Tuesday, August 24, 2010

WIP - Row Galley, Part 2

Last night was spent working out the rigging of the masts and lateen yards for the row galley.  The kit came with two masts and four yard pieces.  Last week I fished the yards together using some dark brown thread appropriated from my wife's sewing basket.  The masts will initially be loosely mounted in the holes in the deck provided for them while the yards will be hung on the masts so that they can be removed.  I bought a roll of 24 gauge (~0.5mm) copper wire from my local Ace Hardware store on the way home from work.  After several hours and a couple of false starts, this was the result:


If you double click on the picture you can get a close-up of my rigging technique.  I drilled a hole through the top of each mast and threaded the wire through it.  I had filed a groove around the mast where the hole was and wrapped and super-glued the wire to the mast, leaving enough to form into a loop.  This simulates the rigging "falls" that hold the yard.  I did the same to each yard but formed the wire into a hook that would fit into the loop piece on the mast.  By careful measuring (and some trimming of one end) I ensured that each yard would hang at a slant since this type of row galley used a lateen rig.  Now all I have to do is paint the masts and yards, make the sails, and get them attached to the yards.  There will not be any other rigging as this will be a wargaming "model" and I don't want to have to worry about rigging getting fouled with fingers and vice versa.

You will also notice that the galley has been completed painted.  The outer hull is charcoal and antique gold (ochre) while the interior is red (to hide the blood splatter).  The deck is painted a desert tan color to simulate "holy-stoned" wood planking.  The quarterdeck is a separate piece to which I've glued pins that fit into holes on the main deck sides.  The tiller bar still requires painting (in progress) and mounting.  The crewmen are being painted as well.  The artillery is still unpainted.

I plan on using this same rigging technique for the smaller vessel and the three gunboats that I have.  The smaller vessel will get a fore-and-aft rig on a single mast while the gunboats will have a single square main sail.

Now all I have to do is come up with a suitable name for a Britannian colonial ship from the southern colonies.  Any suggestions?

3 comments:

A J said...

She's shaping up into a handsome vessel. For a name, what about Australis, or Southern Cross?

Bluebear Jeff said...

She does look good.

How about something like "Fairwind" (so they don't have to row)?


-- Jeff

Fitz-Badger said...

How about "The Star of (insert place name here)"?