Signs of the Apocalypse

Well it looks like the Reverend Camping's predictions were wrong (BBC News), and we're still here.  This story seems to have got more media and social media play in the New World compared to the Old World.  While it makes for entertainment, there's some sad elements to the story of his believers.  At least all anybody lost was money and time on this one.


But wait, last night I actually worked on new models - after so long from the workbench it felt like a sign of "the end".  I have a the following works in progress: half-dozen each of RN and Italian destroyer, a Condottierri class cruiser, an Arethusa class cruiser and the carrier HMS Eagle.  I am impressed with the GHQ castings which were largely flash-free and crisp and cleanly cast.  The detail was clear and well-executed (a huge improvement over some of my 1:3000 Navwar WWI models).  On the larger ships, turrets and superstructure were cast separately and had to be added manually, which went well for the most part once I hit up the female members of the family for tweezers.    


Once I get a break of sunny weather (good luck on the May long weekend), the bulk of these are ready to be spray-primed for painting.  The Arethusa and possibly the Eagle need pole masts added to get the feel right.  So expect the pin vice to be making an appearance soon.


I had a few nits to pick with GHQ, all on the Arethusa.


There were two tiny castings that were to be added to the superstructure, I expect that these are tubs of AA weapons.  It was tough to work out which end was up, the location point wasn't clearly located on the diagram and the were a devil to manipulate even with a pair of looted tweezers. 


The model included a sea-plane and crane for operating this, but no catapult to launch the plane. I opted to include the crane and plane (placing the latter atop a boat which was in the right spot). It turns out that of the 4 ships in the class, HMS Aurora was completed with no plane and the others lost theirs in late 1940 or 1941.  Ah well, it looks like I've got an early war model!  I'd rip the plane off but it was a bugger to plant in the first place and I don't want to risk taking out the crane.  I've since checked the GHQ site and their completed model includes the crane but no plane - presumably the crane was used to load boats and equipment.

On the subject of aeroplanes, I'd been waffling between various ways of representing these on table.  Having seen the GHQ 1:2400 planes up close, that option has been taken off the table.  They are fine models, but one needs a magnifying glass to spot the differences between types.  I'm don't care if you can't identify the exact model fighter from a distance, but you should be able to distinguish a Swordfish from a Hurricane or a Sunderland.  Based on what I see on line, the best bet may be the CAP Aero 1:1200 range.  These are out of scale, but this works given the sea-gull's eye perspective to most naval games.  My WW1 games used 1:3000 ships and 1:144 airplanes.