A new project – Corsairs of Umbar (7 July – The Usurper p.3)

[Smith]

With a true 'tail wagging the dog' mentality, I've just started on a new project – building a ship – and am justifying it by claiming that it will eventually be for some Corsairs of Umbar (all of which are more theoretical than actual at this point):



More pics and some words on my blog:

http://plasticmalpractice.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/a-good-weekends-work.html

[DeafNala]

Whatever reason you come up with for making a FINE ship like this one I'm sure is a good one. She is LOVELY...keep up the GREAT WORK! 

[Little Odo]

Looking great so far - looking forward to seeing the crew. Any ballistae on board?

[Jevenkah]

Sweet! Nice planking!

We have still not figured out sails we like. Furled makes for easier play, unfurled makes great pictures (I like it if the sail is stiff and billowed for that purpose, gives the impression of movement). If you are concerned about big thumbs and breakage, I'd say go with the furled sail and the one mast, and let your imagination fill in the rest.

Jevenkah

[Mason]

That is a great start, Smith.
It should be a mighty fine looking vessel in due course.
 


As for the mast: You already have a nice convenient socket on the lower deck.
Why not make a mast that slots in there and make it fully-rigged with an unfurled sail that can be removed when needs be?
That way you can have the full effect and it wont affect gameplay as you can remove when the obligatory 'clumsy-git' has to go near it.
Also it will be easier to store safely that way.
 

[Smith]

Looking great so far - looking forward to seeing the crew. Any ballistae on board?

No ballistae, but I think I might have a scorpion on board. It's about as much war machine as a ship of this size looks like it can handle. I was thinking about maybe locating it on a revolving platform at the front of the vessel, but that means more (albeit simple) conversion work, and depending on how I attach things, limits the versatility of either the ship or the artillery (it'll look odd being used on land on a rotating platform!). I'll probably just have it loose at the front - they're small enough that I think one could be reasonably manhandled by a few crew.

Thanks for the kind words and the advice on the sail. Right now, I think I'm leaning away from an unfurled sail - I'm highly unlikely to ever play a naval game in 28mm, and it'd just get in the way in 99% of the situations I can imagine using it. That said, a ship like this needs a sail, so I think the removable mast is a very sensible idea, and will go that route with dowel.

[Hammers]

In my mind, the ships of Umbar were dromons. Isn't there even a text in LotR referring to that? Hard to find a suitable model, though.

[Plynkes]

In my mind, the ships of Umbar were dromons. Isn't there even a text in LotR referring to that? Hard to find a suitable model, though.

"Dromunds, and ships of great draught with many oars, and with black sails bellying in the breeze."

Yeah, he definitely had a Mediterranean medieval galley vibe going on there. Though my tatty old OED seems to imply that Dromond could be used as a generic term for a big ship of whatever type, so I guess there is some wiggle room. Especially as he mentions the oarred warships as something separate from the Dromunds.

[Smith]

I agree entirely - slave rowers and a Barbary pirate feel really suits the Umbar fleet. If I ever expand beyond this initial scout ship and 15-man 'army', that's the way I'd go.

[Plynkes]

Though the Corsairs were originally Númenóreans (only later mixed with Haradrim), so you could easily justify their ship designs being more European than North African if you wanted. Equally you could go the whole hog down the Barbary Pirate route, or have a mix of the two.

[Hammers]

I have a plastic 1/72 roman trireme which I bought some years ago to convert to a small Umbarian galley raider. It needs heavy conversion  but it is plastic, so it shouldn't be too hard. Rowers need to be cast, and put on a single deck, latin reg instead of a square, broader deck planking, different styled bow and ram......

[Smith]

The HMS Umbar rolls on. An afternoon spent working on it and listening to the Skyrim soundtrack was an afternoon well spent!

The ship now has a finished hold door, a half-finished mast, and a base coat.



Some additional snaps and dead exciting commentary over on my blog: http://plasticmalpractice.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/a-pirates-life-for-me.html

[Smith]

A very quick additional picture of the ship with finished sail. Construction complete – time to get painting!



Marginally more info at the blog: http://plasticmalpractice.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/propulsionish.html

[LordOdo]

Looks really great!!

Actually you're inspiring me, now I want a ship too 

[Jevenkah]

Lookin' good! The sail appears to give plenty of play space like that. Can't wait for the paint!

Jevenkah