton Miniatures

Langton Miniatures' 10 Gun Great Lakes schooner is small even by the standards of 1:1200 miniatures. Many such vessels were built on both the American and British sides in their race to achieve domination of the land locked waters so important to their strategies in the War of 1812. Their size and firepower were diminutive, but they were a step up from the flotillas of gunboats that plied the waters in such numbers, and were not likely to encounter the powerful frigates seen on the open seas.

Langton offers several different versions of this ship, the other carrying fewer carronades but a large pivot gun mounted in the center of the deck (see below in the picture with three vessels).

I've sanded down the hull a great deal to make it sit more realistically in the water, and built masts from brass tube. Rigging is done with nylon paintbrush bristles. The model has Langton brass ratlines, a Langton metal sea base, and is mounted on a plastic sheet with a magnetic layer on the bottom for ease of transport and storage.

The mode is seen here with Langton's 6 gun Great Lakes Schooner with Pivot Gun, and a kit-bashed 32 gun Xebec frigate, also Langton.

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.