Pass in Review: British Royal Navy Vessels for Cruel Seas

(Image from:  Italaeri's Models, RN Vosper MTB)

 A few months ago, I had my Cruel Seas Royal Navy (RN) vessels painted.  

My vessels were painted by Joe Keister, of  North East Miniatures.  He does excellent work, but has taken a break from commissions due to his wife just having their first child.

I added the ensigns, but I also had to repair the "spindly bits," the masts and antennas that took a beating during shipment.  

To differentiate between identically painted vessels, I alternated between using the white and red ensigns.  It wasn't until all the ensigns were glued, a friend informed me the white ensigns were used for commissioned vessels and the red ensigns for commercial vessels. Oh well.  I’ll the vessels flagged as is.

Skytrex has taken over the helm in producing this game series. There’s several additional items I’d like to order, but they’re continually out of stock.  At least when I check the website.

So for now, my collection is complete.  Here’s the vessels representing His Majesty’s Royal Navy:

1. The armed trawler, which I had painted different color schemes.  The darker one represents an older ship from World War I, pressed into service for the Second World War.

2. Three Vosper Motor Torpedo Boats (MTBs), Early Models…

3…and Three Late Model boats.

4. Two Fairmile B ML 145 gunboats.

5. Two Fairmile B Minesweepers.

6. Two Fairmile D MGB 660s.

7. Two LCS(L) Fairmile Hs.

I found very little information on these vessels, but they look like fire support ships.  I had to do some modifications because, I lost the packet containing most of the gun and bridge crews.  Fortunately, I had spare bridge crews, but I needed to make ad-hoc mortars, set in the bows’ gun pits,  using spare air intakes. 

8. Two Fairmile B Rescue Motor Launch (RML) 529s.  I had these painted in two different colors.

The black-hulled vessel is suppose to represent a Royal Air Force (RAF), Air-Sea Rescue Launch, similar to the model below.

I was inspired by the 1955 film, The Sea Shall Not Have Them.  I watched it on YouTube, but I liked it so much, I bought the DVD.

Speaking of purchases, until Skytrex restocks the items I want, then I’ll be moving on to other gaming projects to write about.

I'm certainly happy to see my collection complete for the time being.

Thank you for your support and encouragement.

Pass in Review: Italian Vessels of the Regia Marina for Cruel Seas

 

(Cover Art for the Regia Marina Starter Kit)

Hi folks!  I hope you've all been well since my last post of 29 April 2022.

I'm still in Recovery Mode: Dealing with chronic pain and fatigue, along with doing physical therapy. The need to exercise and rest gives me little time, or energy, to write.  However, I'm a bit healthier, and mobile than I was this time last year.

Plus I have a topic that's motivated me to start writing again. 

Several months ago I came across some nicely painted Bolt Action figures for sale on e-Bay.  These high-quality figures were being sold by Artist Joe Keister of NE Miniatures and Models.

I was so impressed with Joe's work, that I asked him to paint, not just remainder of my Cruel Seas collection, but my entire Mound of Shame.  

But taking things one step at a time, and thanks to Joe, I'm closer to having my "Mosquito Fleet" completed.

The first batch of figures I received, was my Regia Marina (article) vessels, and wrecked structures.

Nearly two years ago, I posted about the lighthouses I painted (8 July 2021), and the difficulty I had painting the structures white.

Joe painted-up the wrecked versions I had in a dull grey, so they can represent recently destroyed, or long abandoned lighthouses.

Here's the result of Joe's handiwork, who by the way, also took photos of his accomplishments:

I have a couple of coastal tankers and a merchant ship, so naturally I had to have a wrecked version.

One of the most neglected figures I had were the aircraft that needed painting.  I had another guy paint the few that came with the Starter Kits I bought.

But they didn't turn out anywhere as great as these planes did: 

(Aircraft of all factions painted and photographed by Joe Keister)

Now for the vessels themselves: 

First up, is the MZ-Motozattera, (motor barge), used to ferry troops and supplies.

Next, are a pair of marine fahrprahm-f-lighters used as escort vessels. 

For a "flagship," there's the Gabbiano-Class corvette, one of nearly 50 built, with 14 serving after the war.

The mainstay small vessels of the Regia Marina were the MAS Boats.

But Italy had help from Germany in the construction of  M5 CRDS-60t Series-1boats, schnellboots used by the Regia Marina.

Here's my entire Regia Marina vessel collection in a Pass in Review pic.

I'm currently working on packaging my remaining Cruel Seas vessels, this time, of the British Royal Navy.

Once I ship the package out, the only task I have for now is gluing the itty-bitty Italian flags on to the itty-bitty masts.

Before my British vessels "roll down the slipways," I hope to come up with other blog-worthy topics.

Thank you for reading!

Pass in Review: US Navy PT Boats for Cruel Seas

(Image from:  Warfare History Network)

 My apologies for the long delay between posts.

I'm currently dealing with a major health issue, that I'll comment at length about below.

Despite attending multiple medical appointments and suffering from fatigue (among other things), I managed to finish painting my US Navy PT Boat collection for Cruel Seas collection.

(Image from:  Uboat.net)

Some of my vessels came from Warlord Games' US Navy Fleet Starter Set...

(Image from:  Warlord Games)

...while the bulk of my boats came from the US Navy PT Boat Flotilla set:

(Image from:  Warlord Games)

Here are 10 out of my 14 PT Boats:

I painted four vessels from the US Navy Start Set and "Lend Leased" two of them to the UK Royal Navy.  (Translation:  I put Royal Navy ensigns on two boats).

I painted each vessel type in distinct color schemes for easy identification during gaming.  The Army Painter colors I primarily used for the decks & hulls were:  Ash Grey, Field Grey, Army Green, Deep Blue. The boats' equipment were painted in Filthy Cape, Wolf Grey, Rough Iron, or colors similar to each deck color.  Since I found Gun Metal too shiny, I mixed it with an equal amount of Matt Black to paint the boats' armaments. The rafts and life boats were painted Phoenix Flame and Matt White, respectively, simply because I wanted to add more color to the boats than varieties of blue & grey.

The two blue vessels are actually two-toned, with grey hulls and blue decks.  I stole the idea was inspired by "FlyXwire's" photo on The Miniatures Page:

(Image by:  FlyXwire on The Miniatures Pg.)

There are 3 distinct types of vessels in my collection.

First are the Elco Boats:

The most famous being PT-109, skippered by JFK.

(Image from the JFK Library)

Next are the Higgins Boats:

And finally, four Elco Boats converted to "Barge Busters."

Since I bought two packages, each containing two boats, I inadvertently created one more boat of this type than was done historically.  

Well, wargamers usually like to play fast & loose with history in order to explore "what ifs?" So I don't think my extra boat would overbalance any tabletop campaign.

Speaking of campaigns, one of the reasons why I'm excited about completing my PT boats is because I also purchased, Devil Boats, by Compass Games.

(Image by Compass Games)

It's one of the many solitaire games that are becoming all the rage among today's tabletop gamers.  I like the idea of using this game to generate Cruel Seas scenarios in a mini campaign.

And I didn't stop here either.  I pre-ordered the company's upcoming Schnell Boats...

...and Dog Boats:

I'm looking at playing solitaire games as soon as I finish painting and assembling my remaining vessels belonging to the UK Royal Navy and Italian Regia Marina.

The reason being, as I mentioned in the beginning, is I'm now in poor health.  

I've been battling what turned out to be Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF).  It's a degenerative, incurable lung disease that know one knows how I developed it (the "idiopathic" part of the definition).

I'm chronically short of breath, prone to coughing fits and have difficulty speaking.  My symptoms have worsened, especially these past couple months.  In fact, I'm currently going through the process of qualifying for a lung transplant.  I'm on oxygen and need a walker or wheelchair to go any distance beyond that of a typical room in my house.

Because of my condition I was medically discharged from my job as a State Emergency Operations Officer for Washington State Emergency Management (EMD) and am now considered disabled.  I'm currently applying for disability benefits through the Veterans Administration and Social Security.  

My wife and I spoke with two pulmonary doctors at the Transplant Clinic.  They told us that patients diagnosed with IPF have an average life expectancy of 3 years from the time of being diagnosed.

I was diagnosed in April 2020, so I'm just past the half-way point.

What's worse, is the doctor said that my symptoms indicate that I have "...a whole lot less time than this."

Waiting for a lung transplant can be a very quick or very long process.  Current average wait time is 7 months.

Hopefully, I can hold out, get the transplant and finish painting my Cruel Seas boats, along with starting up solitaire games to add to this blog.

Thank you for your support. 

Pass in Review: Last German Vessel in Cruel Seas Collection (For Now)

(Image from:  Warlord Games)

 The last Kriegsmarine vessel I painted and assembled was the marinefahrprahm, or “F-lighter.”

Here’s how the pros at Warlord Games Shipyard painted the F-lighter:

(Image: Warlord Games Kriegsmarine Marinefahrprahm)

Here’s a port and starboard side views of my vessel:

And here’s a fore & aft oblique view:

I painted the hull and superstructure with The Army Painter’s “Wolf Grey.”  I decided to paint portions of the deck two shades of brown to represent wooden planking.  I don’t know if F-lighters had any wooden decks.  I just wanted to add some color other than various shades of blue and grey. 

This brings my Cruel Seas “ship building program” to the halfway point.

Along with the German Kriegsmarine vessels, I finished my Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) craft and vessels for the Soviet Navy, which includes one American “Lend Lease” sub chaser.

I’m currently working on 10 USN PT boats.  After these are done, I’ll start working on my British Royal Navy vessels, leaving the Italian Regia Marina as the last Cruel Seas faction to be assembled. 

It’s taken me 15 months to get to this point.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to send more vessels “down the slipways” at a quicker rate from now on.