The Bug Boys are Coming!

   Ahem, that is to say, a trooper of the 17th Lancers, B Squadron (Aerocavalry), has been sighted. More commonly known as the "Dragonfly Lancers", the Aerocavalry ride into battle astride a mechanickal dragonfly, powered by handwavium and held aloft by unobtainite. They bravely (some would say 'recklessly') charge right at enemy aerial vessels, hoping to strike home with their long, spar torpedo-like Grantham Patent Explosive Lances. They can also make daring low-level attacks against landships and the like, skimming just over the terrain in a dashingly bold manner. The landing struts of the mount can also be used to carry cargo while in flight, and the whole thing can hover in place at need. Quite the thing for delivering desperately needed supplies to remote outposts.

[Editor's Note: Finally, one down, nine to go. This is my prototype Rough Rider from Victoria Miniatures, painted in 17th Lancer uniform, mounted on a Mage Knight mechanical dragonfly. My only complaint is that the resin spears warped in shipping and have to be repaired. Oh, and I need more pieces. Better get to ordering!]

Fresh from Down Under

   I received in the post yesterday a small package all the way from Australia. Yes, I received a shipment of troops from Victoria Miniatures, at long last. Not that the shipping time was the delay factor. That was rather prompt, I thought.

 

  My initial thoughts are that they look very nice. I have taken one set of the Rough Rider legs and test fit them on the Dragonfly from Popular Mechanicks, Vol. 7. For the record, they fit fairly well. A bit of hobby knife surgery on the soft plastic of the mount and the fit is even better. I am going to try to knock at least one or two of these out in the next week or so.

 

   So, anyway, look for my Praetorians to hit the auction block in the near-ish future.

HMAS Dragonfly... almost there...

   Almost finished... so, a few more pictures.

View from portside. Notice porthole in lower deck.

View from aft. Propeller shaft and rope railings clearly visible.

Portside. Embarkation point.

Starboard view of deckhouse. Note white ensign and Nordenfelt gun.

Main deck gun. (Not permanently attached yet)

Doctor Vardu's assistant, finished. I like the sunflower apron.

15mm Peter Pig Heliograph team (part of it), nearing completion.

   I threw in a couple of other pictures of stuff I am working on while I was at it.

The People Have Spoken!

   And thus, the heretofore unnamed scout Aeronef shall henceforth be known in the RNAS rolls as...

HMAS DRAGONFLY

   Work is nearing completion on this project. I have installed the rope railing around the entire deck, attached the lower hull to the upper, and the tail section as well. The Nordenfelt has been mounted, the white ensign attached, and very little still waiting completion.

   What is left to do? I need to attach the scratchbuilt hatch onto the superstructure. I need to touch up some spots where handling has rubbed the paint thin. I need to attach the deck gun. I need to print a decal with the ship's name and attach it. The whole model needs to be clear-coated. Finally, I need to devise a flying stand of some sort. To the Dollar Store!

DRAGONFLY              Dragonfly                          (Stencil)

DRAGONFLY             Dragonfly                         (Algerian)

DRAGONFLY                          Dragonfly                             (Black Adder)

DRAGONFLY               Dragonfly                                    (Brush Script)

DRAGONFLY                   Dragonfly           (Copperplate Gothic)

DRAGONFLY           Dragonfly (Engravers)

DRAGONFLY              Dragonfly           (Lucida Calligraphy)

DRAGONFLY                  Dragonfly                    (Old English Text)

Unnamed Scout Nef Project

  A few shots to see what has been going on. I decided to go with the rope and stanchion railing as suggested by the poll. The first photo shows how I did it. Simply, it is some 1/16" brass tube cut with a razor saw to about 20mm lenght, inserted into holes I drilled in the model with my Dremel. To that, I used superglue to attach some beading cord that looks like braided manila. I had thought to use some small brass rings glued to the stanchions and then run the cord through them, but could not find any that I liked well enough.

Rope Railing Closeup

Upper Hull Section

   You may note the change in color scheme. I decided to match a historical pattern of the Victorian Royal Navy, with black hull, white superstructure, and yellow ochre stack. Also, questioning the use of ventilators. It came with a pair, but I don't know that I want to use them.

   The tail I am considering painting a blue-white-red roundel upon the upper half. Also need to figure out how to do a decal for the name - which I need to decide upon! Check out the poll for that, please!

Tail section assembled, needing more paint. Roundel?

Newest Lower Hull. Help from a Mad Man in a Blue Box?

   Changed the lower hull plan from the original idea. Originally it had two resin portholes on each side, but the starboard pair were damaged at some point, so I cut them all off. Then I added round gunports over the four portholes, going to fit each with a Hotchkiss rotary cannon. But once I looked at it, I decided that it was over-gunned at that point. Cut off those ports, added a washer to each side for a single porthole - that's the engineering area, not a passenger lounge, after all!

  Plenty of work still to go. Need to finish cutting the stanchions for the main deck's railing, finish painting the deck gun and the Nordenfelt for the pilot house deck, need to make a hatch for the roof of the pilot house, finsih painting the details, and then there is asssembly! Oh, and a line for the ensign, of course! I was thinking smokestack to rear of the armoured boiler box. I've some small-ish eye pins I could set in for that.

Name the Scout Aeronef

   She needs a name! I've started a poll to help, but not sure I have all the names that I liked on it.

   Wikipedia lists all the gunboats of the Royal Navy here.

   Vote in the poll, and if you chose "Other", give me the name in the comments here, please.

Scout Aeronef, Part I

   I recently obtained a 25mm scale Scout Aeronef, made by Ironclad Miniatures, from someone on TMP. The casting looks very nice, but has a few flaws. The worst of these was the portholes on one side of the lower hull were about half gone. I don't know if it was a casting problem, or if they were chipped at some point afterwards. Either way, they were not going to work. So, I got creative.

Stock, primed gray.

   Here is my 'creative' solution: I cut off all four of the lower hull portholes and replaced them with these plastic fittings. The fittings are from my wife's O2 tanks, and I have been saving them as I could for something just like this! However, these do not match the perfectly good portholes on the upper hull or superstructure. So I decided they would be gunports instead!

   The plan is to make a set of four revolving barrel cannons to protrude from the gunports. 3-pdr Hotchkiss Revolving Cannons for a broadside armament! Huzzah!

As you can see, it needs more rivets. And some replacement rivets.

Starting to paint the upper hull and deck. Not glued yet.

   I had to do a few other minor repairs to get started, but the project is on! I should finish in a few weeks, as I am easily distracted by other projects and a massive "Honey-Do" list from the memsahib. Silly me, I thought that I had the summer off from work, being a teacher and all!

   Oh, does anyone recognize that piece in the background? It is not going to be fitted to the scout aeronef - too heavy. But it will see use.

Railing poll for the Unnamed Aeronef

   Ladies and gents, as I am suffering from over-analysis of a minor detail, I turn to you for assistance. At the top of the journal, you should see a poll. Please choose which option you think might look best for the scout aeronef. A few pictures here should help with your visualizations.

Roped Stantions. From Baron Von J.

Stantions available from Reviresco - with solid rails

  Any other thoughts, please feel free to comment!