"Building Your Own Fleet" Topic

Has anyone here undertaken a project to scratch-build ships? Looking at 1/1200 or 1/2400 scale Far Eastern galleys and sailing vessels. Never done so before so I'm curious how you model the hulls and then whether or not there are ways to mass-produce a fleet? Also would appreciate any recommendations on materials to use.

Thanks,

Marv

Richard Nelson, in his book "Salamis", shows how to build balsa wood triremes.
The strips seem very easy to cut, and mass produce.

Paul Hague's Sea Battles in Miniature shows how to make 15mm galleys (not to scale). Ptreey neat stuff. OFM, what do you think of the Richard B. Nelson book on Salamis? Any good? Thanks!

I did one years ago. The hull is easy – balsa stock of roughly the right width and depth, cut to length. Sandpaper on balsa at that size is as good as a power tool on normal wood. Thin balsa for the walk, I would use plastic now.

I used a toothpick for the spur, since they are harder wood and will stand up better. Same (or plastic or brass no) for the mast.

Paper for the tent at the stern and for the covers over the flanks of the benches and the oars – today I would print designs by computer and use light transparent plastic for the oars, painting the oars.

Looked OK – by the dozen they look great.

for the scales you are suggesting i would recomend sheet styrene over balsa. Especially if you want to produce a master for resin or plaster casting. Keep the level of "clutter" low on the hull master, then add masts, oars etc after casting.

Dave & Lentulus,

Thanks for the ideas. Curious as to how you make the oars. Lentulus mentioned transparent plastic--do you mean something like overlay or document protector material? Not sure I can visualize that.

I will be building East Asian ships, with hulls riding a bit higher out of the water, I believe, than traditional western galleys. Would you still recommend balsa and sheet styrene for the master hulls? And since you mentioned it, would you forsee any problem with plaster casting them?

Thanks.

Marv

I have no experience with styrene for this sort of things. The Galleys I built were 16th century turkish.

For the oars, I used rectangles of paper running at an angle from the appropariate point on the hull down to water level, oards drawn on. Today, I would use that sort of projector film – it would be transparent after all.

I have seen all sorts of ships done in balsa, so I do not see why east asian ships would present a problem from a materials standpoint.

Casting I have no experience with.

The War Memorial Museum in Seoul built a 1:2 scale turtle boat model – pictures here link if you're interested.