28mm Pirate ship construction - Final part
Construction Photos (Click on the images to see a larger version)
Hull details.
I added the decorative parts to the front of the hull and also a handrail on the
front bulkhead after some feedback from the piratewargames yahoo group (as it looked
odd without anything there).
Also I added a couple pieces of plasticard to the sides
for where the rigging would be attached to the hull.
Rear windows.
The windows were created using thin strips of 0.5mm plasticard to help give more of a 3D effect. I
could have also added some mesh, which would have looked good, but I didn't have much
left.
Deck details.
I added a ships wheel from Eureka and some brass tubing at the rear for a flag
pole. This means I can insert different flags depending on who's sailing the ship. I
also added a piece of brass tubing on each side of the hull for a swivel gun, which
can be removed. Also visible is the quarter windows made from a piece of balsa and
some thin 0.5mm strips of plasticard.
Adding the masts
I brought some 4,6 and 8mm dowel from the local hardware store and cut it up as
per the article. When I inserted it into the holes in the hull, I found it was slightly off centre
so to compensate, I wrapped masking tape around the bottom and near where the mast
comes out of the hull. Next I drilled holes for all the joins and sanded the cross
pieces so they would fit more snugly against the main masts. Also I sanded the ends
into a point as recommended in the article.
Assembling the masts.
I glued the masts together with PVA and threaded a thin piece of wire through the
hole on both pieces and wrapped it around the two sections as per the photos. The wire
should help to make it stronger and more durable and it looks thick rope.
I also got an
eyehook and cut it piece off to turn it into a normal hook and screwed it into the
foremast. This is so I can detach the front sail from the masts and then take out all
the masts for storage purposes.
The sails.
These were made from cloth I got from the local fabric shop very cheaply ($2.50 for
1 meter). I think its called calico and its pretty close to the colour I wanted so I
don't have to bother painting it. I was planning to soak the masts in watered down PVA
but I was getting low on PVA so I sprayed them with a clearcoat varnish.
I used wire to support the front sail and made a little hook to loop onto the main
sail. I added some lower sails to mine (The article didn't and mentioned that they
get in the way of the figures) but decided to make them rolled up.
Construction finished
Here is the model before I start painting it. It's a lot larger than I was originally
planning and the masts are very tall, but they look good. I wont glue the sails on until
after it is painted as I'm sure to get paint on them. The only other thing to do is to
glue some magnetic basing material to the bottom of it so it doesn't slide around in my
box.
Painted ship
I gave it a black undercoat and then drybrushed it with various shades of brown
(mostly Folk Art paints. The gold highlights were done with GW shining gold as it is
quite a bright gold colour. The main and swivel guns are from Eureka but at the moment I only have
3 main guns. The flag was printed out onto paper and then varnished to make it stronger.
With crew
Another shot of the finished model with some Foundry and Dixon crew.
