Aquanef sighted!

If you havent been keeping track of Mssr Blease's blog, you must go check out the goodies he has been preparing for the Aquanef demo game at SALUTE!

http://bleaseworld.blogspot.com/2010/04/french-aquanef.html

http://bleaseworld.blogspot.com/2010/04/escadrille-de-aquanef.html

http://bleaseworld.blogspot.com/2010/04/aquanef-sighted.html

http://bleaseworld.blogspot.com/2010/04/countdown-to-salute.html

Cant wait to see the action pics from SALUTE!

Attack on Melbourne

Interesting details of a colonial harbour defense plan (minus the aerostats and aquanefs of course!)

http://www.awm.gov.au/journal/j35/kitson.asp

Confederate Submarines

Davids, Hunleys, Pioneer II, they are all here in the neat little article... with a conspiracy theory thrown in for good measure!

http://militaryhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/confederate_submarines_of_the_civil_war

Turkish Aquanef 'Osman Pasha' at Sea!

Exclusive report from our Correspondent; Istanbul, 24th of September:

Persistent rumours of a new secret weapon in the struggle for supremacy over the Eastern Nations have been borne out by the appearance of a steel monster in the waters off the Golden Horn.

This Correspondent has seen with his own eyes the strange grey shape appearing from the depths, a modern Kraaken designed by the greatest technological minds as the latest plaything of the Sublime Porte. Were it not for its modern armament of torpedos and Nordenfeldt repeating guns, this could easily be mistaken for a fantasy from the Arabian Nights, this strange leviathan that at a stroke has made obsolete the Ironclads and Dreadnoughts of the Tsar, and of the Kingdoms of Italy and Greece, and no doubt will cause concern even in the bulwarked bosom of the mighty Empress Victoria herself.

Named the Osman Pasha, this terror of the deep is now undergoing sea trials, but will soon be ready to challenge for dominion of the oceans, whether above or below the waves......

Photographic evidence follows.

This correspondance is credited to special envoy SteelonSand.
Well done that Man!

You can find more of his great work with the Osman Pasha at his blog here:
http://steelonsand.blogspot.com/2009/09/aquanefiness-part-2-ottoman-sub-osman.html

Turkish Aquanef 'Osman Pasha' launched

Steelonsand has gone to town in a rash of creativity, recreating the Turkish Aquanef I posted here the other day. The result, mostly using eye drop pipettes, is fantastic - I can't wait to see this lovely all painted up and ready for battle!

http://steelonsand.blogspot.com/2009/09/aqua-nefiness-quick-scratch-build.html

Cerberus in 1/1200

Inspired by my research into the real ship, I broke out my long neglected 1/1200 scale Cerberus by Brigade Models, and a lovely casting it is too.


The model comes in 5 separate parts: hull, 2 main turrets, breastwork superstructure and mast. All part were very crisply cast with no flash at all. All fit together nicely with no filler required. One particularly good feature is that the breastwork structure fits over the turrets, which in tun have a peg and hole fitting. This means that they the turrets can be painted and fitted without gluing, so they can rotate freely.


I painted the model prior to assembly, undercoating in white. I went for a traditional RN paint scheme, and as accurate to the real ship as possible. The hull was therefore black, the armour, superstructrue and deck fittings white, gun muzzles dark grey, mast and funnel ocre and the deck a faded wood colour. Finally, I added a RN White Ensign to the masthead (again by Brigade) and fitted her to a base in the style of Mssr Ogrefencer (name and flag yet to be fitted). A smallish wake befits a vessel of 10kts max speed - no big bow waves for Cerberus! Then again, nobody should ever rush a lady...

This model represents Cerberus as she appeared in the late 1880s, after her mast reconfiguration (in 1878) and the addition of the torpedo spars and nets (in 1887). I must admit that as a result of my research this became more of a modelling project than a wargaming one, but the overall effect is quite realistic I think and I'm looking forward to her first tabletop battle.

Ironic then that my first Aquanef fleet unit is a surface unit! There are also 4 Russian units about half done and I just found some Navwar 1/1200 ACW ships (again courtesy of Mssr Ogrefencer, thank you Sir!) which will be joining us soon...

Nordenfelt class Turkish Submarine

Thorsten Nordenfelt built the Nordenfelt II (Abdülhamid) in 1886 and Nordenfelt III (Abdülmecid) in 1887, a pair of 30 metre long submarines with twin torpedo tubes, for the Ottoman Empire navy. Abdülhamid became the first submarine in history to fire a torpedo while submerged under water. Nordenfelt's efforts culminated in 1887 with the Nordenfelt IV which had twin motors and twin torpedoes. It was sold to the Russians, but proved unstable and ran aground off Jutland; when the Russians refused to pay for it, it was scrapped.

Abdülhamid and Abdülmecid were found by Germany in Istanbul in 1914. The submarines were briefly considered for use in harbour defence but it was found that their hulls were too badly corroded.

Featherstone Naval rules released

The original classic is back - Huzzah indeed!

This book introduces wargamers to the fun of naval games. Using straightforward rules that reflect the period and encourage historical tactics, the rules in the book avoid the overly complex path that some later naval rules took.

This book contains over 15 sets of rules:

Tony Bath's Ancient Naval Rules
Summary of the Fletcher Pratt Naval Rules
Jack Scruby's Napoleonic Rules
Combined arms campaigns
Naval games for tactical training
Summary of the Fred Jane Naval Wargame
Discussion of operational choices

This revised edition includes:
A new set of coastal warfare rules for 1939-45 by David Manley
A new foreword by David Manley.

http://www.johncurryevents.co.uk/books/featherstonenaval/homepage.htm

Diving Suit mods?

How cool are these pulp style SF Power suits?

I bet they would make a great basis for conversions to Nemo-esque deep sea diving suits!

More Aquanef inspiration!

This page is virtually a flyer for Vanvlak industries R&D department!

http://www.upcool.com/sci_tech/Amazing_Submarine_Concepts_PICS_

Ictineo II

A very cool model of the World's First Steam Powered Submarine, from 1864

http://scalemodel.net/Gallery/IctineoII.aspx

VSF Ironclad Fleet

These have been out for a few months but in case you missed them, check out the Iron Dwarves Fleet, part of the "Uncharted Seas" fantasy naval game by Spartan Games.

My favourite would have to be the Gun Frigates which screams VSF so loudly I'm ordering a Squadron for Aquanef!

Plus the Belcher class submersible of course...but sadly they arent available yet.

http://www.spartangames.co.uk/#/irondwarves/4529569623

Awesome Aquanefs

This guy is simply amazing. Go grab a towel now for all the drooling you are about to do!
Among his many fantastic models, are these fantastic Aquanefs:

The Nautilus, from Jules Verne's descriptions and the original illustrations

The French submarine Dupuy de Lome

The Alligator

You simply must visit, "Steam Noir" here:
http://www.freewebs.com/steamnoir/submarines.htm

Into the Abyss

A short story by..

H.G. Wells

In the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, we are not alone...

http://www.horrormasters.com/Text/a1047.pdf

Aquanef Inspiration

I found this pic on my hard-drive the other day, saved from goodness knows where (please tell me if you know). I absolutely love it - very Nemoesque and great Aquanef insipration.

Alhazared's Victorian Landships!

Some splendid Landships and a dazzling undersea battle!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/banging1out/tags/victorian/

HMS Pippistrel

Another stunning production by Vanvlak Industries!

Following the destruction of the Nautilus on Mysterious Island, and the invasion of the Martians in 1898, the British Empire had commissioned its agents to collect what technological remains they could. The Mysterious Island expedition, supported by the RN, was organized by an organization which remains unrecorded, although it was rumoured (wildly) that Nemo himself had once been a member. The Martian remains were more abundant, and were collected under the supervision of the newly formed Torchwood Institution. Investigation of the heat ray lead only to disaster, but an improved method of joining metals and an enhanced steam power plant were successfully derived. A hybrid of these technologies and the brainchild of one of the leading designers and Vosper and Vosper, Jarvis Pennyworth, led to the construction of a high speed launch for reconnaissance and special missions. Four were built in great secrecy, and it is believed that a fifth, armed with torpedoes, was constructed and tested against a decommissioned warship. Believed to have been completed by 1905 (although some records indicate an operational record going back to 1903!), the boats were apparently continuously in high demand. One was lost to the Arctic ice packs; a second suffered engine failure in mid-Atlantic during a mission and was utterly crushed by the liner Majestic. A third blew up on a mine in the Eastern Mediterranean in 1916. Like her sisters the survivor, HMS Pippistrel, saw extensive service, and is believed to have served in the Mediterranean theatre as late as in 1944. A rare photograph was taken by an overflying Junkers Ju88, showing the boat cruising at high speed on what is believed to have been a clandestine mission from Malta to the Balkans. Of the fifth vessel, the torpedo boat, there is no further record.

Powered by steam impulse engines, the boats were rumoured to be capable of cruising at 55knots. The louvres over the engine bays had to be opened to permit effective cooling, and closing of the gills in bad weather conditions forced a reduction in power, and consequently speed. The Martian-derived joining technology took its toll of the hull armour as relatively rapid corrosion was induced in the otherwise outstanding armour plate based on the Nautilus design.


Plot hooks to boot:

• The Nautilus was scuttled inside Mysterious Island by Captain Nemo of course.
• The War of the Worlds is well known, and the heat ray disasters are mentioned by Welles at the close of his book.
• Torchwood refers to the Dr Who institution founded by HM Queen Victoria to counter alien threats.
• Vosper and Vosper is derived from Vosper and Thornycroft, who were already in business back then.
• Mr. Jarvis Pennyworth (the designer) has a name and surname derived from Alfred's assumed surname and an ancestor's name - Alfred Pennyworth being Bruce Wayne's butler.
• The organization which recovered the Nautilus plates is of course the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, reorganized after Nemo himself had left.

This, and HMS Pippistrel link the boat to its model origins - a 1:24 scale Revell kit of the Bat Boat. I have faired over the cockpit to reduce the scale to 1:28; added the 3 funnels, and a few other odds and ends, including a bit of windscreen wiper over the cockpit.

She obviously (HMS is a dead giveaway) belongs to the Royal Navy, although, like her Aeronef counterpart HMAS Platypus has also seen service under the Torchwood flag.

20,000 Leagues under the Sea

I know this isnt the first film version of Verne's aquanef classic (which incidentally has never been publically released) but this version (1hr 39mins) does includes the first underwater filming. Its a very liberal interpretation of both 20,000 Leagues and its sequel Mysterious Island.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8365304564615414619

The Junior General

Zophiel kindly pointed me towards this great site today, which has a bunch of paper models ready to print and cut out for quick easy playing. They may not have the appeal of lead figures, but are cheapoer and quicker to play with, especially if you just want to try a game out without going to the expence of buying the models.

Pretty much anything you can think of is here, from Dinosaurs and Cavemen to Colonial Troopers of varying Nationalities and Regiments. There are also some great pre-dreadnought models which could work very well for Aquanef, such as the Russian Heavy Cruiser Admiral Makarow above, and these US Civil War Ironclads.

http://juniorgeneral.org/ancients.htm

Pre-Dreadnought prototype from North Head Miniatures

I got this email today from Simon at North Head Miniatures:

Dave and were having a discussion the other morning over the paper and our morning tea about where we could possibly expand into next year, 2008. We want to continue working on the 1/1200 Ironclads and I have a project that I am working on that we have yet to agree on. However, we both have a love of pre-dreadnoughts and WW1. So we were thinking of maybe producing a range of ships for those periods, maybe focusing on the Med and the Black Sea.


We have rather quickly knocked out a sample to see what it could look like and I have used my rather poor painting skills, as Dave was busy designing, to show you what would be possible and ask if you thought it was worth going forward. The miniature is the Italian Regina Elena . Your thoughts would be appreciated.

I for one love this period (almost as much as the Ironclad era) and heartily support the idea of expanding such a range in this scale, which matches nicely with Aeronef and the forthcoming Land Ironclads and Aquanef.

What do you think? Leave your comments here!