HMCS British Columbia: Battlecruiser of the Great White Nor

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Greg Buechler
Posts: 42
Joined: 21 Aug 2014, 19:02
Location: Hillsboro, OR

HMCS British Columbia: Battlecruiser of the Great White Nor

Post by Greg Buechler »

So, you all know that I'm a Sherman guy. But I'm also a wargamer, and this model was inspired by one. Back in 2011, I participated in a play-by-email, limited-intelligence game of the opening days of the Great War in North American waters. I commanded HMCS Niobe, the first naval vessel commissioned by Canada. Other players had British, French, and German vessels. I captured a German freighter slipping out of New York on the opening night of the war, and later came across another sitting well off the shipping lanes along with a British prize. They were waiting for another vessel, and that turned out to be the raider Kronprinz Wilhelm which I overhauled and sank. But what of the Germans? Wireless soon told the tale; the Karlsruhe had bombarded ports in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and was making for the open Atlantic south of Halifax. Allied vessels converged, and in a howling gale at night a few miles off Halifax Karlsruhe went down along with a British and a French cruiser. Niobe, racing to the sight of gunfire, arrived in time to rescue survivors from all three.

That got me thinking...Canada's Senate in actual history had narrowly voted down a bill that would have had Canada fund three Queen Elizabeths just before the war. My thought was, how might that have been reconsidered had Canadian ports actually been shelled? I came to the conclusion that Canada would want to build ships which could run down any raider, and that meant a battlecruiser. In 1914, the most advanced battlecruiser in the world had just been launched in Britain for Japan, the IJN Kongo. So I kitbashed 1/700 ships to make mine: A Kongo, a Hood, a Prince of Wales, and an Alabama, on the assumption that Canada built two sister ships, rebuilt them prior to WW2, and used them through the war. I even wrote a detailed alternate history of both ships, just to amuse my wargame buddies.

So this is HMCS British Columbia. The model won first place at the IPMS Vancouver show in 2012, I think more for the novelty and story than for the modeling skill. It was definitely a different project, and a lot of fun. She's finished in the Western Approaches camo scheme, worn by Atlantic convoy escorts.

Greg Buechler
Posts: 42
Joined: 21 Aug 2014, 19:02
Location: Hillsboro, OR

Re: HMCS British Columbia: Battlecruiser of the Great White

Post by Greg Buechler »

Uhh, what happened to the images? I'll try again...

Well, all I get is "Sorry, the board attachment quota has been reached", so you'll just have to imagine the ship :(

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Justin Wooding
Posts: 1343
Joined: 21 Jul 2014, 09:34
Location: Wollongong, NSW, Australia

Re: HMCS British Columbia: Battlecruiser of the Great White

Post by Justin Wooding »

Hi Greg, i'm sure she is a beauty!! Do you have photobucket or the like?
Woody...

Trying hard to do some modeling!

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Justin Wooding
Posts: 1343
Joined: 21 Jul 2014, 09:34
Location: Wollongong, NSW, Australia

Re: HMCS British Columbia: Battlecruiser of the Great White

Post by Justin Wooding »

Hi chaps,

I asked Greg if he wanted me to post photos on his behalf till he sorts out his posting issues. So here are the photos he wanted with his original post...

Image

Image

Image
Woody...

Trying hard to do some modeling!

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