Lead Adventure Forum

Miniatures Adventure => Pikes, Muskets and Flouncy Shirts => Topic started by: manatic on 07 May 2015, 09:30:50 PM

Title: Pirate ship project [30/9 New photos]
Post by: manatic on 07 May 2015, 09:30:50 PM
So, I got into pirates. You know, "just a few miniatures, a piece of terrain..."

Now I've got a huge pirate ship that I'm starting work on. I'll do the longer write-ups on my blog and the short and sweet recaps here on LAF. The model I bought is the Black Pearl from the Zizzle playset, and it's massive. I'm looking to repaint it and work on it to ease gaming, but will also keep most toy functions intact.

The full write up is here: http://dawnofthelead.com/2015/05/07/pirate-madness/

(https://dawnofthelead.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/ship.jpg)

(https://dawnofthelead.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/ship1.jpg)

(https://dawnofthelead.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/ship2.jpg)

(https://dawnofthelead.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/ship3.jpg)

Title: Re: Yet another pirate project
Post by: manatic on 07 May 2015, 11:40:45 PM
Started working on the ship. My first thing to work on was one of the crow's nests. Originally it looked like this:

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/48922401/Photos/DSC07358.JPG)

Pretty nice, but posing a severe risk for miniatures - it's a long drop to the deck. There was also a mechanism inside, so you could pull out a piece of string - see the handle in the pic - and then press a button to wind it back in.

I removed the mechanism and added a bunch of coffee stirrers and a ring made out of cereal (or chocolate, rather) packet cardboard. I still need to make the planks more even and add some putty to round out the corners of the lower support ring. This is how it looks now:

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/48922401/Photos/DSC07361.JPG)

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/48922401/Photos/DSC07362.JPG)

(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/48922401/Photos/DSC07363.JPG)

Yes, it could be a lot more neat, but I'm counting on the power of painting. I still think it's a marked improvement on the original both in terms of looks and of practical gaming use. Comments and constructive critique welcome, as I really haven't done this sort of thing before.
Title: Re: Yet another pirate project
Post by: shandy on 08 May 2015, 11:36:38 AM
Cool ship! With skirmish rules like Flashing Steel, it could work as a playing surface in its own right...
Title: Re: Yet another pirate project
Post by: flags_of_war on 08 May 2015, 11:57:01 AM
very very nice :)
Title: Re: Yet another pirate project
Post by: manatic on 08 May 2015, 12:02:35 PM
Cool ship! With skirmish rules like Flashing Steel, it could work as a playing surface in its own right...

This is indeed my plan, down to the game system even!
Title: Re: Yet another pirate project
Post by: manatic on 10 May 2015, 09:28:35 PM
Work is steadily progressing, here are some work in progress shots. There's still dremeling and such to do, so it's a bit rough at places. You can check http://dawnofthelead.com/2015/05/10/ship-building/ for the whole blog post, or just settle for these:

Rebuilding the poop deck front wall to cover the oversized doorway:

(https://dawnofthelead.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/back2.jpg)

Adding detail to the inside of the railing:

(https://dawnofthelead.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/railing.jpg)

Adding detail to the weirdly untextured part of the cabin roof:

(https://dawnofthelead.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/roof.jpg)

Chopping down the oversized balustrade:

(https://dawnofthelead.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/balustrade.jpg)
Title: Re: Yet another pirate project [10/5 new photos]
Post by: manatic on 18 May 2015, 11:50:37 AM
Work on the ship progresses! You can read the whole thing here: http://dawnofthelead.com/2015/05/18/more-ship-building/ or just settle for the photos.

Adding planking and detail to the second crow's nest:

(https://dawnofthelead.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/crowsnest2.jpg)

The poop deck before spray painting, with added detail (the wall ornament is a broken swallow earring and the door ornament is a WHFB shield boss):

(https://dawnofthelead.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/poopdeck.jpg)

The two crow's nests spray painted:

(https://dawnofthelead.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/crowsnestspainted.jpg)

The poop deck sprayed down:

(https://dawnofthelead.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/poopdeckpainted.jpg)
Title: Re: Yet another pirate project [18/5 new photos]
Post by: manatic on 31 May 2015, 09:01:44 PM
More work done today. Details here: http://dawnofthelead.com/2015/05/31/batten-down-the-hatches/

(https://dawnofthelead.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/ship4.jpg)

(https://dawnofthelead.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/ship5.jpg)
Title: Re: Pirate ship project [31/5 new photos]
Post by: Colonel Tubby on 04 June 2015, 03:15:24 PM
That's a really great transformation - can't wait to see the completed project.
Title: Re: Pirate ship project [31/5 new photos]
Post by: manatic on 09 June 2015, 08:41:47 PM
Here's the latest progress shot:

(https://dawnofthelead.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/maindeck.jpg)
Title: Re: Pirate ship project [9/6 new photo]
Post by: manatic on 15 June 2015, 10:09:19 AM
On to the foredeck!

If you want to read the more detailed posts on the ship, they're all handily collected here: http://dawnofthelead.com/tag/pirate-ship/

(https://dawnofthelead.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/foredeck.jpg)
Title: Re: Pirate ship project [15/6 new photo]
Post by: Duke Donald on 15 June 2015, 02:30:51 PM
Great job! That's shaping up well. Looking forward to seeing the ship completed.
Title: Re: Pirate ship project [15/6 new photo]
Post by: manatic on 30 June 2015, 02:39:45 PM
I bought some cannon for the ship from Ainsty, but they turned out to be too small (read: realistic, unlike my ship): http://dawnofthelead.com/2015/06/30/run-out-the-baby-guns/

I'm thinking of maybe using them as oversized swivel guns, what do you think?

(https://dawnofthelead.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/cannonsize.jpg)

(https://dawnofthelead.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/swivelgun.jpg)
Title: Re: Pirate ship project [30/6 cannon]
Post by: War In 15MM on 30 June 2015, 05:09:08 PM
Love those Disney ships.  You're doing a great job on this one.  Richard
Title: Re: Pirate ship project [30/6 cannon]
Post by: Eric the Shed on 30 June 2015, 09:46:52 PM
the cannons look the right size to me  - too big as swivels...
Title: Re: Pirate ship project [30/6 cannon]
Post by: manatic on 04 July 2015, 11:02:21 AM
Thanks for the comments! The Ainsty cannon are a bit too small for my pirate fantasy style, but I'll see what I can do...

Meanwhile, here's an old WHFB cannon on a scratchbuilt carriage that I've been working on for the past few days. It's such a huge piece, I'm calling it Cagafuego or "fireshitter" after Sir Francis Drake's legendary prize:

(https://dawnofthelead.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/cagafuego.jpg)

Here it is in its outrageous size:

(https://dawnofthelead.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/cagafuegocomp.jpg)

As usual, you can read the details on the blog: http://dawnofthelead.com/2015/07/04/unleash-the-cagafuego/
Title: Re: Pirate ship project [4/7 Huge cannon]
Post by: Malamute on 04 July 2015, 11:04:53 AM
BOOM! that's a cannon! :)
Title: Re: Pirate ship project [4/7 Huge cannon]
Post by: manatic on 09 July 2015, 11:32:17 PM
BOOM! that's a cannon! :)

Cheers Malamute! It should pack a punch :D

Some more progress shots, full post here: http://dawnofthelead.com/2015/07/10/holding-it-up/

Before:

(https://dawnofthelead.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/hold1.jpg)

After:

(https://dawnofthelead.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/hold6.jpg)

Current state:

(https://dawnofthelead.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/brownship.jpg)
Title: Re: Pirate ship project [10/7 New photos]
Post by: manatic on 30 September 2015, 09:46:12 PM
Have been working on this on and off for a few months now, here's its current state:

(https://dawnofthelead.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/shipwip1.jpg)

(https://dawnofthelead.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/shipwip2.jpg)

(https://dawnofthelead.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/shipwip3.jpg)

(https://dawnofthelead.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/shipwip4.jpg)

Decking is of course very much WIP, and there's a hundred other things to do, but it's progress!
Title: Re: Pirate ship project [30/9 New photos]
Post by: Eric the Shed on 07 October 2015, 04:01:36 PM
looks fantastic..I bought one of these ship and just thought it was too big !  You are doing a stellar job...

Would you be interested in 'selling the plastic sails that come with the boat...they are the perfect size for the ainsty ships?? if so please PM me with a price...

As you can see I have repainted the set I had...

(http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j375/ErictheShed/Pirate%20ships/p3_zpsrbzp9ujl.jpg)
Title: Re: Pirate ship project [30/9 New photos]
Post by: manatic on 01 November 2015, 08:02:16 PM
Only just noticed this, somehow it had slipped my radar! For some reason this ship doesn't have the plastic sails, but cloth ones sadly.