ACW Naval status update - week 16

Week 16?  Seriously?

This plan is seriously working. Much progress was made this week. So much so that the end of the project can be visualized. But enough of that, get to the models!

What's done! 

CSS McRae and USS Miami are done and join, the fleet!

USS Miami

USS Miami quarter view. Fine model from Bay Area Yards.

But, wait, there's more!  USS Lackawanna and her sister are completed as well!

Beam shot of USS Lackawanna

Lackawanna, again.

What's in progress? 

So what's in progress? Basically what is left in the queue - USS Susquehanna, USS Kearsarge and USS Minnesota. Susquehanna is close to complete needing just a little touch up on the paint.

Nice beam view of Susquehanna.

So much wire...

Seriously, that's a lot of wire. Several feet at least.

Overhead view of Susquehanna.

 

USS Kearsarge.

USS Minnesota with  the early 1862 armament. (Plus the full gun deck under the spar deck.)

10" pivot forward with 8" guns on the spar deck. Guns are mostly from Bay Area Yards, but there are four Thoroughbred guns mixed in on deck.

What's Next? 
Get cracking on finishing this project up! Install the last of the guns, touch up the paint and get busy installing the rigging for Minnesota and Kearsarge!

ACW Naval week 15 status update

Good day and welcome to week  15!

A mixed week. More progress was made on the rigging front and less progress was made on the painting front. Good news is that week 16 is likely to be more of a painting week.

What's done?
Nothing! Absolutely nothing! Despite the plan anticipating the painting on the Miami would be finished this week, that did not happen.

What's in Progress? 
Lots! Good progress was made rigging the models. In fact, CSS McRae joins Miami in the paint queue. The two Lackawanna class sloops will done t his week, assuming that the one with the 'minimalist' rig looks okay.

CSS McRae from Bay Area Yards

McRae again.

Lackawanna with the minimalist rigging. It's easier and likely more durable for the tabletop.

But the Lackawanna with the additional rigging looks so much cooler!

The additional wires are more likely to break off during a game.

What's on deck?

Finishing up the rigging on the Susquehanna and then tackling the Kearsarge and Minnesota. First step is painting the deck guns for both models.

Susquehanna just needs the mizzen mast rigging to move to the paint queue.

Nice quarter angle showing off the amount of steel wire on the model.

The guns required to complete the Kearsarge and Minnesota models. The guns on the stick came with the Throughbred Kearsarge kit, the others are Bay Area Yards guns.

Wings of Glory - WWI Air War at the FLGS

We had a spirited day of gaming today at one of our Friendly Local Game Stores - Epic Loot in Centerville, Ohio. Over the course of three games, many planes were shot down, exploded or succesfully bombed their targets.

We started with the a Stakken raid of two bombers on a target in England. While the targets were destroyed or heavily damaged and several RFC fighters were shot down, in the end, both Stakken were eliminated for a narrow victory to the Allies. This was a great scenario and would be a good candidate for a refight as there were lots of events that could give this a much different outcome.

I flew one Stakken. I suffered TWO explosion cards which did me in (on top of additional damage suffered between the two boom cards). I crushed my target dumping both bomb loads directly on the bridge and inflicting maximum damage.
I collided with Bill's Snipe, I took 2 points of damage. I don't know what Bill too for damage. In the end, the swarm of Allied fighters shot me down as I was on the return leg of my mission.

Die Stakken gekommen!

The two forces interpenetrate the lines. A Snipe rams into a Stakken.

Those Stakken are HUGE!

Target destroyed! The Stakken drops the bridge into the river.

The Stakken are turning around as the fighters move in for the kill.

Running for the friendly table edge, the Stakken is brought down by a burst of .303 from a Bristol fighter.

 Game # 2 - Float plane Hell, WWI style!

The W.29, a W.12 and an Albatross W.4 close with the bombers.

The Handly Page bombers lumber along.

The bombers split up. Maybe not the most effective tactic, but it did reduce the amount of fire they took from the German fighters.

A pair of Albatross W.4 Dom's Decals on the left plane. Revirisco decals (from the W.29 decal set) on the right.

Circling around after the first pass.

Blue on Blue collision as a W.4 and the W.29 collide.

Another collision this time between the H-P bomber and the W.29

It's looking bleak for the H-P as the German fighters swarm about.

The Albatross W.4 continues to burn (and will explode at the end of the game). The W.29 cannot close with the bomber.

Anaconda is available again!

In partnership with wargamevault, Anaconda is available as a digital download. For more details, visit their website.

ACW Naval Week 14 status report

The first week of the second quarter sees the ACW naval project moving into the end game phase. All ships assembled and mostly painted. The single largest remaining task is rig the ship models, paint the rigging and touch up the paint post-rigging.  As usual, here's the update on what was done since the last report, what is planned for the next week and what the challenges to overcome.

All this weeks models are from Bay Area Yards. Most of these are still available for purchase. So if you like what you see - go get one!  

What's almost done?
USS Miami is almost ready to join the fleet. The rigging is installed and just needs a coat of black paint. This is an easy objective for the week! 

Late war armament with two 24# mounted aft in place of the 80# pivot.

This angle shows off the rigging to better effect.

CSS Teaser had another gun mounted aft and a little touch up paint. Ready to join the James River Squadron!

What's in progress? 
Most of the models are stuck in the rigging phase. There is a LOT to do here. The plan is to tackle it in blocks of work where each ship gets a wire added and then is left for the glue to set. It's tedious, but with good timing, 2-3 wires can be added to each model a day. Even so, this task will take at least the next two weeks to complete.

CSS McRae about a third done!  Bay Area Yards model.

USS Lackawanna. Foremast is almost rigged.

USS Susquehanna with masts mounted.

Trying a different way of attaching the standing rigging to the bowsprit. It was easier to attach, but will wait for painting to see how it turns out.

What's next?
Slowly working on the last few models in the queue. No progress on USS Kearsarge this week. Instead, the focus was on painting USS Minnesota. The horizontal white stripe on the hull is done. Next step is likely painting and mounting the spar deck guns and then move on to rigging.

Needs a little touch up on the stripe. This thing is going to eat a LOT of wire for the rigging!

What are the challenges?
Challenges are non-technical. The house suffered a small siding loss in the storm Saturday, so that needs to take priority over painting. Plus there are external meetings and games for which to prepare. Progress on all the above models is expected, though few with the exception of USS Miami are likely to be completed in the next week.