Viking longship models: waterline or full hull?

[cameron]

I would like to add some 15mm Viking longships to my board when I play Saga, as a place for the Vikings to emerge from, and return to, with their loot. I haven't found any longships in 15mm that are especially inspiring, so I'm going to make my own, with my computer modeling skills and my friend's 3d printer. We have already done a test piece and it looks very promising.

Here's the question: should I make them as waterline models, so they look like they are floating, or have full hulls so they can be up on the beach, leaning somewhat on their side? One of the great tactical advantages of the longship is that the Vikings could come tearing into shore, beach their ship, and come pouring out of it right into the fight. Would the ships ever be all the way out of the water, lying on the beach? Maybe when the tide is out?

[Marine0846]

Waterline them.
Then you can play ship board battles if you like.
If on shore only a little would be on the land.

[Neldoreth]

So, if the vikings are actually raiding, then their ships would either be pulled up onto the beach, half in the water, but tied. They would have kept it that way in case they needed a quick getaway, but they wouldn't have let the ship lean to one side! They would have wedged supports to keep it upright like so:



Or they would be just off shore, and at the waterline, close enough to get back to in a hurry.

However, if they'd decided to settle, then they would possibly have them on dry land, especially for over wintering. They would also possibly be raiding from their base, again, especially if they were over wintering in England or France or Ireland. If it was out of the water, it would definitely be propped up straight.

thanks
n

[Cubs]

For blitz raiding the Vikings usually kept the boat ready for a quick getaway - ie. still in the surf with the keel biting on the sand. It needed to be gently enough touching for the crew to shove it off prior to getting in and manning the oars. More than one crew came to grief because the local lord's forces caught up with them before they were able to make it back into the water, either due to unexpected tides or just a simple mistake when grounding. The boats were only brought up onto the beach if they expected to be there for some time or if the boat needed repair.

I myself have pondered this one - the beauty and aesthetic grandeur of a full hull longboat, or the gaming practicality of a waterline. I think I'm leaning towards full hull, perhaps with some specially built 'waterline' base it can nestle into.

[Plynkes]

The answer is, of course: both!  

[Bone]

My vote would be - make them 2 pieces, waterlined hull plus underwater hull. If I remember correctly there are some modelkits like this (but not for vikingships).

[cameron]

Here's a photo of the test piece, if anyone is interested:



You can't see the outer hull in this pic, but the definition on the planks is really good. This was printed "standing up", as if the ship had been cut in half across the beam and stood up on the cut surface. The other option is to split it down the keel. That will result in a much larger seam, but the seam should be somewhat less visible, I would think. I don't think the plank definition would be as nice if done that way, however.

[Mitch K]

The answer is, of course: both!  

Well someone had to say it

I still haven't finished a scratchbuilt Pictish curragh, so I don't need one longboat, never mind two but I can feel myself weakening...

[fastolfrus]

If you want to plan big:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Harald_Fairhair

Should be sailing to Liverpool soon (en route to USA?)