1/3000 US Pre-Dreadnoughts (plus small 40k Imperial Navy update)

Blimey, it's been a while.Thanks to everyone that's checked that all is well, I'm glad to report all definitely is.

Back to blogging. I've been working on some 1/3000 pre-Dreadnought ships (from WTJ Store) for Battlefleet 1900 (more on the Palladian Guard blog). These are superb miniatures and enjoyable enough to paint - although they frosted slightly whilst spray undercoating so some colours are a bit drab. But as they're not meant to be looked at close up it's not a huge issue.

Why pick a US fleet?

It's difficult to imagine the US as the emerging power trying to make its mark on the world stage, but that's exactly what it was at the turn of the 20th century. 

Photo courtesy of US Naval History and Heritage Command

Enter the Great White Fleet, a huge fleet that included the most modern warships available was sent to circumnavigate the globe in a 2 year span. Almost literally making a mark on the world. Something about this appealed to me, as did the potential "what if" scenarios - of the fleet or part of it being drawn into a conflict along the way. 

That said, most of our games are pre-1906 so my actual fleet composition is based around the European / North Atlantic fleets/squadrons to fit with everyone else's fleets. 

The Miniatures

As I said they did frost a little, the easiest to rescue, and which has a colour scheme closest the one I went for is the USS Brooklyn (which is the only "Rapid Prototype Plastic" miniature). However removing the spraypaint damaged a couple of turrets and gun barrels. 

I decided to go for the peacetime white hull/brown upperworks paint scheme as I rather like it and thought it would look good on the table. It's that simple. 

The sea base is No More Nails (thanks for the tip, Ed) that I sculpted into waves (with a hint of wake/wash). 

USS Alabama

This Illinois-class battleship is the current flagship of my fleet and the only battleship. I would have had the USS Maine and USS Ohio too if I hadn't ordered the wrong Maine Class from WTJ. What an idiot.

The real USS Alabama, courtesy of the Naval Historical Center

USS Brooklyn

USS Columbia

This came out more drab that intended, but as it's one of the older ships in the fleet, it kind of makes sense.

Courtesy of Navsoure.org

USS Minneapolis

This is the only one I painted the red line at the waterline on, then I decided it didn't quite look right.

Courtesy of Navsource.org

USS New Orleans 

The miniature is the Albany. Originally intended for the Brazilian navy, this was built in Britain (in the Newcastle yards of Armstrong, Mitchell and Co.)

Courtesy of Navsource.org

The Fleet in Review

Not listed are my 5-boat Destroyer squadron as they are still to be based, and 3 Pennsylvania-class cruisers yet to be painted (and rules written for as WTJ's Battlefleet 1900 doesn't include any). More on them soon

Other Nautical News - The Imperial Navy Lieutenant 

This side project has been long in the works (too long), but my glacial hobbying has finally taking a step forward. The Lieutenant has finally started getting his first dash of paint. The blue is a little too... blue, and a bit too patchy at the moment, but hopefully the next coat on the, er, coat, will fix that. That's all for this time folks, thanks for reading