Aquanef/Nemo/Pacific War: Militarist Monitors etc....

I've been playing around with tying up the various loose ends of the half-conceived 'started as Aquanef - became Pacific War 1879 - turning back to VSF' project, so thought I'd commit some ideas to paper, as it were.

As you can see both above and below, the Peruvian Monitor Mano Capac has been joined by her sister ship in the shape of the Atahualpa, here in a contrasting scheme of grey and white:

This is for no other reason than to provide a bit of interest, as I've no historical sources for an accurate scheme, so went with what I felt fitted best. This pretty much finishes off the Pacific War 1879 part of the project, in that we now have most of the major surface combatants as provided by Tumbling Dice in 1/2400th.

I suppose I could look at doing some of the transport/civilian vessels of the time, but this is likely to be very much in 'back burner' territory for the time being.

Now the ships as they are can obviously be used historically, and also, as originally conceived, might combine to go up against the various scratch-built vessels of a Nemo-led fleet of Anti-Militarists.

As things stand, the Allies of Nemo have their own submarines depicted whilst surfaced, but I am afraid the daunting task of re-creating the Nautilus in whatever form so far eludes me; I guess it's hard not to be influenced by the iconic depictions we all know so well - to the point of being intimidated enough to give up before getting started!

So, in the meantime, as you might remember from a previous post here, I've been considering using some of the Aeronef vessels from Brigade Models to stand in as a response by the Miltarists to the superior technology of Nemo.

Think of them as contemporary Monitors on steroids.

Now of course, the perverse wisdom of taking maritime-inspired flying-ship designs and converting them back to some rudimentary form of surface ship seems, well....perverse, yet that is what I have been doing, primarily to take advantage of some of the really nice sculpts from Brigade.

http://www.brigademodels.co.uk/Aeronef/index.html

I chose three Aeronef, all with an ostensibly South American pedigree, and have got them to a rough approximation of what a 'super' monitor of the time might look like:

They are as yet a work in progress, but as you can see, we have at top, the VAN-803 Gustavo Sampaio from Brazil, the VAN-1401 Sanchez Carillon of Peru, and in the foreground, the VAN-805 Pernambuco, again of Brazilian pedigree according to Brigade.

These have all had the rear stabilising tailplanes removed, and their rounded hulls filed flat to enable their conversion into surface watercraft:

They are looking a little raw at the moment, but sometime soon, I'll hope to complete and base them, with the largest becoming the 'Huascar II' of Peru, the middle one becoming the 'Arturo Prat' of Chile, and the smallest will become the 'Bolivar' from the nascent navy of Bolivia itself. (Which historically, of course, had no vessels of its own to speak of)

To give an idea of the scale, we see below the Huascar II alongside the wooden Corvette, the Chacabuco:

Followed by the Arturo Prat:

Finally the Bolivar alongside the Atahualpa:

Hopefully, then, these upgraded Monitor types will provide some VSF-inspired muscle to take on Nemo, and also serve to move the project as a whole in a roughly forward direction....

The final, alright who am I kidding? - the next stage, is the re-introduction of a more Aquanef angle, and again, in the absence of any off-the-shelf models, I've raided the Aeronef catalogue once more to look for likely submersible craft, and come up with the following:

We have the VAN-4001 Pirate Cutlass Spar Torpedo Vessel, and the VAN-2005 Turkish Yarhisar Torpedo Dig. To my eyes, these have the greatest potential to be deployed in the guise of true submarines, although I dare say more types could be found amongst the ranks of available Aeronefs.

Finally, again, to give an idea of comparative scale, the two proto-subs up against the Atahualpa once more:

Just how these two vessels will figure, whether as further Militarist super-weapons in response to Nemo, or as part of some yet unconceived mystery contender, I've yet to decide - and that's to say nothing on how Robur's Albatross might get involved, or how the Bolivian Balloon Corps might be deployed to counter him!

More to come on all this, I fear.... ;-)

Militarist Reinforcements Sighted! (Some progress....)

The Pacific War/Militarists vs. Nemo factions have recently seen some reinforcement after a kind of Summer hiatus here at SteelonSand Towers - I've promised myself that I will spend more time at the painting table, so hopefully the queue of naked lead should get some attention in the coming weeks, and I'll be able to organise things via the Blog.

The Tumbling Dice factory elves were put to work recently to supply a further order of 1/2400th Ironclad vessels for yours truly, principal amongst which were the ASV13 Screw Gunboats, to provide ships for both Chile and Peru, the ASV11 Screw Corvette to act as the Chilean Chacabuco and Esmerelda, and the ASV52 Monadnock to stand in as Peruvian Monitors.

As you can see both above and below, the Screw Corvette is a nice model with a full set of sails and also rat-lines integral to the sculpt, making it easy to paint in a hurry, which is my favourite style!

Obviously, the vessels here are still a work in progress, and have yet to be matched with their metal bases as provided, but I think you'll get the general idea of the level of detail and character available from this excellent range.

The Screw Gunboats pack provides three examples, which will be used as the Chilean Covadonga and Magellanes, as well as the Peruvian Pilcomayo:

These come pre-mounted to a small base part, in a manner reminiscent of the 1/4800th Napoleonic naval range of ships.

Next we spy the competing Corvette Union and the Ironclad Almirante Cochrane, with in the foreground, the first ex-American Monitor, the Mano Capac - converted here from the Monadnock models from TD:

The company does a number of Monitor types in various packs for the ACW period onward, but it is difficult to find one that exactly matches the Catawba class single turreted versions.

I therefore went with the ASV52 Monadnocks, as they are in the same general area in terms of length and breadth, whilst offering the chance of conversion with some judicious filing.

The large fore-funnel is removed entirely, along with the rearmost Dahlgren Gun Turret:

This approximates the look of the two Peruvian Monitors, and this scale is quite forgiving in terms of glossing over the more irreconcilable differences; these comparison shots show how the finished product comes out - compare them with the originals here:

Monadnock:

http://www.facesofwar.com/uploaded_images/monadnock-739503.jpg

Mano Capac (USS Oneota):

http://maquina-de-combate.com/fotos_y_videos/Buques-en-la-Historia-del-Peru/Monitor_Manco_Capac_0003

I've yet to decide whether to attempt to add the Turret-top conning tower/sunshades seen on the originals - maybe I can ignore these, given how small and fiddly these would end up being!

The other issue is that of a suitable colour scheme -period photographs are notoriously difficult to interpret accurately, and I have seen any number of artist depictions from black to grey to white - perhaps I'll go for a different colour to differentiate the sister ship, the Atahualpa.

Anyway, whilst I shake off the accumulated rustiness of the Summer Holidays, why not take a look at some spirited recreations of the Pacific War originals in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEND70_GAgI&feature=related

and the real thing here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64kfXQR1DAw&feature=related

Hasta luego!

Robur's Albatross Update

I thought I'd post a quick update outlining the small progress on Robur's Albatross - there has been far to much 'sand' and not enough 'steel' in my commitment to the Blog recently, so I wanted to show that at least some wargaming related stuff has been taking place!

As per the excellent suggestion of El Grego after a previous post, I have uprated the drive propulsion, with the addition of two further propellor booms at the rear - these I wanted to look as scientifically unfeasible as the rest of the flight apparatus, so came out rather long and spindly.

As you can see, therefore, I added a pair of canard wings forward, in order to balance things out a little visually. She's also of course had a matt black undercoat slapped on, which has helped to homogenise her previous rather Frankenstein's Monster appearance.

So then, we have gone from this:

To this:

I think she is coming together now, although of course the next, and perhaps most important phase is the colour scheme.

I would be comfortable enough doing a Pre-Dreadnought pastiche, I suppose, but I think Robur, being similar to Nemo in disdaining the conventional world and society of Man, would have something more distinctive.

Strong, dark colours might predominate; even black would be nice and threatening I suppose, but whatever it turns out to be, it has to be unique, I think - any suggestions welcome!

I have been very lucky in stumbling across an excellent Blog page that discusses the insignia of Robur, which is described by Verne in the books, so I think some part of the scheme should reflect the flaming sun of the protagonist's coat of arms:

http://rooksmoor.blogspot.com/2008/10/steampunk-pirates-2-robur-conquerors.html

The upper bow section is looking a likely contender for displaying this.

For some more conventional and contemporary views of the Albatross as originally conceived, some excellent illustrations can be found here:

http://jv.gilead.org.il/rpaul/Robur%20le%20conquérant/

Each is 'clickable' for an enlarged view - I particularly like the last frame showing the Albatross in conflict with the retrograde lighter than air 'Go Ahead' !

Aquanef: Pacific War 1879: Naval Strengths of the Militarists

Some time ago I was lucky enough to find a 1906 copy of Sir William Laird Clowes' book "Four Modern Naval Campaigns" in a charity shop. This is a treatise on what was then the modern art of naval warfare, and looks in detail at the campaign surrounding the Battle of Lissa in 1866, as well as three separate South American conflicts spanning 1879 to 1894.

This is obviously where I drew my inspiration from when deciding where to set the Nemo versus the Militarists campaign, and it has been a mine of information on the vessels employed at the time and their capabilities, as well as having a lot of scenario-worthy detail on the various engagements.

Laird Clowes set out to examine the likely shape of a future Naval conflict for Britain, give that she herself had not had any recent major surface engagements "since the introduction of modern factors, such as steam, armour, high powered guns, the Ram, the Torpedo and the Electric Light".

In describing the Pacific War of 1879, he himself drew upon a number of sources, including the work of Lt. Theodorus B.M. Mason U.S.N. , as well as both French and Spanish accounts; he hoped to: "set forth some significant, though, I fear, still neglected lessons concerning the potentialities and limitations of the Ram in action" and to demonstrate "the immense importance, especially in armoured craft, of superior speed".

His conclusions make fascinating reading, but he makes no mention of the involvement of submarine craft and their potential, (Booo!) although there are some details given on torpedo craft and the various incarnations of their weaponry.

From his descriptions then, here is a breakdown of the naval strengths in armed shipping of Peru and Chile (Bolivia had no navy) at the start of their fight over the mineral and nitrate rich Atacama Desert:

PERU:

Huascar:

Barque-rigged Ironclad Turret Ship, (1865) 1,130 tons

Speed: 11knots (approx)

Armament: 2 x 10" Muzzle Loaders, 2 x 40pdr ML, 1 x 12pdr ML, 1 Gatling gun

Armour: Sides 4.5", Turret from 5.5 to 7"

Independencia:

Ram equipped Armoured Frigate, (1864) 2,004t

12kt

1 x 250pdr ML, 3 x 150pdr ML, 12 x 70pdr ML

4.5" on the waterline and the central Battery; this had an additional 10" of teak backing

Mano Capac:

Ironclad Monitor (Formerly the USS Oneota), (1866) 2,100t

6kt

2 x 15" Smooth Bore Breech Loaders

5" laminated armour on sides, 10" on turret

Atahualpa:

Ironclad Monitor (Formerly the USS Catawba), (1866) 2,100t

6kt

2 x 15" SBL

5" laminated armour on sides, 10" on turret

Union:

Wooden Corvette, (1864) 1,150t

12kt

2 x 100pdr ML, 2 x 70pdr ML, 12 x 40pdr ML

Pilcomayo:

Wooden Gun Vessel, (1864) 600t

10kt

2x 70pdr ML, 4 x 40pdr ML (later changed to Breech Loaders)

Chalaco:

Steamer Transport, (1873) 1,000t

11kt

2 x 40pdr ML

Limenia:

Paddle Transport, (1865) 1,163t

12kt

2 x 40pdr ML

Laird Clowes also mentions that Peru employed Herreshoff type Spar Torpedo Boats, and also had access to some Lay Automobile Torpedos; cable deploying 12.5kt speed, which carried 90lb of Dynamite.

CHILE:

Almirante Cochrane:

Ram equipped Ironclad Battleship, (1874) 3,560t

11kt

6 x 9" ML, 1 x 20pdr ML, 1 x 9pdr ML, 1x 7pdr ML, 1 x 1" Nordenfeldt

9" Iron Belt, Battery 8", Iron Deck of 2 to 3"

Blanco Encelada:

Ram equipped Ironclad Battleship, (1874) 3,560t

11kt

6 x 9" ML, 1 x 20pdr ML, 1 x 9pdr ML, 1x 7pdr ML, 1 x 1" Nordenfeldt

9" Iron Belt, Battery 8", Iron Deck of 2 to 3"

O'Higgins:

Wooden Corvette, (1866) 1,670t

10kt

3 x 7 ton ML, 2 x 70pdr ML, 4 x 40pdr ML

Chacabuco:

Wooden Corvette, (1866) 1,670t

10kt

3 x 7 ton ML, 2 x 70pdr ML, 4 x 40pdr ML

Esmerelda:

Wooden Sloop, (1854) less than 1,000t

3kt

14 x 40pdr

Magellanes:

Iron and Wooden Gun Vessel (1874) 772t

11kt

1x 7 ton ML, 1 x 64pdr ML 1x 25pdr ML

Covadonga:

Gunboat (1854) less than 700t

8kt

2 x 70pdr ML

Abtao:

Iron and Wooden Corvette (1854) 1,050t

6kt

3 x 150pdr ML, 3 x 30pdr ML

Chile also employed a number of Spar Torpedo Boats, and both sides made use of civilian transports and coastal vessels, often up-gunned with ancient muzzle-loaders, as well as Gatling and Nordenfeldts where available.

So, quite a range of shipping, some of which will no doubt provide fodder for the depredations of armoured submersibles, but also others that might just give a better account of themselves. Laird Clowes is at great pains to point out the limitations of Ram attacks when employed against fast ships that are capable of maneuvering: perhaps Nemo won't have it all his own way, after all.......

Aquanef: Robur, Master of the World, and the Albatross

Looking rather forlorn and sorry for itself, we see above the VAN-1402 Peruvian Aeronef, the Huascar from Brigade Models, which I had originally purchased with a view to converting it into a sea-going craft as seen in a previous Aquanef post.

The more I looked at it however, and mourned for the barbette guns that had broken off in transit, I realised that this model deserved more than relegation to the bits box, and should take a place alongside the other protagonists in the developing Nemo versus the Militarists project.

The natural progression, of course, would be to introduce it alongside a whole range of the readily available Aeronef miniatures, but I wanted to have something rather more unique.

We started off from the point of view of Nemo and his Allies interfering in the Pacific War between Peru, Chile and Bolivia, and then moved on to the introduction of Militarist super-weapons to challenge the superiority of Nemo's vessels. What could be more natural, then, than for this enigmatic genius to call on a further Ally in the shape of Robur, 'Master of the World', and his sky ship the 'Albatross' in reply.

Jules Verne wrote Robur the Conqueror in 1886, and followed it up with a sequel in 1904, concerning the adventures of an eccentric who prowled the stratosphere in a heavier than air craft, to mysterious ends, a character who has more than a whiff of the water-based Nemo about him:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robur_the_Conqueror

I had always enjoyed these tales, and in particular Vincent Price's over-the-top portrayal of him in the 1961 movie:

http://www.1000misspenthours.com/reviews/reviewsh-m/masteroftheworld.htm

His fantastic flying vessel, the 'Albatross', has had a number of different incarnations, depending upon the illustrator, but to me I think the Aeronef Huascar would make a good starting point; I added on the tail section which comes with the model, and also some plastic bridging parts to act as bases for its means of propulsion at the rear:

Verne's vessel is characterised by a plethora of propellers, as can be seen in some of the excellent model versions showcased here:

http://steamnoir.webs.com/aircraft.htm

So after pinching out some discs of transparent plastic card and attaching them to steel stationery pins, we have the beginning of something rather special, I hope, as below:

To be frank, on close examination, there is a concern that these could look like so many parasols mounted on deck, rather than pulsing powerhouses of propulsion, but hopefully the surrounding paint job should help to bring the whole together. I also had to compromise on the number of propellers, solely for practical purposes, but hopefully it keeps to the spirit of the original:

There's obviously a lot more work to do on my version of the 'Alabatross' before it can take it's place alongside the forces of Nemo, but a decent start, anyway:

You can find a whole slew of of the illustrations from the two novels online, but one of the best collections can be seen here:

http://jv.gilead.org.il/rpaul/Robur%20le%20conquérant/

(All the pictures are 'clickable' for a larger view.)

Of course, I must also add that I'm not the first to think along these lines when approaching the depiction of Aeronef, one of the most interesting versions can be seen on the Brigade Models' site itself, in the shape of the Konigin Louisa:

http://www.brigademodels.co.uk/Frames/Galleries/VAN-10.html

Excellent work, that I can only hope to emulate as my own sky ship develops!

Aquanef: Submarine Revenge of the Militarists

I've recently got to thinking about how the whole Nemo vs. the Militarist factions of the Pacific War 1879 might develop, and in particular how the more conventional historical based vessels might actually cope when taking on the steel monsters of the Deep.

There are rifled muzzle-loaders and Dahlgren guns a-plenty, but could these really compete with the armoured submarines of Nemo and his Allies?

It seems to me that the Chileans and Peruvians, in response to the superior armaments of their mutual foe, would soon have to come up with some super weapons of their own, so I have been delving into the contemporary navies for a few ideas.

Imagine my surprise, then, to discover that it was not the 'Hunleys' and 'Alligators' of the ACW that had cornered the market in early subs, as indeed, both Chile and Peru had tested advanced designs of their own in circa 1864, and actually come up with some decent machines.

Chile, in response to conflict with Spain, had commissioned an immigrant German engineer named Karl Flach to design a submersible that would help to offset the superiority in shipping of their Continental enemy. His steel creation was 12.5 metres in length, pedal powered by a crew of 11, and featured two cannons, one built into the nose of the vessel itself!

Unfortunately, disaster struck on a proving run, and the designer, his eleven year old son, and another nine men were lost. There are some details on this Wiki page here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flach_(submarine)

also, more interestingly, some artist's impressions of how she may have appeared here:

http://thesubreport.com/blog/?p=126

and details on the current search for the whereabouts of the wreck, with a view to raising her for posterity:

http://thesubreport.com/blog/?p=123

The tragedy curtailed Chile's submarine ambitions, but the same conflict with Spain also motivated Peru to seek a similar technical advance.

In 1864, Federico Blume, a railway engineer, developed the 'Toro Submarino' or submarine Bull, which included such innovations as ballast tanks and a rudimentary system of air schnorkels; the end of the conflict with the Europeans saw it retreat to the drawing board, only to resurface when the strife with Chile began.

Blume's vessel was a 48' craft built from 1/4" boiler iron, was crewed by eleven men, and launching in June 1879, attained in trails an operating depth of twelve fathoms for a duration of thirty minutes, and a speed of 4 knots. In October of the same year, she was deployed to engage the Chilean Blanco Encelada and Almirante Cochrane near San Lorenzo Island near Callao with a pair of towed torpedos, but the mission was scrubbed when the vessels moved the location of their anchorages at short notice:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toro_Submarino

http://shermyjllore.blogspot.com/2009/03/first-submarine-peru.html

Once Chile's star was firmly in the ascendant, the submarine Bull was scuttled with the rest of the Peruvian Fleet, and so the underwater advances of these two South American nations were stillborn - doesn't mean I can't resurrect them however, does it?

I think I feel a bit of a scratch-build coming on...... :-)

Taking things somewhat further, I've also been considering beefing up the surface vessels of the belligerent nations, with input from some contenders available from Brigade's Aeronef ranges. Now of course these are supposed to be aether craft, but a bit of surgery to remove the tail apparatus and a few additional bits and bobs, and these should make some decent looking 'super-Monitors' or 'Ironclads-on-steroids' to take on Nemo and his ilk.

(Of course, Peru had some real ACW-era Monitors serving in their historical fleet; see here for the Mano Capac:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Oneota_(1864)

and the Athualpa:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Catawba_(1864)

both bought surplus from the USA.)

First up then, I'm looking at the VAN 1401 Peruvian Sanchez Carillon class Frigate, which with the tailplanes off and the bottom of the hull filed flat, should make an interesting addition to the mix:

Additionally, we have the VAN 803 Brazilian Gustavo Sampaio class Light Cruiser, which will see some similar attention to produce an ocean-going heavyweight worthy of a fight with Nemo:

So hopefully lots to look forward to here, whether some revivified historical subs, or some more imagineered surface craft!

In a coming post I'll be looking to put down on paper some technical specs for the respective fleets, as well as hopefully some scenario ideas based around the real events of the Pacific War - so stay tuned for more Aquanefiness to come.....

Aquanef: 1/2400th Militarist Flotilla is launched....

A look now at some of the South American inspired 'Militarist' ships that have so far left the slipway, as it were. These are about 80% complete, in that they need some tidying up; doing the Macro photos and seeing the results up close sure helps in flagging up those problem areas!

Having painted a lot of Pre-Dred 1/3000th, and dallied with the 1/48ooth Napoleonic from Tumbling Dice, I thought that these might sit nicely somewhere in the middle, however, I found them quite tough to deal with.

My 'style', if you can call it that, is quick and dirty, and whilst the clean lines of 1/3000th don't allow for too much straying into blobby territory, and 1/4800th actually benefit from a broad brush approach, these were more problematical.

Heavy handedness here meant some obviously over-thick applications of paint, and some very wobbly lining out being more apparent than usual....thank the gods that I have never been brave enough to let myself loose on quality the like of Rod Langton....that would be a car crash!

In my own way, though, and in terms of the tabletop, I'm fairly satisfied with them, and some re-touching and a bit more detailing, along with an ink wash, should finish them off alright.

Below we see the Peruvian ships the Huascar and the Independencia mounted on their integral bases:

I decided to keep the foremast of the Huascar in place after all, as I think it would have looked a bit naked without it - although it might complicate things somewhat when action stations are called!

The other ship needs some attention to the ratlines, and I might change my decision to go with a white trim and brown ship's boats - I think that all-black hulls might be a bit more realistic, if a bit bland, and as most contemporary pictures have the boats in white, then this would add some spots of colour to the whole.

The Huascar in a closer view; I tried suggesting the two 10" Armstrong guns in the Coles Turret with a couple of black 'windows':

Now for the Chileans; on the left the Almirante Cochrane, and on the right, Tumbling Dice's generic steam screw Corvette, depicting perhaps the Chacabuco:

I went with white masts not for any particular historical reason, but rather just to contrast with the yellow of the Peruvians; they might unite to fight off Nemo and his Allies, but are, after all, enemies. In terms of the look of both sides historically, it seems that they followed the standard black, white and yellow ochre peace time scheme of most navies.

I've been very pleased with the integral bases, they fit their respective ships like a glove, and also allow for a bit of 'heeling over' for dramatic effect, should you require it.

I've solved the storage issue by applying magnetic sheeting to the bottom of each, and trimming to size.

I suppose the only thing is that they are really too small to add in any sort of national identifier or name/data, although I am thinking of running with an idea to have a sort of trailing slip which could hold this information, which could be added to the various ships as and when required, but this has yet to leave the drawing board.

So, somewhat tentatively, then, the Militarists deploy their vessels to meet the strange threat of the unknown monster fish causing havoc with their merchant shipping....although apparently on a rather green and fuzzy sea....perhaps it's the Sargasso?

Aquanef: The Fleet of Nemo's Allies

"May, 1879. The Coast of Peru, near Iquique: shipments of arms and ammunition are coming south to equip the belligerents in what will come to be known as the War of the Pacific. Chile, Peru and Bolivia have ignited a struggle over control of mineral rich areas of the Atacama desert, and principally, the supply of Saltpeter, an ingredient essential to the production of gunpowder.

Captain Nemo, outraged by the prospect of militarists fighting a war over the very thing that enables them to destroy their fellow man, has decided to intervene.....two merchant vessels, loaded with a cargo of Minie and Chassepot rifles, see a monstrous shape emerge from the depths and race towards them at high speed...."

A quick run-through, then, of the completed vessels that will fight alongside Nemo in the conflict outlined above. First off, we have the Ironclad submersible the 'Catfish':

Next, we move on to the steam-powered 'Squid'

Finally a couple of views of the 'Piranha'

Some group shots; the paint schemes have come out looking rather more 'cute' than I had originally intended, so I may have to dirty them up with some ink-washes and maybe some rust streaks here and there:

Nemo's Allies sail off to prevent mankind from destroying itself:

So what of Nemo's own vessel, the Nautilus itself? Well, that scratch build would be a distinct step-up from this level, and is something I'm still thinking about. The iconic image familiar to modern readers is probably the version created for the 1954 movie version starring James Mason, done by Harper Goff for Disney studios; I doubt if I could really do this justice -

see some once commercially available versions here:

http://www.julesverne.ca/jvnautilus.html

It is interesting to ponder, though, that the original version described by Jules Verne in 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, bore more than a passing resemblance to a vessel contemporary to the time of writing, namely the 'Alligator' of Brutus de Villeroi, built for the US Navy:

http://www.navyandmarine.org/NavalArt/HindsBoats/alligator.jpg

There's a fascinating site detailing the hunt for this lost vessel to be found here:

http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/alligator/welcome.html

I think mine will be more likely to resemble this one, and then the search will be over!

Professor Arronax: "What is in those sacks they are carrying?"

Nemo: "Nitrates and phosphates for ammunition. The seeds of War. They're loading a cargo full of death....when that ship takes it home, the World will die a little more...."

Aquanefiness: Submarine progress update

A quick progress report, now, on how the Aquanef 'Team Nemo' monster subs are coming along.

As you can see above, I followed the whole cuttlefish thing to its logical conclusion with the vessel above, adding some three-core cable tentacles (no doubt steam-powered!) and some knobbly protrusions on the back to represent conning towers, etc.

The whole has been based on some magnetic-backed artists card, weighing in at 70x30mm, and some filler applied as the water's surface.

I'm not sure how the paint-scheme will go on this one; I think I'll move away from metallics or greys, and might experiment with a more fishy finish, to give it a realistic look.

Next up, the smaller of the two soy-sauce fish was similarly mounted, this time on a 50x30mm base, and again had a funnel and mast installed:

Finally, the larger one went onto a 60x30mm base, and had the same treatment as the others; bit of an angler fish vibe going on here - perhaps it tempts merchant ships close with a fake light lure, and then goes in for the kill!

The strange blue blobs visible internally are not transplanted organic brains for some fiendish purpose, but rather some blobs of putty which just help hold the light plastic body in place whilst the glue is drying and the filler is applied around them.

So, with some undercoat splashed on, the allies of Nemo against the Militarists are beginning to take shape:

Stay tuned for more updates soon....

Aquanefiness: Very 'Scratch' Subs!

The recent buzz surrounding the public debut at Salute 2010 of Steve Blease's Aquanef has had me playing around with ideas as to how to very cheaply and easily come up with some suitable submarine vehicles until the real thing can be cast and released.

As I mentioned in my last post, I had thought of combining the recently purchased 1/2400th Ironclads with some submarine vessels, in order to re-create a sort of late nineteenth century Nemo and his underwater friends (Meglomaniacs) versus the Ironclad navies of the World Powers (Militarists). Thinking of the "It must be a Monster of the Deep" confusion evinced by the latter when dealing with the incredible technology built by the former, I thought that some anthropomorphic shapes for the submarine vessels might be the way to go, and I lit upon the plastic monstrosities you see in the photo above as likely contenders.

The gastronomes amongst you might recognise them as the plastic soy sauce/shoyu bottles you often get in sets of take-away Sushi. These I had originally snaffled with a view to turning them into Dirigibles for Aeronef, but thought that they could do just as well as underwater craft. I know that the vessels on display at Salute were full models, but rather in the vein of my previously built Ottoman sub, I felt that as most early submarines operated offensively pretty much at the surface or at most 'awash', then a waterline type model wouldn't be too amiss.

Some hacking with a craft knife, along with a quick scruffle in the bits box brought me to the following:

An electrical connector, and some bits from the ever-reliable eye drop pipettes went in to form a more machine-like shape, although some creative painting could render it as perhaps a sort of steam-powered cuttlefish.

The larger of the Soy Sauce bottles has a plain surface apart from eyes and a raised brand or trade mark, which of course could easily be painted up as some form of mechanical device - from the fin on the top surface I cut out a couple of slots which could be entry hatches or mounting points for steam funnels and/ or masts and periscopes:

Similar treatment was meted out on the smaller bottle, which has some rather nice inscribed scale markings, to give the following:

A closer view of the 'cuttlefish':

Size comparison on the two soy sauce powered craft:

Now the smaller of the two up against the Peruvian Ironclad the Independencia:

A touch on the large size, perhaps, but then these are supposed to be monsters of the deep!

More to come on this I fear.... :-)