Väinämöinen Redux

These have been long time coming, I begun redrewing them in summer of 2012, and they since got bogged down in my prioritylist over AUs of various sort (only to appear in slightly different form in one of those never published recarnations of my finnish AUs), but it took couple of nice reference findings to get me finally complete them. I decided, since they pack five drawings, they deserve their own thread spinoff from the Finnish navy main thread that I've been maintaining.

[ img ]

Here is Väinämöinen herself after commisioning. The bofors 105mm/50 AA was not yet ready, and the venerable Obuhonov 102mm/60 was shipped instead.

[ img ]

Ilmarinen is shown here in her 1938 guise. The 105mm battery is allready onboard, but they still lack the aft firecontroll

[ img ]

Väinämöinen again, this time on action, or as she was fitted (now with full FC) during the winter war, in overally white camoflage pattern (or as white as SB allows one get). Since that war was fought during the winter months, both of them spend most of their days as airdefence batteries for Turku.

[ img ]

For the next war, they were both refitted, loosing their searchligth platforms from the mast, as well as most of the rigging. Small AA was added, and the 40mm Vickers AA was replaced with 40mm Bofors water cooled mounts.
This is Ilmarinen in her last guise, she was lost in 1941 after hitting a mine in one rather indifferent covert dash to the open sea in vain attempt to lure the Soviet Fleet from Konstrad to the sea to face the strong Kriegsmarine contignent.
NOTE, the colors are completely guesswork in these patterns (as well is the pattern in some parts, since good pics of Ilmarinen at 1941 aren't that much to work with)

[ img ]

And here is Väinämöinen again, this time in 1944, differing with small detail and carrying different color shceme, thougth this time the pattern should be as accurate as possible, but colors are still propotional.

Excellent work Golly. Comparing this to the original, it is a massive improvement.

_________________
Hood's Worklist
English Electric Canberra FD
Interwar RN Capital Ships
Super-Darings
Never-Were British Aircraft

Outstanding work sir. [ img ]

_________________
>"Emotions are prohibited." —YoRHa No. 2, Type B ("2B"), NieR: Automata
>"Wow, if I wasn't a hardened killing machine, that mightta hurt..." —SSgt. John Lugo (1st SFOD-D), Spec Ops: The Line

Nicely done. Had never seen this ship before.

Thanks for the comments.
The first drawing of them that I made dates from frebruary 2008 according to my vaults, and I recal the version on the bucket this point was just retouched version of it... anyways, old bucket days.

_________________
[ img ]

MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB

There's a recurring story (really a joke) that when the Ilmarinen and Väinämöinen arrived at Portsmouth, towed part of the way by the Swedish CDS H.M.S. Drottning Victoria, to attend the Coronation Fleet Revue of 1937 off Spithead, the Brits were said to have been so impressed by their appearance that a member of Adm. Chatfield's staff is supposed to have quipped the following remark: "Finland must be a strong sea power, even their lightships are armed with 10-inch guns."
It's probably an apocryphal story, but nevertheless illustrates the impression these two strong CDS:s made. They were, however, atrocious seaboats and less than ideal gunnery platforms, rolling quite violently with a lurching, sudden roll.
They were perfect, though, for the very confined waters and strategic environment of the Finnish Archipelago.

_________________
My Avatar:Петр Алексеевич Безобразов (Petr Alekseevich Bezobrazov), Вице-адмирал , царская ВМФ России(1845-1906) - I sign my drawings as Ari Saarinen

Shipbucket

Väinämöinen Redux

Who is online