Armada Conversions

[Kelly]

I have been testing out different options before starting to assemble my Armada ships, and my first priority was to find out what I could add to set my fleets apart.  The scale on the ships is fluid, to be charitable, which is usually an issue for me, but the the skewing of the models is consistently more pronounced at the bow and stern which leaves the center as a good focus for conversion...



I have not yet seen anyone post additions of scale crew, so taking advantage of the open decks of the Orc Smasher, I estimated the local scale to be 1/300 and put together several poses of crew for the cannons.



After tacking them on in several different arrangements, I think their height is close enough to work and 8-10 on the deck of the final ship will be the final plan with a brighter color scheme so they can stand out against the rest of the model.  Next up will be figuring out how else I can integrate in more crew...

[Covertwalrus]

This looks to be a fascinating project - One I shall follow with interest.

 Where did you source the crew from?

[Easy E]

I love the idea of adding some crew.  Great idea.

[Kelly]

Here are some tests for lookouts atop masts.  There are only a few types of Orc sails and masts which are shared across the ships of the faction with those sizes being scaled up or down depending on their class, so I will have to do some adjusting on these to keep two points of contact for their feet and left hands.





The Orc Hammerfist has a covered deck, its cannons are inserts to place along the sides, so I am still working out what types of crew would work best for that layout.

Where did you source the crew from?

I have been designing the crew myself, they have all the dynamism of someone posing for a Civil War photograph, but they do pass the arm length test.  There are not that many details that I can fit in on a quarter inch model, but luckily I can share these across factions since the scale is so small.  Different colors for hands and faces and most of these will fit right in with the other factions' ships with open decks.

[Kelly]

While dry-fitting the masts I discovered how little clearance there is between the sails and the hull, and several possible points of contact exist to allow attachment to the hull for a more stable miniature.



My first attempt at raising up the mast(s) is above, and I will definitely have to pin these.  The original connections between the body of the ship and masts are designed to be sturdy with the main socket for taller masts being a pyramidal shape, and the shorter masts having cylindrical sockets to allow a little movement while positioning them.  I definitely want to preserve as much of that original contact as I can and will be using black wire as additional connections where moving the masts / sails up is impacting the stability of the design.

[Kelly]

The first crew conversion is finally together...



Affixing the crew to the deck was far simpler than I thought it would be, with a wire pin placed behind each Orc to provide stability while the glue dries, but the mast attachments were a nightmare.  The original layout of the masts and sails did have enough points of contact to make assembly reasonable, but having to stretch the center mast to allow the crew placement resulted in having to bend or cut back all of the contacts.  One point actually broke during the photo, so I will have to go back and add black wire for repairs.



Overall, the crew really are not noticeable at arms length, with the possible exception of the lookout above, so I would say that this whole project ended up a wash.

[Easy E]

They are probably more noticeable when we look at the other side of the ship behind the sails and you might see them a bit better. 

However, your final analysis is probably accurate. 

[Covertwalrus]

 I don't know about your conclusion; They dont look at all bad and as I've found with 6mm gaming, some people do like to take a close look if you've put in the effort (Just watch out for the sausage-fingered ones, that's all! )

[Kelly]

Seas Aflame introduced fortifications into Armada, and here is my first attempt at a large fort, a 50 mm generic square for use either as a Land Fort or Sea Fort.  I set each of the corners as a blank socket to allow the cannons to be turned to face the opponent...



...or to allow different crew tops to be placed and show ownership of the fort.  So far only one mission, Capture the Fort, allows the storming of fortifications, but I wanted to future proof these for upcoming expansions, or home built scenarios.  (As an added benefit, the crew tops also make this PSB compliant)



And looking forward, I also put together small mortars in case indirect weapons are later allowed for the large size fortifications. (100)

[Ruckdog]

That's really nice! I like the basic design, and it looks like you could even scale it up if needed.

[Kelly]

Here is my next fortification, a 30 mm generic square to use as a Shore Gun Emplacement or Shore Mortar Emplacement.  The interior of the palisade is open and double the size of the fort sockets, so loose PSB toppers can be dropped in to represent different weapons or crews.

[Covertwalrus]

 Looking great! Possibly the terrain pieces are better for this approach that the ships, given how the sails interfere with the view.

[Kelly]

Here is my Hammerfist conversion, replacing the rotating hammers at the front with a standard ram.  I have seen several different methods of taking the stock rotators apart with cuts to make them look more reasonable, but I put together a morning star as a replacement and will be saving the production parts for later.  (In keeping with the spirit of positivity on the forum, I will just say I am 100% positive the Hammerfists should not be put on the table without reworking them somehow)


And to make them PSB compliant, more crew for the deck...


...I gave the spearmen shields in the same style as the ones molded onto the Orc Smasher to tie them together, and will probably make some loose shields for the other ships.

[Covertwalrus]

 Looks great! The Dhow-style sails make it a lot easier to see all the work you put into the crew for these.

[Kelly]

Here is another fortification; building off of my 50 mm generic square, I put in towers for use as a Watchtower which in the game is also the large category just like both Forts.  Each is also socketed to allow easy switches of PSB tops for control changes, and I will put together more flags to match other fleets’ colors as I get to them…


...to allow for easy measuring to the footprint of the fortification during play, the dock at the bottom is not attached, and is only there for visual appeal.  I'll probably make different types of scatter pieces to go along with each different fleet to tie them together to the generics.