All at Sea - Bob's British Third Rates of Renown & Jack's Generic Third Rates

Last year, I started out on a project to put together some 1:700th fleet collections for Jack and Bob, two friends from my local club who share a passion for the age of sail and the models produced by Warlord Games, that enable a much more compelling and vivid way of playing wargames from this era of naval warfare.

JJ's Wargames - Jack's French Squadron

It was last September when I finished off work on a squadron of French ships for Jack before heading off on my little adventure to the antipodes and an effectual four month break from any painting or rigging and so I was quite keen to pick things back up once home, and once I'd taken care of a few other outstanding jobs that required my immediate attention.

JJ's Wargames - Jack's British Squadron

I've added links above and below to the previous posts covering this little project, that started back in February 2022, with Bob's British, so you can see the collections to-date, and the named and generic ships built.

JJ's Wargames - Bob's French Squadron

JJ's Wargames - Bob's British Squadron

This time round, JJ's Shipyard was ringing with the sound of six third rates coming together on the stocks, three for each collection, with Bob's British third rates of renown and Jack's generic third rates for which he ordered one for each nationality, French, British and Spanish.

So first up we have Bob's squadron using the Warlord Black Seas box set that includes figureheads and stern quarters for H.M.S's. Bellerophon, Tonnant and the large 74-gun Revenge which also has a metal specific deck for the large British third-rate.

H.M.S. Revenge

I built my own version of this model back in October 2020 and put up a post then covering the history of HMS Revenge which if you're interested you can follow in the link below;

JJ's Wargames - HMS Revenge

I'm not sure on the accuracy of the figurehead for Revenge, but I really like the Gorgon's head complete with swirling snakes as the hair-do, which looks great when seeing the Revenge passing through an Allied line with broadsides blazing!

H.M.S. Tonnant

Similarly HMS Tonnant was built back in October 2020 and her history is covered in the post link below;

JJ's Wargames - HMS Tonnant

The Tonnant is a really nice character model to add to your British fleet line up and really looks the part with her stern gallery details and prominent figurehead.

H.M.S. Bellerophon

And finally the 'Billy Ruffian' and her amazing career can be followed in the link below;

JJ's Wargames - HMS Bellerophon

Like the other two models, the Bellerophon adds character to any British fleet line up and took part in some really important fleet actions such as the Glorious First of June and Trafalgar as well as her key role in the closing events of Napoleon's reign.

Next up we have Jack's generic third rates using the Warlord third rate plastic box set that includes a selection of generic stern galleries and figureheads to produce suitable looking vessels for most of the navies from this period whilst facilitating individuality among your collection.

For these models I chose a Revolutionary War paint scheme of broad strakes which were still quite common during the later Napoleonic period when more vessels started to sport the ubiquitous Nelson chequerboard pattern, and the variety of schemes adds to the look of a squadron or fleet when lots of models are on the table.

In addition I tend to opt for the more rounded stern gallery options when modelling the French and Spanish third rates whilst often opting for the lion figurehead for my Spanish vessels, the Castilian Lion being a favourite choice among the 'Dons', and tending to use more gold work on the Franco-Spanish rather than yellow-ochre for my British. A mix of yellow and red bulwarks and gun trolleys helps add to the distinctive look of these ships, finished off with the specific rigging layouts preferred by the allies and British. 

British 3rd-Rate

Spanish 3rd-Rate

French 3rd-Rate

The work continues with the British third rates of renown for Jack's collection and the French for Bob, before finishing off this first collection build with the Spanish fleet box for Jack before I turn my attention to my own collection with the addition of the Dutch battle fleet for Camperdown.

Also I am continuing to work on additions to my collected scenario book for use with Kiss Me Hardy and To Covet Glory and will be playtesting a new set up this weekend at the Devon Wargames Group that sees a French squadron of five third rates chasing down two British in an action from 1794 in the Bay of Biscay.

More anon

JJ