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).
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?
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.
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.
And a picture with a Vosper from Warlord for size comparison:
wargamesgazette 