The Byzarbian Queen

Steaming (slowly, no doubt) into view below is the most recent addition to the Grand Duke of Medetia’s glorious navy, the colonial steam boat Byzarbian Queen.

This is a very nice and simple to put together MDF model from Sarissa Precision, which I ordered via ebay for a tenner; great value in my opinion. It all came laser cut on two A4 sheets of MDF. Everything went together very easily and even the thinnest parts like the awning supports seem robust enough to survive regular handling.

I gave the hull a coat of white, the boiler is in gunmetal and the awning received white and Medetian-blue stripes for a bit of colour. It was a very quick paint job as you can appreciate! I’ll add a flag at some point too.

I decided to leave the awning structure and the mast removable, for ease storage and to allow easier access to deck space for figures. It’ll hold about a dozen of my 19th century guys on their 20mm round bases, but will normally just be crewed by the three naval types you see in the pictures. These are a mix – Perry officer conning the vessel from the foredeck, Mutineer Miniatures Bosun’s mate (with shouldered monkey) at the tiller and another Mutineer figure taking the roll of flustered engineer.

I have a few more nautical coves to finish, along with the rest of my marines. Then they’ll need a mission somewhere!