Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Pikes, Muskets and Flouncy Shirts => Topic started by: meninobesta on June 21, 2008, 12:41:50 AM
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Hello!
I've been out for a couple off weeks ... because a mixture of work, work and even more work have been keeping me away from the LAF... besides that, this project also took some my time!
when the LotHS rules came out I borrowed them from a friend of mine and thought that piracy would be a nice project ... because life in R&D world can be somewhat stressing!
So ... another project was stacked in my gigantic pile of TODOs ... unfortunately Torradas (my fearsome enemy) also fancied the idea of sailing the the vast seas of plunder! and started working on a vessel of his own (you can see the Pollo Diablo on his blog: El Pollo Diablo (http://meiatorrada.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2008-01-01T00%3A00%3A00Z&updated-max=2009-01-01T00%3A00%3A00Z&max-results=15))
So I could not waste time painting XX century lead while an old nemesis was already plundering old lady's retirement war galleons on the shore of Tortuga and started my own ship!
I've started building the boat around Mid March... with a couple of days devoted to my 15mm british recce army for fow (because of a really big tournament that took place here in Portugal in the beginning of May. If you like wargaming tables, check this from a French Chap that took some really nice photos of the event: http://zoom13.club.fr/tournoilisbonnefow2008.htm)
And managed to finish the boat in the beginning of June
But lets start from the beginning:
Bought some cardboard (the one with foam in the middle) for the overall structure, a couple of wood rods, used 2mm thick balsa sheet I had bought a couple of years ago, some string, a couple of bits from nautical modelling, white glue, cereal boxes, plaster, toothpicks and lots of cigarettes (I think that counting all the ones I've smoked during this time -> this was the most expensive item in the whole project) and for the figurehead I used an old GW's horse Head.
Took a while seeing some XVIII century boat photos on the net to get some inspiration, and chose to do a sloop! my favourite boat from Sid Pier's Pirates Computer Game! Besides making a somewhat look-a-like boat, I also wanted a gaming piece, so I was very generous with the overall measurements in order to get enough space for a dozen miniatures to walk freely around the deck.
Drew the overall measurements in the cardboard and started to build the ships skeleton:
(http://lh3.ggpht.com/pedro.joao.goncalves/R_kz-oMLoQI/AAAAAAAAAfI/m0vzwOy06xM/s800/Barco_Besta.jpg)
this was enough for a first skirmish I've made with Torradas for testing the rules...
After the first impression, we came to the conclusion that the ship was too wide for a sloop, so I opted to do a merchantman instead, since this would be a nice preying element for the buccaneers and a way for me to make a honest living out of the Caribbean, and in the end rejoice myself with a couple of lead governor daughters who happened to be pursuing a handsome rich gentleman with a nice year income instead of rotten scab-infested pirates with really bad healthcare insurances!
Back to the drawing board... I needed to add a fore castle (think this the correct term in English) to add a bulkier look to the ship, so I've added a front structure to the ship, and covered the whole thing with thin cardboard stripes:
(http://lh3.ggpht.com/pedro.joao.goncalves/R_kzwoMLoPI/AAAAAAAAAe8/yj-X225A5-k/s800/IMG_0753.jpg)
after all the planks were glue, I started to put all the ship's protections in balsa wood ...
during this time I used plaster to fill all the gaps in the model, and sanded it to get a smooth apearence.
almost in the end the ship looked like this, you can noticed the plaster yet to be sanded in the side of the ship:
(http://lh5.ggpht.com/pedro.joao.goncalves/SAe6sNz98CI/AAAAAAAAAho/NgPKCgRooPg/s800/IMG_1752.jpg)
this was the final version of the hull, you can also notice that I've added two openings for the cannons, and already had the first items for the masts:
(http://lh5.ggpht.com/pedro.joao.goncalves/SBzQdJlAkcI/AAAAAAAAAl4/EM6eLkodJRU/s800/IMG_3753.jpg)
after the hull was done I had to add railing all around the deck to avoid the overall monolithic look, unfortunately this adds a little love-boat feel to the ship but it breaks the monotony! Also used fine grating to do the widows (this was an idea from Torradas). The anchor and the wheel are pieces from "Artesania Latina" which is a company that sells naval modelling bits!
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/pedro.joao.goncalves/SDrb47nsRtI/AAAAAAAAAn4/G7x-JuLBieY/s800/IMG_4583.jpg)
the masts were just pretty straightforward to do, even added a gallows nest, and for the lower sails I've used folded newspaper:
(http://lh3.ggpht.com/pedro.joao.goncalves/SD2mkbnsRuI/AAAAAAAAAow/6-NNSe3eFbY/s800/IMG_4610.jpg)
You can see the newspaper clearly in this photo, in order to get a sturdier effect I covered the lower sails in white glue, the first sails were already in place, Used thin cardboard to do them and used pins to pin them in the masts. Note the banner poles added, these are removable in order to use this fine vessel for several nations or even the pirates:
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/pedro.joao.goncalves/SD7oB7nsRvI/AAAAAAAAApQ/6L1i5-fVa0Q/s800/IMG_4769.jpg)
the final version of the ship with all sails in place in three different angles! I've opted not to make the ship in full sails in order to have more space for the crew to wander around and to give more sail diversity! I didn't add ropes to the ship since this would certainly ruin the playability
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/pedro.joao.goncalves/SEBQVbnsRwI/AAAAAAAAApY/aoHUk4non0A/s800/IMG_4932.jpg)
(http://lh4.ggpht.com/pedro.joao.goncalves/SEBQV7nsRxI/AAAAAAAAApg/L3zOztjEVWo/s800/IMG_4933.jpg)
(http://lh4.ggpht.com/pedro.joao.goncalves/SEBQV7nsRyI/AAAAAAAAApo/KdOesdsvDB4/s800/IMG_4934.jpg)
the undercoat in dark brown!
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/pedro.joao.goncalves/SEK4C7nsR1I/AAAAAAAAAqA/DQySCEcbiw4/s800/IMG_5009.jpg)
in the middle of the hull blockpainting
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/pedro.joao.goncalves/SEK4O7nsR2I/AAAAAAAAAqI/XT17D1duL4E/s800/IMG_5011.jpg)
the hull fully painted
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/pedro.joao.goncalves/SEr962AA7NI/AAAAAAAAAq4/2MyLkNNSOiE/s800/IMG_5063.jpg)
and the final version:
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/pedro.joao.goncalves/SE7mfXq-KGI/AAAAAAAAArg/MZO9f6j1Uio/s800/IMG_5125.jpg)
and I also managed to paint a couple of deck hands in order to command the boat (while I paint the royal marines)
(http://lh4.ggpht.com/pedro.joao.goncalves/SFVRQiGUO4I/AAAAAAAAAsA/z1NRu5k8WUk/s800/IMG_0022a.jpg)
So, it's done :) It was great fun to make, and I've learned that for this type of work you should make a decent plan and spend sometime in the beginning thinking of the details, because if you don't -> you'll waste time trying to fix things that should have not been made a certain way!
It's not really a boat in the modelling sense of it (It wasn't my real objective to do that), it has loads on inaccurate bits, but it is a damn fine vessel for wargames!
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:o
This is one awesome piece of art!
I wish I had the skills and patience to do something like that!
I like your Deck Hands as well... :D
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Wow I really like that! Excellent work.
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Really excellent work. You show the lines of a ship very nicely without sacrificing game play space.
The only suggestion I have to offer is to take a look at using old artist paint brush handles for your masts. The taper in the handle makes all the difference towards looking like a real mast.
Really top of the line work.
Mike
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The only suggestion I have to offer is to take a look at using old artist paint brush handles for your masts. The taper in the handle makes all the difference towards looking like a real mast.
That's a really great tip, Skrapwelder! I have noticed that chopsticks have a nice taper to them. I need to get over to the Asian market and see if I can pick up a box of them. The size would be more appropriate for the spars than for the masts, though.
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That was fantastic :o some day I'll get around to one of those myself. I love seeing things come together like that. Thanks very much for sharing you high sea adventure in the making. There was only one thing missing (besides the cannon) what are you going to christen her?
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Superb piece of work and a great work in progress report. :) ;D
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:o Wow !! realy nice !!
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Nice work!!
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What a lovely crafted ship may she sail the 7 seas in peace (or not ;))
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:o :o :o
VERY nice.
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:-*
Very nice. A wonderful ship to be sure. And has already been said, thanks for the WiP shots as well.
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That's a beautiful piece of work, true craftsmanship
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BEautiful piece of work, and quite playable too.
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Thanks all for the comments! :)
I was hopping to add more painted crew during this week ... but work has won again ... and probably I will only do that during the weekend!
PS: Most Probably the ship will be named Bucephalus, because it's an ancient Greek name and as so it could fit nicely into every nationality (this was my fathers idea and he also took Pegasus no name his ship! which is a very nice name)! it also works nicely with the horses head in the prow of the vessel!
Thanks again for the kind words!
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my first pic is just to show that I'm not new to lace painting (which is something I rather enjoy), you can see the current state of my Brit/Portuguese army of the Peninsular War, but all of this in 15mm ...
(http://lh5.ggpht.com/pedro.joao.goncalves/SGK5oSxlqmI/AAAAAAAAAtQ/l4j9Hh_bdRU/s800/IMG_0055.jpg)
but painting in 28mm you really have to work out the detail, so this is my current state of the British Marines, which are giving me more hard work than the usual XX century khaki clad soldiers: the pipping is green because the only reference I found for Marines of the early XVIII century had these colours:
(http://lh4.ggpht.com/pedro.joao.goncalves/SGK4wtErxyI/AAAAAAAAAs4/P8BumHlbVoY/s800/IMG_0052.jpg)
If you put your ear against your screen you can ear the 15mm British infantry waiting to be painted saying:
"Oi you lousy Bastard, just stop painting those Damned Lace lovers and turn your pencils to us real men! At least WE go to war and get killed by real ammo and not by some strange tropical disease or rum overdose!"
so ... back to my painting station and listen to some more Czech Republic GrindCore and see if these folks are finished by the weekend! :)
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Love the look of your marines and their officers :) - what are your plans for them? Are they for LotHS?
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so ... back to my painting station and listen to some more Czech Republic GrindCore and see if these folks are finished by the weekend! :)
Well, I've never tried that, but it seems to be working well for your painting! :-*
My current favourite painting music is Disturbed and Rammstein.
I've tried nice quiet relaxing music, but it doesn't seem to work as well as a good old dose of metal lol
I like the brown undercoat - I use that for LOTR Orcs, Trolls etc but haven't tried it with historicals for some reason. It should work very well for Colonial khaki. Why have I never thought of that before :?
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What fantastic ship, just chock full of great character, well done.
Paul
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I like the brown undercoat - I use that for LOTR Orcs, Trolls etc but haven't tried it with historicals for some reason. It should work very well for Colonial khaki. Why have I never thought of that before :?
I've started using a brown undercoat on some Plains Wars Indians that I'm working on - mainly because there's quite a lot of skin. I decided to try a dark grey undercoat for some other figures and that seems to be alright ( I was out of black one evening!).
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thanks!
they will be for LotHS mainly ... but if any other game appears, these guys won't mind too much about it!
Regarding the brown "undercoat" I guess this is some sort way of painting I got from painting ww2 minis... and since I'm not a very skilled painter (just a very patient one) I just keep doing what looks right to me, and try not to invent too much! - just keeping with old habits.
But I usually spray undercoat in white, then give a an overall flat brown paint job, and then a black wash in top of that in order to hide all white spots I forgot to paint. Since Brown is an organic colour it goes well with all flesh and natural tones, and also red and yellow! for some greens, whites and blues I sometimes give a base coat of black in those areas and start block painting from there!
PS: relaxing music doesn't work for me! lol
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I have an Osprey somewhere that has one plate of marines for the period. It lists green, yellow, and possibly white (IIRC) as correct facing colors. I went for green on my own as well.
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this was my reference... from the Funcken books!
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/pedro.joao.goncalves/SGQJFPcRZuI/AAAAAAAAAtg/3wpMDhOJ_lE/s800/IMG_1132.jpg)
(http://lh4.ggpht.com/pedro.joao.goncalves/SGQJEOjLa9I/AAAAAAAAAtY/nacF44AoPrQ/s800/IMG_1131.jpg)
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As I Promised! :)
(http://lh4.ggpht.com/pedro.joao.goncalves/SGgFDfzabTI/AAAAAAAAAuM/azzjo7za_Cs/s800/IMG_0073.jpg)
(http://lh5.ggpht.com/pedro.joao.goncalves/SGgFYMmYohI/AAAAAAAAAuU/pYdXK_5VKMI/s800/IMG_0090.jpg)
(http://lh5.ggpht.com/pedro.joao.goncalves/SGgFsdSLPUI/AAAAAAAAAuc/M7EcnQ66ARQ/s800/IMG_0111.jpg)
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/pedro.joao.goncalves/SGgF9z5-0zI/AAAAAAAAAuk/bRsTx9aXf4Q/s800/IMG_0115.jpg)
Now I only need to make a decent set of guns and paint the gunners :)
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That looks really impressive. The marines look intimidating! >:(
Couple of questions.
The marines and crew are Foundary, but I don't recognize the officers (the two swordsmen, axeman and captain). Where are they from?
Is this a starting crew for LotHS? Does the swordsmen represent lieutenants and the axeman the midshipman?
Great work again.
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The marines and crew are Foundary, but I don't recognize the officers (the two swordsmen, axeman and captain). Where are they from?
They are also from Foundry, from the marlburian range:
http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/collections/MARLBURIAN/2/index.asp
Used the standard bearer as an officer... and with that pose he shall be called Cpt. Darling :)
Is this a starting crew for LotHS? Does the swordsmen represent lieutenants and the axeman the midshipman?
most likely yes! and the captain will be the Darling Guy! I've also painted the drummers, that can be used as midshipmen! or some other thing!
Thanks again! :)
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Marvellous stuff, you just need to add a royal cypher in white to the front of those marines' caps.