28mm Naval 4-Gun Ship Review
By Bill Hogan
Suncoast Skirmishers, Tampa, Fl.
REVIEW:
In the interest of full disclosure I purchased
and detailed three Foxhole Terrain 28mm ships long before I offered to do this
review. I used them in a game at HMGS
South’s annual Hurricon convention in Orlando and was complimented on the
converted variants, so I offered to write up my opinion on the casting and the
conversion process.
The boats as provided are well done. They
represent what is needed in war-gaming models as opposed to collectible
vessels, namely space and durability without compromising too much detail. My ships arrived without air bubbles and
required minimal sanding for leveling or flash removal. The goal of this review
is to give the gamer a workable model, doable within most gamers skill levels
with results that add visual appeal to the game table.
Figure one demonstrates the basic additions
required to take the ship onto the table. Although a dowel is supplied with the
kit, my need to super detail and provide some visual variety took over . I constructed three distinct variants by changing
the sail design and surface details of each ship. To keep the text to a minimum I have provided
illustrations of most of the techniques.
Most of the detailing components are available
within your budget. Ultra small fishing
tackle is available at Wal-Mart, Balsa is available at the hobby shop, only
small amounts are required. Wood dowels are everywhere from yard signs, Home
Depot or the hobby shop. You may need to go on line to ship kit manufacturers
for intricate parts such as the Ship’s wheel although I used some figures with
casted on steering wheels. The lead foil
is stripped from the necks of wine bottles although good foil is getting hard
to come by.
TOOLS &
MATERIALS
The tools and materials I used are probably
available to the average modeler or war gamer. The Electric screwdriver is a
must and preferred for most tasks because it has a higher torque and slower
speed than a power drill. You may need
to obtain the hand held reamer from a specialty shop however the other tools
are fairly common. When using the
scalpel and hobby knife have extra blades.
An Old Modelers tip says, “The sharper the better”, when cutting sail
cloth.
Fabricating the masts and sails may take a
trip to the fabric shop. The most essential material is the fabric itself. You need something durable that is either
already colored or easily dyed to look like sails. I found curtain backing fits the bill. Curtain backing is cheap because it is
designed to support fancy curtain material.
A small amount of material will last forever.
Another specialty product is the “Fray Check”
liquid. Seamstresses use this product to
prevent cloth from fraying or a hem from coming loose. I used it to stiffen and strengthen the
fabric and ship rigging. It will also
prevent knots from coming loose.
Speaking of the ship rigging, having several gauges of thread and twine
available is a good idea. Some use thin
wire, but it is harder to use and when using Fray Check twine still gets very
strong. You can even paint balsa wood with it to strengthen the soft wool. Alternatively, you can paint everything I’ve
just described, with a mixture of white glue however, the Fray Check leaves
things more flexible. (White glue also needs a few drops of denatured alcohol,
which breaks the surface water tension and allows it to get fully absorbed.)
MAKING MASTS
Giving your masts that tapered look adds a lot
to its visual appeal and accuracy. Skipping
this step will save a lot of time but I think the looks are worth it. Insert a wooden dowel into the mouth (the
Chuck) of your cordless electric drill.
For single end tapers install a slightly longer dowel into the
chuck. It will leave marks you can cut
off later. For double ended tapers you
will need the actual sized dowel inserted with packing to prevent the chuck from
marring the surface. The wood must be more firm that balsa so I used Popsicle
sticks cut down. Some sanding may still be necessary.
Once you have your wood work done assembly is
straight forward. One advantage of the
Foxhole Terrain casting procedure is that you get a flat thick deck to mount
your sails. As mentioned in figure 1 you
will have cut down a bullet casing (or brass tubing) to accept your completed
mast. The casing has the advantage as it has a bottom with a lip. The lip can be mounted flush with the bottom
and the mast will not drop through if smaller in diameter that the tube. Wrap any exposed metal in ship rigging twine
and paint with Fray Check.
I always cut my mast dowel slightly longer
than I actually need. You can always
sand or cut down later. I stain the
naked dowel with diluted paint. In this
case I used a wood brown color. Notice
the difference between unstained and stained wood in figure 5. To get the multi-level
mast effect make two mast braces, paint and install. Tack with glue and then wrap twine and paint
again with your Fray Check. Install this
portion before installing the cross frames at the bottom of the sail. When dry lay the bare frame over plain paper
(or for our high-risk takers, over the cloth, and draw slightly over sized
sails. Cut them out with an extra sharp
scalpel and Tie them onto the masts. You
can use previously installed mast eyes or just drill a hole through the mast
and pull the thread through.
The Middle Eastern Dhow Variant in Figure six
shows another version of the sail tie down procedure. It also illustrates how the small scale
fishing tackle can be installed into the well-built walls of the Fox Hole
Terrain casting. This version requires
extra hardware due to the weight of the sail.
It has a tendency to fall backward unless secured. I found it a pleasant surprise that the
Foxhole Terrain ship’s basic shape fit well with all three variants I built.
PUTTING THE
SHIPS IN PLAY
Nothing separates the trash from the treasures
like putting a model on the table top. I
have used these ships in a variety of games and they have been handled,
dropped, admired and sloshed around in the trunk of the car without
damage. I will say, I do remove the
masts when the game starts, but they are designed to take real world use.
Figure 7 illustrates how well suited their 4
gun ship takes a full sale in this cutter version. There is ample room for figures and
ordinance. I installed 12 pounders for
the photographs however I normally use 6 pounders to make room for more crew.
Figure 8 displays the table-top visual experience
to its full effect. The three ships
illustrated are l functionally the same vessel which shows how altering the
paint scheme and sail configuration can take your game-top visuals to another
level. The three ship variants shown are
only a small sample of the possibilities.
I tend to make my sail configurations flat for storage, they create a small
fingerprint on the gaming table, and they need far less rigging and tie downs
than cross sails.
The busy dock scene with accompanying port
buildings begins to illustrate how well the Foxhole Terrain ships compliment a
variety of other manufacturer’s buildings and scratch-built features. Yes I
built the docks, but that is another article.
You may also notice that once the gaming
action occurs around the boats I remove the sails. Similarly I also remove the tops to my
buildings when troops move inside.
Actually I had a blast working with these,
very well made and utilitarian vessels.
I’ve received numerous positive comments on them and been awarded
several “Best Gaming” awards at HMGS South Conventions. They are an excellent
value at the MSRP of $22.00.
