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Royal Navy Figures - Source?

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  • Member since
    February 2007
Posted by vonBerlichingen on Sunday, February 21, 2010 2:36 PM

I forgot to mention one thing to watch out for:

For whatever reason, perhaps excuses about the 'unmeasurability' of heights when headgear is present, wargame 'scales' have crept to a 'feet-to-eyes' notion of human height. Thus, nominally 10mm 'scale' figures may actually be around 11+mm in height, excluding headgear...

  • Member since
    May 2008
  • From: UK
Posted by Billyboy on Sunday, February 21, 2010 11:19 AM

Thanks VonBerlichingen for the websites. I have used military figures of various poses to crew a ship in 1:87 scale. Flashman, good luck finding something to suit your model. I am sure it will enhance it a lot.

On a related topic the Pete Coleman HMS Victory modellers forum includes a build of a Heller 1:150 'Le Superbe' (btw a super kit if you're wondering what your next project should be....). The thread on rigging this model to protray a ship at a real moment of time (in this case 'spotted a ship on the horizon and making sail') would probably be of great use to you.

Will

  • Member since
    February 2007
Posted by vonBerlichingen on Sunday, February 21, 2010 7:59 AM

Unfortunately, DBA armies tend to span 3000 BC - 1500 AD. Also, because you're going to be looking for 10mm figures that can be converted into naval crew, you probably wouldn't want a gaming 'army', anyway, because you'd be stuck with all kinds of unuseable poses.

Your best bet would probably be to check the manufacturers' websites and order directly. Many are small businesses, and can often cater to special requests for figure assortments.

Here is another, i.e. Irregular Miniatures (there also is an Irregular Miniatures USA):

http://www.irregularminiatures.co.uk/indexes/10mmcontents.htm

 Additional manufacturers to look up include:

Magister Militum (www.magistermilitum.com ?)

Old Glory (www.oldgloryminiatures.com ?)

Steve Barber Models (www.sbarber-models.clara.net ?)

AIM (Armies in Miniature) (www.Minifigs.com ?)

Kallistra (www.kallistra.co.uk ?)

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    January 2007
  • From: Richmond, Va.
Posted by Pavlvs on Saturday, February 20, 2010 6:49 PM

VonBerlichingen has an excellent point I never thought of.  Go to a place that deals in gaming supplies (Warhammer, D&D etc) and ask for DBA armies (De Bellis Antiquitatis) and tell them you're looking for Napoleonic sailors and they will be able to accomodate you.  They'll probably have to order them but that shouldn't be a problem.  If there is no such place, your LHS may be able to help you or go to any of the many gaming forums on the internet and ask for DBA army sources and the list will be exhaustive.  Here in Northern Virginia, we're blessed with more gaming shops than model shops.  If you are unable to track anything down, let me know at pavlvsmax@gmail.com and I'll steer you in the right direction.Pirate

Deus in minutiae est. Fr. Pavlvs

On the Bench: 1:200 Titanic; 1:16 CSA Parrott rifle and Limber

On Deck: 1/200 Arizona.

Recently Completed: 1/72 Gato (as USS Silversides)

  • Member since
    February 2007
Posted by vonBerlichingen on Saturday, February 20, 2010 8:49 AM

You may want to try some so-called 10mm 'scale' Napoleonic, Seven Years War, or 'Pirate'  wargaming figures. Some 'civilian' figures could be appropriate, too.

They are cast in pewter, and their proportions can be somewhat exaggerated owing to how the material constrains casting, but you may find something that you could use.  For example, there is Pendraken:

http://www.pendraken.co.uk/

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    January 2007
  • From: Richmond, Va.
Posted by Pavlvs on Friday, February 19, 2010 6:09 PM

If you go to Walthers.com you can find bulk N scale unpainted figures and I have re-costumed them with tube style acrylic paint put on thick to give shape for things such as great coats, etc.  I've been an N scale model railroader for over 30 years and I used the figures to crew out the Lindberg Blue Devil destroyer and they looked convincing.  The plastic is also not too brittle so you can re-pose the figures with just a little softening over a candle (soften, not melt).  Hope this helps and fair winds and following seas.

Deus in minutiae est. Fr. Pavlvs

On the Bench: 1:200 Titanic; 1:16 CSA Parrott rifle and Limber

On Deck: 1/200 Arizona.

Recently Completed: 1/72 Gato (as USS Silversides)

  • Member since
    February 2010
  • From: Victoria
Posted by Flashman on Sunday, February 14, 2010 1:16 PM
Hi galleyslave;
 
At this point the prospect of finding suitable naval figures at the right scale doesn't look good. Ideally, at 1:180 they shouldn't be more than 1cm tall which would equate to 6' height (in the 18th century a 6' foot man would have been exceptionally tall...5' would be more common).
 
Glad to hear from another modeller building the Victory. While it has been an enjoyable build I wish I had done a lot more up front research on the vessel. I visited it in Portsmouth in 1985 but unfortunately didn't take as any photos as I thought I had. At about 80% completion I found a great reference entitled "The Anatomy of Nelson's Ships" by Nepean Longridge. It's full of details, line drawings and photos of both the actual ship and a large scale wooden model the author constructed over many years. The book has two great drawings that show the standing rigging and running rigging. I'm focusing mainly on the standing rigging. Given the small scale of the Airfix kit there just isn't enough room to fit all the rigging and sails. The kit sails also look pretty cheesy.
 
Anyway, if you're interested send me a pic or two of your Victory when complete and I'll do the same.
 
Regards;
  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: lower right- hand Vermont, U.S.A.
Posted by galleyslave on Thursday, February 11, 2010 10:19 PM

Flashman, I think the actual scale of the Airfix Victory works out to be 1/177, or 14.75 feet to the inch. The figures that come with the Lindberg ships that jtilley  mentioned work out to be 1/144, they are about 1/2 inch tall including their hats. I am also building the Airfix Victory, and I have considered showing the ship under sail, however to be reasonably accurate I would need about 100 figures on deck and in the rigging. (Victory carried 800 or so officers and men) Men to handle the sail, and crews for the 12 pounders that are visible on the quarter deck and in the waist (6 men apiece?) at least lounging by their guns. All in all, a rather daunting task, plus I would need to purchase many of the aforementioned Lindberg kits in order to assemble the requisite crew. I'm starting to think pretty seriously of rigging without sails...

"A merry life, and a short one!" Capt. Bartholomew Roberts

  • Member since
    February 2010
  • From: Victoria
Posted by Flashman on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 8:16 PM

Hi jtilley;

Appreciate your comments and suggestions. I have been contemplating the N-scale rail figures but was hoping for a better option. I'll follow up on the two kits you mentionned to see what scale they are. Indeed, 1:180 is a strange scale and I had no idea how it was arrived at until you described it. Funny how some decisions get made!

Regards;

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: Greenville, NC
Posted by jtilley on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 10:56 AM

I'm not aware of any such product on the market.  1/180 is, after all, a pretty freakish scale; I'm not sure any other kit is on it.  (That grand old Airfix Victory dates from the days when manufacturers - particularly sailing ship manufacturers - designed their kits to fit in standard-sized boxes, rather than popular scales.) 

About the best I can suggest is to take a look at what the model railroad companies have to offer in the way of N-scale figures.  N scale is 1/160, which is pretty close.  There are a couple of drawbacks to that approach.  Figures designed for model railroads obviously aren't going to be costumed like eighteenth- or nineteenth-century seamen - and that's a mighty small scale for modifications.  (On the other hand, it's so small that a convincing paint job could work wonders.)  And virtually all of the N-scale figures I've bumped into have been sold in small packages of four to eight figures, pre-painted.  The paint jobs aren't great, and the prices are such that a reasonable crew for a ship model would be mighty expensive.

One other idea.  Lindberg sells two "pirate ship" kits under the names "Jolly Roger" and "Captain Kidd."  They are in fact reissues of the French frigate La Flore and the German "convoy ship" Wappen von Hamburg, respectively.  Both come with pretty generous sets of figures.  (At least they did under their original labels; I assume the figures are in the reissued versions.)  I'm not sure of the exact scale of those kits, but they're pretty small.  As I remember, they're in sort of generic seafaring clothes - probably no hard to make look Napoleonic.  Those figures might be close - and even if you throw the rest of the kit in the spare parts box, the price per figure will be considerably lower than you'll pay for the equivalent number of pre-painted N-scale ones.

That's the best I can suggest - and I'm afraid it isn't much.  Good luck.

Youth, talent, hard work, and enthusiasm are no match for old age and treachery.

  • Member since
    February 2010
  • From: Victoria
Royal Navy Figures - Source?
Posted by Flashman on Monday, February 8, 2010 10:27 PM

Does anyone know where one can get Napoleanic era Royal Navy figures in 1:180 scale? I'm putting the finishing touches on the old Airfix HMS Victory kit after nearly a year of work and a few scale figures would really make the model "pop".

Thanks;

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