Mounting Star Blazers Minis

Another simple step in a quick, small project!

Ha-ha-ha-ha-haaaaaaa....

You see, it's all quite easy when you are a card carrying...

All I can say is, I wish I had seen this tutorial before I did this! While I learned some useful lessons along the way parts of this were frustrating. Still, the final result is what I wanted and I'll be able to do this a bit faster in the future.

The BLUF is that there are a few simple steps and tools to doing this "the easy way" instead of the hard way.  They are summarized at the bottom.

When it comes to ships, especially these small ones, there's plenty of basing options. I didn't want to use the "clear" plastic bases that came with the models: 

They aren't terrible, but they are way too large for the smaller ships, make them look like a pillared statue or something.  They're also a bit too large at 1" hexed.

I decided on Litko 3mm clear squares, as they are deep enough to drill into and hold a piano wire "pin", will show any mat / board below [and blend in better] and even the little 3mm "halo" will look kinda cool, sort of like a targeting system outlining the ships.

My initial thought was to pin the ships, stick them in insulating foam bits, and paint them on that. Below, the tools of destruction, erhm, construction, .025 piano wire from Hobby Lobby, Litko 20mm clear square bases 3mm deep, insulation bit.

My dollar store [$1.25 store now] CHICOM self-healing mats turned out to be in Standard [English] measurements...

...but my more expensive mat [unknown origins - most likely Hobby Lobby] turned out to be metric, w'5mm squares: 

This allowed me to center an X-acto blade [sharp!, new] on the clear plastic...

...and make a guide point for the drill:

Next challenge was to match a drill bit size with the piano wire. First drill bit was a bit large even for .032 wire, which is a bit larger than needed - the point is for the wire to be painted black and "disappear" in the cloth, anyway.

The below .032 with first drill bit chosen [there's no markings on the bits, unfortunately, you have to eyeball it]. It was a bit wobbly.

I got a better match with my smallest bit and .025 wire. For variety of ship heights [which seems realistic to me] and to make "formations" of ships, I mount them at various heights. Using the CHICOM mat, I clipped the .025 at just over 1/2", 3/4", and 1". In the past, these heights have been a nice balance of ship depth off the mat without making them terribly "tippy".

As the ships came in "sixes", I opted for two sets of 3 heights each ship "section" or "division".  Note: it is always easier to cut the wire down if too long rather than try to make it longer, later, haha...! So measure twice, cut once!

Some of the ships had neat holes bored in them, but they got a bit filled with the spray primer. I used a pin vice to clean them out.

Note the excellent "healing qualities" of the cheap CHICOM mat!

And here are six Gamelon destroyers stuck in the foam...

...and the earth ships with them...

...as expected, they turn too easily, but as I they were mounted I gave them a thin coat of Vallejo off-white while bracing them with a finger...

While they dried, I started to work on the bases.  I guestimated by eye and decided to just go through the bases. The combination of aiming the bit, holding the Dremel Tool, and securing the base itself was a bit daunting. I didn't want to go thru the base at first, but it was a lot easier and didn't make much difference in the end.

In fact, it seemed like drilling "thru" would be helpful, at first.

It would allow me to glue from the bottom. This seemed like a great idea at the time, but was just as if not more fiddly and problematic as glueing from the top! 

The problem is they have to stand on their bottoms while drying, and the glue smears. Fortunately, the bases are easily cleaned of super glue with Acetone, and don't show any signs of glazing or tinting.

With some cussin' and frustration, I managed to get the first six Gamelon DDs done.

I like the way the formations look.

My logic is that all of them need to be on a "plane" where their central dorsal / underbody mounts can shoot 360 degrees. This means they can't all be on the same "plane" which has to have the enemy ships sideways / athwarts[?] the ship for maximum convenient firepower. 

This is a crucial design aspect of wet navy and space nave ships.  Interestingly, it means that you want the enemy on a plane that resembles the ocean's surface, except that it doesn't curve with the planet, of course, but is a constantly "flat" plane.

You can see where the bases are a bit smudged from finger-handling, but they clean up just fine.

Below, the super-helpful painting diagram that comes with these minis. A rarely seen thing, in my experience!

Some color images of what they should look like:

Some lessons:

- experiment matching wire size / drill bit size; try for a snug fit wire-to-hole.

- need medium and fast flowing super-glue,

- start the pinhole with a X-Acto, follow up with a pin-vise to deepen

- eyeball the final hole vertical, it's preferable to not go all the way thru, actually

- put drop of glue on pin, insert from top, clean any excess with acetone

Below the finished product:

As stated above, even the "halo" caused by the 3mm depth of the bases is kinda cool - it looks like a targeting system, and I have no problem with it.

Below some variations on formations...

And this is what they'll look like on the table:

Looks a bit more "realistic" [ha ha - what does that mean, anyway, with sci-fi gaming???] to me, but will be more and more borne out by actual play using the Starfire rules.

Tactically, these have some ship design features that do provide game restricted and optimized use of maneuver and positions. Ultimately, that is the *main point* of space ship [fictional] design and weapon systems, to provide interesting tactical challenges for players, albeit that they are largely artificial.  That's OK as long as they appear to match the speculative technology and what science we know at present. 

Starfire [in its many permutations - I prefer the 2e box set] has always had this going for it along with ship design. So I expect my battles to be interesting and challenging, and the ships themselves to enhance the experience. 

Which is something that has to be started next, along with painting these little guys.

Star Blazers for Starfire!

Two Great Things that Go Great Together!

 +
...and no, it isn't chocolate and peanut butter...!

It's been a while since I worked on this project - Classic Starfire 2e [box edition] rules [CLICK] with the Star Blazers miniatures [CLICK]. It was first conceived because the official Star Blazers Fleet Battle System miniature game [CLICK] was one of the few that had small, appealing, inexpensive models that were easy to acquire.  Then I got sidetracked by "Real Life" and other gaming projects.  But now I'm working to bang out this project, which should be a quick one [should...!].

Minis were cleaned and filed previously, but I decided to wash them again as they'd been sitting in baggies for a few years.

Above, the four larger ships and 36 little ones all scrubbed down.

The weather being perfect, it was easy to give the ships primer coats.  Not only is grey the official color for the larger ships, but it will be easy to match in my collection.  The little ships are all white, mostly because as small ships I plan to make them as bright as possible, even exaggerating colors to the lighter spectrum.

And with the miniatures on the way, it was time to consider the pernicious question of Basing, and a good mat or backdrop to play on.  

For Basing, I decided to run with square 3mm clear bases, drill holes for piano wire to hold the miniatures.  My main thought was that they'd look good on any backdrop and the 90 angles would be convenient for Turns / Fire Angles in the miniatures version of Solar Starfire. A quick look at A-zon and it showed Litko does sell there so I included the Bases in an order with some other things:

While I'm looking for a good hex grid [to be faithful to the original Classic game] I was tempted into buying a couple of space wall tapestries, from a suggestion in the TMP forums [click].  At $9 for a large one, I couldn't resist giving them a try:

...and they are free returns at A-zon if I don't like them.

Finally, I couldn't resist the free download from Starfire Design [CLICK] since it game in both hex and open-table / miniature versions, and it is short, a similar draw to the original 1979 game I still own.

Plan is to finish the miniatures, give Classic 2e/box and the new version a try, and see what plays best.

Stay tuned!

Russo - Japanese War Action

public domain

The wishful thinking of Russian propagandists...!

I've had a soft spot for pre-dreadnoughts since I first laid eyes on them; probably because they look like some kids made them from random bits of legos!  The inventive, unusual and even experimental ship styles are interesting to look at, while [depending on the rules] the various limitations of the weapons involved can make for some tough player decisions and interesting fights.

Also, the shorter ranges and slow speeds of pre-dreads means they can realistically fit onto a smaller table with an easy-to-manage time / distance scale. It can be tough to get a battleship with a 36,000m range fighting on an average gamer's table!  Pre-dreads are a bit more friendly, altho ironclads and age of sail are even more friendly, of course.

Even though the most famous naval battle was a disaster for the Russkies, hey, it didn't have to be that way... turn the lights out on those hospital ships for starters! Well, there may have been a few other problems, also.  Still, as a full naval campaign, the Russo-Japanese War  of 1904-5 is quite dynamic and complex, and both sides skillfully scored some victories through a variety of creative means.

My long-term weekly miniatures club has one person who agrees with me. Dave has decent fleets for both sides, and has been experimenting with various rules dynamics and mechanics for a while. This was his latest offering.

It was something of a running fight, with the Russians - in the distance, top - trying to circumnavigate a Japanese fleet - bottom - among an island group. I always pick Russians for their unpronounceable ship names, lacklustre quality, and the low expectations that go with picking the underdog. Still, the bigger the challenge, the more credible the genius if you win!   Plus, I like vodka more than saki, so when the battle goes south, my admiral has a palatable way to wash away his woes as well as his career. 

Above, the Russian cruisers are trying to keep the Japanese from engaging their battle ships. Unfortunately for the cruiser squadron, the Japanese take the bait!

Below, a Japanese battleship squadron supporting a cruiser attack on the Russian cruiser squadron - an island appears just to the right.

Below, return fire on the Japanese has mixed results. Next to the island, boldly handled Japanese torpedo boats lurk to keep the Russians from closing in on the Japanese cruiser squadron. Japanese gunnery being better, they will likely win the dual. Overall, the Russians are struggling with a complicated situation.

Below, most of my Russian cruiser squadron, and a stray battleship apparently beached to prevent sinking. We did take out a Japanese Armored Cruiser, which will be the highlight of my report to the Czar!

The ships are interestingly based on plastic Games Workshop cavalry slotta bases, 25mm x 50mm. This does make it a bit easier to pick them up. The water is cleverly printed from a picture of actual ocean printed in color! The wakes were painted on with white, and look quite realistic, IMHO.

The rules were a modified version of Brian deWitte's "When Dreadnoughts Ruled the Seas". Brian is a great guy and Dave the host had met him at a game he through at Historicon several years ago.  The rules are a good balance of crunchy and abstraction. Dave modified it for hexes and a bit more simplification of gunnery and a couple other things. For an occasional game on a weeknight, it was tough for some of the non-naval buffs to follow. In my opinion, game periods that rely on technical ability are tough to get right: the balance of technical differentiation makes the ships and period what it is, but players get confused by the arcane terminology.

Overall, the game was fun, but a bit too streamlined for me - I like naval games to be plenty crunchy, as that gives them good feel.  I don't like detail for detail's sake, or just to prove we know something. Details need to fit into the command level of the game, and illustrate critical differences in ship design and crew quality. But if it gets too simple, it may be tough to notice what period it is at all, which is not what I'm after..."a battleship is a battleship is a space battleship is an aeronautical battleship..." etc.

Just looking at these pics has me checking out my old Spanish-American war project. I like the boutique nature of the Avalanche Press naval games, they fit into a small space and don't take that long to play out. The abstraction does remove the maneuvering details, but replaces it with a "leadership skill" test that determines if one will fight at close or distant ranges.  That was a neat design trick. I may have to pull those out of a box at some point soon!

So...we'll see what happens next time, Adm. Togo!  Meanwhile, I toast you with the last of the *unbroken* vodka as the ship tilts slowly on its side...

Star Wars Odyssey Slipways Fleet

Stealing a good idea from a pal, I'm going to start posting items I have for sale here, just in case the right buyer comes along. I'll try to keep everything oriented around naval / space ship gaming, of course.

First, Odyssey Slipways fleet ships 

in 1/10,000 scale, from HERE.

NOTE that most of these ships are presently Out Of Production, just a couple still being sold.

These are lovely scale ships, cast in resin. Very clean, easy to work with. No regrets with them as ships, I'm only selling them because my eyesight and time are more limited now, so I'm not going to finish this project. Heartbreaking, as I really like them. Ah well... 

They paint up easily and well. My demo presentation is a classic Star Wars ship - it was a medical frigate where Luke Skywalker got his new hand put on HERE at 46 seconds in.

Nebulon B Frigate from "The Empire Strikes Back" ending scene [ship is heading away from you].

https://starwars.fandom.com/ru/wiki

Painting test- bottom is finished ship, including a shading, protective dip. Two above are primed in shades of grey. Bottom is a U.S. quarter, showing size [about 1.5" or 3.5cm] Easy!
  

Front view - lighting shows the deep sculpting - easy to paint!


Same, back view.


Back view, w camera flash - diminishes sculpting depth, but shows ship at play distance.


In the flesh with Studio Bergstrom Millenium Falcon for comparison [at 4x scale size!]:


Your fleet, presently sitting at drydock on my shelving...






Odyssey Slipways 1:10,000 scale capital ships for sale
List #, quantity of ships, type, total cost US$

1. 3 x Nebulon B = $12.50 [one painted, two cleaned / primed, ABOVE]
2. 2 x Nebulon B2 = $12
3. 3 x Lancer Frigate = $10.50
4. 4 x Corellion Gunships = $10
5. 4 x Carrier Corvette = $10
6. 1 x Imperial Escort Carriers = $10.25
7. 2 x Carrack Cruisers = $10
8. 1 x Assault Frigate A = $12.50
9. 1 x Assault Frigate B = $12.50
10. 1 x Imperial Enforcer = $12
11. 1 x Imperial Interdictor = $12
12. 1 x Flurry, Rebel Starfighter Carrier = $12
13. 1 x Old Republic Heavy Cruiser = $11
14. 1 x [Old Republic] Dreadnought = $11
15. 26 ships = $202, pics of blisters / bags are HERE

Below, Wizards of the Coast Pre-painted Nebulon B for comparison...

Surrounding it are the next bunch of items, cool fighters from Studio Bergstrom!

Second batch are 1:2250, or 1/4 the size of the 1:10,000, 
so in other words they are four times as big as they should be. This is good, because at 1:10,000 starfighters are almost invisible! 

All games must exaggerate the size of the fighters in relationship to the capital ships.

Studio Bergstrom fighters shown here with Wizards of the Coast plastic Rebel Assault Frigate [as usual, somewhat bent]. But the TIE just above and to right is my test paint job.

You can see where I was going with the look - little flights of ships at various heights.
 Closeup of the Millenium Falcon in white metal


Anyway, these squadrons are from Studio Bergstrom, which is HERE.  Altogether there are 44 starfighters and 1 VERY FAMOUS tramp freighter! Why 44? In an obsessive moment, I think I watched the battle scenes from Episodes IV and VI and counted the actual ships doing the attack runs, and that's what I came up with...

1. 1 x Millenium Falcon [cleaned and black-primed]
2. 15 x X-wing [cleaned and white-primed]
3. 11 x Y-wing [cleaned and white-primed]
4. 6 x B-wing [mint metal]
5. 12 x A-wing [mint metal]
6. 44 fighters [@55cents] and MF [$1.70] = $26

For the opposing Imperials, shown HERE, I ended up with a nice batch of ships, including plenty of cannon fodder for the Rebels to shoot to pieces, AKA 24 TIE fighters!

1. 24 x classic TIE fighters ["eyeballs"] [cleaned and grey-primed]
2. 7 x TIE bombers ["dupes"]
3. 6 x TIE advanced X1 [aka Darth Vader's fighter]
4. 6 x TIE interceptors ["squints"]
5. 2 x TIE experimental air superiority [sk x1?]
6. 51 TIE types [@55 cents] = $28

From Odyssey Slipways [above]

1. 1 x Tantive IV = $10
2. 2 x 9 ARC starfighters = $23
3. Total OS 1:2250 ships = $33

TOTAL ALL AUCTIONS = $300

YOUR PRICE: $180

You may reply with a comment here with your interest, and "May the force be with you!"