Project Landship Update 1

“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, 

there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” Bilbo Baggins

An update now that the basic model is in hand (and to keep myself honest)

As delivered

In the time it takes to make a good Gin & Tonic, it looked like this

...stripped of decals (I found that soaking those areas with vegetable oil for 5 mins was the best way to get rid of the glue residue) and washed in detergent to get rid of whatever decades had left.

And I had a win at the local model store: incomplete kits bagged up as a source of bitz and 'gubbinz' (my own big box of bitz being inconveniently in a different hemisphere)

Of course, then I spent two weeks turning then all over and over in my hands, coming up with new and different approaches to my first thoughts. Did I say that I would avoid Analysis Paralysis?

Yes, well....

Interestingly, after disassembly, I found the tracks to be quite reversible. So I ended up completely changing my approach, reversing the entire model and turning what is currently the 'engine bay' into a barbette gun platform like this:

Barbette mount on the French ironclad Le Redoubtable

I wanted to go for a more 'early pre-dreadnought' look rather than that a big turreted beast so this fit well and looked a promising way ahead.

So after a week of working up a stiff upper lip for the task, I bought myself a handy-dandy USB powered rotary tool and started cutting...

I managed to preserve most of the lovely detail for a future project

Which after a bit of clean-up looks thus:

I'll probably turn that hole where the boiler was into a crew access hatch

For the replacement deck, I wanted a ship-like wooden deck for the cannon to sit on. Using wood would also lighten the overall weight of the beast, which I'm sure my fictional 19th Century engineers would prioritise to coax a bit more speed out of her. Made from coffee stirrers glued to plastic card shaped for the hole.



Suitability test fit with my gun before I trimmed it down gives you an idea of were I'm going with this (more to follow on the gun next time)...

Looking ahead, what was the forward "conning tower" can now be built up into more of a Ship's Bridge, looking down and over the gun platform. A multi-level bridge like this would definitely give a "warship" feel but likely be overdoing it on a vehicle this size. Will experiment.

But most importantly, I've made a start - the first cut is the hardest: On on!

Project Landship Incipit!

This year is the 20th Blogiversary of Yours in a White Wine Sauce. Admitedly enthusiasm has waxed and waned over the years but... we're still here! 

To mark the 20 year milestone I'm getting after two long deferred projects. And so the first begins:

Long have I hankered to have my own steam powered Landship.  Affectionados might remember my contributions at 1/1200 scale in co-authoring the "Land Ironclads" rules (published 2008 by Wessex Games) but I want one at 28mm scale to fit our Space 1889 projects, amongst others. 

Well the time is nigh. At least it feels like it might be.

Good enough anyway.

Rather than build entirely from scratch, I'm using a plastic toy as a solid basis and converting it. I got this Hasbro 1988 GI Joe "Cobra Imp" for US$8 off ebay as it was missing the rockets, which I didn't want anyway. 

Side view of the excellent tracks

Front view: A very Warship like armoured prow

Rather than turn it into a turreted, heavily armed monster (which would be unbalancing, and early steam landships should be a bit rubbish really), I'm thinking that a protected carrier feel to move troops in relative safety would be more useful on the plains of Mars (and jungles of Venus) and for trade caravan protection. Some thoughts at project start (for comparison at the end) include:

• modestly sized main weapon (like 4inch) forward, probably mounted internally so the gun crew are protected 
• a number of smaller anti-personnel weapons (maybe with mealie bags around them?) to cover different angles
• Smoke stacks are a must, obviously (vertical, probably two)
• If space permits, masts fore and aft with a wireless aerial strung between them (and guy wires to keep them aloft). Double use on one for the Flag/Ensign (maybe a semaphore signal?)
• The two small platforms at the back could be reshaped for disembarking troops (like the back ramp on an APC). maybe I can build those up so they look like proper access hatches. Or perhaps make one an access way and turn the other into a gatling (or similar) mount so it has an asymmetric look
• The tracks are big areas, need to make the most of those, even if its just putting some mesh on them to keep native fauna out of the delicate gearing mechanisms.
• a porthole/scuttle or two to break up the big, slab sides and give it a 'ship feel'
• to reinforce the ship theme, a searchlight
• and rivets of course! Lots of rivets!

And all that said, I'm know I've well overestimated how much space on the there is to execute all of these changes!

PS Is it just me or would this also work well being built in reverse, with this end as the front, a gun platform on top of the 'engine bay' and the Bridge being built at the back? Maybe I need a second one to try this...

Rear View: These are the steps that may become embarked troop exits

After years of procrastination, I'm going to employ the "don't let perfect be the enemy of good enough" principle (which I am quite prone to) and see how we go. This type of project is a first for me: I'm not a novice hobbyist but this is a step change, and to up the degree of difficulty my bitz box currently resides in another hemisphere. Anyway, its a start and posting here will keep me focused on providing periodic updates.

Top view - great moulded detail in the engine bay to turn into a boiler

Suggestions always welcome! Maybe I should do a competition, and the best advice gets to name her! (derivatives of Boaty McBoatface are inadmissible!)

Inspiration

Got my idea for the initil model from Gisby's Gaming Blog here:

https://gisby.wordpress.com/2015/07/26/space-1889-a-german-landship/

Since buying my Imp for conversion, I also found this on Bill's GASLIGHT page:

I have just done my first conversion of the GI Joe Cobra Imp into a Prussian Landship for GASLIGHT or any other Victorian Sci Fi game. Lots of work that is unseen but its still a very nice conversion that looks fantastic. I did not alter the basic shape much but there is a wealth of details added to give the proper affect. See if you can spot the differences between the Stock model and my finished "Landship" 

https://historicalhobbies.com/DOGS/main/Gaslight/Prussian%20Landship.htm

The "engine bay" looks like it has been converted into a "fighting compartment" with a removable sun shade

You can see where Bill has also added some edging along the hull with rivets 

And of course the many wonderful insanities projects by Colonel O'Truth that I have followed have inspired over the years (I blame you too good Sir!)

https://colonelotruth.blogspot.com/

The Colonel doesnt frequent his old blog anymore, but you can follow his new projects at his YouTibe Channel here: 

https://www.youtube.com/@ColonelOTruthMiniatureIssues

Take a look his Steampunk raft in particular!