As the next stage in the WWII naval project I wanted to complete a small contingent of merchant and transport ships, to be used in convoy games or campaigns. The Queen Mary is the largest model in the GHQ WWII range, bigger than even their largest battleships, but proved more fiddly than I was expecting as all the lifeboats had to be glued to the ship in pairs. It was painted grey prior to undertaking transport duties across the Atlantic, and accordingly was nicknamed the 'Grey Ghost'. With a top speed of 32 knots it could outrun German U-boats and was an obvious choice to transport up to nearly 16,000 troops at a time:
The Circassia was another passenger ship which was requisitioned by the Admiralty for transport duties, albeit much smaller:
Here it is alongside the Queen Mary for comparison:
Next up are four merchant ships in the Clan Macauley and Tower Hill:
The New Zealand ship Otaio and the merchant vessel Gran, so-called because it was crewed by volunteer ladies all over 70 (sorry, couldn't help it):
Of course, no merchant fleet would be complete without the famous Liberty ships, and I have included three in the Ara, Alnitah and Murzim:
These models came with 1/2400th scale Sherman tanks and 2 and 1/2 ton trucks, which I painted separately and glued in place. At least my painting tally this year will include a dozen Sherman tanks and fourteen trucks:
Finally, the USS Capella completes the Allied merchant fleet:
A total of ten ships in all, which should be enough for a decent-sized convoy game and give my escort ships something to protect:
Next up the penultimate fleet in this project, the Regia Marina or Royal Italian Navy.
These are terrific additions to your project! Italian navy up next? Great!
ReplyDeleteThe Italians are quite a unique lot with their barber-shop aerial identification stripes, so I have been looking forward to them.
DeleteExcellent models and paint work. Absolutely have to have something for the kriegsmarine to target.
ReplyDeleteCheers Richard. I completed five U-boats earlier this year so I definitely needed something for them to harass.
DeleteOh yeah, DEFINITELY need convoy ships and these fit the bill very nicely. Well done! 😀
ReplyDeleteThanks Stew, it should give a bit of variety to some game scenarios rather than just the usual pounding each other.
DeleteLovely stuff Lawrence. OMG 16000 troops on the Queen Mary…can you imagine the queues for the heads!!
ReplyDeleteAnd the bar. Yes, I can imagine it would have been needing a substantial refit after the war.
DeleteGreat bunch of ships Lawrence - I doubt there was a bar to queue for on the Queen Mary if it was bringing GI Joes over the Atlantic, as US ships are dry...the heathens!
ReplyDeleteThanks Keith. I can imagine it would have been quite an unpleasant experience, but not as bad as being stuck below deck on a slow moving troopship.
DeleteThanks Iain. I thought three of them were enough to give a flavour. Sticking the trucks and tanks to the decks was a fiddly business though.
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