The Last Stand Dan Boatyard - Boat Descriptions

So convention time is in the air and I have been getting a lot of inquiries on boats.  So I thought I would put it all together here on what I have ready to go including prices.

The boats listed below are the ones I am building at the moment.  They are scratch built basswood boats.  I take the time to make sure that they keep the resemblance of actual boats and practical to place guns and figures on.  I have also come up with a simple sail tacking system for the Dhows which seem to be very popular.  I have added an optional Junk conversion kit so your Dhows can do double duty on a river in the Congo or on the China Sea.  I am designing a dedicated Junk model increasing the hull sides off the water due to them being able to sail the open ocean.

The price list is at the end of this blog.  You will notice that I don't include the guns because they can get pretty pricey depending on the Manufacturer.  But I use guns from TVAG, Reviersco, Pulp Figures and Eureka.  So depending on the quality you want just let me know because I might have some here ready to go.  I use a thin Rare Earth disc Magnet to mount your guns on the deck after gluing a small washer under your gun pedestals.  More on that below decks.

So I am building a few more Dhows and Junk Kits for Recon but would really like to start rolling out 15mm versions of these models soon.

I should be rolling out my new TSTAF rules supplement at Recon too.  More info on that coming soon.

Sgt. Guinness's also reported on these boats in his very nice blog site.  Check it out.  Thanks Sgt.!
http://sgtguinness.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-congo-boats-have-arrived.html

So feel free to contact me with any questions or comment below for me to send you a price list.  And I will definitely work with you if you commission more than one boat.

Thanks for all of the complements, inquiries and custom boat requests.  I am working as fast as I can. And as gamers we all know how Life can get in the way sometimes.

Looking forward to seeing you at Recon, NashCon, Manuevercon, Historicon and Colonial Barracks this year!  Again as long as life doesn't get in the way...

Comments

All boats are handmade and inspired by the many pictures, movies and articles that are found in carious sources.  These boats are built to scale as close as possible and retain the look and usability that Wargamers expect.  These boats are made by a Wargamer for Wargamer's!  I hope you find them useful on your tabletops.  Please contact me for a quote, requests, comments or questions.  Keep visiting or better yet join my blog to stay up to date!  Just comment on the blog and let me know if you want me to send you a price list and I will email one out to you.  I tried to paste it all at the bottom here but didn't work very well.  Thanks again, LSD.

Gun Notes

The Base models shown above are ready all painted and ready to steam.  The prices above DO NOT include Flags or Guns.  There are several good manufacturers listed below.  The way I mount them to the boats is to find a way to hide a piece of steel under the deck.  I then glue a small washer to the gun pedestal.  Then I use a powerful and thin Rare Earth disc magnet as a wafer between the washer and the steel plate in the deck.  It makes for a cleaner look in my opinion.  The gun prices vary as does the quality.  So if I have some guns in stock I can price them out for you.  

Boat Options
The magnets for the the mounts are $1.50 each.  Guns can also be purchased directly from The Virtual Armchair General (http://www.fautoys.com/TVAG), Eureka Miniatures (http://eurekaminiusa.com), Reviersco (http://tin-soldier.com), Pulp Figures (https://pulpfigures.com/products/catergory/12), and flags from the Flag Dude (http://www.flagdude.com).  I will also be making some flags so please ask about what we have and prices. 

Last Stand Dan

To The Boats!

The R Class Gunboat is a double decked stern wheeler.  This is fairly large boat at just over 17" long (85') and a 4" beam (20').  The upper deck comes off to place troops on the boats or to hide your lucky dice.  ($150 base model plus shipping)

The B Class Gunboat is a single deck gunboat with a raised bridge on a half deck.  This is a side wheeler and is 14" long (70') with a 5 1/2 Beam (27 1/2').  Good for both Dervish and Anglo/Egyptian operations. ($180 base model plus shipping)

The newer C Class steamer is a double decked stern wheeler.  Smaller boat at 11' long (55') with a 3" Beam (15').  This smaller boat is really meant for those excursions deep into the Congo.  There is a small steel plate glued under the upper deck at the stern to mount a gun.  There will also be a steel plate under the bow to mount a gun there also.  Working on a small sun shade for the upper deck.  ($65 base model plus shipping)

The L Class river Patrol Boat.  This boat is about 11.5' long (57 1/2 ') with a 3" Beam (15') and screw driven.  I got this idea a time ago about kind of military looking fast boat. Having a center bridge and engine room it makes it kind of tight to put a 1" figure base between those structures and the hull sides.  So, I thought hey, why not elevate the structures?  So I did which created a 5mm gap where you can slide a 1" base model under that small lip to place troops along the sides.  The intention of this design was for small river actions in S. America and Africa. ($55 Base model plus shipping)

The Dhow is one of my favorite being a sailing fanatic in my younger years.  The Dhow is 11.5" long (57') with a 3" Beam (15').  The sail is cut from heavy painters drop cloth.  I added wire in the leech of the sail in order for the user to shape the sail depending on the tack (port or starboard).  I used different sizes of dowels for the boom and masts.  Now most rules have you tacking and jibing a sail.  So how can I depict this in a model that is meant to be used on the tabletop?  I started rigging the mast with stays secured in 4 places on the deck.  The forestays have  jewelry hasps so you just unhook, pull up the mast and drop it on the deck for storage.  The tack of the sail is secured to a post in the bow.  It makes it so easy to tack the sail.  The clew of the sail has sheet attached to a magnet which is set on the deck which has steel plates underneath.  So to tack simply unattach magnet and throw the sheet and magnet around the front of the mast and reattach to the steel plate on the opposite tack.  Easy.  Thinking of how to attach a spinnaker pole on the clew to set up a downwind run.  Hmm... ($50 base model plus shipping)

The Dhow/Junk conversion kit.  I made one of these for Sgt. Guinness who had the idea to have his Dhow do double duty.  So I created this optional kit.  It is not perfect but I think it doesn't look bad at all.  Using bamboo skewers and rings to attach the sail to the booms is an interesting procedure.  The sail has a little different cut to it to accommodate this very recognizable shape.  Adding small deck and a mast on the bow after removing the post from the Dhow setup, unclipping the sail and replacing the main sail and then placing the the bridge deck takes about a minute to swap it all out.  You can also see two wooden/steel plate assemblies in the bow to accommodate the clew and tack of the two sails.  As noted above I will be looking at some gunboats and dedicated junks for some China actions.  ($20 for kit plus shipping)

The double masted Dhow shown here is a Laser Dream Works Dhow conversion.  It is 15' long (75') with a 4" beam (20').  I have one left but will start production of my own design now that I have the basic Dhow production worked out.  I kind of went crazy on this model on the rigging.  You can actually start pulling sheets and tack this dervish boat. ($75 base model plus shipping)