"Valiant 1/2000 packs to start with Flying Colors?" Topic

Hi friends!

I'm a-looking to start with some British and French minis to use with the Flying Colors rules, which I just ordered. I decided to get the Valiant 1/2000, which are a bit more detaied than the 3 or 4 makers of 1/2400 that I saw photos of, and still kinda bit on the counters, I think.

I saw that the Valiant Fighting Sail packs come with 3 and 4 ships each. Can anyone advise me on which packs to get to build enough Brits and French to play at least a few of the scenarios that come with the game (how many 60-Guns, 74-Guns, etc.)?

Thanks as always!

Plus, if someone can direct me to a tutorial on how to make those beautiful undulating stern flags, awesome.

—Rolando

Remember that the Valiants are – for the most part – generic designs.

You can use whatever is close enough to what you are trying to simulate, paint it and hang a flag to ID the nation and go from there…

Can't say on the rules.

Mainly 74s I suspect, but with some 80s also, and a few lesser or larger warships too, as desired.

For the flags, just research the size desired, and look for some art/images on the internet. Copy and resize in MS Word, or other software, as desired – after doubling, attaching, and reversing the images, of course. Apply white glue (Elmer's, etc., PVA glue), let dry a little, and then bend/crinkle to shape, as desired. Bending them around a pencil, or smaller dowel in several directions will work. Then, just let them dry overnight onto the pin.

Drill a small hole in/near the sterns, at a small angle. This will be used to insert pins into the vessel (their heads clipped off, and cut down to size for your flags).

Insert the pins as desired, for your nations' fleets, without gluing them in place, before battle. That way, you can swap them around at will, as needed, for your scenarios.

Some ships were captured by their opponents and pressed back into service, so don't worry too much about their hull paint schemes not matching the rest of your fleet, if you decide to go with "fleet paint schemes" for the opposing sides.

Same works for the thin banners/streamers at the top of the masts too, though for those, leave a small unglued hole where the mast top will be inserted into. That way, you can easily move/remove them, from ship to ship as well. For these, I've used ink pens to color them blue, red, etc., but you can easily use an art program too.

Just research their sizes on-line, as needed.

Oh, this is all great advice, Thresher01! Thanks! All completely understood, and quite doablea also. :D

StarCruiser,
Would you say that say, Tumbling Dice 1/2400 are less generic, and more particular national designs? I could go for the most detailed 1/2400 maybe. Definitely not 1/1200. Too big for me.

—Rolando

Can't say on the 1/2400th, since I haven't seen them.

All mine are the 1/200th Valiant vessels, excepting for my unbuilt 1/1200th ones.

I like the Valiants quite a lot, since they are affordable, and look quite nice when painted up and based.

If you interested in 1:2400 scale Age of Sail models, I will recommend that you give serious consideration to Figurehead – easy assembly and painting, better appearance (IMO).

B

I have both Valiants and Flying Colors. If you intend to use the hex mat in the game then stick with 1/2400. Valiants really don't fit that well IMO. I end up using my own mat in a much large space.

Personally I think Figurehead castings are actually better. Valiant castings are a little crude and Figurehead has a greater variety of ships. But they are small.

Most of the Valiant line is rather…old, I believe. Mostly from the 1970's to 1980's.

Some of the Figurehead stuff is quite a bit newer so, it should be a bit better looking (unless they have a terrible sculptor!).

I much prefer the 1/2400 Figureheads over the 1/2000 Valiants. The Valiants (IMO) are the Age of Sail equivalents of old Scruby figures today.

Strictly my opinion, of course.

B

I really like the Valiant 1/2000 miniatures, but the line is limited, the proportions are exaggerated to the point of being cartoonish, and Valiant has always had casting problems. A lot of Valiant miniatures come with random blobs of metal ruining the casting, often in places that defy correction by file or knife. This was the phenomenon that drove me to use 1/2400 Figurehead sailing ships back in the 1990s, and I'm still happy I did that. Except for really fragile masts, they're excellent miniatures and I've never found one with a casting problem.

I've said this elsewhere, but I'll repeat it here: the bulbous proportions and guns sticking out everywhere make the Valiant 1/2000 scale Napoleonic men-o-war a superb starting point for late 17th C. ships. Add a tall poop deck and raked rails sweeping up to it, festoon the poop rail with one or more lanterns, and replace the square spanker with a lateen sail, and voila! It's now an ADW man-o-war.

- Ix

Thanks for all the input :D

From this thread and many I've read, it seems that Figurehead is the best-sculpted of the 1:2400 scale brands. Actually, from the FEW photos of the Valiant ships I managed to find, they looked like pretty good sculptures. More detailed, which is to me a top issue, save from going big to 1:1200.

But I've heard that they are flimsy too, and masts are prone to break or bend. BUT, the same has been said of Valiant ships too.

I had intended to rig the Valiants a bit, if I bought those, to strangthem them a little, plus aesthetics ;) Would you say it's real hard to rig tiny 1" ships like I imagine 1:2400 are? Maybe even more time-consuming than larger 1:2000 minis?

—Rolando

I rigged all my Valiants with thread soaked in white glue. Makes masts very strong.

1/2400 I would just rig simplified standing rigging for strength.

I rigged exactly one 1/2400 Figurehead, a 3-decker. I never want to do that again.

To add strength, I replace the bowsprit and lower masts with wire.

Probably too late, but … example of Figurehead 1/2400 (large frigate). I shortened masts a bit to better match contemporary prints, and angled them and the bowsprit accordingly, and yards/sails braced as if wind on port quarter. Model is pretty sturdy, even without rigging (note jib glued to fore topsail). Also, was going to experiment with token rigging using "Beadalon" .015" wire. My flags are supposed to be made from adhesive label paper, adhered to the spanker, to allow change of nationalities.

List of ships here:
link
link

MH

Use beadlon wire for the standing and running rigging. It is multi-strand stainless steel wire coated with nylon (black nylon is what you want). Cut with scissors dip both ends in white glue and place on ship. Hold with tweezers and you may have to try several snips to get the right length. This wire is very strong (30 pound 50 pound test?). It not only keeps parts from moving apart, but also resists things moving closer together- the wire is a bit stiff and will bow a bit like a spring. You can drop the ship and it will hold together. link link

White glue? Interesting; maybe I'll try that.

Here's a Photoshop mock-up of what I'm considering. So I have absolute minimum standing rigging, consisting of IMHO the most visible from a distance forestays and backstays (16 pieces of .015" Beadalon).

Now I know this looks bad compared to some of the nice 1/1200 models on these boards, but remember the ship is 1/2400 scale, and overall is only 1 3/16" long. Shrink your browser image down to that size, and look at it then. I think it fills in the blank area around the lower masts, at an acceptable effort. We'll see… :-)

MH