Pre-Dreadnoughts have always fascinated me. They existed in a brief slice of historical time between the iron clads and true battleships when naval architects were still experimenting with how best to mate steam power, steel armoured ships and long range shell firing guns into the optimum package.
Unfortunately, sources of models are limited. I had even half convinced myself to buy the large 1:350 display models before sanity intervened.
Over at Cavalier, I happened to see a display of Tumbling Dice's Tsushima starter pack range of miniatures. I had previously rejected these because they seemed so small at 1:2400 scale but, on seeing them painted up in the, ah, pewter; well, they looked great.
And this from a person who declines to buy and paint any model smaller than 20mm owing to fading eyesight and unsure hands.
The Doomed
The detail in these little ships is excellent. And they are beautifully sculpted and very hard edged making them dead easy to paint. They take washes and highlighting easily. There is absolutely no problem of distinguishing different classes of similar ships.
Togo's Tigers
Tiny little ships, like torpedo boats, come attached to sea bases. I am not sure whether I will bother to base their larger cousins. They look good as they are and, with a hard gloss varnish finish, should be reasonably robust to paint wear.
TD have many models in their 'Age of Battleships' range with even more planned.
I can see myself collecting all Paul Sulley's Pre-Dreadnoughts.
Highly Recommended.