Shipbucket

Also letting everyone know that I have updated all the indexes found on the first post and have put a resized version of the new map there. Now it's a lot easier to browse each aircraft and ship that has been drawn by type and jump directly to its bio post (where available) and thus allowing you to skip searching through all the pages of this thread to find one thing.

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"The first rule is not to lose; The second rule is not to forget the first rule"

It's been a while in the making (mostly due to getting distracted), but here it is, the Ilyushin Il-18D in Sieranavias late 50s-60s livery;



Compared to the previous version of the livery as worn on the Il-14, the late 50s version included the Cormorant logo used in various official documents including the passport stamps (the red faced Cormorant is a national bird and quite common along the coasts). Sieranavia had started using a variation of the Cormorant in internal documents and advertisment posters internationally but the logo was not featured on aircraft until the end of the 1950s.

With the delivery of the Il-18s, Sieranavia had increased reach to send its modern aircraft on some of its most important regional routes. The long range of the aircraft also resulted in it being used for a time in the airlines sole flights to Western airports in Japan, Canada and the United States. Even after their replacement on these premier routes by the Il-62, the Il-18 continued to be supplemented when the faster jets weren't available due to maintenance.
Even after the end of the cold war, the IL-18s remain in Sieranian service.

I'm still not too sure about the font but I feel it looks more appropriate and matching for an airline than what I was using previously.

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"The first rule is not to lose; The second rule is not to forget the first rule"

Nice!
Btw. I'm posting blanks with landing gear both extended and retracted just because I like them to be shown that way, not because I expect further users of these blanks to show their paint schemes in both these arrangements.

Thanks (belatedly, never noticed the post!)
I know that that's why you do it, I just happen to like both. Besides, all I really did was copy/paste the layer with the upper aircraft onto the bottom and made the edits where needed to allow for the gear.

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"The first rule is not to lose; The second rule is not to forget the first rule"

More musings than actual drawings (they're coming soon!), I've been trying to rough out the size of the interwar Sieranian fleet.
With a total country population of 1.5mil, that gives a max armed forces size of around 150,000 for the 10% rule that seems to be commonly used. I feel that this however is too large and that 5% or 75,000 is more realistic a number.

Of this, the Navy is the largest of the three armed forces, as it is believed to be the best defensive arm against any hostile attack.
The Air Force is tiny with few air minded men in upper ranks and government so despite constant lobbying it is little more than a handful of tactical bombers and converted transports and some fighters. The Army primarily holds a border protection role along the land borders with the Sakha Republic, Magadan and Koryak. The standing army is small with a large paramilitary militia expected to provide the manpower required in wartime.

Anyways back to the Navy, I have been musing of Admiral Jellicoes recommendations to the RAN post WW1 as an idea for Sierans fleet. He recommended;

- 1 Aircraft Carrier
- 2 Battlecruisers
- 8 Light Cruisers
- 1 Flotila Leader
- 12 Destroyers
- 1 Destroyer Tender
- 8 Submarines
- 1 Submarine Tender
- Auxilaries

Taking this, and comparing it to the similar requirements, I have produced this rough idea;

- 1 Aviation Support ship (Training Carrier SRN Lazarev)
- 2 'Large Cruisers' (SRN Rozhestvensky, SRN Nebogatov)
- 3 Modern CLs (Yet to be Decided, in development)
- 2 WW1 Raiding Cruisers (SRN Tanyurer, SRN Velikaya)
- 3 Large Destroyers (Kope Class)
- 7 Destroyers (Veter Class)
- 4 Coastal Submarines (E Class inc.subtypes)
- 3 Patrol Submarines (H Class)
- 2 Tenders
- 2 old Icebreakers (Guryev Class)
- 3 Modern Icebreakers (Brusilov Class)
- Auxilaries

In addition to these, there would be a handful of older vessels not in active service held in reserve, mostly WW1 destroyers of the R classes.

The fleet would be split into two overall structures, the Northern (Pevek) Fleet and the Eastern (Anadyr) Fleet with the later being the largest.

Does anyone have any thoughts about this fleet size or would be able to hazard a guess as to the manpower required for such a Navy? The RAN at the start of WW2 had around 5,404 staff listed but I don't know if that includes the reservists that served on ships and the landslide crews and staff or not.

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"The first rule is not to lose; The second rule is not to forget the first rule"

And for a drawing lets step forwards to the late 60s;

It is a period of uneasy tension known as the Cold War. Caught between two superpowers at each others throats. Sieran maintains an uneasy middle ground between them. Both the Soviets and NATO seek influence over the small nation for it strategic importance in its proximity to the great circle routes and position allowing for long range missiles to hit either superpowers hearts.

Defending the skies are Sierans fleet of (as of yet unnamed) twin engine, twin-crew supersonic fighters; one of the few fully indigenous aircraft to come out of the county in over a decade.



I would draw this in FD scale but at the moment I've no clue where I'd start with these.

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"The first rule is not to lose; The second rule is not to forget the first rule"

@Denodon
The "10% rule" refers to the wartime strength. For a peacetime it's 1% (one) - in exceptional circumstances up to 2% (that refers only to active service personnel, of course).
So I'm afraid it means 15000-30000 of total peacetime strength of the armed forces.

Ah yes that sounds about right. Still probably works well if I follow that RAN estimate and say the Navy has a strength of around 6,000 men or so. Still need to look into Air Force and Army statistics in order to determine their size.

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"The first rule is not to lose; The second rule is not to forget the first rule"

So taking that 15,000 figure and removing 6,000 for the Navy I'd have 9,000 for the Air Force and Army. Looking again at RAAF figures, it looks like 3,500 was what was had in 1939, even for twelve squadrons which also sounds about right. That would then leave 5,500 for the Army.

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"The first rule is not to lose; The second rule is not to forget the first rule"

At 5500 personnel for the army, most will be probably "eaten" by staffs/administration, training establishments and depots.
Peacetime effectives would be probably no more than 2-3 infantry batallions (assuming a 600-800 strength per batallion), some coastal artillery batteries and several companies of other types of troops. Of course "wartime" army would be much more impressive.