My Workbench

Sunday, December 27, 2015

Heller 1/500 French East Indiaman

I have seen several posts on TMP by the virtualscratchbuilder and others about cutting down plastic models to waterline and using them for wargaming. over the last year or so I have purchased several of these small plastic ship models with this in mind. Here is my first attempt. It is the BonHomme Richard by Heller in 1/500 scale. This model actually comes out to 1/471 scale.

Kit Cons:

  • The masts are too short
  • There is just smooth blank plastic where the stern gallery should be (I had to make one)
  • The spanker sail is billowed in the opposite direction from the forestay and jib sails (this is a common error in all Davco 1/1200 models I have seen) 
  • The few deck cannon that were supplied are no where near the correct size for this model
So the only modifications I made to this model were the stern galleries and to cut it down to waterline, plus there are no deck guns.









2 comments:

عبدالحكيم الطويل said...

Hi, I was very Interested with the miniature of Langton 1/1200 28 gun Schooner Meshuda, but I thought that the green flag with 3 crescents was raised lately in Libya after the end of the rule of the Qaramanly dynasty (1711-1835), are you sure that it was used during the American/ Tripoli war?

A Miniatures Hobby Room said...

No I am not sure. I could find little information on the correct flag to use. If you know the correct ensign, please let me know and I will change it.
On a curious note, why did you comment on this post rather than the Meshuda post?