Jolly Jack Tars and a Bonny Brig

My crew for HMS Frolic are ready and the ship itself is nearing completion!

I'm very pleased with the officer conversion, though his facial features leave a bit to be desired. Well, all of their faces do really!

All of the sailors are variations on the basic cutlass and pistol armed figure from the HaT Marines and Sailors set. Most have had at least a head swap, but two have also had lower body swaps using legs from HaT British Peninsular Infantry figures.

One of the figures I've given a bare head with bandanna from one of the gun-crew figures from the same set and two others have heads from the marine figures painted to look like lacquered round hats with the ship's crest painted on the front of the hats. I painted the figure with the bandanna as a black sailor, as both the Royal Navy and the US Navy were not picky on the origins of their crew, especially later in the war when recruiting manpower was proving more and more tricky. According to a book I 'm currently reading, by the time of the War of 1812, at least 10-20% of ships' crews were black out of  a population of less than 5% of the total. It was one aspect of Regency life that was more or less integrated (at least below decks, anyway).

The scurvy crew!

The death-or-glory lieutenant

Basic figure from HaT Marines and Sailors set (image courtesy of PSR)

First variation: Head-swap and sword arm twisted

2nd conversion: head-swap and arm twisted

3rd conversion: Sword arm twisted, pistol arm lowered.

4th conversion: sword arm twisted and leg swapped

Same from rear

5th conversion: Head and leg swap 

Same from rear. His colour scheme seems more appropriate for a French matelot!

HMS Frolic nears completion. After consultation with experienced ship builder, Paul, I decided to experiment with rigging after all. I raided the girls' sewing basket and found some elastic which was surplus to requirement and rigged the spanker boom and gaff, the main and fore masts and the bowsprit together. Surprise, surprise it actually makes everything a lot more stable and manageable!

I've made a couple of tops'ls and a jib with thin card and replicated furled sails using rolled tissue paper secured with elastic offcuts.

I won't go to the extreme of making ratlines at the moment, but maybe at some time in the future I'll tackle that task, as I think it will make it really look the duck's guts (to borrow a phrase from Robin).

Still to come are the ship's guns, of which only 4 are required for the Lords of the High Seas campaign, but I'll eventually paint the whole compliment of 18!

HMS Frolic ready to sweep the piratical plague from the seas!

Action stations!

To Glory We Steer!

HMS Frolic now has masts!

After Fly challenged me last weekend to have my ship finished in time for NWA's Pirates in September events, I was spurred into action to at least get the masts ready for action. Progress up til now stalled as I was a bit stuck on whether or not to go the whole hog with the rigging, and if so, how? I'm a stickler for detail, usually, but in this case I want a compromise between detail and being able to be safely transported without turning into a tangled mess of spars and rigging!

I'm thinking of using fine metal wire to recreate rigging like the ratlines and some of the more prominent sheets etc., especially the one from the gaff to the spanker boom so I can have a nice big white ensign flying proudly to let those scurvy pirates know who they're dealing with!

Ultimately, I want to develop a scenario where the ship lands a party on an island to take out a Chappe Semaphore telegraph tower, defended by a couple of gun emplacements and a small detachment of French infantry. Still not sure what set of rules I'd use, but I'll keep my eyes open. Capitan is an early candidate, as there is also a set of rules for naval skirmishes, called Gunboat, by the same publisher. I may even come up with my own rules to suit the scenario.

Pirates in September uses a modified version of Legends of the High Seas, which I haven't played, so I can't say how they work, except to say that each ship has a crew of 12 crew; 1 captain, 2 officers, 3 musket armed crew (Royal Marines, in my case) and 6 pistol/cutlass armed crew. To that end, I have been scouring my collection for appropriate figures. The HaT British Marines and Sailors set has some useful figures for, well..., sailors and marines, but no officers. I've used a Kennington metal British infantry officer with a paint conversion as the captain, but he has no pistol, only a sword. I've also converted a Russian staff officer into a midshipman or master's mate by carving off his epaulets and sash, replacing his head and attaching a pared down sabre to resemble a dirk. While he'll make a serviceable junior officer figure, I'm still not convinced with his boots, but I couldn't be arsed trying to convert him any further. I'm currently converting another figure, who'll be the dashing lieutenant, leading the boarding party!

HMS Frolic, still laid up in the dockyard, but with masts installed

Captain and midshipman at the binnacle

Capt. Bertie Bugler on the quarterdeck

Royal Marine in the fighting top

Strelets Russian staff officer...

...and his alter ego as Royal Navy midshipman after conversion

Yaaaarrrrr, matey!

Brace the T'Gallants, Splice the Yardarms and Cringe me Nurgles! Yaaarrrrr!

I've had this in my to-do pile since last October, and after seeing the fun had by the chaps at Little Wars playing Legends of the High Seas I thought it was time to start assembling her.

I'll be able to join in their shennanigans as well as adding a little colour to my own Napoleonic naval landing scenario I ran for Pirates in Septmeber last year. I'm thinking of using Capitan rules for the infantry combat, but I'm still weighing my options for the naval side of things. I'll see how the LotHS plays and if I can adapt them to my purposes, or I might invest in the Gunboat rules by Capitan made especially for these boats. I reckon I'll have to invest in another one of these boats eventually so that we can have proper naval battles and cutting out expeditions and other sorts of Hornblower-type derring-do on the table-top!

This model is supposedly for 18mm figures, but the boats also come in 28mm sizes, too. If I've piqued your interest, you can learn more here

HMS Frolic with one side of the hull painted in regulation checkerboard fashion

I've placed the lower masts and bowsprit to see how they fit. I won't start gluing them in place until I've finished painting the hull.

Even though it's designed for 18mm figures, my 1/72nd HaT figures fit perfectly!