Micronaut Only Thread

[battlewagon]

I checked some references on the armored cruisers and the decks appear to be unpainted wood with any above deck structures painted in the hull color. I hope this helps.

[Unfathomable]

Thanks. I'm guessing that "above deck structures" would count for the portion I'm talking about. And I also guess that I'm supposed to note that the surface wasn't wood by the fact that those that are receive indicative texturing. But so long as sources say that it wasn't painted as faux deck then continuation of hull colour should work - and look good.

Any sage words about the bridge windows?

[battlewagon]

I don't know if you would call it "sage advice", but I typically don't attempt to paint things like bridge windows. With a kit in this small of a scale, I allow the actual recessed areas like portholes and windows to provide enough shadow on their own. My thought is that the darker shade would draw the eye to the area. If you are a fan of washes of diluted paint or ink over the kit, that would emphasize the recessed areas. You could also use a dark gray primer and carefully paint around windows, torpedo bays and any other recessed areas. I paint my kits without using any washes and I use minimal drybrushing because I like the "fresh out of the yards" look on my kits. On a couple of the kits I have I found that the casting had a smooth (metal) deck when in fact my research showed that the ship in question either had a wood deck or linoleum (IJN). In those cases I was able to carefully score very light lines in the deck with an X-acto knife and after the primer and paint were applied it looked like the decking on the rest of the kit. Experiment on something first just to get the hang of it. Again, I hope this helps.

[Unfathomable]

Thanks again. I wouldn't dare attempt to score lines at this scale, not that I'm sure they're needed here. I haven't started any carriers yet as I'm unable to paint a line well enough, let alone scribe one - that's well down the skills-road for me. I picked this model to "do" something with the windows simply because they're so large, and seemed like a feature. After all, I highlight smaller details when they're secondary guns, TT or DC racks. So I thought, "Why not?"

This model is turning out to be quite the mystery ship for me, a real information black hole. I have low-quality pictures of class members in alternate paint schemes and I have a diagram of the Tennessee in which the entire forward SS, bridge particularly, is 100% different. Of course that just indicates a rebuild later in life, but none such is mentioned in the 1850-1905 edition of Conway's, an unusual omission. Nor can I find it as separate listing in the 1906-1921 edition. (Being none to quick on the uptake, I'm further mucked around by every US ship of the era seemingly being named for a state and a city at one time or another ... and it's always the same states and cities ...)[

Out of curiosity, which reference were you looking up? Thanks again. [/i]

[Donald M. Scheef]

After Brooklyn (which is clearly a city) and, possibly, New York (which may be either the state or the city), US armored cruisers were named after states, as were all but
one US battleship (USS Kearsarge, Battleship No. 5). This is not puzzling when you consider that the armored cruisers were larger in size than the battleships (great size
for larger engines and, therefore, higher speed) but with lighter armor and armament.

The armored cruisers were all built with two military masts (looking like very thick poles with platforms built on the sides and top). This is also true of battleships up through the
Vermont class. This is the cofiguration shown in the photographs described as "100% different" from the GHQ models.

For a relatively large selection of photographs, look for www.navsource.org.

In 1910 the South Carolina class battleships were completed with 'basket' or 'cage' masts in place of the previous military masts. The basket masts were thought to provide
superior fire control and higher resistance to damage compared to the military masts. At about the same time, the earlier battleships were backfitted with basket masts replacing
the military masts (Indiana class and Iowa received only one basket mast). The armored cruisers received only one basket mast, replacing the foremast. These are the
appearances modelled by GHQ.

At the same time, the obvious superiority of Dreadnought type battleships and greatly increased building program for US battleships led to re-naming the armored cruisers
with city names in place of state names. In each case, the city was in the corresponding state. This made the state names available for new-construction battleships.

New York became Saratoga, later Rochester

Brooklyn retained her name

Pennsylvania became Pittsburgh
West Virginia Huntington
California became San Diego
Colorado became Pueblo
Maryland became Fredrick
South Dakota became Huron

Tennessee became Memphis
Washington became Seattle
North Carolina became Charlotte
Montana became Missoula

I intend to back-date all my US armored cruisers by replacing the basket masts with military masts (ordering extra main masts from GHQ).

Don S.

[Sudwind]

Here are some more of my painting efforts:


British Type 45 destroyer from SeaWulf.


Another one of my O.H. Perry frigates, by GHQ. I didn't paint the ship, but I touched it up and based it. Looks very cool.


This is the Knox I posted earlier, but now it is based up using the Vallejo water effects.


A Kilo class sub from GHQ. Just love the little details on this one.


A Cold War veteran. A Foxtrot submarine from Superior. Nice looking model.

Hope you enjoy these guys!

[JMBaker]

Looking at the ghq micronauts ruleset and need big help

Looking at table c-14. How does one determine the straddle? The numbers in the colored boxes make no sense to me. Please explain and be very specific as I can be a bit dense.

[exodusforever]

Nice stuff Sudwind! I really just love it when I see amazing Modern Naval Ships! Great work. Love the O.H. Perry Frigate.

[ExGGFG]

Hi folks,

First time posting on here. Here's my first ships - the Bismark vs. Hood engagement. This is to get me and local club members playing the game (we're using a different ruleset, not GHQ). But I love the models - they're a joy to paint up.

Yes, I know I have Bismarck misspelled on the name plate! That's already been removed.


Paint schemes aren't necessarily historical, but are recognizable and have always been the ones I enjoy for the German ships. I didn't bother with the false bow wave though.

Hope you like.






Next up I'm working on Tribals & Flower class escorts, Type VII U-boats and about 15 merchant ships for some convoy battles. I've also started collecting and assembling the ships for the Graf Spee engagement, the sinking of the Bismarck, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau vs.Renown and will then look to the Pacific I think.

[Sudwind]

Very nice work on the Jerries and Brits ExGGFG! Tongue Depressor bases?? If so, then a good idea.

I have been using Task board. I got the stuff from Blick art materials online. It takes paint and gels really well without warping. You can cut the stuff easily with an Exacto knife. It even has a texture to it so if you don't want to add a texture material, such as Vallejo water effects, you can still drybrush it lightly with light blue and white to get a pretty good looking base.

[cbovill]

I like it ExGGFG! Very striking on those blue bases with the naval ensigns at the end make for an attractive presentation when gaming. Those beauties will make everyone in your local club want to get in on the action.

Chris

[WWIICentral]

Go easy on me guys... I took some artistic liberties on some of the paint schemes so I know they are not 100% historically accurate (like the Hornet on the end). I wanted to share the finished results.

There's something very cool about seeing 4 fleet carriers lined up next to each other

Tanner

[Pirate Miniatures]

I purchased some Micronauts a few years ago at a boot sale,and was blown away by them,so much so I have been gradually selling my 1/1250 collection to make way for my new project. I would like to build all the Battleships of every nation in ww1 and ww2 and have them all mounted on sea bases and displayed in a nice display case. As I progress i will post my models here if that is ok...Finally looking to get on with my little project and when I see photos like the one above it does nothing but inspire....

[Ducknucks]

Hi, thought I'd share my first attempt at a Micronaut so heres the Hood.
The base is just an experiment, I'll have to do more research on how the wake should look!
I haven't secured the ship to the base yet. Once I'm happy with a technique I'll have the waves lapping around the hull!





I have the Bismark and Eugen "in dry dock" and intend to finish them in their Baltic Camo schemes and want to include the swastikas on the fore and aft (just to make them more interesting to look at!) Does anyone have any tips for the painting the crooked cross or am I just going to have to free hand it?
I've got a sheet of GHQs German micro armour crosses transfers that has swastika aerial recognition decals that I thought of using. They might look ok on Bismarck but would be far to big for the Eugen.
Any advice would be gratefully received!

[av8rmongo]

You could always try making your own decals. If you do that though I would use the clear decal paper not the white decal paper. I've always found the white carrier film to be noticeably thicker than clear. If you use clear just paint a white spot on the deck where the decal will go and you have it made.