February 27, 2021.

Well now, it has been a while. Just a few changes in the world around us. Thinking of coming back to this more with all the “Sturmm und Drang” of social media and FB. Anyway, releasing some new 1/1200s soon. See the updated pages.

Many more 1/1200 planned along with a few 1/600 WW2. Exploring the boundaries of never-were ships. One thing- I will not be posting drawings anymore as one of my unique 1/1200s was copied in 3D.

The 1/300s I make for the CS crowd will be occasional as it usually goes that someone asks for one, they order a bunch and then nothing.

TTFN and stay safe…

November 23

Finally added some more 1/1200s> Lots of updates on Facebook over the past few months which is far, far easier to add posts and photos.

I have some more 1/1200s in process. The Italian UP90 cruiser is done, a design that started with six- 10″ guns and was later changed to twelve -6″. This model is of the first design and will be available in a few weeks, basically when I have time to make the mold. Here is the complete master.

Other planned 1/1200s are a few Italian “What if” destroyers ( I have four designs in mind) and two US “What if” DDs. There are rumors I have another US BB starting in a build slip…we’ll see.

Upcoming 2017 will see the TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY of the PT Dockyard. I will have to plan some kind of celebration but unsure of what to do at this point.

TTFN!

May 7

Well the USPS took the shine off today’s new Fury announcement when it cost me $40.75 to mail three padded envelopes with a total weight of less than 3 ounces. I am sick over this as I have always counted the ability to absorb much of the postal costs as a competitive advantage for the Dockyard. Resin is light and I used to be able to mail stuff out internationally for under $5. This after doing a major price reduction to counteract tariffs and currency shifts.

Sorry for the rant all. Finishing up some Fury craft like destroyers for both sides and then back to 1/1200 for a while. I am thinking of a British battleship subject along with finishing some undone cruisers and destroyers. Most are what ifs so stay tuned.

February 20

Still plugging away. As usual, the deep cold that finally came messed up casting operations so I am in “Winter Quarters” where I can cast at about half my usual rate. Patience folks- Spring is coming.

Finally released the Historical Background and scenario guide. Download it for free!

Historical Background &Scenario Guide

Working on the following fro Fury on the Lakes:

US Armored Gunboat (Done- awaiting molding)

Canadian Armed X-lighter (Done)

US Mackinac class escort

British/Canadian Hunt Class Minesweeper (Building- almost done)

86′ Drifter

With plans in process for a British M-class Destroyer, a US Coastal Destroyer ( a little smaller than the famous “Flush Deck DDs),  a larger version of the Shearer Submersible MTB, a US monitor and more Canadian escort ships. I have a source working on a fishing tug for the Fenian Privateers and one of those odd Great Lakes Whaleback freighters.

I have not forgotten the other scales, with plans to make a Flak Siebel sometime soon for the 1/600 WW2 line and finishing the US light cruiser and Italian UP90 for the 1/1200 fleet. Busy times as always

December 6

Finally… stick a fork in it! It’s done!

Fury on the Lakes LAUNCHING December 7. Tear up the lakes everyone before the ice moves in!

August 8, 2015

Despite being quite silent here, things at the Dockyard have been busy. The big news is the pending new line and set of rules called Fury on the Lakes. This goes back to my love of the Harry Turtledove Great War series and the concept of a naval campaign on the Great Lakes in World War 1. In that alternate history series, the South won the Civil War and, with the help of Britain and France, also defeated the North a second time in the late 1880’s. The United States then aligned with Germany for guidance on how to structure their military while the Confederacy cozied up to Britain, France and Russia. When the spark is ignited in 1914, the US finds itself with not only an enemy to the south but also to the north. The Great Lakes become a war zone with fleets on each side.In the ensuing conflict, both sides quickly lost a few “Lake battleships” to mines and submarines. There were several mentions about how the great lakes fleets turned out to be a colossal waste of money.no mention was made of any  light naval forces or, heaven forbid, coastal craft.

Beyond Turtledove’s take on this period, the U.S Navy actually had a plan for war with Canada, Plan Crimson. This was the  subject of a game module for Avalanche Press’ Great war at Sea series. This game has squadrons of lake battleships on both sides with nary a mention of small fry.

While visiting Sacket’s Harbor NY a few years back, it dawned on me that war on the lakes would likely be a mosquito war, not one of lake battleships and squadrons of cruisers. I pictures Sacket’s Harbor as  a nest of  MTBs with Kingston not to far away.  The islands on Lake Erie and Lake Huron would also be hunting grounds for small craft. Maps of the area showed that Canada extended to the northern end of Lake Champlain, the scene of not one but two major naval battles in the past.  A thought came to me of one of the US built Greenport boats (like the one in the photo below) running in camouflage along the green shores of the lake . I was hooked.    The idea percolated for some time and now it is all coming together.

In my sources, i have a lot on early MTB projects, torpedo development, and some rather odd craft that were developed over the years but are rather unknown. Some of these have been folded into this game. At the same time there will be completely new craft on both sides as well as some period standards like Elco Launches (in the USN this time), CMBs, X-lighters ( including some tough armed versions..Canadian flaklighters anyone?) and a US version of the LM boat, the “Liberty Boat.”

In addition there will be rules for icebreaking, coastal craft  use of anti-submarine weapons against surface ships  (not just depth charges)  and something called the “Fenian Privateer Flotilla”

Play testing is in the second phase and I plan to have the whole thing out this fall. Stay tuned!

April 25, 2015

Where have you been, Dave?

Short answer- Facebook. The PT Dockyard has a page on Facebook which frankly is a whole lot easier and faster to update than this. The PT Dockyard Facebook page can be found HERE

As far as new stuff, the 1933 Battlecruiser has been out fro a few months. I will be adding the new 1941 Gibbs and Cox Small Destroyer to that today, a sweet little ship with 2-4″, 2-3″, 6-TT and 30 Kts all on a 264′ hull!

New stuff- I have some Japanese small craft in process including a seagoing armored gunboat AB and a late war small one called a Seha-Tei that I just discovered a few weeks ago.

And for the armor guys.. Spring is here (kinda- snow on the ground yesterday) and I always rekindle my armor interest this time of year for some reason. Last nigh I did the heavy lifting on the Somua SARL running gear and have a shot at finishing that part today. Once done I plan to have this with two turret versions- the 75mm SARL and  an S40 version with a 47mm SA 37 in the three man FCM turret design. the running gear is not exactly the same for the latter as far as the articles in GBM are concerned. But..hey..it is a what if! 🙂  The French will conquer Uchronia!

December 21, 2014,

Well we have moved past the Big Announcement. It is good to see a number of my UK customers returning to these waters.  Now that things are moving again, it is time to increase the fold.

What’s next?

The mold for the 1933 US Battlecruiser Scheme B is hardening up right now. If all goes right the first casting will be tomorrow night. Here is the master a few weeks ago

Beyond that, there are a host of other projects. In 1/1200 the next big one will likely be the German 1928 Zenker battlecruiser, one of the designs considered on the way to building the Panzerschiffe

In the  other scales and genres, we have  things like the  proposed 85m corvette SSC proposed by Lockheed, basically a baby LCS…..

 and in 1/600, how about Soviet submersible MTB?I hear they actually made a prototype

TTFN

December 4, 2014

Announcement?? What’s going on in there?

Big changes coming. Double the watch and keep a sharp lookout……..

October 6, 2014

Just a brief update. Should have the Flakjaeger out this week or so along with a few others. Here is the master for the FJ-25 (sans guns):

French Rhine gunboat CF-1. Very cool little boat that was unknown to me until recently. She was captured by the Germans in 1940 but lost while transitioning to the Channel

The next one is the WW2 version of the Russian BK armored gunboat from the RCW era. Apparently a few made it to WW2 and were rearmed with 45mm guns.

The 1/1200 Hansa CVE is coming soon as well. She is ready to go but whenever I buy mold compound to complete the mold, other molds crash and need immediate replacement. Well, ever onward.

Also, I have a rather cool set of rules in process that will have its own line of miniatures too. Keep posted as this develops. I at least find it quite exciting and I hope others will too. It is a project I have wanted to pursue for years and this summer it just clicked. More to follow.

TTFN

August 9. 2014

Been a while but I think everyone is used to that. Between a busy job, #3 son getting married (in a week!) and the birth of our first to grandchildren, time is still an elusive commodity.

The sharp eyed will notice that “Tragerflotten” is off the Trade Wants page as I managed to snag a copy on EBay. It is as good as expected and now the wait starts for volume #2.

Changes in our lives have affected the Dockyard and I am still working through that. The French SARL-42 is just about done with the heavy lifting part (tracks) and I am awaiting new inspiration for armor, primarily the release of “Fury.”

Some ships are coming. I have the master for a German escort carrier design complete. This was based upon the “Hansa” type freighter and would only have had seven planes.

The other one that got the Dockyard boys back on the job was the discovery of two little ships with the cool title of “Flak Jäger.” It was identified as a minesweeper in the Finnish photo archive and while at first glance it looks like an M-class, look a little harder and you can see many differences. A little more research dug up several photos and the FJ 25 & 26 are almost complete and should be out in a few weeks. Very cool little craft that saw action in the Baltic and Gulf of Finland right up to the end of the war.  Relatively fast at 21kts, they had a twin 37mm on the bow, a single aft, two single 20mm midships and a 8.6cm RL on either rail. Tough little customer for the Russkis!

Hopefully this is the start of a trend!

TTFN!

May 10, 2014

Peering around corners and at the sky, still somewhat expecting a snow squall.

Looks like spring has established a toehold, at least a tenuous one, here in upstate NY. Without going into any more details life outside of the Dockyard has taken on an insane surreal aspect over the past four months. Everything from becoming a grandfather to losing some dear loved ones. With all of this going on, the Dockyard workers have been pretty much on furlough. Now the recall is going out and hopefully some momentum has been started with the build and release of the Japanese Type 5 gunboat (JN-12).

With the arrival of spring, my annual interest in armor has awakened and I am almost trough the tough part (tracks) of a 15mm master for a French contribution to Flame’s of War “Mid-war Monsters” range. This would be the SARL-42, a second generation development of the Somua s-35 with a turreted 75mm gun.

If it proves popular (provided I finish and successfully mold it) I have some other French tank projects in mind as well.

Beyond that there are some new 1/600 coastals in process for the Pacific, Channel and Mediterranean/Adriatic.  Part of the change this year is the family’s sale of the Keuka Lake cabin (Thanks a lot, NY State tax rates) where I have built many, many of my masters all the way back to the first years of the Dockyard. The water and sound of the boats always served as an inspiration for making boats. To say it will be missed is a terrible understatement but life goes on.

As always, I love to hear from people. Write me at ptdockyard@yahoo.com with comments and models you would like to see.

February 2, 2014

Greetings from the tundra….

Since late December we have had a brutal winter with days and days of sub-zero cold, snow and what not. The cold plays merry heck with the casting process. In our nice drafty 114 year old house in this weather that has even happened in my “winter” facilities where castings come out all brittle. The past week has seen an abatement so hopefully we are past the worst. Mighty brave words for February 2, though…:)

In all this I have also found myself struggling to bring any masters to completion. With the upcoming Osprey book “Q-ships vs. U-boats” and the discovery that I had a massive article on USN Q-ships in an old issue of Warship International, I have restarted the USS Santee. She was the only real “Q-Ship” operated by the USN in WW1, having an incredibly short operational life before being torpedoed and limping back home to return to RN control. The article pointed our several flaws in my 60% done master (naturally) so she is getting a correction before completion.

The other will be the finishing of the steam powered German U-boat Projekt 50, a massive “almost was” with four 105mm guns and two 88mm on deck.

Also have some other Spanish projects going, The AMC Mar Negro and the Project 138 “Super Washington” cruiser. These are my “Olympic Projects” to be finished while watching the US hockey team win gold (hey, I can hope) Stay warm everybody!

November 9, 2013

Well at long last the USS Sackets Harbor (now with correct spelling)  has left for patrol of the Atlantic looking for the Tragerflotten. This was a very long term build and she went through a number of revisions. The bonus was the Quercy, which is courtesy of a friend who lives in France and dug up a drawing for me. C’Bon!

I have had several customers wonder what may be coming down the pike for the 1/700 and 1/600. It has been a while for the 1/700.. about 18 months..since we had a new one in that genre so in a few days we should have the East German Libelle  MTB out.

What a weird little boat. I am curious as to why the East Germans adopted a rear launching style. Must have liked the Soviet G5…

And for 1/600 we will have another long sought item as far as research, the US “Mickey Mouse Battleship” Armored Launch used in the Philippines in 1942. These three craft were 40′ launches from the sub tender “Canopus” that were armored with boiler plate and armed with a short barrelled 37mm (former Marine landing gun), two .50 cal and two .30 cal MGs. This has been an elusive subject since I first read about it in 1999. This summer I was able to get a sketch which is enabling the model. It may be redone in 1/300 if there is enough interest.

Beyond those I will likely expand the Pacific 1/600 collection with a Japanese sea truck, another MTB/MGB, an LCI Gunboat and some oddball ships from the US Army collection of small craft. They other subject that is cool is the “Catboat Flotilla”, a US Army force of odd small craft that were used to resupply Allied forces in the Solomons and New Guinea 1942-43. Not to forget the ETO, I have some more German escorts to do along with a few Allied craft. I am watching what happens to the now defunct Skytrex line of 1/600. If that fails to re-emerge I will make up a British Hunt class and some British trawlers. I am also thinking about doing a US Raven class minesweeper but an not sure if there is interest. If so, sound off!

And then we have 1/1200. I cannot begin to list all of the activity I plan here. In the near term look for some US WW2 Coast Guard craft previously not available and my ever favorite, patrol yachts. A lead contender here is the USS Mizpah.

As far as new capital ships, there is the French “Duquesne” CV conversion that is poking along, the French St.Louis CA, along with many other “What If” capital ships, cruisers and DDs. Too many to list.

One that is on the table is a crazy one. If there is enough interest, I will take a shot at making the giant ice carrier “Habakkuk” in 1/1200.

I have the production plan and the materials, just not the fortitude! Here I REALLY need to hear from all of you that would be interested in this one. It would be a significant investment in time and materials.

As always, I love to hear from people. Write me at ptdockyard@yahoo.com with comments and models you would like to see.

TTFN

August 19, 2013

Disclaimer- Just came in from Asia. Body here, brain catching up…..

Well, as expected the summer brought the usual sudden inspirations. Still looking to do some Tragerflotten German CVs but trying to finish up some other 1/1200 things first.

The long suffering US 1923 CV design 286 USS Sackett’s Harbor from Friedman’s book will be molded this month. Here is the master in July. She has a lot of detailing done since then:

Then we have the long promised Italian “Coloniale” sub cruiser with her steam power and two twin 6″ turrets. Look out Surcouf!

Finally, after reading some history of the LeFantasque class, I looked trough Friedman’s book on destroyers and was surprised to find that the US had a destroyer leader design that was basically a very fast baby light cruiser. Of course no drawing is to be found anywhere as this was likely part of the late 1920’sthrough the late 1930’s Springstyle collection that was destroyed. So, here is my stab at the US 1928 Destroyer leader design, Scheme 7. She is 2900 tons, four-6″, four 5″/25 and 12 TT and436′ long.

She was about 80% done here. She has a big tripod mast too. She is much further along now.

More 1/600 coming too! A return to the Eastern Front!

Soviet Type 1125 with T26 Turret
-Soviet Type 1124 AMGB (two T26 turrets)
-Soviet Type 1124 AMGB (two T-34 turrets)
-Soviet MO2 Armed Launch
-Russian 1916 AMGB design with two-37mm MacLean auto 37mm (RCW)
-Soviet “Pocket” MTB
-Rebuilt Finnish Taisto MTB
-Finnish VTV-1 (Captured Type 1125 with modified bridge and torpedoes)

I hear that Skytrex is up on the auction block. Unless someone takes that over looks like the Dockyard will be the only active source for 1/600. Have to think about doing a Hunt class now…..

TTFN

May 27, 2013

I hope all have taken the time to thank our veterans on this Memorial Day!

The sale was quite successful, to the point I am still furiously casting. Should have it all out this week. The failure of the molds made with the compound early 2012 has also forced some crash remolding in all this. The upside is the Vosper 70′ has a new mold and now is “at speed” (bow out of the water) along with new molds for  the German GA-78 minelayer and several 1/1200s. In all this I squeaked the 1919 Sub Cruiser into the mold and now she is ready. Photos coming soon.

The latest distraction is two books. The first is the copy of the Tragerflotten Data Book by John Baxter

which hypothesizes a long carrier campaign in the Atlantic. Germany has over a dozen carriers in this AH, most from a far advanced French program.  The battles go all the way to 1946, including a Doolittle type raid on Norfolk. As crazy as this sounds, the logic he uses to get to this is good enough for me.

Right on the heels of this, I found a really well written Kindle book hypothesizing a German Amerika bomber available in mid 1943

Roll these with Robert Conroy’s “Rising Sun” that I read in January (US loses at Midway catastrophically) and we have the recipe for a very interesting alternate campaign in the Atlantic.

So what does this mean for the Dockyard? In addition to advancing my long suffering 10,000 ton  US carrier design from the 20’s USS Sackett Harbor,I am trying my hand at 1/600 planes, starting with the HE-100T and probably the JU-187 after that. If they cast well  and I can manage them with my fat fingers I am looking at adding to this scale for long range German bombers, prototypes and some “what if” carrier planes. Stay tuned!

April 28, 2013

Yup. I admit it. Lazy. Lazy and unmotivated. Been a LOOOOOONNNNGGGG hard winter here in Upstate NY and it is just ending. We had snow last Saturday!

Had a few additions here at the Dockyard since the New Hampshire was launched the end of January. Trying to come up with a good one for “SL-50″, the 50th 1/1200 in the Shangri-La Ironworks. Before we get to that milestone, a few more are done or almost done, such as the US 1919 sub cruiser(the precursor to the Narwal class) and the steam powered Italian sub cruiser WIFF with two twin 6” turrets.

At the same time, I found some very cool new subjects for 1/600, including a long sought after image of a German Adriatic flak boat (small trawler armed to the teeth and armored as well), a Soviet Hovercraft MTB ala 1939 and several “never were” Austro Hungarian torpedo craft from WW1.

Molding wise, I am getting the measure of the new mold compound. It offers some superior mold characteristics but has some quirks as well. Here is the FIRST casting off the new 1/300 Lockheed L-133 mold, straight from the mold, no cleaning up…

As orders come in, most of my plane molds will be changed to this style.

So, that has me thinking of some planes as well.  Everything from prototyped like the Northrup XFT-2 to the PZL-50 to the Morko Morane

But for now, let’s kick off spring with a sale. Have not done that in a long time!

TTFN!

January 12, 2013,

Wow. Been a while since I was here. Been busy, been lazy and been sick. I can’t play the Asia card as I have not been there since July.

New projects – the 1934 US BB is nearing completion. This is the beast with 20-12″ guns. Friedman wrote briefly about her but there are no sketches to be found. I based this on one of the ones in his book. I treat this like the old Testors Stealth Fighter model in the 1980’s. This is a best conjecture on what this ship would have looked like. More than willing to be proved wrong  with a drawing….:)

Beyond that I have seen a stunning build of SL-5 USS Minnesota, the other US BB the Ironworks makes in 1/1200. The upperworks were scratchbuilt using aluminum and PE parts, guns made from hypodermic needs and CREW scratchbuilt. Egads!

Beyond the new BB, I have a US CV design in process and a French Auxiliary Cruiser, the Cap des Palms. She was one of the few FNFL ships to operate in the Pacific, acting as a transport, escort and even as a Q-ship.

Lastly, a rare event happened in December where I stumbled across a new boat type that was 100% unknown to me. This was the little French Chaloupe Fluvial CF-1 Rhine gunboat of 1940. A french attempt at the Soviet River tanks with a little turret with a 37mm gun! Soon to be seen in 1/600.

TTFN!!!!

August 10

Been too busy to write lately but I have been working on some boats. In addition to the Japanese boats just released this weekend I will be molding the S-100 and German M40 minesweeper. Once those are done I have a first coming down the slipways:

In 1/1200… The Italian Bonfiglietti Carrier.

Never made a flattop before. She has a very cool planked deck. If this goes well I have two US “Never Were” carriers in the planning stages.

May 13 2012

Well, once again I take a detour. Decided to make some new 1/700 FACS at the urging of some (thanks for the nudge, Rob). As of now, I have DONE AND MOLDING THIS WEEK:

Danish Willimoes

Swedish Spica I

the beautiful little T-42 MTB

And, last but not least, the Soviet Tarantul II

I have more in process and will be adding more Soviet, Chinese,  and North and South Korean boats soon.

Once the slipways are clear of the moderns, I am seriously considering some 15mm French projects, specifically the Char G1L, AMX 38 and maybe the AMX Tractuer B

For now, ENJOY THE SALE EVERYONE. The 15% off ends May 25!

April 7 2012

Just back from another sojourn to the Far East and finally sleeping normally again. Fired up the casting factory to catch up on the backorders and molding the new projects.

Just before I left, I finished the 1/1200 USS Narwal. This was perhaps the longest project I have ever done as I started this master in 1999. Don’t know why it took so long. A similar long standing project, the French 1500 ton destroyer, will also be finished once I find the bag with the master in it.

Besides the Narwal, the 1/1200 line will have some cool additions in the next week or so.

Greek Sub Nereus

Greek Destroyer Kountouriotis

Italian Armed Merchant Cruiser Lago Zuai

Italian Tank Ferry Aspromonte (former Train Ferry. Used to ship Tiger tanks to Tunisia in 1942)

And last but not least the Polish Sub Orzel

The subs are molded and the surface ships are finishing up. Getting to be about time to switch back to 1/600 after this run so stay tuned….

March 1

Well, the rush on the USS Reprisals has slackened and now I can think about the next wave of ships. Still planning more in 1/1200 for now. Today I finished my long suffering master for the USS Narwal, perhaps the longest project I have ever had, I started her about 13 years ago for for a number of lame reasons she has lingered in a 3/4 built state.I’d like to say here she is ready to go in nearby Sodus Bay but she is not molded yet and this picture has more snow that we have had all winter.

In addition to the Narwal, today I discovered this sea monster, the German Projekt 50 UD-1 from 1918:

This was a steam powered sub with four 5.9″ guns and a bevy of torpedo tubes. Been fascinated with U-cruisers since I visited Nauset Beach in Cape Cod, where a U-boat shelled a convoy of barges and forced the tug to beach in 1918. This one is the ultimate and was planned to be started in late 1918. Very cool and her master is in process.

In addition to this, I am considering a kit of the USS Long Island AVG-1. I have always loved her lines and her air group of Buffaloes and Seagulls in 1942.

I understand Navis Neptune is looking to release one but as we know the Ironworks has a different price point than NN. Besides, am I going to pay $60 or so for a CVE? Me thinks not and if I built it, I might as well mold it.

The other candidate is the Hokoku Maru, a ship that not only has a name that is fun to say but also had an interesting demise, being sunk by a Dutch oiler and an Royal Indian Navy Minesweeper in 1942. Shades of the German raider “Stier” getting sunk by a Liberty ship!

Put all these together with anpther upcoming trip to Asia and we have a nice surge of 1/1200s to look forward to, I will be releasing a redone version of the US 1919 destroyer with a lowered freeboard and attached guns and torpedo tubes- no more fiddly little parts ( well, not as many). I also have some others in process that I will keep as a surprise. As usual, double the watch and tell the lookouts to be extra sharp.

February 8

The USS Reprisal Battle scout started the mold process tonight!

January 28

Well, the 20-12″ gun BB is moving along but another unfinished hull has surpassed her. I am in the final stretch on a 1/1200 USN “Battle Scout”, a 1915 design for a large cruiser with 8-10″ guns. She will be the USS Reprisal as these ships will draw their names from the original Continental Navy

Should have her done in a few weeks. She has a bridge and short tripod mast reminiscent of the 1942 USS Portland, four stacks and a bevy of 5″ and 1.1″ to go with the 10″ turrets. Looks like a tough customer for those big bad Japanese cruisers or some wandering German pocket battleship.

Here is the master so far. I glued it together for the shot with gluestick paste!

Meanwhile the USS New Hampshire ( 20-12″ guns) proceeds in the next slip here at the Dockyard.  I have a bunch of other 1/1200s I am looking to do including a few “Yippie” boats. Here is one, the YP-346 that was sunk off Tulagi by the IJN Sendai

December 17

That sound you hear is the groaning workers at the Shangri-La Ironworks as we commission the UP-41 and lay down the next BB. Actually, I am adapting a long unfinished hull for this project so it will be a lot faster than the UP-41.

This will be a strange one. In the 1930’s, the USN entertained a design for a battleship with 20-12″ guns. The more I thought about this, the more this seemed like the BB version of the Brooklyn CL, a class I have found to be one of the most effective on the game table. The way I see it, by the time it would get laid own the US Navy would only want a fast BB, so here is my concept based on the 1933 Scheme A design found in Friedman’s book:

Some of the argument against this is (legitimately) she would have a hard time closing range against a BB with bigger guns. Historically, something like this may have doe quite well is some of the short range knife fights that battleships were actually involved in.  Anyway, despite some cat-calling about the design here and there I am taken with it and last I looked this was a benevolent dictatorship here so….

Along with this I have some other “real world” 1/1200s in progress too. We’ll see what I can get done over the holiday and during by upcoming once again Asian jaunt right after New Years.

November 5

“Hello-o? Anyone there?’

Haven’t written in a while as, as usual, been very busy. Between molding, casting and restarting the BIG PROJECT, there has been nary a moment to write.

Only one more 1/600 master to mold, the BPB 63′ Air Rescue Launch, which hopefully will get done this weekend.  I’ll do the HDML soon too.  With the change in the leaves but no snow yet ( Ha-ha- my brother in law in VA got snow first this year) my interest shifts back to 1/1200. By year end I will have the BIG PROJECT done, the Italian UP 41 super battleship with 9-16” guns

Along with this, I have several US patrol boat and  Coast Guard projects going, including a WW1 subchaser and a rare USN ww1 “Q-ship” and some weird stuff like an Italian rail ferry converted to a tank landing craft ( LOVE those Italian landing craft). I plan to take some of the smaller ones with us on our very first cruise in the days ahead so the Dockyard will have it’s first masters that will be completed on the high seas!

After UP41, I have three or four other BB projects and some US cruiser designs to do. One BB project is as big as the UP41 and very strange, the Progetto “G” with four quad 15″ turrets. Take that, Lion class….

 

And, what about the three carriers I have in various states of completion?  They are all “we’ll see.”  This dang flight decks look a bugger to cast…..

Meanwhile, I enjoy the first autumn in four years that has not involved Asian travel.

August 12

“Hey Dave, where are all those new boats???”

Well……. there are a number of factors here. The Dockyard has had a nice order surge for the past several months (Thank you to all!!) that I have been trying to get ahead of unsuccessfully. Some of that resulted in remolds, which takes away from time to do new molds.  Then there is are a few crisis with day job my Asian suppliers which resulted in basically working all day, eating dinner and then getting on the phone or Skype pretty much every night. The culmination of this is ..BOOOOOO.. another trip to Asia starting tomorrow. This is a surgical strike of only a week. It will not help in the catch up efforts though but I am taking my old “MTB” game with me to keep me sharp:)

I have been busy and when the new stuff comes (many are already molded) it will be a surge. Just did a complete rebuild of the GB1 BPB 71’9″ MGB. I plan to do multiple builds of the 63′  BPB hull with several MGB configs, MASBs and the much requested Air Sea Rescue Launch.

Keep watching.

24 July

HOT HOT HOT. Thailand wasn’t like this. Trying to stay cool at Keuka Lake and get some stuff done. I found a great artcle in the French “Marines ” magazine on the Free French Chassuers and decided to rebuild mine prior to a long overdue remolding. Like all rebuilds  it look longer than anticipated but the new one will have all new weapons (75mm, 2pder, two twin Lewis guns and 20mm plus am optional twin 13.2mm) and rearrangement of pretty much all deck details.

While on the French I finished a “what if” build of the VTB15-22 class. No pictures that I am aware of have surfaced but these were supposed to look like the 40K boats. Mine is like a sleeker 40K and will have parts to also make an MGB version.

I am thinking of making a 15mm model of the “Maklen” McClean 37mm automatic gun to go with the Garford. Send me a note if this looks like it is of interest!

The big news was I actually ran a Flaklighter game Thursday night. It was a blast as a few guys at the local gaming store have taken an interest in the hobby. Four short hull MTBs ( two 70′ and 2-60′ Vospers), two Farmile D MTBs and one Fairmile C MGB took on a four merchant German convoy escorted by two AFPs and an R-boat. The game saw the AFPs drill two short hull boats with their 88s and rip another apart with 20mm fire. Here, 60′ Vosper MTB 71 brews up as an 88mm shell drills through the bow and detonates against one of the engines. MTB 72 wheels about after she launched two fish, one of which that connects with a ore carrier .

All in all three Merchants were torpedoes fatally….

the sole survivor hissing steam from holed boilers courtesy of Royal Navy gunfire. The Fairmiles sank another merchant and chewed up the R-67 , leaving  the R-boat crew was bailing with their helmets at the end.

What this has managed to do is push me solidly into 1/600 WW2 again ( and rereading Scott’s “Battle for the Narrow Seas”) so look for more projects.

6  July 2011

Digging out of the backlog this week and coming weekend. There is a wave of new stuff coming. In addition to the ones  mentioned in the last few entries below….

And several that will be surprises…..

Double the watch, folks….

29 June 2011

Back from the beyond and furiously casting and remolding. The LCS-1 has a new mold now  does the Elco 80′ and YMS/BYMS.  Off to the Keuka Lake Building Yards this weekend where, besides doing reconstruction on a real 16′ boat, I plan to get some traction on more projects. Will be tinkering with Miliput as a master medium for some of the weirder Adriatic boats like one with a “Bragozzo” hull.

These two are in the RTV bath:

Still thinking about the SCW stuff. Too many boats and planes that need building. for now. Looks like SDD is coming back to life too so theirs will be available again.

Just ordered a cool looking book- “We called ourselves Rocketboatmen.”  This covers the little USN 36′ LCS(S) and is the only source on these craft I have ever seen.  With their armored wheelhouse, rocket racks and MGs. I have always thought these were very cool looking boats and plan to somehow use them in a coastal game someday.

13 June 2011

To paraphrase the first words of Apocalypse Now..

“Taichung. I’m in Taichung again. Shoot…”

After a fairly easy trip over to Taiwan I am now waiting for my associate who had a catastrophically bad airline experience. While waiting I am working away today on the 15mm Garford-Putilov and laying down the big hull pieces on the RN LCF/LCG. My little cigar box or a model factory can go anywhere- the Dockyard is truly air mobile!

Over the past few days I have been smitten by some of the improvised armored vehicles of the Spanish Civil War.

(Great- the first pictures went on wrong and in deleting them, I cleaned off the last Blog post. DON’T POST UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF JETLAG, KIDS)

Anyway, looks like there is a void in 15mm for the SCW stuff so the PT Dockyard Projects Committee will have to review this.

When I return, looks like the following gets molded:

-MTB-74

-Italian VAP and Guardia Finazia Boat AS127

-P-66 Vanguard

Lockheed L-133

Also hope to have the WW1 X-lighter done too:

I brought all my stuff on the Yugoslavian Partisan Navy also. I have alomst seventy new images of boats over the past month.

Sorry about the delete guys. Below is the remains of the April post about the Abandoned Angels:

Italian Caproni CA.183bis, Reggiane RE 2006R and 2007, Piaggio P 119, SM91 and others

-Romanian IAR 81M (Inline DB605)

-Polish PZL-50 and 51 (OK- Not a 1945 subject but cool nonetheless)

-German Skoda Kauba V5

I have some even more bizarre subjects but will see how these go first.  The Marton will be out in about a week. Tell your gunners and “little friends” to watch the sun!

15 April

Another blog. Ugh! Well, I tried Facebook ( not a lot of traffic) to let folks know what is going on here at the Dockyard. This will be another experiment and challenge to my limited typing ability.

So, what’s going on here? I have lot’s of interests as the line shows. I tend to build things that I find exciting on the spur of the moment. A good example is the 1/300 F5F Skyrocket, which two weeks before it was molded I would have told folks was not a candidate. Something took me about the design one night, I had spare time and away the Dockyard went.

Recent research over tha past few weeks has centered around the Adriatic. This was set off (as most of my research quests have been) by a random find of a Yugoslavian forum with about 40 new pictures of the Yugoslavian Partisan Navy. Also present was some information on the Italian “Vigilanza Anti Partigiana” vessels. That’s enough to send me on a deep dive for info that will result in most everything else stopping. The end result is enough info to make a sizable increase to the Adriatic vessels in the 1/600 line. I have a few started and will keep all posted.

The other thing I am chasing after is 1/300 aircraft plans. I have a slew that I want to make, most being never built planes.  These run the gamut of early and late war planes, from the PZL-50 to a jet version of the P-55 Ascender. Here is one that was more concept- a jet version of the RE-2006: There are a few actual built planes in the mix too. I also plan to try some new concepts in molding my planes to improve the results. Right now I lose 50% of the castings. If I did not want to do them myself, they wouldn’t be happening at all.

Other than that, the big news is I found a war game group in Rochester that does Wings of War and is interested in seeing a Flaklighter II demo sometime. One my daughter’s wedding is past, look like I may actually get to play some games. Yee-haa!

TTFN

Dave