Fly Class Gunboat (Mesopotamia)

 Introduction

Many thanks to my gamer friends in Florida for encouraging me to dive into World War I and tackle gunboat builds. I didn’t know much about the Tigris and Euphrates campaigns initially, so I started researching and quickly became captivated. One of the standout reads was Warfare in the Garden of Eden by Kermit Roosevelt, kindly loaned by my friend Ethan, "The Mad Guru." Roosevelt, who fought alongside the British during this campaign, shares incredible firsthand accounts that shed light on the brutal realities of the war in Mesopotamia.

The Royal Navy faced daunting challenges on the Tigris—from tricky navigation with sandbars and rocks to Turkish traps along the riverbanks. This first, semi-fictional battle reimagines British and Allied forces advancing up the Tigris during the second reconquest toward Kut, Basra, and ultimately Baghdad. Reading about the Fly-class gunboat, designed to navigate Tigris shallows and support ground troops by tackling shoreline gun emplacements, inspired me to create my own version.

Here’s a blog documenting the build of my Fly-class gunboat model. I hope you enjoy the pictures and stories!

The Boat

This gunboat build is just the first of several in the works. With requests already coming in, I’m having the decks laser-cut to speed up the process. The boat features a distinctive deck layout, with a rounded disk-shaped area for the bow gun—an interesting design element that took some work to capture on this first hand-built model. I aimed to stay true to the Fly-class’s character while keeping it scaled slightly smaller than 28mm (using 5' to an inch) to ensure it fits well on most game tables.

In our first battle, the Firefly moved slowly up the Tigris to support the Allied left flank, adding a new dynamic to the scenario. I’m already planning the next scenario, featuring more gunboats engaging Turkish shore batteries—a return to some classic naval river actions!

Enjoy the build photos, and thanks for following along!

Last Stand Dan

The gunwales being secured to the deck and foam hull.

Under the deck glued to the foam base are magnets which allow the guns to "swivel."

The Fly Class had an added cabin aft which I also added. 

After soaking the basswood I bend it around the square stern of the boat. 

The boat has this Arch where the boiler/stack sits. Took a steady hand cutting this out. 

Here is the boiler where I used some soda can foil to cover it up.

Decks are stained and ready to be assembled.

Gluing it all down.

All of the ships fixtures are from TVAG by Patrick Wilson. The Vents, doors and new smoke stacks can be seen here.

Note the base between gun and ventilator. The Fly Class had a "crows nest" for navigation and to direct long range fire. 

The Crows Nest was made using those party poppers. I cut it in half and mounted it on a dowel. 

Getting it all secured. 

Good view of the completed boat. 4" on the bow and some 6pdrs on upper deck with a couple of Maxim Guns. The Fly class sported four Maxims but due to scale I used two.

One obvious feature with these boats were the "outhouses" on the stern. If you read some of the stories about dysentery and other horrors, these outhouses were always in use. 

Here is a shot with some smoke and flag added. Those are Woodbine British infantry used as Gun Crew.

That darn rounded gun deck. That is the best I could do. Both guns shown here have magnets under the decks. 

Good view of TVAGs Ventilators on upper and main deck.

And the final picture aft. These boats had a rear cabin added on some of the Fly Class boats.I really need to add some crates or on the fantail. Looks a little open. Hey maybe a Sun Shade or tarp over it. Hmm. 

New Pritchard Class River Patrol Boat (28 mm)

Bill Pritchard

Having just turned 60, I wanted to mention something that is always on my mind when it comes to the great people we meet and game with.  We all probably know some of the gamers in your community that have disappeared from your club only to learn that they had passed away.  Like when Larry Brom left us.  It was a sad day but the memories he created with his TSATF rules have touched many of us and they still do.   There are many others I am sure and there is one gamer that I would like to mention in this blog at this time.

I would like to salute Mr. Bill Pritchard.  Mr. Pritchard had ordered some boats from me in the past and I corresponded with him through Mr. Jeff Baumal for the most part.  I was told of his health issues and how he put up a fight until his final day.  He was 71.  I was told that AWI was his favorite gaming period as he grew up in Mass.  He was a member of SMG, HMGS-South and HMGS-East as well, growing up in Mass.

I was planning this new boat which was to be an iteration of building a much larger San Pablo-like river patrol gunboat.  When I heard of Bill's failing health, I had the idea of naming this class of boat after him.  So here is the new "P" Class Gunboat which will be presented at the upcoming HMGS-South Hurricon Convention this coming weekend in Orlando, FL.  Boat #1 is honorably named the USS Pritchard.

The Boat

The newly designated P Class, and again I know you have heard me saying that any of my boats are not meant to be a historically accurate model, but a resemblance of a type of boat(s) used in the era.  This model I believe can be used on almost any river where you might have to dish out some diplomatic firepower.  The influence of course is the Sand Pebbles movie in this case.  In fact, along with this model I am building my version of a Junk/Sampan boat so we can do some short hostile actions at the "Boom" as seen in the movie Sand Pebbles. So for us sticklers out there, this is not in anyway a model of the San Pablo.  Not yet anyway!  I was actually asked at Historicon to build it in 54mm.  That would be a BIG boat.  I have my drawing book out to see how I can do that.

For now, I wanted to build a larger parol gunboat model that could be used on our smaller tables, and something that you can still maneuver.  Like my 2 foot long HMS Cairo, I only use that for idling up a river providing fire support or docked for my "Get to the Boat" scenario.  So again just trying to make it practical for us gamers.

The boat is 18" long (roughly 90') with a 4" beam (roughly 20').  I inserted magnets for gun mounts on the bow and stern main deck and on the upper gun deck fore and aft.  If you wanted to add some gatlings or maxims on the side rails you would only have to take a magnet and set it under the upper deck to keep the guns in place.  That would make a very powerful gun platform if you wanted to go that route which most of our historical gamers, would be a little more conservative on how we would arm it.  I did say "most" of us.  Well enough rambling, there are more notes and thoughts in the pictures on how and why I chose to build it the way I did.  There is a lot more to come.  Sorry for being under the radar these past months.  I hope you enjoy the build and final boat pictures. If anyone has any comments or suggestions, Jeff Baumal and I are always open to them.

Good gaming and above all, stay healthy!

Last Stand Dan

Redoubt Colonial Boat Model (Build)

Many moons ago I remember seeing this article with a couple of pictures of this very nice boat.  Another motivator to game the Sudan.  A few months ago a fellow Wargamer ask me to build this model for him, I said, "Sure no problem."  He sent it out to me and after a few weeks I finally got it started.  As you all know I work with wood for the most part, basswood to be specific.  First I didn't know it was this particular model so I was very excited to see it and dug out my old Wargamer magazine from 1993.  A lot of you will remember that battle report.  I tend to hold on to anything with  Colonial pictures on the cover.  That old magazine really help me during the build.  I think this model was released in 1985?

So I thought, okay Resin cast it should be easy.  Nope. The resin casting was not as sharp as I would have liked.  There was some warping at the stern wall, the upper deck detail was not cast too well, etc.  Small items like that but you can see the model is very beautiful overall.

So after sanding and cutting in various places, replacing the paddle assembly with my own version I think it came out pretty good and my my friend Jon will be pleased when he sees it at Historicon in a couple of weeks.

I didn't get a chance to annotate the pictures like I usually do.  Once I get back stateside I will work on the pictures showing the modifications and will re-post in case you are interested.

Enjoy the pictures.  As soon as I get home this weekend its time to pack and hit the road for Lancaster on Monday.

Come by and and say hello at my dealer table I am sharing with Bud's Blast Markers! (https://www.budsblastmarkers.com/)

Last Stand Dan
(https://www.laststanddan.com/)

Sorry for the scribble, asking Jon if he liked this color scheme.

Priming the resin

You will see in the pictures below.  I used a Yellow Oak color with some minwax stain.  

This Tension Wire (String) was to sit on top of these metal struts/beams.
I added eyelets in lieu of just gluing them to the struts.

You can see the rough casting on the edge of upper deck. 
I ended up covering this with wood trim shown below.

These vertical struts are very soft metal that protrude through the upper deck.
They have small holes in them to run a wire safety line through.
I replaced that wire with scale rope.

The model comes with a lot of sandbags and cotton bales.
Painted up a few for this model and glued them to upper deck.

That back wall at the paddle assembly was the toughest part of the model.
It was slightly warped so after a lot of sanding I got it as close as I could.
To cover a small gap at the connection to upper deck I used some wood to cover it.

Just a view of the bow.  Again very nice model. You get a good view of the upper deck trim piece.
I modeled it for pictures with a Pulp figures deck gun, Askari French Naval Gun crews and a Reviersco Gatling gun.

If you read the instructions (yes I did!) it mentions that the forward tension wire
actually went through the deck.  They don't tell you to do this but I went ahead
and drilled into the lower deck to glue the "wire" into the deck forward of that vertical strut.

It said to secure that "wire" to the paddle piston rod. I cleaned this up.
Made a smaller tighter bowline, turned the knot to the inside and glued in place.
You might also notice that I mounted a trim piece over that detail mentioned above.
I thought it made it look cleaner and also strengthened those 4 tension wire struts in place along the sides. 

If you look close upper deck aft at the safety line I had to add a wood strut.
There was nowhere to support the line after threading through the 4 vertical metal struts.
So just took some basswood, drilled a hole and glued in place. Worked out great.
I also replace the soft metal paddle assembly with an LSD version using stained basswood for the paddles
and modified plastic wagon wheels from Pegasus Hobbies.