foxbat's stuff. last update 08/02/2026 USS North Carolina

[redleg]

Fantastic work on the Maryland, Foxbat! And it looks like we will soon have more ships to admire!

[chrisswim]

Foxbat,
The Maryland looks great, the lightening is an artist touch.
I still like the USS ** CENSORED **.

[foxbat]

Thanks for your kind words, gentlemen. Indeed, more will come, but between ships, I could at last cadge another game.
I could try the East Indies '42 campaign I'd written for Sam MUSTAFA's NIMITZ rules set. I took a beating as the ABDA, but that was expected. I am glad the game worked reasonably well.

USS Marblehead under air attack, with Dutch cruisers Java & De Ruyter


The IJN deploys for battle (that's an awful lot of ships, isn't it? )


Starting positions of the campaign. Time is morning, February 25th 1942.


And the whole report can be found there

[redleg]

Fantastic looking game, Foxbat! And the AAR on your site is great!

What scale are the aircraft? The planes and ships look fantastic as always, and I love the splash markers! Well done!

[foxbat]

Thanks Redleg.
Aircraft are 1/700 plastic stuff a friend gave me as he had no use for them. They sat for years in the bits box till I found a use for them.

[chrisswim]

Dang, I was hopeful that the US crossed the ‘T’.
Nice set up of the engagement.

[foxbat]

We did, but the dice gods...
Now, back to our regular painting schedule. This time, a little nod at my home team.
French heavy cruiser Algérie escorted by 3 Bourrasque class torpilleurs de haute mer. They may be called torpedo boats, but they are in fact some very good destroyers for the early war.

Group shots




The Algérie. Lead ship of a class that the 1940 defeat reduced to but one copy. Fast, well armored (for a change! ), and toting the WW2 CA signature main battery of 8 x 8" guns. Like most of the Fleet, she was scuttled at Toulon. She would have been a good match against the German Blücher class, or the Italian Pola class.

[foxbat]

Now, the Bourrasque class. Unlike the Algérie, the 12 ships of this class saw extensive service. A good part of them were lost in the early war, especially during Operation Dynamo. They were moderately fast for DDs (33kt) but well armed for 1925 designs, sporting 4 x 5.1" guns and 2 triple torpedo mounts. The 1st picture is a photograph of Bourrasque sinking, off Dunkerque, carrying a lot of evacuated troops.















Tornade was destroyed during the naval engagements of Operation Torch.

[chrisswim]

Beautiful models, beautiful painting.
Awesome work.

[redleg]

Those are fantastic, Foxbat! Great looking ships as always, and good info as well!

[foxbat]

Thanks, gentlemen.
Nothing really new, just a new tutorial on my way to do GHQ carriers with Flight Deck Decals

https://foxbatnaval.overblog.fr/2026/02 ... rrier.html

[foxbat]

Well, it seems I may be in a carrier phase. I finished HMS Ark Royal some time ago, and was itching to share it here. Happy to see our forum back! So, HMS Ark Royal, with a suitable deck load of Swordfishes. Bismarck, beware!

[foxbat]

I also painted a battleship, HMS Valiant, for the - at some time in a not too distant future - upcoming Mediterranean 1941 campaign I'm working on...

[redleg]

I like your carrier phase Foxbat! Those ships look amazing! The flight deck is superb! Is that a decal from FDD?

[foxbat]

A forgotten victim in the Japanese expansion, HMS Hermes was the first ever carrier built as such from inception. Her obsolescence made her wholly unsuitable to take part in a major action, even less to face the elite Kido Butai of 1942, which was what fate had in store for her. Unsurprisingly, she was found and destroyed by Japanese carriers of Ceylon. The only saving grace was she was at the time carrying no planes, which would have been lost as well without any chance of repelling the enemy planes. But well, I could resist adding a few Swordfishes on the flight deck (which is also a decal from Flight Deck Decals). I shot the background photo from the shore of Courseulles, which is better known as Juno Beach