Accommodations for 116

Deck 2 mess deck complete! Sadly due to program constraints it is not possible to make bunkbeds. However, even with that difficulty aside, there are accommodations for 116 on Deck 2. To add to the messes, there are also two full heads (toilets/showers/sinks), and a dining mess and galley (kitchen for you lubbers). All of these are connected down a 3-metre flat (hallway) called "Burma Road" (the traditional maritime term for flats that extend through the ship). So, here are the screencaps:

2 Deck with initial outline of Burma Road.

Messes built up. Galley still incomplete (mid-left).

Galley and dining mess complete, before adding deckhead.

2 Deck decked off and illuminated.

The view from off the starboard side.

A glimpse down Burma Road aft, towards Engineering.

Seating in the dining mess.

Dining mess, looking through the serving line to the galley.

The accommodations in 5 Mess, 2 Deck.

Heads with shower and sinks.

All told, this wasn't a lengthy build, taking only maybe 2-3 hours to complete. Having bunks would have been nice in order to double crew accommodations, but that can be rectified with an additional mess deck. As it stands, I probably have excess space aboard.

Next Steps:

Next step is to do 3 Deck, which will probably end up being another mess deck. After that will be one final deck in the main body (messes or workshops) before proceeding to the front end and combat/control compartments. This build is shorter than I initially anticipated, so I am already beginning to plan additional projects at Kingston Shipyards:

- Various wooden ships-of-the-line
- Larger (and smaller) space craft
- An actual terminal facility/dockyard for the island the shipyard is off of.

Engineering Reports Ready

After two days of construction, the engineering department has been hulled off and built. Future refurb and additions to control panels, etc. may occur, but this is largely the design that will remain. Below are shots of the construction process.

Engineering space prior to being hulled off (astern, far end). The black/grey posts are markers to give a feel for how many decks the spaces will hold.

The reactor core connected to the two main engines (left and right). 

Close-up of the core itself.

View of the reactor control tower from the starboard engine.

Reactor control tower, post hull-in.

From starboard, looking over control panels and reactor space.

Bird's eye view from starboard quarter, looking forward at the control tower and core.

Engineering, fully hulled in.

As can be seen in the screenshots, there's still a lot of empty space in engineering. I believe I will likely turn some of that space into workshop areas, emergency shelters (in case the reactor leaks), and other machine spaces. It doesn't make sense, in my mind, for a ship to have an excess of free space, especially in a combat vessel. This is something I will revisit later.

Next Steps:

Having now hulled in the engineering compartment, the next step will be laying the groundwork for the first deck above flight ops (2 Deck). This will house crew messes, galley, and so forth. The front end of the ship will remain free for the moment, as that will, in its entirety, house weapons control, the ops room, bridge, etc.

The Kingston Shipyard - Minecraft Edition

Well, contrary to my previous post, time did not slow down enough at RMC to enable me to get more work done on the models. With my physical fleet scattered between RMC Kingston (and arriving in the new year) and Toronto, I have turned to Minecraft while out here in Victoria.


As such, Kingston Shipyard is being created within the digital world of Minecraft. The first (and quite lofty) project is the construction of a Battlestar-like vessel (as of yet unnamed), with full interior. As of writing, I have put about four days work into her, but subsequent work will be documented on a day-by-day basis. So, without further ado:

Framework:

The bulkhead framework took the better part of about six hours to complete. The vessel is, give or take, 150m long (presuming the Minecraft standard of one block equally 1m x 1m x 1m. At present she's looking to consist of seven decks, including the hangar and flight operations decks. Inspiration for the shape, as should be evident, is the Galactica, with a few alterations (such as the low-slung hangar instead of pod-mounted on the sides). Based on the ideas I have for the Shipyard at present, she will probably be a mid-range class in terms of size.

Bulkhead framework of the vessel.

Engines.

Hangar and Flight Ops:

The hangar and flight operations area are now enclosed by full hull plating. Spanning two large decks (about four decks high of regular size), it consists of a runway/launch ramp deck, and a hangar bay below, connected by (currently not working) elevators. There is hangar space for about twenty fighters, with room on the runway level for additional craft.

Hangar section enclosed in hull.

Runway, before being enclosed.

Elevators to hangar level.

Hangar control.

 On the hangar level is the hangar control room. This area would serve to oversee the logistics of supporting flight ops (refueling/rearming, etc). It is connected by ladder to the ladder system (shown in photo below, to the left) that extends up to the Flight Ops control room.

Speaking of Flight Ops, the control room above runway level oversees landing/take-off. It is positioned just aft of the launch ramp, and immediately forward of the end of the runway (presumably, this is the safest place for the control room in the event of an accident). The control room connects via a catwalk to the interior spaces of Flight Ops, such as the briefing room and heads.

Looking towards Flight Ops and launch ramp.

Catwalk to interior spaces (above), launch ramp (below).

 Fighters:

I decided to populate the runway and hangar with fighter craft. Due to the limitations of Minecraft, anything small will obviously have to look blocky and less sleek than I'd otherwise like. For show purposes, however, I think they do just fine.

Elevator and launch area populated by fighters. Fighter on elevator is being towed by small cart.

Fighter craft stands ready for takeoff.

 Flight Ops:

As mentioned, the interior spaces of Flight Ops connect to the hangar area via catwalk. This area consists of a locker room/heads for the pilots, a suit repair workshop, a flight planning room, and the briefing room itself.

Showers in the flight ops heads (interior spaces).

Yes, the heads even have toilets.

Briefing Room in flight ops.

Next Steps:

Now that the flight ops area has been sealed off and furnished, it's time to move forward. Next step will be constructing the engineering area aft, where the reactor and engineering control spaces will be. I'm anticipating this area to encompass the entire height of the craft, from the engines themselves forward about a fifth of the total space (the reactor and engines occupy a LOT of space).

Following that, I'll begin building deck-by-deck in the main body, including crew messes, galleys, workshops, etc. The black/green/black colour scheme seen in flight ops will change, based on the spaces occupied (i.e. engineering will be black/[colour]/black, weapons will be black/[colour]/black, etc, etc).

As I intend to work on this project fairly regularly (read: daily), it's likely that status updates will occur on a nightly basis. Stay tuned!

Back in Business

Well, back at RMC following a long summer out on the west coast training. Once things settle into rhythm here, I'll be returning to work on the Connie. The rest of the ships are currently in the Wargames Room, which has been locked for a month in light of construction and other politics. Once that blockade is cleared, I'll be finishing the rigging on the Napoleonics, and working on some of the spaceships, as well!

1:1200 Update

Earlier this week I effectively finished the standing rigging on the British ships. I still have the Bellona and the French ships to do, but I've figured out a pretty good process to streamline the rigging, so I think I'll be able to get it all done in a couple hours of work... which no doubt I'll accomplish once the excess of essays is out of the way for the semester.

No progress with the Constitution, either, as I've been inundated with work for school. On the plus side, I've picked up some gold leaf and copper leaf for the detailing and hull respectively. I've never played around with those before, so it'll be an interesting experience. Pictures will be forthcoming once progress is made.

1:1200 Napoleonic-era Ships

Here are the Napoleonics to date

The two completed fleets. Standing rigging already applied to the HMS Speedy (18 guns).

L'Achille (74 guns) with completed base, but no label.

All told, the fleet is thus far comprised of the following:

British

 HMS Bellona (74)

HMS Cleopatra (32)

HMS Speedy (18)

HMS Raccoon (18)

French

L'Achille (74)

La Vengeance (40)

L'Acheron (20)

La Loupe (20)

Despite the numerical superiority of their guns, gameplay tests to date have seemed fairly balanced. I'm still working on tweaking the stats (using the Victory at Sea - General Chase ruleset). A few more games (hopefully soon!) will sort that out, I trust.

Projects to Date

So, after much contemplation, I've decided to post a blog. Following the trend of my colleague Mike Hoyt (A Mere Matter of Painting), I'm going to be posting my projects and games for those of you who can't be here to view them in-person.

To date, the following naval projects are on the table/completed:

1. 1:1200-scale Napoleonic fleets (British and French, with merchant vessels)
{This project is effectively done, save for some detailing and whatnot. The two fleets are painted, based, and battle-ready, but the merchant vessels still need to be done. I also intend to eventually fix standing rigging to all of the ships, to add a bit more detail.}

2.1:96 USS Constitution
{This will be the main subject of my blogs for the next little bit, as I work on actually getting the Connie up and looking like a half-decent model.}

I'm anticipating some more projects to come around in the future, albeit a couple non-naval ones (6mm Napoleonic land war, for example, and spaceships).