| Coelacanth | 16 Jan 2015 11:51 a.m. PST |
I am contemplating small actions in the late 16th century. I will probably scratch-build a few ships, but may want to supplement them with existing kits. I am leaning toward 1:600 or 1:450. What do you guys think? Thanks in advance! Ron |
| Coelacanth | 16 Jan 2015 11:51 a.m. PST |
I worked this up to help clarify my thoughts: Small Ship Model Scales
Scale Small Large Cable Three
Ship Ship Length Miles
1:3000 0.2 0.8 2.5 6
1:2400 0.2 1 3 7.5
1:2000 0.3 1.2 3.5 9
1:1200 0.5 2 6 15
1:1000 0.6 2.4 7 18
Ships are assumed to be between fifty and two hundred feet on deck; sparred length will be greater. Sea scales have been adjusted somewhat for convenience of measure; generally, they are accurate within five per cent. Cables and miles are assumed to be two hundred and two thousand yards, respectively. Bold tabletop scales are in feet, all others inches. Ron |
| Coelacanth | 16 Jan 2015 11:57 a.m. PST |
Medium Ship Model Scales
Scale Small Large Cable Three
Ship Ship Length Miles
1:700 0.8 3.4 10 25
1:600 1 4 12 30
1:500 1.2 4.8 14 36
1:450 1.3 5.3 16 40
1:400 1.5 6 18 45
1:350 1.7 6.8 20 50
1:300 2 8 24 60
Ron |
| leidang | 16 Jan 2015 12:19 p.m. PST |
I've always been tempted to do 1/300 so that I could run a Mauritius campaign with both sea and land battles. With 6mm figures and 1/300 ships you could do ships supporting an island fight and have everything look right. Same goes for lake or river battles. |
| David Manley | 16 Jan 2015 1:16 p.m. PST |
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| devsdoc | 16 Jan 2015 6:59 p.m. PST |
Can you tell me why 1/300?
Be safe
Rory |
| Mako11 | 16 Jan 2015 8:30 p.m. PST |
I can see 1/300th, or even 1/100th, since then you can use them with figures from that scale on land, too. Most of the vessels are pretty short, so that should keep them reasonably sized as well. Of course, 1/450th, or 1/600th would be nice too, if you want them to match up with other vessels of similar scales, and/or want more sailing room for them, on the tabletop. |
| 1968billsfan | 17 Jan 2015 4:05 a.m. PST |
I don't understand the table that the OP has provided. For the "small ship" entry at 1/2000, does it mean that a ship is 1.2" long and a mile is 9"? |
| 1968billsfan | 17 Jan 2015 4:05 a.m. PST |
There are several compromises that also need attention. Each person has an esthetic view as to the amount of detail they want in their ships, which is predicated on the size (scale) of the ship. I think that you should be able to put a line of battle on the tabletop, with the ships represented at the fighting interval of a half-cable (100yards)and at least bow to stern interval on the tabletop. (no staggered lines). Since the ships had a limited arc of fire (+/- 45 degrees from the perpendicular) in reality, keeping this narrow arc makes the rules and allowed actions mimic the actual tactics more easily. This, in turn, sets a limit on the sea scale (inches on tabletop to yards at sea)- a 5:1 "expansion" of "sea" to "ship" scale is about right or allowing bow-to-stern models to represent ships at a half cable separation. Where this leads is that (I think) it defines what the sea scale should be fore each model scale, and thereby the number of miles of ocean that you can fit on a tabletop for wargame play |
| Coelacanth | 17 Jan 2015 6:11 a.m. PST |
Re: 1968billsfan I'm sorry if my table wasn't clear; I should have stuck to one unit throughout. Model Ship Scale Table
Scale Small Large Cable One
Ship Ship Length Mile
1:3000 0.2 0.8 2.5 25
1:2400 0.2 1 3 30
1:2000 0.3 1.2 3.5 35
1:1200 0.5 2 6 60
1:1000 0.6 2.4 7 70
1:700 0.8 3.4 10 100
1:600 1 4 12 120
1:500 1.2 4.8 14 140
1:450 1.3 5.3 16 160
1:400 1.5 6 18 180
1:350 1.7 6.8 20 200
1:300 2 8 24 240
A Small Ship is assumed to be fifty feet on deck and a Large Ship two hundred feet.
Cables and Miles are assumed to be two hundred and two thousand yards, respectively.
Sea scales have been adjusted somewhat for convenience of measure; generally, they are accurate within five per cent.
All measurements are in inches.
Ron |
