What's on your workbench for March 2023

[ShadowDragon]

Ready for rigging these Ark Royal 1/1200 17th Century ships. Left to right - Royalist ships, Convertine and Constant Reformation (Prince Rupert's flagship), and the Commonwealth Ships, St. George (Blake's flagship) and Leopard.

Links to info on the ships:

The 4th Rate Convertine: https://threedecks.org/index.php?dis..._ship&id=12887
The 2nd Rate Constant Reformation: https://threedecks.org/index.php?dis..._ship&id=11044
The 2nd Rate St. George: https://threedecks.org/index.php?dis...how_ship&id=57
The 3rd Rate Leopard: https://threedecks.org/index.php?dis...ow_ship&id=397

I've used a flush-deck ship for the Leopard so it looks smaller than the higher deck Convertine, but it is a 50-gun ship vs 40 guns for the Convertine.

Ships shown with the newly arrived rules for 17th century naval warfare, Mad for War.

Standing rigging - only done for the Leopard - is using brush bristles. Using thread would be a lot of work due to the Ark Royal's have the sails and masts cast as one piece. I'm sure I'd get too much slack in the threads. However, I will try doing the running rigging with thread as a bit of slack there is tolerable.

Note: I'm not sure if the real Leopard was a flush deck ship, but this ship was lost shortly after the encounter between Blake and Rupert. A new Leopard was launched in 1659. It was about 50 guns, so this model is probably more appropriate for that ship.

[Dobbs]

I continue to make progress on Garrett Island. The reindeer moss is going to play the role of limbs of bigger trees.

[Bligh]

Coming along fine Dobbs.
Rob.

[Bligh]

Your ships are also coming along well Paul. Any plans to include Dutch ships to the mix?

Rob.

[Dobbs]

I love the look of 17th century ships, but appreciate the improvements in technology of the late 18th century ones.

I'm considering following in your wake, Paul and getting some 16/17th century ships.

[ShadowDragon]

Your ships are also coming along well Paul. Any plans to include Dutch ships to the mix?

Rob.

I put the brass-etched ratlines on the Leopard last night. It's starting to look like a proper ship; makes the ones without rigging looked "naked".

I have the 6 Dutch ships done with 1 Dutch fireship in the "unpainted" pile. The focus is on the Commonwealth vs the Royalists; with these 4 done I will have 11 Commonwealth and 9 Royalist to do plus 5 French and another Portuguese (to add to the 3 done). At some point I will need to add some Dutch ships for a proper Anglo-Dutch fight. I do like the look of the Dutch ships as their flag really shows up well.

I love the look of 17th century ships, but appreciate the improvements in technology of the late 18th century ones.

I'm considering following in your wake, Paul and getting some 16/17th century ships.

Thanks for the rep, Dobbs.

The Napoleonic era ships are elegant but there's a charm to the older ones, for sure. The "Mad for War" rules look good. Ship crews have skill levels - lubbers, able and salts. Moves are alternating (i.e., side A moves 1 ship (or a group/squadron) then side B moves a ship (or a group/squadron) until all ships are moved. Tacking is handled abstractly - if a ship heads into the wind, you roll versus the skill level to see if the tack was successful. Also there's some nice things such as a critical hit causing a ship to list with consequences such as guns on the opposite side of the list being too elevated to fire, lower gun deck flooded so half effect on the listing side, etc. There's also rules for galley action - good for Mediterranean fights.

[ShadowDragon]

Your ships are also coming along well Paul. Any plans to include Dutch ships to the mix?

Rob.

Uh...looking it over, I definitely need more Dutch ships; and a few Danish and Swedish ships wouldn't hurt.

[McDorf]

Cracking work on those ships.

A bit of a change from 17/18th century ships... in the 31st millennium there's something brewing afoot.

Kasrkins printed to epic scale of 6mm, elite infantry tasked with escorting (or, are they being escorted?) a soon-to-be Warlord titan.

[Dobbs]

Planting more trees...

Garrett Island has a lot of trees.

[William Bush]

Planting more trees...

Garrett Island has a lot of trees.

This looks very nice!

The only things I can think of to further improve it is to add some paths from the buildings and non-grass areas directly next to them along with highlighting (the correct English word eludes me) the creases in the cliffs with a brush of a very bit of black or dark grey color, unless the original island is of limestone or some such. Probably, there's a small pier somewhere next to the water, but as you have not yet begun to work on that area, I assume that you have already planned that.

Lt. Bush

[Bligh]

Looks a good place to hide treasure!

Rob.

[William Bush]

Looks a good place to hide treasure!

Rob.

In that case, though, the buildings would probably have collapesed or fallen into disrepair.

Dead men tell no tales...

Lt. Bush

[Dobbs]

In that case, though, the buildings would probably have collapesed or fallen into disrepair.

Dead men tell no tales...

Lt. Bush

I'll have to take pictures next time we kayak around the island. It is now exactly as you surmise. The house on the south end is merely two crumbling walls and the northern compound is a weed choked foundation.

Now, where to look for the treasure?

The rock is granite for the most part and actually pretty smooth due to glacial wear and tear. No docks, but paths and beached rowing skiffs to come.

[William Bush]

I'll have to take pictures next time we kayak around the island. It is now exactly as you surmise. The house on the south end is merely two crumbling walls and the northern compound is a weed choked foundation.

Now, where to look for the treasure?

If you go spelunking on the island, the treasure should be hard to miss:

According to most maps, you should expect a HUGE red cross of at least several hundred feet length for each stroke at scale on the island painted across the landscape.



Don't forget to take pick and shovel...

Lt. Bush

[Bligh]

Could be caves in them thar granite cliffs. Arr William lad! Fifteen men on a dead man's chest. Yo Ho ho and a bottle of rum/Gin.

Bligh.

[ShadowDragon]

The standing rigging and ratlines are done on all four ships, but I have finished the running rigging on the English ship the Leopard (50-guns). It's not finished yet - paint touch ups and the base need to be done, but here it is next to a completed Ark Royal 40-gun Dutch ship.

The Dutch ship's rigging has been done with brush fibers. The Leopard's standing rigging was done with fibers but the running rigging with the thread Langton recommends for doing the running rigging for it's ships. Any preference? Keep in mind there's been a bit of experimentation with the Leopard so there's some things I will change for the other three ships if I continue to use thread for the running rigging.

[Dobbs]

Aargh! Me buried treasure!

Well, not so much buried. The mast Suzanne and I were working on today was on sawhorses in a gravel parking lot and... Garrett Island needs real granite on the shoreline.

[Lieste]

The standing rigging and ratlines are done on all four ships, but I have finished the running rigging on the English ship the Leopard (50-guns). It's not finished yet - paint touch ups and the base need to be done, but here it is next to a completed Ark Royal 40-gun Dutch ship.

The Dutch ship's rigging has been done with brush fibers. The Leopard's standing rigging was done with fibers but the running rigging with the thread Langton recommends for doing the running rigging for it's ships. Any preference? Keep in mind there's been a bit of experimentation with the Leopard so there's some things I will change for the other three ships if I continue to use thread for the running rigging.

I prefer the weight and colour of the RR on the leading ship. The colour is too white and the thread too thick in appearance on the following ship for my taste, YMMV.

[Dobbs]

I vote for the righthand ship as well.

[ShadowDragon]

I prefer the weight and colour of the RR on the leading ship. The colour is too white and the thread too thick in appearance on the following ship for my taste, YMMV.

I vote for the righthand ship as well.

Thanks, gentlemen. I concur. I will continue with the thread. Also, I think I have over 3,000 metres of the thread!

FYI - the colour of the RR on the left I got too light, but haven't as yet done anything about it. Perhaps a wash of "Brazil Brown" acrylic ink would do the trick.

[Bligh]

I am with you shipmates. The starboard ship as you look at the picture is the right one for me too, for much the same reasons.

Bligh.

[ShadowDragon]

I am with you shipmates. The starboard ship as you look at the picture is the right one for me too, for much the same reasons.

Bligh.

Thanks, for the "vote", Rob. One thing to add is that the thread running rigging makes the Ark Royal ships fit in better with the Langton's. With the fiber RR the Ark Royals look clunkier. For sure the Langton's are a top class product but they are also priced accordingly. There's not so much difference on a 1st rate ship with the Ark Royals being about 90% of the price of a Langton but when you get to the smaller ships the Ark Royals are only a third the price of a Langton. The reason for that is you'll pay about 11.25/11.75 for a Langton 1st rate or a rather modest Dutch fluyt. The Ark Royals are priced 19.5 GBP per package but the number of ships changes with 2 1st rate ships in a package and, for example, 5 fluyts.

There's a key difference in rigging the two ship types due to the construction. The Langton ships have separate pieces for the hull, stern, bow-sprit and all masts plus all sails are separate pieces. The Ark Royals typically have 4 pieces - hull with bow-sprit and sprit mizzenmast cast on, fore and main masts and sprit-sail - all with the sails cast on. So it's more work to build a Langton ship but the rigging is a straight forward task of anchoring one end of a thread and threading it up and down a mast and back and forth to appropriate spots - the sails have eyelets to facilitate this. If you've built a Langton you'll know what I mean. The Ark Royals with their one piece mast and sails don't easily allow this without a lot of work drilling and cutting away metal. That's the key reason the ship on the left was done with fiber. I will change the colour of the RR; I just haven't yet.

The fiber works well for the fixed rigging on the Ark Royals as it would be difficult to get thread taut and fixed rigging should be thicker anyway. I tried initially at the front of the Leopard with creating anchor points for the RR but I wasn't that happy with it. At the stern I went with a method of cutting thread to an appropriate length, fixing one end to sail or spar, waiting (my biggest challenge) for the glue to set and the then fixing the other end to a tie-down spot on the hull or other appropriate spot. I bit of slight sag in the thread looks - at least to me - which is do-able by ensuring the natural curl in the thread is aligned when initially fixing the thread.

Here's the Ark Royal Leopard with thread ahead of the Langton Wassenaar. The thread on the Leopard helps bring the Ark Royal up to the Langton class - and the Langton's are definitely little beauties. Either way it takes a few ships of each type to develop a technique that works for one.

[ShadowDragon]

Here's the day's work....will stop here lest my eyes fall out of my head.

The Ark Royal Dutch ship has had it's running rigging repainted to a less white tan colour. A tiny bit of painting done on the Leopard. The major bit is painting the standing rigging for the Ark Royals - Constant Reformation, Convertine and St. George, with running rigging done for the starboard side - using thread as recommended above. I think it looks good and the Ark Royals with thread for running rigging show up well with the Langton Wassenaar.

In the photo from front to back and stern to bow - Front Row: Ark Royals - St. George, Convertine and Constant Reformation; 2nd Row: Ark Royals - Haarlem (with fiber for running rigging but repainted) and the Leopard; Back row: Langton - Wassenaar

[Dobbs]

Here's my day's work. Suzanne and I just put that mast up and tuned the rig, and that was just the first of the day. I am looking forward to being able to work on ships that I can hold in my hand.

[ShadowDragon]

Here's my day's work. Suzanne and I just put that mast up and tuned the rig, and that was just the first of the day. I am looking forward to being able to work on ships that I can hold in my hand.

That's a good day's work, Dobbs!

[Lieste]

The standing rigging should be a darker brown or black, you seem to be missing two masts and all the yards still. How are you going to add the gun ports?

[Bligh]

Very amusing David.

Rob.

[Dobbs]

This mast may be more to your liking, David. It's ours and Suzanne just finished repainting it. I'm sure she used more paint than we have used on all of our combined fleets. For further correctness, much of our running rigging is light brown. As to cannon, Grace is only a small sloop, so we have talked about swivel guns. We did talk once about mounting a pair of 24 oz great guns to fire through ports in the combing. Regarding black standing rigging, I just can't tar my stainless, though I did work on a boat once where the owner did. It was sticky.

[Lieste]

Carronades are ideal for the smaller, faster vessels.

[Dobbs]

Carronades are ideal for the smaller, faster vessels.

True, but not as sexy. I just remembered, imaginary Grace packs a pair of brass long 9 ouncers, not the 24's. It's to keep the weight down and the smaller gun crew.

[Bligh]

What size are those little brass cannon they use for starting races Dobbs? Maybe a couple of those would do the trick.



Rob.

[ShadowDragon]

The wee ships are done. From fore to aft - Leopard, St. George, Constant Reformation and Convertine. Back row ships were done last year; fore to aft - Haarlem and Wassenaar.

[Bligh]

And a very fine bevy of ships they look too Paul,
splendid in their finery of rigging and dressing.

Rob.

[ShadowDragon]

And a very fine bevy of ships they look too Paul,
splendid in their finery of rigging and dressing.

Rob.

Thanks, Rob. And thanks for the rep, Dobbs.

[Dobbs]

Garrett Island, at the mouth of the Susquehanna River, is finished.



North and upriver is to the right. The start of the Susquehanna Flats is visible to the left. The channel to Principio furnace (a British target) is just past the point in the foreground.

The town of Havre de Grace and the channel to the Chesapeake Bay is just out of the picture beyond the point in the upper left.

[Bligh]

That does you proud Dobbs.
I'm afraid that my latest work in progress is for our event at Doncaster in September, and is thus being outlined on that thread in the UK Fleet forum where you can view the progress made thus far.

Rob.

[William Bush]

Very well excecuted, Mr. Dobbs.

Methinks I can almost hear the seagulls overhead and the rustling of the trees while gazing onto the river.

Lt. Bush

[ShadowDragon]

More 17th century ships in preparation ... the 1st rate, Royal Sovereign, the 3rd rate, Resolution and 4 armed merchant ships (2 of 24-26 guns and 2 of 4-6 guns).

[Diamondback]

Analyzing the works of John Fitzhugh Millar trying to identify potential "clusters" of ships to make the pre-1815 USN, Continental Navy, various State navies and the privateers, smugglers etc that prowled North American waters viable for Ares, Henry, Simon or anyone else who wants to take my data and turn it into something physical. As I have heard nothing from anyone at Ares for a while to issue requests or direction on NDA-covered work, I am operating as a free agent until they contact me again and my services are available to anyone who finds mutually agreeable terms.

[Bligh]

More superb ships Paul.
I am looking forward to seeing your first action with them.
Rob.

[Bligh]

Analyzing the works of John Fitzhugh Millar trying to identify potential "clusters" of ships to make the pre-1815 USN, Continental Navy, various State navies and the privateers, smugglers etc that prowled North American waters viable for Ares, Henry, Simon or anyone else who wants to take my data and turn it into something physical. As I have heard nothing from anyone at Ares for a while to issue requests or direction on NDA-covered work, I am operating as a free agent until they contact me again and my services are available to anyone who finds mutually agreeable terms.

Sounds like a good use of your expertise DB. A prophet in his own land and all that springs to mind.
Rob.

[ShadowDragon]

More superb ships Paul.
I am looking forward to seeing your first action with them.
Rob.

Game being played today - Prince Rupert with Portuguese allies vs Robert Blake with Dutch allies.

Royalist Ships = Constant Reformation (24 damage / 52 heavy guns) and Convertine (12 damage / 46 middling guns)
Portuguese Ships = Santissimo Sacramento (12 damage / 46 middling guns), Nossa Senhora de Conceição do Porto (12 damage / 38 middling guns) and Santa Catarina (12 damage / 26 middling guns)
Total = 72 damage points / 226 guns

Commonwealth Ships = St. George (16 damage / 54 heavy guns) and Leopard (16 damage / 56 middling guns)
Dutch Shops = Wassenaar (16 damage / 60 middling guns), Haarlem (12 damage / 40 middling guns), Zierickzee (12 damage / 30 light guns), Franicker (12 damge / 24 light guns), Bredamme (12 damage / 20 light guns) and Valckenburch (8 damage / 8 light guns)
Total = 98 damage points / 292 guns

The Commonwealth Dutch have a larger fleet but are at anchor on a leeward shore. The Royalists-Portuguese have the wind advantage. It's a variation of the Battle of Southwold Bay.

[Bligh]

Great Paul!.
I hope to see the pictures posted soon in our AARs section.
Good luck with your battle.

Rob.

[Diamondback]

Good news is, IF I can get past the Ares 28m floor (hopefully Dust Games can change that) I think I have a few clusters already starting to form. Alernatively, I'm going to suggest for the "permanently impossible due to underlength" ships that Ship Logs be released as a free download to pair with any ship we can source to fit. Then again, going by how my proposal for downloadable additional logs just for the sculpts we HAVE in an effort to drive sales was received, I wouldn't hold my breath...

[ShadowDragon]

Great Paul!.
I hope to see the pictures posted soon in our AARs section.
Good luck with your battle.

Rob.

Posted in the AAR section, Rob.