Fort McHenry Commission: Marines, Sailors, Gunboats and Ships

British Colonial Marines

Gaining Steam

Fort McHenry commission work continues apace and is picking up steam. These past two weeks I was able to design, cut and paint up some Colonial marines, as well as paint up Royal marines, sailors, a naval officer. On the ship side I designed and cut (and built) gun ships with 4lb cannon, and got the hulls for three frigates cut. 

Colonial Marines

During the first two decades of the 19th Century, escaped American slaves formed a military cadre called Britain's Royal Navy Corps of Colonial Marines.  Although they were of African descent, and many were formerly enslaved, these troops received the same training, uniforms, pay and pensions as their Royal Marine counterparts. 

First cut test of the Colonial Marine

Painting Afro American/ Caribbean skin was a fun challenge on my woodens

Royal Marines

Stalwart troops in any fight, Royal Marines played a part in the siege of Baltimore. 

 Hey Sailor! 

You can't have a navy without some sailors. These guys were really fun to paint up as they have a lot of individuality and personality. I may go back and give a couple of them striped trousers. 

British Naval officer leads the way

Gun Boats

These gun boats are a scaled down version of ones I created a couple of years ago for a Wooden Wars battle. It took a bit of finagling, as I wanted to make sure they could stand up to usage over the years, and I am happy with the results. These are a representative scale to be used on a large map for teaching the flow of the battles.

Complete with crews 

Frigate Ship Yard

The Frigates and gunships are coming along. Here you can see some hulls being built in the layers. I'm designing the masts and sails to be slotted and glued in so I can pack them easier for shipping to the Fort. I'm also giving them pretty sturdy bases for stability and to protect the models.

The hull of these Frigates measures 350mm.

You can see the layers here. with stern castles she'll be 18 mm wide.