KCS Mary Shelly: Manning the Rails

It is an old Naval tradition, that when arriving at a port, the crew of a warship stood in formation near the edge of the main deck.  Though now simply ritual, the original intent of “Manning the Rails” was to display to port officials that an arriving foreign vessel had no hostile intent. (If the crew was on deck, they couldn’t be loading the cannons and preparing the ship for battle.)


The current complement for the Shelly is:

3 Senior Officers – Captain, Chief of Flight Ops, Senior Intelligence Officer
2 Navigation Crew - Navigator, Attendant
1 Flight Controller
4 Fighter Wing Techs
7 Ship’s Security – Team Leader, 3 Team Members, Corpsman (2 on detached duty to the Tartarus Rim, not pictured)
15 Able Spacers


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I have a few pilots and Flight Ops crew still waiting for paint. I tend to do them in breaks between 
projects.  The sources are:
Captain: Hasslefree “Not Adama”
Senior Intelligence Officer: Colony 87 “Archivist”, I think that’s the name
Chief of Flight Ops: GW
Flight Controller: Heroclix, Nova Corps Officer
Navigator: Colony 87, but I don’t know what she’s called
Navigator Attendant: some OOP GW mini I acquired a few while I was working there
Ship’s Security: The Assault Group, Cops
Fighter Wing Techs: Colony 87
Able Spacers: Heresy Inspectors, Zombiesmith Aliens, Reaper Bones Grey Aliens

I am looking for more sources for Able Spacers.  I like the Heresy Inspectors, but they are limited to 5 poses.  I need more variety, but with the same sort of low detail coverall. Also, I am looking to replace “Not Adama” as the Captain figure.  I would like a sculpt with a little more personality.  Maybe one of the new Astropolis figures from Lead Adventure, but they seem a little too far in the other direction.


Thanks for looking!

Comments

  1. A very nice "Glory Shot", I must say you've got my creative juices flowing....)

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    1. Good to hear. Always like looking at the new stuff @ the BEE!

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  2. Able Spacer's lol I love it, good to see you giving the old lady of space more love Will.

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    1. They wear red so they are easier to spot by rescue boats when the hull fails and they are ejected to to space. It happens more frequently aboard the used and 5th hand ships that mostly populate the Colores Fleet than most people know.

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  3. I'm loving everything about this post! ;)

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  4. That's a great looking crew! Who makes the flight controller?

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    1. He's a wizkids Heroclix mini. He's a Nova Corps from the Guardians of the Galaxy set.
      Thanks for the compliment :)

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    2. Thanks, and love the comment about the floating red shirts!

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    3. Life can be hard on the Redshirts... ;)

      Oh, I forgot to mention, I pick up a bunch of civilians and the like from the Heroclix and Star Wars mini ranges. My source to browse and buy singles is http://www.trollandtoad.com/

      Real cheap, and they alwaya supply tracking numbers with their shipments. Never had a problem.

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    4. Thanks, I'll have to take a look. Those cheap plastics are great for background characters.

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  5. Quite good, and it seems natural that a large "play set" of this type should have its own miniatures (who of course could find use in other scenarios too, as dirtside navy, lander crew etc)

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    1. Yep, there are plans, but I also needed guys to be in the background for some shots.
      Not to mention, somebody needs to be sucked into the vacuum of space.....

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  6. That's a great party there. And an impressive crew! I can just imagine them in sparkling white spacesuits lining the rails as the Mary Shelly coasts to her moorings. (Who needs tugs? Perhaps the captain is so secure in and proud of his piloting skills that he personally takes the helm for this last, quite tricky maneuver, rather like Captain Frederick Sherman and the CV-2 USS Lexington.)

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