Alternatives to 1/1200 - Airfix

[David Manley]

Another alternative to 1/1200 models that will work really well for frigate actions is the old Airfix model of HMS Shannon. I picked up three of these on Ebay recently for 3 quid each, so they aren't exactly pricey :) The basic model builds up quite nicely even if the detail is a bit limited (but to be fair the model is over 30 years old, maybe even 40!). I've done one "as is", and cut down the bulwarks on the second to give it a different appearance. The third is yet to be built but again I'll do soem minor chopping and a different paint job to make it distinctive.

http://sailsofglory.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=411&d=1323528756

http://sailsofglory.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=410&d=1323528754

http://sailsofglory.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=409&d=1323528752

http://sailsofglory.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=408&d=1323528750

http://sailsofglory.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=407&d=1323528748

The hull is about 100mm long, which when compared with the real ship's length of approximately 45m makes the model 1/450 in scale - that said it looks very large when compared with the Peter Pig ships in the same scale.

Of course I'll have to make some larger manoeuvre cards and gunnery rulers for these larger models.

Coming in the post is a Lindberg model of USS Constitution, so by the time the rules are published I should have at least four decent big frigates for some demo games. Is anyone aware of any other similar plastic kits that I ought to be hunting down?

Coming soon - going the other way: 1/2400 models from Figurehead.

[fire6]

Very nice those would be great for 1 on 1 action.

[David Manley]

Thats the plan - 1 on 1, or 2 on 2, that kind of thing.

[Attila57]

Very nice and perhaps easier to find in Italy

Attilio

[Old Salt]

Those look great

[Horatio Nelson]

I can remember our club hacking these about 20-odd years ago. We used to cut one in half and insert the centre piece of a second to get larger vessels.

[Cpt Kangaroo]

Steve, that sounds like my experience way back. We would also take the Victory and cut it down to the 74, scraping off the detail of the bottom deck etc. Plus taking the cut out (64 variation) and adding to the 100 to make up to a 120. I think I even made a casting of the 74 and may have it somewhere. The things we have had to do to get a fleet together.
These are very nice and I wish I could have found some Shannons recently. Anyone know if they are available anywhere?

[Bligh]

They look smart as paint David lad.
Rob.

[SeaHunter]

They look cool David. Are they 1/1200 or larger because you are using them for small/individual engagements?

[frpat]

Gotta be over 40 years old - I had a Shannon (original version of the kit - waterline with moulded sea base) back in the 60s. They also did a Voctory back then.

Pikecd up a few Mayflower and Golden Hind kits a few years back to run a demop/participation game set in the Armada fights. Not bad little kits.

[Zakopious]

The Yahoo group, "Age Of Sail" has directions for converting the Airfix HMS Victory in 1/600ish scale to just about any ship from a 28 gun Frigate to a 130 gun ship of the line.

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/AgeOfSail/

Not currently available from Airfix, see: http://www.airfix.com/airfix-products/gift-sets/small-starter-sets/a55104-hms-victory-starter-set-a55104/?searchguid=2012730143559&resultspage=&sortorder=

Not currently listed on Ebay.
Might be difficult to find.

[SeaRoyal20]

The last discussion I saw about the Airfix ships were hard to find and expensive. Is that not true? I also saw a statement that Airfix was going to re-release the models? True?

Also I thought the game was designed to work with 1200 scale ships, although I must admit 1:2400 does sound interesting as well.

Final question.
I thought the game was going to cover the Anglo-Dutch wars not just the napoleonic period.

Thanks

SeaRoyal20

[David Manley]

They seem to come up on Ebay fairly frequently. I got my Shannons for about £3 each, and I've seen Victorys going for about the same, so if you are patient and don't mind waiting a few months some are bound to come up :)

Anglo Dutch has been suggested several times but not officially, IIRC.

[Jack Aubrey]

Well, I must have a look at ebay in Europe now, that looks great..:cool:

[Zakopious]

Appears that the airfix HMS Victory in 1/600 scale is available again.
See: http://www.airfix.com/airfix-products/ships/classic-ships/a55104-hms-victory-starter-set-a55104/

There is a website which discusses converting the HMS Victory to different sizes of ships.
See: http://historifigs.com/wargamers_corner/AirfixFleet.htm