36 Gun Frigate HMS Hamadryad - GHQ 1:1200

This is GHQ's model of the 36 gun frigate HMS Hamadryad.

Hamadryad was originally the Spanish-built frigate Ninfa, launched at Minorca in 1795. In April of 1797 she narrowly managed to avoid sailing directly into the clutches of the British fleet blockading Cadiz, but not without being detected. Ninfa and another frigate were pursued by the 74 gun HMS Irresistible and the 36 gun HMS Emerald, and sought to anchor in a protected bay where they expected the British ships would not follow them. They did so to no avail, however, and after a little over an hour of fighting Ninfa had struck, and the other frigate was run aground and later sunk. Ninfa was taken in to British service as HMS Hamadryad, but hers was to be a short career. On Christmas day of the very same year she foundered in a storm in Algiers bay.

Here Hamadryad is seen between a 20 gun Corvette on the left and a 32 gun Amazon-class frigate on the right.

An extreme close up - a 32 gun frigate very close on the port side

24 Gun Frigate - Langton Miniatures 1:1200

Sometimes through no fault of its own, a model will get buried underneath an ever-growing stack of projects, and wait far longer than their due to see completion. This is one of those long-suffering kits, a 24 gun frigate from Langton Miniatures that I bought a few years ago but for no discernible reason only now got around to completing.

This kit is available in Langton's Baltic line, and is intended to represent a 24 gun Swedish vessel. As such it comes with optional banks of oars. However there is nothing uniquely Swedish about it, and it will serve just as well as a French privateer

Using a spare part from a sail kit I cannibalized on another project, I've modeled this ship with the main course set, while the fore course is still clewed up - just to give it a little plausible but distinctive touch.

Here the frigate is seen between two other Langton models - a 10 gun schooner on the left, and a 32 gun xebec frigate on the right.

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.