Black Seas Merchant conversion from 5th Rate

 by Matt Varnish

One of the scenarios in the Black Seas book needs a Merchant ship.. and here I am with a free sprue from Wargames Illustrated.. fresh off the heels of putting rigging and sails on my starter set ships, why not convert the freebie into a merchant.

Someone kindly made a printable version of the sails that are double sided, and I used some cut up balsa rod to make some crates..

And now painted up

I removed some guns, though I don't like how this turned out, will fix this at some point and spread them out.

With spare boats and wood rod I made up some floating wreckage.. to count as the different Damaged States.

Just need to figure out merchant flags and pennants and good to go!

How I paint my Black Seas ships up QUICKLY

 by Matt Varnish

After our first game, I wanted to get that other ship painted, and try my hand at Rigging.   I used the above replica as a guide..

Naval vernacular is.. challenging...  

Oak Brown by Army Painter, or Vallejo Flat Brown works too

Ivory or Off White for the hammock shielding on the sides, furled sails, window and skylight frames

Contrast paint or Army Painter Soft Tone over the wood and furled sails

Black on the lower hull cannons and yards

Old Wood (or even USA Tan Earth) for railings planks and other details

I used blue tone over the windows for quick and dirty windows

Ivory and patience for the stern plate and name
                    
                                        
 All Rigged and Sails..   Highly recommend working from rear mast to forward, and on each, bottom to top.   I skipped Rigging the Backstays and Bowsprit, since I hate Rigging almost as much as I hate painting Horses!

                                        

The growing fleet and the tools for rigging:  Gorilla Glue gel, reverse-pressure tweezers, small scissors and a heap of patience.   I used this guide for rigging and sails:  https://youtu.be/AhoTiGUarzQ?feature=shared 

First Black Seas Battle

by Matt Varnish

Forgive the unpainted models.... but we just had to have a game

Unpainted models always do poorly...