Quite a few years ago , well over fifteen probably, we had our joiner remove part of the kitchen worktop as part of a remodelled kitchen. It seemed too good to waste so l asked him to cut it for me into ship or coastal defence vessel shapes. He did so as a favour as we knew him well and the resultant heavy wooden hulls were mothballed in the shed. I had a vague Little Wars, John Ruddle, Floor Games plans …
Fast forward to recently, to the video l got from Tommy Atkins. I noticed a box of sailors and some guns too not to mention some artillery crews which looked sort of Marine Artillery vibe. A thought grew in my mind that l might utilise these wooden hulks and do something in the garden…
Anyway the guns and figures arrived on Saturday and l got the wooden hulls out of the shed, brought them into the house and added the new Ruddle guns and figures-
These wooden ship shapes have real and simple potential. I see the Ruddle nature of these ships. I recall a few interesting wooden block built ship designs in Wells’ Floor Games and Little Wars photos and illustrations - see copies on (Internet) Archive.org) Along with kids building blocks and Jenga, Balsa is also very easily worked. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteThey look full of potential - a bit of superstructure, funnels etc and lots of yacht varnish to keep the water out and they'd be perfect for Garden Games
ReplyDeleteOoooh! Colour me very interested in the potential for this lot! Ideal for gunboats or monitors - bigger stuff, destroyers, cruisers, battleships etc, cartoon style for sure. Cheap Jenga style blocks would be useful for the superstructure (try The Works for these) and if you cant get any let me know - I have a gazillion you could have!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing what you come up with.
All the best,
DC
Lots of potential here, my suggestion would be to keep them as simple as possible. Great as small warships or gunboats. A simple paint job will do wonders. Quinn
ReplyDeleteWhat I'm looking at in these photos suggests gunboats - riverine or inshore work in support of land operations. One could have a whole flotilla of the them, or perhaps opposing flotillas, the one in support of offensive inshore ops; the other in support of coastal defence.
ReplyDeletePlenty of interesting possibilities here...
Cheers,
Ion
Tradgardmastare,
ReplyDeleteThese warships have tremendous wargaming potential and I’m sure that the addition of superstructures, funnels, bridges etc., will make them look outstanding.
May I suggest that you look at some of the small wooden craft boxes sold in places like The Works as the basis for your ships’ superstructures. They often have lift off lids that would enable you to keep the ships’ crews (and ammunition) inside them when the models are not in use.
All the best,
Bob
Your idea of using blocks of wood and tubes for the infrastructure sounds good. Would you keep them separate so you could change the ships infrastructure for variety or as the game needs? If separate they would be easy to paint.
ReplyDeleteThey do the job, that's it!
ReplyDeleteBalsa superstructures and dowel for funnels and masts make them look less bare but not actually 'needed'.
This is from a newer period though, but it shows that such patrol-boat flotilla isn't som complicated and doesn't need much:
ReplyDeletehttps://defensionem.com/french-patrol-boat-a-historical-oddity/
Definite potential there and I second taking a look at Floor games. Hobbycraft are also worth a look, they also do dowels suitabkle for funnels.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love the Sherman on the barge.