correcting a resin model

I got the Vorpostenboot model from Warlord and the hull wasn’t really strait as you can see on the picture ( red arrow).

As i had to correct that, I thought I could explain how I did it. As resin reacts with heat, it gets soft and bendy, so I heated up some water and put the model inside for a short time . I didn’t time it properly but I think I left it inside less then 30 sec. Surely the longer you leave the resin in the hot water the more bendy it gets.

When bendy enoughI took out the model and straitened it up. Be careful not to burn your fingers. Next step is to put the model in cold water . The resin gets hard again.

Here is a picture before (on the left) and after( on the right)

Hope that helps a bit if you have issues with bend resin models!

Rheinland build finished

11. February 201911. February 2019 thomasriepe 1/300 ships, Coastal war, Cruel Seas, Rheinland steamer, Warlord Games

This weekend I finished building the steamer Rheinland. The model is to be used for the Cruel Seas game from Warlord. It is in 1/300 or 6mm scale. it is completely scratch build . More about the build here, here, and here.

I did the molds and the resin casting, too.

The only thing missing are the lifeboats. I will build a Kriegsmarine version next. Depicting the ship as a Hilfskreuzer ( auxiliary cruiser).

S.S. Bellota

4. February 20194. February 2019 thomasriepe 1/300 ships, Cruel Seas, Generic Steam Ship, S.S. Bellota

This will be my next build for Cruel Seas. I will use this plan as a guideline to build different steamers as convoy ships for Cruel Seas games. The model will be around 24cm long.

I will use the same hull with different superstructures to represent different generic steam ships. Like tankers, frighters, passenger liners etc . Here is the start on the hull.

When finished I will cast the hull in resin to safe me the hassle to always rebuild the same hull . The ships will then get different superstructures also cast in resin to be able to mix and match them accordingly . I will do different funnels, bridge sections etc to build as many different looking ships as possible. So keep an eye on these pages for more updates. I might be able to cast some ships for others if the need arises.

Last little details added to the Rheinland

29. January 2019 thomasriepe 1/300 ships, Coastal war, Cruel Seas, Rheinland steamer, Warlord, World War II

I added the last little details to the steamer Rheinland. She will be prepared for casting today and I think I might manage doing the molds tomorrow then. I took pictures of her alongside the tanker from warlord for size comparison .

So as this build nears completion I am open for suggestions what should be next. I am thinking about doing a generic cargo vessel size will be in-between the tanker from warlord and a liberty ship. So length would be around 24 cm. Any more suggestions? What is missing for cruel Seas?

The Kiepencon 2019 a convention report

28. January 201928. January 2019 thomasriepe Adeptus Titanicus, Battlemech, Convention Reports, Cruel Seas, Frostgrave, Kiepe2019, Kiepencon 2019, x wing

Yesterday was the Kiepencon in Münster Germany. In the last years I went there as a punter only. This year I staged a cruel seas participation game.

the venue was the same as in the years before.

Except that all rooms of the venue were used . The x wing tournament was held in two separate rooms on the first floor:

As i had to run my own game I have, sadly, no more pictures of the running tournament.

Here are pictures of all the games that could be seen and taken part in during the day:

Adeptus Titanicus:

A splendid pirat game:

And my own cruel seas participation game. We played the second scenario from the rulebook about seven times and the tanker got sunk by torpedoes only once! Definitely something has to be done about the torpedo rules I think. The people managed to pick up the game mechanics very quickly and much fun was had by all. Warlord gave us some spurs of german s boats and vespers to give away as incentives. So the winner of each game could pick a sprue!

It was a brilliant day out . I would recommend attending the Kiepencon next year if you are near Münster. Probably a new venue is needed in the next year if the con continues to grow that fast !! Until next year……

A little bit more progress on the Steamer for Cruel Seas

25. January 2019 thomasriepe 1/300, 1/300 ships, Coastal war, Cruel Seas, Rheinland steamer, Warlord Games, WWII

I did a little bit more with the Rheinland steamer. basically more sanding and filling. I added the funnel and the life boat racks. now only the fine detail like windows , anchors etc are missing. Then molding will commence .

I will be at the Kiepencon on Sunday with a cruel seas participation game more info on the con here.

Hope to see you there!

The next ship to be build for Cruel Seas will be a 1/300 cargo steamship . It will be a bit bigger then the Rheinland.

The Bäderschiff Rheinland

23. January 201922. January 2019 thomasriepe 1/300 ships, Coastal war, Cruel Seas, Rheinland steamer, scratchbuilding, World War II

As I started with cruel Seas ( see last post) , I decided that I would need more costal steamers for convoys. One tanker is not enough. Therefore i started to look for old plans of coastal steamers in the WWW.

As i often travel to the north sea island Borkum I started to look for plans of old steam ships with brought the tourists over to the island during the 1930-1940. These ships were called “Bäderschiffe” in German. I found plans for the steamship Rheinland with was build in 1926.

The Rhineland was build at the Vulcan ship builders at Hamburg. She was 57m long and 8,7 m wide. She could carry 613 passengers and had overnight accommodation for the crew. She had two engines reaching 12,5 knt. She was coal fired.

This postcard shows the Rheinland after 1933 as she shows the banner ” Kraft durch Freude” in front of the bridge.

The Rheinland serviced the line between Emden and Borkum and Borkum-Helgoland as well as Helgoland-Hamburg. During the second world war she serviced this line and was used to ferry refugees through the baltic sea. She was used until 1968 . In 1960 she was rebuild and looked very differently from what you see above.

Above are some old postcard pictures of the steamer. the color picture shows her sometime after 1933 as the bridge looks different after 1933.

I will build her as she looked when brand new in 1929.

As usual I use cardboard and extruded polystyrene for my model building. Here are some pictures of the building process so far . Oh, I forgot to tell, the model is in 1/300 or 6mm , the scale of Cruel seas. The model could be used as a Sperrbrecher or similar war time use in the games.