Coastlines 1/1250 CL-FT02 a+b Fort Hoo + Fort Darnet sandbank forts in the Medway Estuary
These are painted and assembled 1/1250 scale resin models of Fort Hoo and Fort Darnet, a pair of C19th forts on sandbanks on opposite sides of the shipping channel on the river Medway. The forts were built in the late 1860s to protect the navy dockyard at Chatham from attack from the sea. Originally, the intention was to stretch a chain across the channel between the forts to hold attacking sailing ships in the killing zone between the two artillery forts but, by the time that they were completed, steam-powered ironclad ships would have snapped any chain that could have been placed across the river and no chain was supplied. Casemates were fitted all round the circular forts and both forts commanded excellent fields of fire up and down stream and across the shipping channel.
The forts themselves are about half a mile apart, much further than the models in the photograph, along the axis of the river but the channel between the sandbanks forces ships to make two hairpin turns around both forts. Fort Hoo was intended to be located a distance from its present location but no secure foundation was possible there but remains are visible at low tide. The moat at Fort Hoo is full of trees and the fort is not visible except from above. The moat at Fort Darnet seems to have been deliberately flooded to prevent public access.
The model fort buildings are resin castings by Brigade Models
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The ship models in the photograph are HMS Shah and HMS Revenge by Spidernavy, both available from Antics