"My scratchbuilt 1/2400 Flying Squadron 1894" Topic

I am not sure if I should post them here because the other section "Ironclads (1862-1889)" litteraly should not cover the first Sino-Japanese War neither. Anyway considering these ships also took part in the Russo-Japanese War, I'd permit myself to post them here.

I made them 2 years ago in order to game with my friend's Beiyang fleet as a commemoration of the 120th anniversary of the war. Now we have plenty of cheap and well-detailed models 3d printed and I'm much less reluctant to bother myself with scratchbuilding such tinies again.

Hope you like.
chen

Nice work.

They're gorgeous. Nothing cast or printed could equal them.

Don't give up on scratchbuilding because cast or printed models are more convenient or more economical. Build them because you enjoy it, and because the results are amazing.

Jeff

Those are incredible-- as good or better than anything that could be bought.

Paul

That is outstanding work! I agree with War Artisan, you should not give up scratchbuilding. If I had your talent I would finally have the French fleet for Foochow in 1884 and all my dreams would come true. Only in 1/3000.

Simply beautiful. Thank you for sharing.

Good Lord! Tell me you have a blog with a "how to." I just can't wrap my head around the process.

Stunningly beautiful!

Outstanding. Those would be great at any scale.

Impressive! Ditto 're how-to!!

Very impressive. What wargame rules do you and your friend use? Do you know more people than just the two of you who wargame with model ships? Do you use other scales besides 1/2400? Do you play other eras besides pre-dreadnoughts? Pardon my many questions. China is still far away from the US, and I don't often get to ask about wargaming in China.

Chen – outstanding! Really outstanding! Love your work matey.

Nick

Oh – and yes – I'd love to see a tutorial too.

And I especially like your sea bases – they're the nicest I've seen.

Thanks gents for your appreciations. :)

Scratchbuilding may seem difficult but when you try out the first then the second would be a much easier decomposition of forms into basic modules, at least true for these British-style ships. When applied to those exotic French ships, it'd be a very different story I guess…

Sorry I don't have any blog but I can post the process in the forum.

Chen

Irv, we used the "Quick Fire" rule which can be downloaded free from WTJ's official site.
link
It is purely for the period 1890-1910, and it's quite an easy going rule for people like us who don't have much gaming experience. I translated it into Chinese and get it shared in our small group. I sayd "group" but we are never more than 3.
I know some people game with 1/1800 soft-platstic ships but I think they are more "game-oriented" and don't care much about the models.

As for me and my friends, we also collect 1/2000 WW2 ships, mostly plastic models by Japanese manufacturers like Takara and F-toys, mostly IJN ships of course. I'll post photos later, they are quite nicely detailed. There may also be one or two modellers who wish to share some home-made casts through online stores.

I haven't yet got the chance to try a WW2 rule. So I'm totally open to all suggestions. I am especially interested in the battles fought between DD's and CL's around Malta 1940-1943 and between CA's around Guadalcanal 1942.

Here are the WIP photos I made when I was making them. I hope it be helpful for anyone who wants a try in scratchbuilding. It can be much easier than it may seem and will surely be of great fun.

1/The protected cruiser Yoshino

2/Naniwa and Takachiho

3/Akitsushima

Wow! What materials are you using and what tools? These look incredible!

Quick Fire is an excellent set of rules and I have been using them for ages. The feel of the period is there and the rules flow really well. I have made a few house rules over the years but they play well as they are. The fact they are free is icing on the cake!

For WWII I use the original version of General Quarters. These rules are also quick play and share many mechanisms with Quick Fire.

Thanks for answering my questions, Chen, and for the pictorial. You're pretty good at photography, too.

One of my very first modelling projects, back when I was in short pants, was a scratch-built US four-piper destroyer in 1/1200. I carved the simple flush-decked hull from an old ruler, added a few scraps of wood for superstructure, cut up a toothpick for the stacks, made the masts and guns from bits of wire. It was an approximation, but I slapped on a coat of Pactra Battleship Grey, dabbed the tops of the stacks with black and it looked great to me. (Who remembers Pactra Enamel hobby paints? Show of hands, please.)

It didn't last long, my mother stepped on it. Awww.

It's been years since I built a model ship for display. Lately I've collected some 1/1200 plastic kits that I had when I was a boy, that Airfix and Lindberg have re-issued. I plan to build them for wargaming, rather than for display. They're really too big for wargaming, but they sure are handsome.

That is really nicely done.

Thanks for the explanation.

Startlingly lovely !!

Hi Patrick,

For scale model conversion there are materials such as ABS plastic sheets of 0.3mm, 0.5mm, 1mm, 1.5mm, etc., rods (square, rectangular or round sections) of different diameters/sides. Their dimensions follow modules. Then as you can imagine, it's like a Lego game.
The ABS plastic can be easily cut with an ordinary paper-cutting knife, easy to glue using Tamiya's super-diluted solvent glue. In some parts one needs a toothstick to add a tiny drop of super-glue to reinforce the joint. So, tools like a normal paper-cutting knife, a more exquisite modeller's knife (with a very sharp-angled head), some sand papers, a hand drill with 0.2~1mm diameter heads, would be enough in most cases.

Thanks for the info Chen, it sounds very do-able, of course I will need to pick up the talent somewhere!

Patrick, you are welcome. Have a try and you'll find that not so hard. :)

It's just that sometimes I cant't help gettig impatient about the efforts to make in scratchbuilding. "Get me more ships, and quickly" that's the voice in my greedy heart.:D

Hi Chen,
those ships are just incredible! I like the simplified yet realistic look You achieved a lot… and still You are showing different gun sizes!
I saw You were using much the same sources that I use. So maybe You know where to find a good drawing of japanese gunboat Akagi? I search for a good side and deck view.
Keep on the good work!
Christian

Hi Chen,

First of all, thank you for making so much information available – I'm very excited by the idea of scratchbuilding in 1:2400 scale but have not had the inspiration (until now) to get started. The materials and tools seem quite simple which is encouraging. The challenge is the attention to detail that provides results such as yours! You work is inspirational – such detail. I love it!

Can I check with you what source you use for the deck plans you are working to? I've tried searching and can find individual plans but nothing like what you are working from. Are they from Brasseys?

My interest would be in pre-drednaught (R-J war) and Ironclad era (particularly the War in the Pacific).

Again, congratulations on your excellent scratchbuilding skills.
Cheers
Alan

Hi Alan,
all the plans You see here are old russian drawings which sadly are sometimes inacurate.
More can be found by using google with russian and japanese phrases which You can find easily on wikipedia, e.g. "吉野 (防護巡洋艦)" which means "cruiser Yoshino" in japanese.
As for the russians, there seems to be some kind of sport as who can provide the most exotic draeings and data of old warship technology:)
Cheers!
Christian.

Aw, forgot to mention chinese sources.
And with some basic cyrillic skills there is loads of interesting drawings and stuff to be found on forums like link – take Your time and click thru some pages, You won't regret it.
Bye!
C.

Thanks for the info, Christian. Appreciate it. It'll be interesting to explore those vast areas of the web we English speakers don't see! In some ways, that adds another interesting layer to the project.

Thanks for the link, especially.
Cheers
Alan

Hej Alan,
You're welcome, and here's some more:
link
and
link
Feel free to contact me if You need sth specific, I have searched a lot for the period You're interested in.
Good night!
C.

Thanks Christian,

I've been out to the local model shop and secured a selection of PVC sheet and some extras – all I need now is to settle on a project!

Thanks for the great links and your kind offer of extra assistance.

Will post when I have some progress.

I love it when a new project comes out of the blue like this!
Cheers
Alan

Hi Christian,

I usually search in this site ( the-blueprints.com ) but as I've just tried there is no blueprint for this Akagi gunboat indeed. I'll ask my friends if they have any helpful sources in Japanese.

And hi Alan,
I'm so glad that you find my work inspirational. I believe you can find blueprints for most of the famous ships of your preferred period in the link above.

However I presume the Russian ships wouldn't be easy to start with. They are too irregular and complicated in term of shape. If it is not purely for the pleasure of scratchbulding, I recommand you a consideration of WTJ's products ( wtj.com/store ) . To me they are really lovely models at very reasonable prices.

Anyway, Chinese and Japanese ships ( and all the other ships of a British provenance ) won't to too hard to scratchbuild. Enjoy your project. : )

Hej Chen,
thanks a lot!

@ Alan: so now I'm curious – maybe You should start a new threat and bring forth that scratchbuilding thing – a WIP from the very start!

All the best!
C.

Hi Chen,

Thanks, that's great advice. I agree that it might be best to keep this as a scratch building project and pick something simple first!

I might even begin with a few ironclads (e.g. always wanted the Huáscar) just to get used to the materials and tools I'll be using. I agree that the WTJ ships are wonderful models and line like Panzerschiffe are very affordable.

@ Christian, I will certainly get a WIP thread going when I have something to show for myself!

Cheers
Alan

These are beautiful. As others have said, it is rare for scratch-built models to be beat commercially produced ones, but these do.

I wonder if I could ask you about the colour? I have seen different descriptions of the Japanese ships during the war with China. Some say they were white, others light grey.

Did you base your choice on a particular source?

With thanks in anticipation,

Alan

Simply fantastic work, thanks for sharing.

Hi Alan,

There have been some unofficial but quite serious and professional studies in China about the detailed history of the naval combats during the 1894-95 war. The diversified references have seemed to finnally come to an accorded conclusion that the Japanese warships during the conflict were painted white. Several history books have mentioned that at the very opening of the war, Chinese naval soldiers mistakenly identified the IJN ships as American. This too may justify the colour scheme of the IJN ships at that time. I believe the light grey scheme was introduced in IJN before the 1904-05 war against Russian Pacific Fleet (which were painted white).

BTW, thanks for all your nice comments, gents.