"1/2400 merchants that didn't dodge the draught . . . " Topic

Newest post on 1/2400 merchies is called No Draught-Dodgers in the Merchant Marine. Please forgive the pun. Couldn't quite help myself.

King Edgar, Jeremiah O'Brien, Golo, and Corner Brook.

Corner Brook

(Any help identifying this casting would be greatly appreciated.)

SS Ohio

AO-1 USS Kanawha

There is, of course, more art and some descriptive dialog on the blog. Hope you enjoy.

Sincerely,
David

Your Corner Brook appears to be the MF-23 Tramp Steamer from CinC minis. I could be wrong, but that is what I believe it to be.

That was my first thought too, but the tramp steamer is a little shorter and has a slightly different island. Here's one of my C in C tramps next to the new ship for comparison . . .

The after portion is similar, but the armament is different. The island is about the same size, but arranged a little differently. The forward section of the mystery ship is somewhat longer. There were some conversions in the order, but I saw no evidence to suggest this ship was a chopper. No obvious seems. One consistent mold-line running the length. Didn't strip the paint, just retouched it to make it match the rest of my fleet, so I can't be completely certain, but it looks like a different model to me.

I appreciate the effort. This one's a stumper.

It is the original sculpt from the 1980's. They redid it sometime between then and now. The interesting thing about the new Tramp is that it resembles GHQs MV Gran in their WW2 British line. I have a couple of the old ones as well, and they still hold up with a little work like what you did.

I'm glad for the variation, actually. Yes, the new one does look a bit like Gran. Thank you. I'm glad to have the question answered.

Also, because I can . . .

Here's the newly identified old C in C tramp posing as Corner Brook with the new C in C tramp as SS Assyrian and and GHQ's MV Gran as . . . MV Gran. Not that I have the slightest record of this ship. And I've scoured my 1942 E. C. Talbot Booth, Jordan's Merchant Fleets: 1939 and Google. It's so bad, in fact, that googling "MV Gran" gets you to my blog remarkably quickly. Having just done an image search one of my own pictures came up as the top darn hit. (One of Gran, which is at least a nice change.) Suffice it to say the models in this case are not a precise match for any ship depicted. And Gran is, as far as I can tell, a complete fantasy.

But I digress . . .

Gran, Corner Brook, and Assyrian

They are, in any case, lovely fantasies. And Corner Brook and Assyrian are, at least, real enough ships with real histories that really served in the war. They look a little different than the models. I keep looking, since I'm known to rework models and even rename them if I can get better information or find a ship more closely resembling the model. I've not found precise matches for any of these. (Which is maybe not surprising, since "Tramp Steamer" isn't exactly precise.)

Do you have the Viking Forge WW1 US Design 1023 freighter? It is another that could be used as a "Tramp" type. Nice side pic on their site.

Over at ghq's forum
link
6th post down

After a long research on the MV Gran I found that the ship was built in a Scottish Yard for a Norweigian Company, Interned in North Africa, surrendered to Germany and then sunk by the HMS Urula.

^dragon6,

May I ask where you found that information? Do you have any idea what line? Were you able to find any photographs of the original?

I'll go back to my Jordan and E. C. Talbott Booth and check through the Norway section. Maybe that's why I missed her. Assumed she was British.

^Scafcom1

I have the "armed hog islander" version from the WWII line. I painted her up as Adabelle Lykes.

It's a nice enough ship and a prolific enough design I plan to buy the unarmed 1023 as well. I suspect they're based on the same sculpt, so in some sense I have it. But I haven't yet ordered the exact model. Give me time. There's quite a lot of Viking Forge I still need to buy, but I want to finish painting what I've got before I get in too much more trouble with my wife. :">

I'm sorry it's not my research but I'm sure they would be happy to tell you where it was found

^dragon6

First, thank you very much for pointing me to Norway. It's been educational. I still haven't found any pictures, but I've learned a bit about the Norse merchant fleet, German command and control, and a couple of shipyards I didn't know before. (In Scotland and Japan, oddly.)

A bit of quick research mostly confirms what your fellow found. It's quite possible we're looking in the same place, which would make confirmation both unsurprinsing and nearly meaningless. Though I will do the kindness of adding notes.

In Roger Jordan's The World's Merchant Fleets: 1939 (one of my two principal sources)I find two Norwegian owned ships named Gran. Researching ownership is a little dicey, as there seem to have been an unusually large number of independent owners operating as part of one or another consortium. The first is a new motor vessel working for Odfjell A/S Rederiet and perhaps Skibs A/S Nye Kristianborg. (Jordan, p. 327) The other was an aging tramp steamer in the employ of a Walem and Co. of Hong Kong.(Jordan, p. 342) This second was a Panamanian flagged vessel tramping primarily in the Pacific. (Ibid.) I guess even Norway, which seems to be something of a tax shelter for ship owners, occasionally looses business to better tax shelters.

The 1942 edition of E. C. Talbot-Booth lists no ships by this name that I can find, but both of these ladies had new names by then. Both books list ship owners named Gran or Grann, but their ships appear to have been older tramp steamers of assorted sizes not consistent with the model. We will not consider them further. As an aside, I find it interesting to note that the Panamanian flagged Gran was also seized by the Axis and sunk by a British sub: She was taken over by Japan in Bangkok to become Sugi Maru No. 5 only to be sunk by HMS Statesman a few years later. (Jordan, p. 560)

If Jordan is to be believed (and he seems quite reliable so far) our likeliest Gran was a motor vessel of 4140 GRT built in 1938 by Burntisland Shipbuilding Co Ltd of Burntisland, which turns out to be in Fife. The ship is a little longer and a little more lithe than the model (395-4 by 53-10 versus about 375 by 56). This isn't an inconsequential difference, but it's just under 1/16," which isn't far from the margin of error when you're cutting balsa for a hull, say. Further, the fat stack on the GHQ vessel makes it look relatively modern. Additionally, Jordan gives the MV passenger accommodations in some unspecified quantity. The GHQ vessel has a healthy number of ship's boats and enough space for at least a small number of passengers in the amidships island. (And there is a small poop besides.)

Much as your source stated, this ship appears to have been taken over by the Vichy French in Casablanca in 1940 as Ste Odette, seized by the Germans in 1941 for conversion to a fighter control ship Odeysseus, ultimately to be sunk by HMS Ursala in 1942.

I'd say we have a winner. No art yet, and I confess I'm a little annoyed GHQ decided to place MS Gran (the Norse seem to have preferred motorskip to motor vessel) in their UK fleet without any note of other origin. Further, I find it quite unlikely she ever sported a deck gun as MS Gran, given that the Norse were almost certainly neutral when she was last in Norway. Some of the timeline details are a little unclear, but the gun seems a stretch until she was renamed Odeysseus, by which point the growing proliferation of radar masts would have warranted many guns indeed and rendered her completely unlike the GHQ model. Let's call this one a half-fantasy on GHQ's part. A fantasy based in truth.

Now I have to decide if I'd rather repaint and modify Gran to better reflect Norse reality, or rename her and keep her in the UK. Interesting question that. Again, thank you for the pointer dragon6.

wow these are freaking amazing
unbelievable detail
these are just what I need too, for my scenarios
so, you made these from kits? balsa?
simply awesome work
Im trying to find modern auxiliaries from the russian navy and it aint easy. thinking of simply making ships such as these as generic transport and logistics
thanks for the ideas

The Viking Forge has a number of modern auxiliaries in the US range:

link

Objects May Appear on Shapeways also has several, and some modern merchies in 1/2400 and other scales:

link

Both of these are good sources. I use commercial castings for the most part. Kits, if you will. There are a number of manufacturers: Panzerschiffe, Viking Forge, C in C, GHQ . . . and even some old Superior castings that you can occasionally find at conventions or through suppliers like ALNAVCO. Shapeways is a great resource, as there are several designers out there creating unusual ships. Afrodi may have the largest selection of modern ships. He has several modern vessels in several different scales. And there are quite a number of British suppliers in larger scales, but I'm less familiar with that. (I do 1/2400. Brits tend to prefer 1/1200 for naval. 1/1800, 1/3000, 1/4800, and 1/6000 are also popular to greater or lesser extents, and 1/6000 allows you to buy a LOT of ships for relatively little money and put them on a fairly small table.) Sorry I didn't see this. Should have replied sooner.