1/2400 Missile Boats

Since I have a bit of wandering eye when it comes to maintaining focus with hobby projects, I wanted to show you what I am working while tackling the Crimean War project. The photos aren't the best but here are some 1/2400 missile boats. 

From left to right we have a Nanuchka missile corvette, two Osa missile boats and two La Combattante fast attack craft. All ships are by Viking Forge. I should add that I painted all of these over a decade ago. They remained in storage until now, when I decided to base them. 

Here is another photo with the addition of a Polnocny-class landing ship which is a 3D print ordered off of eBay. I also ordered a bunch of additional ships (Komars, Osas, Sa-ar 3s and a Sa'ar 4, AT-43 minesweeper and some Soviet-era cargo ships). 

The plan is to use David Manley's Bulldogs Away rules with these ships. I believe the first edition of the rules were released around 2006 (around the same time I painted those Viking Forge ships). Since then, a second edition was released which seems a bit more detailed. I also have 1/700 small craft for the Sri Lankan civil war.

With the small collection of 1/2400 boats, I can wargame some Iran/Iraq battles, Arab-Israeli and even some hypothetical actions like Egypt/Libya, SADF/Angola and a refight of the 2008 Russian battle with Georgian Navy (in the wargame scenario the Georgian boats will have missiles to make it a bit more even).

 

10mm Crimean

In the midst of working on the 15mm Krapistan project and the 10mm Risorgimento project, I decided to veer way off course and start a 10mm Crimean War project! I had already accumulated a good bulk of the figures years before so I was able to start on a whim. For the Crimean War endeavor, I decided I was going to skip some of the details and try new painting methods to speed up the process. A few months in (with lots of pauses due to real life taskings), I have 5 infantry battalions, 2 cavalry regiments, 3 artillery batteries and some mounted generals. 

Here are two of the infantry regiments in attack column.  The figures are Magister Militum and these particular units are wearing the forage cap.

Close-up of an infantry battalion in attack column. Magister Militum gives options of great coats worn long or hitched as well as forage cap or spiked helmet. Since there is only one pose per option, its appreciated to break things up a bit. 

Some of the mounted commanders. I painted what should probably be sword knots as sashes showing the generals as members of Orders of St. Anne and St. Andrew.

Close-up of a battalion wearing spiked helmets. As mentioned, I cut some corners to paint quicker. I primed the figures in either Vallejo English Uniform or GW Zandari Dust, from there I drybrushed them with the base color mixed with Vallejo Bone White. No additional highlights were done to the infantry. After base-painting, I inked to show some depth.

Two of the artillery batteries, one in forage cap and one in spiked helmets. I have 3 batteries and may need to order some more. I used GW Contrast paints to paint the green of the artillery pieces.

Some Don Cossacks up close. Another way to speed up painting was the use of Contrast paints for the horses. I did give the riders, blankets and such some quick highlights. The flag is from Maverick Models (as are all of the rest shown in the photos).

Some Russian Hussars (Mariupol I think) in greatcoat, I really like the look of these guys. The blue and yellow contrasts nicely with the muted khaki of the coats. I thought they would be fairly easy to paint with the overcoats but that didn't seem to be the case. 

I should add that they are based for Field of Battle on 30mm square bases. I'm hoping to get around 9-10 infantry battalions and about 4 cavalry regiments with a healthy dose of artillery. The plan is to paint up a Turkish army to face off against them and ultimately paint up a British army. The photos weren't the best as lighting conditions weren't ideal, hopefully I can take some better ones in the near future.