Another alternative to 1/1200 models that will work really well for frigate actions is the old Airfix model of HMS Shannon. I picked up three of these on Ebay recently for 3 quid each, so they aren't exactly pricey :) The basic model builds up quite nicely even if the detail is a bit limited (but to be fair the model is over 30 years old, maybe even 40!). I've done one "as is", and cut down the bulwarks on the second to give it a different appearance. The third is yet to be built but again I'll do soem minor chopping and a different paint job to make it distinctive.











The hull is about 100mm long, which when compared with the real ship's length of approximately 45m makes the model 1/450 in scale - that said it looks very large when compared with the Peter Pig ships in the same scale.

Of course I'll have to make some larger manoeuvre cards and gunnery rulers for these larger models.

Coming in the post is a Lindberg model of USS Constitution, so by the time the rules are published I should have at least four decent big frigates for some demo games. Is anyone aware of any other similar plastic kits that I ought to be hunting down?

Coming soon - going the other way: 1/2400 models from Figurehead.