Black Seas: Painting a US Brig

USS Argus, from the War of 1812

 I've been doing a little bit of work on some Black Seas miniatures lately, my interest in the game being reignited by the new release of Hold Fast, the first major Supplement for the game.

Black Seas was actually the game that pulled me back into the hobby, back in 2019. I'd always thought I'd like to get into an Age of Sail game, so when I saw an issue of Wargames Illustrated with a Black Seas sprue included, I bought it straight away- and Covid-19 ensured my return to the hobby was complete.

At the time, these miniatures were probably more than I was ready for- with the rigging, gluing the sails on, and trying to paint each individual cannon- after 1 test Frigate (a minor disaster) I had put the project to the side for the more familiar human-shaped miniatures I knew.

I've finally returned though (as I tend to do with my hobby-butterfly ways), and made a few key changes to make my life easier.

Painting

To start with- I spray painted the whole mini black- and kept the masts off the model. These make it sooooo much easier to paint (trying to paint the deck with the masts glued on is painful).

For the deck, I used Citadel paint Mournfang Brown (I use all Citadel paint) followed by Seraphim Sepia- to give a little depth without dulling the colour (which I was worried Agrax would do).

The white very simply uses Celestra Grey- with 2 coats to cover the black. This is more of a grey/off-white, but actually looks like a 'realistic' white, and if not next to a brighter white, looks very white in contrast to the black.

The folded sails were painted using Morghast Bone as the base (2 coats) and Seraphim Sepia as a wash.

That was all the painting done on the ship- super simple.

The base is from Warlord- and I think really adds to the look of the miniatures. It definitely helps add to the visual idea that the ship is 'floating' to me.

I used a grey spray to coat the bases after preparing the resin, and then a base coat of Macragge Blue. I then used an old blue wash that is no longer made- but I think has been replaced by Drakenhof Nightshade. Finally, a drybrush of Altdorf Guard Blue, and then Corax White for the foam on the waves.

For the rigging, I picked up a pair of curved tweezers with a long reach to help in the slightly tricky parts of the process. I used a small blob of superglue to just keep any knots fixed- and went back with black paint once I was done if the glue made any discolouring.

I used the paper sails provided- carefully adding a bend using a pen to make the curve. Make sure to add the lower sails on the masts first- otherwise they get in each others way!

The History- USS Argus

The Argus was a Brig in the US Navy during the First Barbary Wars and the War of 1812. I'm interested in the latter of these conflicts- as the US navy gets a big part of the new supplement, and also is perfect in being more 'skirmish-ey'- with the naval element of the war being single-ship actions- making it much easier to build towards than a, say, Trafalgar...

The Argus spent time disrupting British trade in the Atlantic, English Channel and Irish Sea. Ultimately, HMS Pelican spotted the fire from a merchant vessel the Argus had set on fire, and was able to capture the Argus, killing her captain.

I'll hopefully be painting up the Pelican at some point soon- thought my Middle Earth project may mean this will be a little later on when I have the time.