My Latin American adventure - waged about the same era as the VBCW - requires gunboats for the Rio Brava delta.
I have sourced a very nice cheap and cheerful £9.99 plastic model from Trumpeter, the Zhong Shan gunboat. 836 tons, built 1911. The real thrill is that it is in 1/150 scale (British N gauge) so fits very well with Pendraken, and no work needed a to blodging the superstructure to accomodate 10mm figures.
The Zhong Shan (also spelt Chung Shan) and also known as the Yong Feng was sunk by the Japs (ww2), so has a long service and would be useful in any Jap-Chinese war scenario, Chinese warlords or with as in my adapation as the 'General Lopez' . Its a nice size for gaming, and with a tweak to the guns etc might even fit well into VBCW. The quality of a costal game is always so much better when you have off shore heavy guns !
The ship has been raised and restored by Chinese government as a means to inspire a tradition of Chinese naval heritage- hence the model of a relatively obscure vessel.
Photos will follow when built and painted
Sunray out
Oooooh where did you get it?
Best UK deal was www.creativemodels.co.uk - they also do a "1/160" US Higgins boat (Testor kit) - which is close to 1/148 in parts details
The Zhong Shan superstructure/hull and deck scale is true, but much of the detail - fittings/weapons etc stray up to 1/100, so a bit of work needed to look right, but hey, at under £10 ....what do you want ! Its good bang for the buck, might well buy another for parts.
I kid you not, the kit comes with motorised options !!!- so needs cut down to waterline.
I will ask Leon for some generic sailor figures as crew types.
Sunray Out
Hi Sunray et al
Unfortunately Creative models is now sold out :(. Will have a look around to see what's available.
Here is a small pic of the box top (complete with Polijarpov :)):-
(http://www.spur-n.com/fahrzeug29/trumpeter03503g.jpg)
And photos from the manufacturers page
(http://www.trumpeter-china.com/uploads/allimg/100907/7-100ZG45Q171.jpg)
(http://www.trumpeter-china.com/uploads/allimg/100907/7-100ZG45Q472.jpg)
(http://www.trumpeter-china.com/uploads/allimg/100907/7-100ZG45Q473.jpg)
(http://www.trumpeter-china.com/uploads/allimg/100907/7-100ZG45Q974.jpg)
I must say it looks very tempting, waiting on your report and pictures.
Cheers
GrumpyOldMan
Great pics, hope my waterline model turns out as neat. Vic, where you live you might do well to go to Trumpeter outlets in SE Asia and US. When I was sourcing the kit I did note quite a few US based retail suppliers.
Being an obscure Chinese vessel, it is not a popular kit in the west, hence the deal on the price and the 'hard to find' tag.
Good luck and I will keep my eyes peeled- and thanks for the heads up on the Pendraken East Africa German sailors !
Sunray out