I’ve been tied up with other things over the last couple of days, so have yet to get started on the Tumbling Dice 1/2400th scale French ironclad squadron, although I have added a trio of additional ships to the fleet. I have added the name ship of the Alma Class central battery ironclads, of which I have two, because they are such good looking models. I have also added a fourth Provence class ironclad, the Guyenne, to the ones I already have as they were the core of the French fleet. 

The best of the bunch, however, is the Ocean, which is a more recent addition to the ASV range and a bit more advanced than the other ironclads I have assembled, due to her cutting edge (for 1870) barbette gun mountings on the corners of the central battery. It’s a lovely little model but I can only justify the one, as her sister ships weren’t operational until the latter half of the decade, which is a bit too late for my timeframe.

I’m hoping to get started on the sea bases for all of these ships and the rest of the fleet tomorrow, although they do look a bit daunting once they are all together! At the very least, they should start to look less like liquorice allsorts and more like warships, given a bit of colour to the bases, decks, sails, spars and masts. Takes deep breath…..