Battlefield Accoutrements - Ship Mill in 6mm

 Ship Mills were an ingenious idea to harness water power by making a catamaran, with the central well containing a water wheel.  These could be moored to catch the strongest flow of the river and avoided having to build dams, weirs etc. associated with land based mills.  These mills were first recorded in 6th century Italy and were common from the middle ages to the 19th and early 20th century in Europe.

Their military use was two-fold.  They could be used as the basis of a pontoon bridge by lashing them alongside each other.  They could also be used as battering rams to break up bridges down stream - as used by the Austrians who sent a series of ship mills into Napoleon's pontoon bridges over the Danube during the battle of Aspern-Essling.

They are usually represented as an off table factor and you don't often see them modelled.  Chris Pringle had mused awhile ago BBB Blog - Ship Mills that they would be a fun thing to have.  He donated a number of wargaming things to me earlier in the year, so I thought I'd make one as a way of saying thank you.

Research:

Here are two of the plans I found on the internet:

Here is the picture from the Wikipedia article - this mill is at Minden, Germany.

As you can see, it is not the most seaworthy of craft.  Colours appear to have been black for the boat parts and light grey for the superstructure.  My guess is that the hulls were painted with tar or pitch to make them waterproof, the superstructure would be weathered wood.  The paddles seem to have been black.

Construction 

I based the model on 2mm mdf, with a cut out in the middle for the wheel if needed.  The hulls were coffee stirrers, shaped to the hull profile and with scribed planking.  The sides and superstructure were card.  The paddle blades were too short and thick on the first paddle, so I started again with a card/plastic tube metal washer combination.  Various ribs and struts were added to give a bit of interest.  It was undercoated with GW primer and painted with GW Acryllics.  I painted on the water and little waves to give some idea of the mill pushing against the river flow.    

photos:

Note the cut out in the roof to accommodate the wheel.

The finished article:

I have not really done water before, I'm quite pleased with the result.  If you have a go, consider making the sides of the pontoons in 0.5mm plastic (I used 1mm card) and if you had a wheel from a Mississippi stern-wheeler, that might work well.  I reckoned that as these were widespread during the Napoleonic and 1848/49 Hungarian wars, Chris will get to use it quite often, so a little chunkiness and resilience in the wheel would not go amiss.

All in all a fun little model to build, it did not take long and was well received by Chris when handed over!

As ever, I hope this encourages yo to have a go at making your own terrain.

Building Wagons - 2 - Austrian Supply Wagons 2

 Here's some work-in-progress pictures of my three Austrian wagons, now they are painted & assembled.

Painting photos.  I glued them on a stick so I could paint them without touching them...

Here are the wagons and the wheels ready for assembly...

Here are the wagons assembled, they now need some horses, a pole at the front to attach the horses to, horse handler and basing.  Stay tuned...

Note that the spare wheel is angled down at 45 degrees.  The stowage is plasti-card offcuts to make boxes, with strip as little handles.  The ammo wagons were painted yellow, the mobile forge was either painted brown or was left natural wood (maybe clear varnished?).  

Here's a couple of stowage pictures.  A further option would be to drape a tarpaulin over the stowage (as you would not want your stuff getting wet!)...

Battlefield Accoutrements - Sheep!

A while ago I was persuaded that some sheep would be an ideal addition to my games.  So, having languished at the lower end of the painting pile, last year's lockdown#2 gave me the time and motivation to sort them out.

As my niece, also locked down but in another location, was painting watercolours, we "buddied up" and sent each other encouraging progress reports and pictures.  Thanks for the encouragement, Lucy!

The finished article:

Method:

1.  Glue the sheep on a holder and undercoat.  I glued them in groups of 12, with their heads facing outwards (for ease of painting).

I painted the whole of the sheep & base in light mud brown.

These were then given a coat in very pale grey.

Followed by the heads being painted dark grey and the sheep getting a black wash.  They were then given white dry brushing to give them some depth.

They were based in two "flocks" and two "scattered", terrain textured and painted, varnished & static grass added.  Here are the results:

They were really quick to paint and base - they are now ready to add to suitable games....    I hope this encourages you to have a go at painting some!

Another week, another new page - French Revolutionary Wars Army

 I've added a new page - my French Revolutionary Army.  Teaser pics!

New page added - the Army of Italy

 Just added a page to showcase my Army of Italy.

Teaser Pics...