writes:
I'm a naval gamer that likes small scales. In WWII, I've sold off 1/2400 and 1/3000 fleets to move into 1/6000 - and while I really enjoy and appreciate the gorgeous 1/600 and 1/1200 ACW ships available from the likes of Thoroughbred and Langton, there is something about the ground scale to model scale on the tabletop that leads me to the smaller scales. So when Bill asked for naval articles and the 1/2400 Tumbling Dice ACW ships were one of the options, I volunteered.
The models in question are from the Tumbling Dice 1/2400 Victorian Steam and Sail range which includes, as far as I know, the only 1/2400 models of the European ironclads of the era (including such notables as the French Gloire and the Royal Navy's Warrior). The ACW range is fairly limited, and includes a smattering of Union ironclad monitors - including the never completed Dictator and the riverine Esssex, and a smattering of generic ships such as a cotton-clad side-wheeler. The two packs Bill supplied were ASV51 (described as the USS Monitor from 1862 - three models in the pack) and ASV56 (described as the CSS Virginia and CSS Texas, also from 1862).
As far as I know, only one other manufacturer produces 1/2400 ACW ships, Panzerschiffe. This brings me to my only real complaint, but it's a fairly steep one: I don't think the models are very accurate. The pictures compare the Tumbling Dice and Panzerschiffe Monitor and Virginia, and a quick internet search confirms that the Panzerschiffe models are far more accurate. The Monitor models are too narrow, and have a slight downward slope on the bow. Offhand, they appear closer to the slimmer Canonicus-class monitors than the original. Virginia is further off than Monitor, in that bow and stern of the Tumbling Dice model are truncated and more rounded, while the sloped casement is far too square.
