"New guy, gonna show my age." Topic

Yo, shipmates, (medically) retired USN electronics/computer type here. I've been thinking about switching hobbies from ACW reenacting to something more indoors. I've always loved the PTO and am thinking about starting to assemble some fleets for war gaming.

Reading about miniature ships has reminded me of 40 years ago now. A friend had these tiny ships that were obviously made for gaming. The were very generic and the only difference between the two fleets was their colors. One fleet was a pearly greenish color and the other was silvery-gray. The plastic was soft and very slightly translucent. One molded piece, no separate parts at all. I'm not sure what scale they were, but maybe you can tell me; a CV was about 4-1/2 or 5 inches long, a BB maybe 4 inches, DDs were like 1-1/8 inch, and the MTBs were maybe 1/2 inch long.

Does this ring a bell for anyone? Any idea who made them and if they're still around? I'd give a lot to have those ships now, they'd bring back good memories.

Also, some years later I ordered a free sample resin ship from someplace, possibly Alnavco, and I remember it was CL USS Brooklyn, made of gray resin and not too much detail, obviously also made for gaming. They still making those?

Over.

"Also, some years later I ordered a free sample resin ship from someplace, possibly Alnavco, and I remember it was CL USS Brooklyn, made of gray resin and not too much detail, obviously also made for gaming. They still making those?"

Sounds like Panzerschiffes. I have lots of them for the pre-dreadnought/ WW1 era and they have given sterling service in many a game.

A link for Panzerschiffe if they still interest you.
panzerschiffe.com

Darkfold,

I know the ones you are talking about. They aren't Panzerschiffes but I can't remember just now who made them. It'll come to me later (I hope).

The green fleet / silver fleet game was from sending in a comic book coupon and a dollar or two. There were similar offers for army men that turned out to be flats. Somewhere on the internet there's a site with images of the coupons and I think the minis are being produced again.

Wishful thinking maybe on new production, but here's the site I was thinking of.

link

I got the game and the extra pieces, but they are long gone now.

Well the "footlocker" full of soldiers can be had anew.

link

The early early Davco/Skytrex ships were resin but those I had were clear. I still have a resin 1/3000 Blucher from WW1 knocking around from the 70's somewhere. Davco/Skytrex converted to metal in the 70's and I'm sure haven't looked back.

Yes! OMG, that's them! And I remember that ad, too. I'd forgotten about the tiny aircraft and the cargo ships, and I don't remember the mat or the rules at all, but wow… just seeing the pics brings back so many great hours playing in the breezeway between the house and garage. Thanks!

Well from this and reading other discussions about miniatures, I think I'll take a close look at Panzerschiffes, they seem to be what I'm looking for. I'm really interested in putting together a huge Teikoku Kaigun, so whoever makes the most Japanese units is going to get picked. Heh, of course, that means I need to find a club or group that is into this, too.

And Panzerschiffes has Civil War too! I think I hear another vacuum cleaner hose being hooked up to my checking account… :D Thanks, guys, much appreciated. Later.

Rich is right.These were made by Helen of Toy/Five Star Toys
back in the late 50s/ early 60s
up to the early 80s.
The early version was Convoy
Terror(Five Star) and Fighting
Ships(HoT).The only difference
was the rules.These old wargames are the granddads of a lot our games today.
The odd thing to me is the minis in these naval games.Designed so long ago and
yet the CGN (actually about the
size of a 1/3000 A.Burke) is
very stealthy with a twin 8 in.
and ciws forward.I ve added a
vls aft of the super sructure
with a platform just aft with
2 light ciws and twin 3 in. on
the stern.
The FFG (about the size of a 1/3000 modern French DDG) has
a vls forward with 2 funnels
after the superstructure with a
platform with 3 ciws with helo pad aft.The sub is roughly like a 1/2400 Barbel.
The carrier is huge,reminds me of an angled deck mod version
of the WW2 Lexington.The BB is
something like Navwar s Italian
Planned 1928 BB.There is a DD
about the size of a 1/3000
Fletcher and would fit in a
WW2 navy.
The plastic is like vinyl and
fairly easy to conver these things.I use them to pump up my smaller powers(Sweden,Denmark)
or create an old one(CSN).I wish I was better with a hobby
knife as the BBs sit a little
high out of the water.
These things can be found on E Bay occasionally but are pricey.I got most of mine from a gent in the old PFPC magazine
Darkfold you may want to check
into 1/3000 scale metal minis
as they are roughly the same
scale as the old plastics.Plus
they are mostly minis of actual
ships.

Good Luck,

David Hodge

PS Rich,I love my log books!
Nice work!

I knew some of the others would have the answer before I did! A friend of mine gave me a bag of the ships way back when so I never did know where they actually came from. Great job Chris & David!

TMP Memory never ceases to amaze me.