Sunday 21 July 2019

Napoleonic Naval ideas & that Langton Frigate from 2013!

I have been giving some serious thought to having a go at a bit of Napoleonic Naval, inspired as I have been by the recent shenanigans on Jolly Broom Man's blog. I have had the Sails of Glory set for over a year now but struggled to get to grips with all of the card tokens, the control panel and the order cards, I also find the printed sea bases somewhat detracts from the look of the thing, much preferring either Langton style sea bases or transparent bases. The ship models are quite nice, coming pre painted as they are. By adding ratlines and basic rigging and colouring the sails slightly they could be made even better I think. The base game comes with 4 ships and I added a 1st rate to each side. Here are a few shots of the game components and the additional ships. You can see that the Heroe has been given a bit of paint on her sails and very usefully she can be simply removed from her SoG base and used on her clear plastic basic with alternative rules.

THAT Langton Frigate again.
Some here might recall the Rod Langton model I built back in 2013. The Langton 'rigging bible' proved very useful in helping me to achieve realistic rigging. Oddly enough I have no idea what became of this model, I certainly don't have it anymore, I can only assume she was lost at sea in the defence of the realm, ( or down the back of a bookcase somewhere). The rigging took me days to complete, I went for the full rigging option with two colour threads to represent the different types. Shes at 'Easy Sail with courses furled' as often used in action to reduce the risk of the courses catching fire from the decks. I thoroughly enjoyed building, painting and rigging this little model.

Note the thin brass sails.They needed to be very gently rolled to shape being careful not to create folds in the delicate sails.

The brass etched sails and ratlines from Rod Langton.

Cleared for action - Captains valuables including his fine crockery stowed in the ships boat at stern.

Standing rigging in black thread and running rigging in buff thread. The running rigging was never tarred as it required to run through blocks and tar would have clogged them.

The Sails of Glory models .
Having taken some time to think about things since writing the above it is clear to me that I will never be content with using the SoG models as they stand. While the hulls are very nicely done the sail sets are - in my opinion - not so good. I can see from the production point of view why they are the way they are, being resin and designed for frequent handling, but while they look fine from the bow or stern they are not so good from the sides.

My idea is that these models would be greatly improved with the addition of Langton metal sail sets and brass etched ratlines. On the frigate above I went for 'fighting sail' setting and used the etched brass sails, very fiddly as paper thin and delicate, but the finished result was very pleasing. The SoG decks are drilled and plugged so the plastic masts can be removed without damage and metal one's inserted. If Mr Langton has no objection to selling me 6 sail sets without hulls then that's the way to go. I would go for the brass sails again, fiddly as they are, in for a penny in for a pound as they say. I think a very nice little fleet could be assembled this way and the option remains to expand with Langton metal hulls down the line.


The white plastc sail sets just don't do it for me. Now imagine her with Langton metal masts and etched brass sails and ratlines plus full rigging!


A nice component from SoG.

HMS Victory, I just can't fault that plastic hull.

I did apply some thin paint to these sails but still not happy.

The Rod Langton Bible.

Below: the SOG models on their sea bases, I really don't like them at all!

Ugly plastic base!








11 comments:

  1. I echo your sentiment - I don't like the masts or the bases and would love to able to buy the bases separately - and why not unpainted to reduce the cost. I would really prefer slightly earlier period ships and use them with removeable masts and Peter Hague's Naval Wargaming where you command fleets and not individual ships.

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    1. Rob, the SoG models are OK for the game, but don't compare to Langtons offerings, and to be honest I don't think there is much difference in price! I think the Victory model cost me a round £25.00! I'm having a fiddle with the sails and rigging now to see what I can do with them.

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  2. Your frigate was of course gorgeous! Wherever she is! While I do agree that the delicate brass sails would be very nice I do think painting and then rigging the plastic sails would still give you a very good finish. If you could cope with that? Sometimes it's worth recognising early enough what your minimum standard is, having said that if you can't buy any I guess you'll have too! A clear base is best so that if you want to play the game you could place the ship( blue tack?) On the admittedly ugly bases ?
    Best Iain
    Best Iain

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    1. Hi Iain, I'm working on the plastic sails now to see if they can be improved, and have the cotton thread out for rigging! The clear bases just sit straight back on those horrid SoG bases so no damage done there :)

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    2. Lee, for the rigging have you heard/seen this stuff?? Elastic so it makes it easier to tension.. different thicknesses are available... https://www.scalemodelshop.co.uk/product/0-01mm-rigging-super-fine-ammo-mig-jimenez-a-mig-8016?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8-KSpv7R4wIVQ7TtCh0MegRBEAQYASABEgKL1_D_BwE

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  3. Okay, I'm off to smash my lot up with a hammer. These are bloody lovely. Get rid of the plastic bases and use the brass as you suggest and you're golden. Get gaming with these beauties...I want a bat rep!

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    1. Hi there JBM, I'm a salty old Sea Dog you know? well I was in the Sea cadets in my teens but never actually saw the sea. We did go 'pulling' I recall, sadly not what I hoped it was going to be, apparently Naval term for rowing which we did on Dartford Lakes on a Saturday morning. I did enjoy wearing the uniform though a bit embarrassing on the bus journey there and back.

      I'm painting and rigging a couple of the SoG ships to see how things look now. Your set up is excellent, metal ships far better than plastic.

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  4. There is something about sailing ships at sea that stirs the imagination. Aubrey, Hornblower......

    The Langton model ships are beautiful when done well like the one pictured here. The SOG are toys, pretty enough and very functional but not in that same league. Luckily you have the skill to transform them. A worthwile project I think, for your readers at least. :)

    (40 years ago I rigged a few Armada ship models, with 2 thumbs on each hand, the results weren't pretty up close!)

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    1. Hi Ross, I have always admired those Napoleonic fighting ships since childhood. I'm going to see what I can do with the SoG models, paint and cotton rigging can make a big difference.

      As for Aubrey, what a masterpiece that film is, I love it and have watched it several times, it never fails to leave me feeling stunned.

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  5. Corr... looking forward to this... f.w.i.w. as lovely as the Lngton ship is as a wargaming piece it's way over detail in my view .. the ready made models are lovely - just change the base, stain the sails, put in minimum/representative rigging, quick dirt wash over the hull to tone it down, and you're ready to go...?

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  6. Your model is lovely - I'm sorry you can't find it but you never know...my Sicilian gf from years ago swore that one should pray to St. Jude for such things.

    Personally, I think 1/600 is a great scale, I have several ships for it but haven't gotten around to hitting that project - there's always something in the way.

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