"28mm bateaux? Gundollas? Etc?" Topic

Well, does anyone make them?
FIW and AWI accounts are full of them to make interesting battles.

Does anyone make "small boats" that will not shame me if I want to play with them and my toy soldiers in public?

I'm open to resin, laser cut mdf, cheap 3D printed, a gift from Michael Anthony…

I've always made mine from poster board and thick card for the base. Not pretty, but they served their purpose.

John, wasn't the gift from John Beresford Tipton, with Michael Anthony acting as the delivery man? That should confuse the youngsters and our foreign friends.

Oh! Good Lord, John.

Buy some balsa and bass wood and get to it.

Michaels sells bags of each.

I don't know what they look like. '
Or what the difference is!

Redoubt has some and rangers to man them, as well as large Indian war canoes

large bateaux link

medium bateaux link

They are kits that you assemble…not too difficult but very nice bateaux.

I'd like to see these too. Not everyone likes to convert and build things from scratch as much nevins, apparently much to his chagrin.

Winston, I would take a look at these Playmobil rowboats

auction

Axabrax, Actually, John and I go back a bit and I'm just busting his…………onions?

Whatever works for you, or anyone else, is fine with me.

Nevinsrip is just being nevinsrip.

Try Games of War (gamesofwar.co.uk). They make some very nice boats (a long boat for GBP 10 and and a jolly boat for GBP 5) and small ships at very reasonable prices. Their range is a bit "a-ha, Jim lad" but their models are very good. I started on two of their sloops this weekend.

I was just about to post about Games Of War when 22nd Foot chimed in. The longboat and jolly boat are both good castings and very decent pricing (for out of EU there is a 17.5% discount because no VAT). They have no seating molded in. I find this a plus for gaming uses, but you can easily add it if you desire.

Earlier this year I sent Alan at Games of War detailed drawings and plenty of pictures of 'batteaux'. I was impressed with his other models of boats and hoped he would make this one, as there is nothing on the market that looks right. Alas, despite a couple of reminders, nothing has been forthcoming. If the reason is that he thought there wasn't enough demand it would help if everyone asked!

This is what it should look like:
link
Does anyone know how to turn a line drawing (as on the link) into a file for 3D printing? That or learning how to make boats from wood strip (laser cut?) are the other options. Neither is easy.

I got some of these from thingsfromthebasement.
link

I'm trying to talk him into putting pointy ends on them.
Add your voice!

Batteaux don't have pointy end, Winston.

Just saying…

Eric

Sancho Panzer's link above seems to think so.
As does Iron Duke's.

Nope. They don't.

Pointy ends are for things like surfboats, whaleboats, and things like that. Batteaux did not have pointy ends.

Lots of references for that.

Believe me. I went to a school for that stuff. The Cape Cod College for Nautical Knowledge spent a LOT of time my Fourth Class Year (read Freshman) teaching us about things like that. Words have Meaning…

Eric

There is no single design for batteaux. This was a generic term for any double-ended, keel-less, flat bottomed boat. They came in a wide variety of sizes, some with pointy ends and some without.

Is 'gundolla' a thing or a typo?

It's one way of spelling it from the period. It looked exotic so I used it.

I like it

Ummm… No.

That's like saying Pinks, Snows, Topsail Schooners, Yawls (not y'alls… that's a Southern th'aing…) are all pretty boats with rigging and saily bit.

Batteaux did not have pointy ends for that very reason.

Nautical bits spoken by non-nautical people.

Might as well all call them a "dory" for that matter.

Forsooth.

Eric

The people who built these would be very surprised to hear that they were not building batteaux:

link

Here's another reference on those small craft used by the military in 18th c. N.America which I'd like to get models of, whatever people choose to call them:

And, if you really want all of the nitty-gritty details, check out this masters thesis by Nathan Gallagher:

link

Which says, in part . . .

Presumably, the French term of "bateau plat," was simply shortened to "bateau" in the British vocabulary. It is obvious that using the word for "boat" was not specific enough for French speakers, but to British colonials the word came to represent this particular type of craft. The name reflects the French origin of the boats, but British phonetic spellings such as "battoe" or "batoe" are commonly seen in English historical sources. When applied to this unique version of the craft built in the English colonies, "bateau" became a word for something sui generis. As Peter Kalm described them:

"Battoes are another kind of boats that are much in use in Albany: they are made of boards of white pine; the bottom is flat, that they may row the better in shallow water. They are sharp at both ends, and somewhat higher towards the end than in the middle. They have seats in them, and are rowed as common boats. They are long, yet not all alike. Usually they are three and sometimes four fathoms [24 feet or 7.32 meters] long."

War Artisan;
Like I said, things get lost in translation.

Batteaux were not set to a pattern except being flat in the bottom and bow and stern.

Kalm was a Swede who could have seem things like Durham Boats being made and would have called them Batteaux because of local slang.

I'd recommend something based on building in Montreal or somewhere else in New France, since Les Anglais have a terrible record of calling something a word different than what it meant.

Just because someone makes a miniature of something, it doesn't make them an expert. Like the people who call the M901 ITV a "Hammerhead". Never heard it called that during its service.

My two shillings.

Eric

I'd recommend something based on building in Montreal

Like this reconstruction of a "French Bateau" in the Stewart Museum, Montreal, Quebec?

I see I've brought a Bricole Incident into the AWI board. AND the FIW board too!
Another B-word…..

I'll just get my hat, and call them there models "boats".
Floaty things.

Good plan, Winston. Let's go with that.

You and your Bricoles, Winston.

Eric

I'll add my two-bricoles worth.

The Museum of Underwater Archaeology, connected to the University of Rhode Island, goes with pointy-ended bateau. link

I've been hoping somebody would make a kit based on this plan:

Laser Dream Works makes lovely kits labelled Bateau,but with a flat stern, which I call a skiff. link

Are those Laserdreamworks models resin, 3D print or laser cut wood?

Laser cut plywood. Because it's actual wood, not mdf, I stained mine with my old cross-country ski stain before assembly. They came out lovely, and with authentic pitch smell! ^,^

"Here be bateaux"

I'll probably be getting some of the Laser Dreamworks boats once the "Not going to Cold Wars" buying frenzy calms down.
Several of my plans "need" boats.
HMS Fly looks like a fun "larger" to start with ships run aground. Chelsea Creek, Red Bank, etc.

I've got the medium bateaux from laser dreamworks and really like it. I stained mine too and think it turned out nice. Since the boat is built in layers and you sand the outside to make it smooth l didn't stain the outside till it was together. The varying shades looked weathered. Just used it in an AWI scenario at Cold Wars. It is a very nice product.

My personal opinion is that the longboat from Games Of War is the best available option – and as good a price as any other options too.

I just looked at the Games of War site – that is a nice looking boat. I may have to get one of these too.

I've given up on finding an accurate commercial model of a bateau and am working with basswood and styrene strip to make my own. Gondolas seem to postdate the FIW but I've just learned about radeaux (Google 'Land Tortoise radeau"), floating batteries reminiscent of the later Merrimac! They look relatively easy to scratchbuild but it would be an unusual scenario that called for them.

Old Glory made a model of the radeau Thunderer.

Batteaux? Mine are flat ended.

Based on what I have read. YMMV.

At the end of the day, we are playing with toys. So build them as you wish.

Eric