"1/2400 Viking Forge Models" Topic

I've posted a few 1/2400 Viking Forge models at my website. Here they are (along with Panzerschiffe version for comparison):

Viking Forge Iowa class:

Panzerschiffe Iowa class:

Viking Forge Yamato class:

Panzerschiffe Yamato class:

Viking Forge Lexington class:

Panzerschiff Lexington and South Dakota class:

My website: texaswargamer.com

The Viking Forge miniatures are obviously more detailed than the Panzerschiffe, but they cost more too.

A Panzerschiffe Yamato or Iowa class battleship model is $5. USD A Viking Forge Yamato class model is $9. USD; an Iowa class is $8. USD

A Panzerschiffe Washington class battleship is $5 USD; a Viking Forge Washington is $7. USD

--Ty

I like the combination of VF's quality and price. Nice paint jobs.

Nicely painted ships and a great resource to decide which ships to get

Off topic?
What is the status of WW 2 Japanese for FFOT?
I would like to play them vs the Russians.

Really great job on those battlewagons. Would love to get in a few modern naval games but have to find a decent set of rules,Just dug out some old superior Italian Audace class DDGs and a venetto class CVHG…

xtrema01 --

We haven't had the time to address the Japanese. However, FFT3 contains extensive rules for rating vehicles, guns and troops. Maybe one of our fans will have the time to do it and share with the others :D

Shagnasty --

Yes, I'm becoming a fan of Viking Forge. As these models show, their battleships are much more detailed than Panzerschiffe (and even C-in-C), yet do not require the assembly horror of GHQ. If the other ships are this good, I'll be buying a lot more. (I just ordered a bunch of US battleships, so we'll see).

Added some new ships to my website, texaswargamer.com . More photos are there (look in the WWII Naval section).

Samples below:

Panzerschiffe Iowa class battleship:

Panzerschiffe and Viking Forge Lexington class battlecruisers:

Panzerschiffe Amagi class battlecruiser:

Viking Forge Amagi class battlecruiser:

Panzerschiffe Kongo class battlecruiser:

C-In-C Kongo class battlecruiser:

Shapeways Lion class battleship (frosted detail):

Panzerschiffe Hood:

Viking Forge Hood. (I may have the wrong turrets; am in the process of confirming with Viking Forge.

I do like the Viking Forge models, actually, though you have to be careful as not all VF models are made equal. Those with a price ending in .95 are generally fine, as above. Those ending .00 are often quite primitive, more comparable to the Panzerschiffe, but more crudely cast and very often the WWI model is sold in the WWII line in spite of extensive interwar refits. (WWI collier Vestal is sold as WWII repair ship Vestal, for instance, even though everything above the main deck changed between the wars.)

On the other hand, the older sculpts are all pretty cheap, and I believe several of them come two to a box, even though it doesn't say so on the page. (At least when I bought them off a closeout shelf I got two Vestals and two Cimarrons.)

Further, VF's general lack of art on their webpage (with most photographs being from the .95 Seabattles line) makes this difficult to see. Don't get me wrong, I love the Viking Forge models, particularly for merchants and auxiliaries. Just be aware that there are really about three lines all being sold under the same name. The explanation is all on the website in the fine print.

That said, the Panzerschiffe models paint up nicely and make great gaming miniatures, and if you don't mind investing some time and effort they can look quite comparable to anything else out there. Observe . . .

For the record, that's a Panzerschiffe Ise in front of a C in C Kongo. Both have been super-detailed, as the C in C models didn't come with a mainmast. The mainmast, cranes, secondaries, seaplane, anchors, chains, range finder ears, spars, and radar are added to the Panzerschiffe model.

SymphonicPoet--

You do nice work. Unfortunately for me, I don't have a lot of time to paint these days. It takes me about 3 hours to assemble/paint 20 models like the ones I posted. (I tend to like HUGE games with lots of capital ships). So obviously, superdetailing is not an option for me. But seriously, very nice work.

And thanks for the information regarding Viking Forge models. I'm ordering more capital ships and will post photos when I get them painted.

SymphonicPoet--

Where do you get the extra parts -- "mainmast, cranes, secondaries, seaplane, anchors, chains, range finder ears, spars, and radar?" How long would you estimate it takes you to superdetail a model like one of those?

Ditto 're parts?

I usually make the parts out of styrene stock. I order a lot of Plastruct from a local-ish hobbyshop. (Sadly, no one in Columbia carries such things anymore, so I order from St. Louis.)

I stock .010", .015", .020", .040", and .080" rod, .040"x.080" and .010"x.025" strip. I use a lot of the .015" for masts and destroyer grade guns. The smaller stuff is for lighter masts and I squash it into anchor chains with a pair of needle-nose pliers. Likewise I squash the thick strips and cut out squares for bedspring style radar masts. The large rods make decent gun-tubs. The strips can also be cut into pieces for islands and platforms and so forth. The largest rod can even serve as new stacks, if you want something old and tall and coal-burningish. (I also have a quite a few random bits from old toys and models for odd-jobs.)

Further, I do buy planes from GHQ and ship's boats from C in C. And I have some other random small boats I came by on E-bay that I can't identify, but which work well enough. You figure the planes run about .25 a piece (man GHQ is pricey) so a deckload doubles the cost of your cheap carrier fast. (Though it's still half the cost of the same model from GHQ.)

I hear you about the time. It usually takes me an hour or two to superdetail a model and another hour or two to paint. A capital ship is a four hour job. A carrier with an airwing would easily stretch to a full workday. Destroyers and small escorts go quicker, and you can do a job-lot of them at once. For destroyers I usually only add masts. (On occasion I've done prop-guards or depth charge tracks, but I'm a little inconsistent about this.)

If you're currious about the details of how this works, I write about it every now and then on my blog. I'm figuring on telling the tale of Maumee in the near future.

I did some WWI commissions for a friend that I describe in some detail in a post called . . .WWI Commissions. Witty, huh? These are lighter conversions. (The lack of elint helps.) But you get the basic idea. The downside is that all the added details do make the ships a bit more delicate as gaming pieces. The masts themselves are relatively sturdy, but the more spars and cranes the more delicate things become. It's a tradeoff.

SP: thanks very much for the detailed response.

Quite welcome. I enjoy detailing these little things and I'm always happy if someone else is interested in kit-bashing, super-detailing, 1/2400, and so forth. I've always been pretty happy with both Viking Forge and Panzerschiffe. Good companies, both.