"Sergeants' Mess Coaster/Tramp Steamer" Topic

Gents,

Just come across this excellent looking craft:

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and wondered if anyone has made one?

Also wonder if anyone has fitted the odd bit of armament?

Very tempted to get or 2 to go with my Britannia Insect Class Monitors and Vorpostenboot!

Cheers,

Paul

What is the scale? Please let it be 28mm. And someone makes an "Insect" class gunboat?

It's 20mm. So sorry!

Tango beat you to by quite a bit. I've got one on order.

It looks even better when you see the model for real. Was looking at this and the other Sergeants Mess ships and trying to work out if I could convince Alison that these would fit into our seaside themed bedroom.

Insect class gun boat in 20mm available from Britannia Miniatures

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Bc1745

Have you convinced Alison yet? :-)
We are very pleased with it, it is very easy to put together I promise!

Now arrived. No instructions but looks as though it should be easy to put together with variations quite possible.

OK, usual style I've put it together without painting first – some bits should really have been painted first.

Impressions:

Lots of potential, easy to put together, metal casting not really that good – also, all the rails are the same length which means under the bridge you have to cut and join two sections, not obvious at first – picture on their site shows a longer rail in one piece.

No ships boat. Wargames model so not a big issue, still I would add one or two myself if I was to want to make a better job of it. More serious, might be hard to find somewhere to put a gun on the model – it is a wartime vessel.

Yes, worth having, with reservations, and I can see iut being useful.

Many apologies about the casting and the rails; we can send replacements happily. My fault about the rails, I was packing in a hurry so totally my fault.

Maybe next time if you are not satisfied and have constructive criticism you might want to contact us before reviewing to give us a chance to correct any faults.

Sorry if I've upset you – not a review, simply asnwering a question 'and wondered if anyone has made one?' Likewise, rails not a major problem as far as I'm concerned, simply joined the pieces. Not like a recent one from Mirliton – they sent me 2 right wings for a figure and couldn't be bothered to even reply when I asked for replacements. Result? they've lost a lot of future orders. Yours, the issues aren't enough to ask for replacements and I would expect to be ordering from you again in future.

Biggest potential issue is the gun issue. Not a problem if being left unarmed, can't see any easy spaces on this version of the model where you can fit a gun. On the other hand, excellent, well moulded, basic hull that I can see as forming the basis of an upgunned model. For wargaming purposes, personally I would want to see a gun somewhere. Another potential useful addition could be to include cranes – current masts are accurate but again, for wargames purposes, spars acting as cranes would be nice.

At the end of the day my main points are 'Lots of potential,'worth having,' and 'I can see iut being useful.'!

Just tried something. Mine is for pulp use, but if I were to leave off the stern vents and put card over the hatches then it would be possible to fit an Armati Breach loading gun code 4890/00 – not perfect, but would work.

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Fair comments, can see what you mean. Hope we didn't upset you, didn't mean to. Good idea reference the cranes and I would imagine should be fairly easy to do. We'll look into that – thanks for the idea! Also a good idea about the vents and hatches.

How about a pack of machine guns on pole mounts, light AA cannon etc one with Lewis guns for 'pulp' and Allied vessels, another with Axis type guns …………searchlights too for the bridge wings…….boxes and crates too……

Another set of good ideas – thank you.

Some of those above suggestions we do already on our Goodies for Mechanicals page – I realised as soon as I had done that last post…

Chaps,

A good dialogue and honest exchange of views.

Pleased that GarrisonMiniatures comments are overall positive.

Gaz0045 armament ideas are great too.

I was actually hoping to have mix and match additions which would allow the vessel to be British, German and Japanese with appropriate changes of crew and weapons.

Although not entirely accurate for purists it would be OK for a bodger like me who wants to game Operation Sealion and the invasion of Malaya.

Cheers,

Paul

Check out Reviresco's offerings in this area!

Add a Hotchkiss M1914 machine gun on an AA mount. The M1914 Hotchkiss was widely exported before and after the Great War and turned up in all sorts of places far and away. This would allow us to field French, Vichy French, Free French, Chinese, Greek, and any other power that used the M1914 including nefarious pulp villains or daring, upright pulp heroes.

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Another weapon well worth considering IMHO.

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

so how long is it roughly?

It is 310mm x 60mm.

cheers will add want to the list of future purchases

@ Sgts Mess
I am looking for 28mm models, but I was thinking that could use 20mm boats at a push.

It is described as material WM & Resin
Have you got any further pictures of components?

Trying to work out that if I tweak some of the detailed pieces that I can use it for 28mm.