Building a Pirate Ship - Part 7

Part 7:

Strengthening the ship.

In previous sections, I have covered adding wood grain, planks and details to your ship.

In this installment, I will demonstrate how to add wood and clay supports that will help strengthen your ship.

Strengthen the gunwales:
Roll a long thick lump of clay about 3-4 inches in length. Cut this into the shape shown in the picture.

This piece will then be sliced in thin layers to add the vertical support between the deck guns.

=> The piece shown is about 3/4 inch in height.

Slice thin pieces and place each support piece on the gunwales, centered between each gun port.

Blend the clay into the side and main deck for each piece.

=> Take care not to damage the wood grain details on the gunwales, deck or outer hull.

Also place a piece left and right of the last gun ports.

Notice how I have cut and adapted one of the support pieces near the base of the steps

=> Detail each piece with vertical wood grain, and a rivet at the top and bottom of the support.

Add wood supports:

You will need several wood coffee stir sticks and small skewers.

Cut off the sharp end of the skewers, since we will not need them for this build.

Create wood posts:
Measure and cut wood posts for supports. You will need only two for this section. My posts are 1-1/4 inch in lenght.

=> In total I will use 26 posts on this ship.

I have added some character to the post by carving a grove at one end and sanding the tip to make it round. Customizing the post is tedious work, yet the finish results are worth the effort.

Add the mast support:

From the coffee stir sticks, measure and cut two trapezoid shaped planks. Cut the angle on the first, then set a second stir stick on the cutting board. Cut the next piece by following the angle of the first trapezoid plank. The result will be two matched trapezoid planks that fit on the face of the foremast post.

Place two of the skewers posts at an angle, gently pushing them into the main deck.

=> Do not push them all the way thru the deck. In case you do push them too far, just remember to sand them a bit after you bake the model. The ship will have a felt bottom, so you do not need to concern yourself too much.

Main mast supports:

Cut more coffee stir sticks as in the last step, with three planks for each side. You may then use round posts as above or use flat craft sticks as shown in the photo.

=> I like using the the flat sticks on the main deck so I have a flush support column for the main mast. This helps with figure placement it you intend to use the ship for historical gaming.

Measure and cut the craft sticks and gently push them into the deck. Again try not to push them all the way thru the deck.

The added wood supports will allow the mast to be removed for game use without the worry of damaging the clay support post.

=> Later in the build after baking, you will remove these wood pieces, then glue them in place after you prime and start to paint the model.

Adding a flag staff:

Using a thick skewer, measure a 4 inch flag pole. I have clipped the sharp tip, then carved a tappered "spear" like shape for the flag pole.

Notice the bottom end is also slightly tappered. This allows easy removal of the flag.

Push the flag pole into the stern.

Do this gently to avoid damage to the stern. A slight twist while pushing works great.

=> You may need to add an interior support post. My flag pole poked into the captains cabin. Remove the flag, add the post, then reinsert the flag pole.

Do not forget to add wood grain details to the new support piece.

Set aside the tappered flag pole for baking and insert a skewer of equal size, without the tappered end.

This way the flag pole hole will accompidate similar flag poles, regardless if they are tappered or not tappered.

Add wood posts:
Carve up a collection of wood posts, you will need 24 more posts, cut 1-1/4 inch in lenght for this step. I'm sure you could find ready made posts if you search the web, or you could just use standard skewers without the custom end.

Either way, custom posts or standard post, you will insert them into the stern, gently pushing and twisting them in place.

Add four left, and four right of the flag staff. Use the dental compactor tool to make a pilot hole for each post. Notice that I insert the stern posts about half of the length.

Add two additional posts, left and right of the quarterdeck. The posts are inserted no more than 1/3 of theier length into the clay.

You could also make these four quarterdeck posts a touch longer, as needed to ensure they are inserted at least 1/2 inch into the clay.

=> Later I will show you how to create a guardrail between these two posts.

Skull Markers:

Gaming Note: This ship has eight posts across the stern, used to mount skull marker beads. The skull beads are used within The Pirates Code - No Quarter Given, Fast Play Rules system 2008 ©, by Battlefield Hobbies. The skull markers are use to track the speed of the ship. Each skull represents 1-knot of speed, which equals 10cm of movement for navigation.

=> You can use the skulls to track damage, speed or just add them for effect.

Add posts for effect:
Add additional post on the gunwale aligned with each vertical gunwale support. Five on each side in total, again inserting them with a slight twist about 1/2 inch into the clay.

=> For my ships, these extra posts are used to tie off ropes, or to store the skull beads when the ship slows below 8-knots of speed.

Add as many additional wood posts or supports to help customize your ship. The extra posts can be for show, or have a specific function as needed.

Historical note:

Ruse de guerre: Most pirate ships would carry an assortment of flags. A common ploy used by pirates would be to raise the national flag of the merchant vessel that they are approaching to trick them into letting down their guard. The pirates would then approach the target vessel, getting in close enought to bring their deck guns into range. The pirates would then host up the Jolly Roger, and firing a warning shot across the bow, thus letting their true intentions be known. The pirates do not want to shoot up thier intended prey, and many times the only shot fired is the warning shot, and Woe to any merchant that ignores the warning. Pirates forced to fight for their spoils, are more likley to offer No Quarter in combat. For this reason, a wise or defenceless merchant vessel would often strike their colors, surrendering to the mercy of the pirates.

• NOTE: You can make a variety of pirate flags and national ensigns. This will allow you to swap out flags as needed. De Wolven for example, is a Dutch name, so you could add a Dutch VoC or a standard Dutch flag and quickly turn her into a merchant vessel in disguise.

The VoC :
Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, which translates as United East Indies Company but is also known as the Dutch East India Company.

In the 1600's the VoC dominated navigation and world trade.

=> In a future post I will cover making flags with canvas, or with 110lbs card stock.

Concluding part 7:

This will conclude part SEVEN of the Pirate ship build.

In the next installment I will cover the final steps before baking the clay.

• Stop by my Flickr or Picasa photo pages for pictures of other completed ships, pirate, privateer and naval vessels.

John T Cusack

http://www.battlefieldhobbies.org/

Building a Pirate Ship - Part 6

Part 6:

Preparing the hull.

In previous installments, I have walked you through the steps of creating the basic hull, added decks and how to begin the detailing of your ship.

In this installment, I will cover preparing the hull and surface areas for wood grain and planking details.

• As in previous steps, we begin with a picture of the completed ship. Starting with the end in mind.

Adding the rudder:

A minor add is needed before we can prepare the hull.
Cut out an enlongated trapizod for the rudder. Test fit the piece, them trim as needed to allow the the rudder to fit in the bottom section of the stern.

Use the end of one of your tools to adhere the rudder to the stern. I have pushed three distinct groves on the rudder to give it some character.

Prepare the main deck:

By now your main deck should be relativly smooth. However, at the point the deck meets the gunwale, it is most likely rounded.
With a flat edged tool, create a seam to give better definition to the deck, verse the side/gunwale.
Level off any rough areas, scraping off excess clay in very small amounts.
=> Do not shave to deep, it is beter to simply smooth out the surface verse shaving off too much clay to level out the surface.

Add groves to the hull:

With a flat, round edged tool, make groves to represent the planks on the outside of the ship.

=> You may opt to add the groves BEFORE you add the side/gunwales to your ship. If you do however, you may find that as you work the model the groves loose definition.

I have added four groves along the outside hull. One above the gunports, the next centered across the gunports, then two more below the gunports.

Reshape the gunports:

You will need to touch up the edges of the gunports after you add the groves to the sides of your ship.

=> Square them off, however you do not need spend too much time. In Part 8, I will cover adding trim around the gunports.

Blend the groves:
Your groves on the side of the ship may not be perfectly aligned from one side to the other. At the prow of the ship however, you will want the lines to match. Try as best you can to join the lines, so looking at the prow, the groves on the port and starboard sides line up.

I have left the center line of the prow, without lines. This helps blend the groves into a finished look for the prow.

=>Optional: You may add a figure head to the prow, by carving or by adding wood or metal items to the ship. If you add a soft white metal figure, make sure it can withstand the heat of baking. Otherwise test fit the item, remove it then add it again after baking.

Add the wood grain:

Use your saw tooth blade to add wood grain lines to the outside hull surface. => You may notice, I do not use the exacto saw tooth blade mounted in the exacto handle. Since the saw tooth blade is not sharp, you can use it with or without the exacto handle.

Continue adding wood grain on the main deck, inside gunwales, and all other surfaces.

Add planking:

Use the end of a flat (thin) rounded ended tool to trace plank lines. Be creative and add cross lines for each plank.

I keep the planks about 1-2 inched in lenght.

=> With 1:72 scale, 1-2 inches would equate to 6 to 12 foot planks on a full scale ship.

Add wood peg/rivets:
Using a dental compactor tool add the rivets marks, which represent the wood pegs used to connect the planks. This step is really just for looks.
I use two sizes, pictured to the left, with smallest used on most planks. The larger compactor tool, I use on the ends of planks with a single indentation.

You will notice the ship is no longer the same size as the pattern I started with. This is a result of molding and shaping the hull, deck and side of the ship. The bottom hull/deck is no longer as thick as it was when I started. This however is not a problem, since Super Sculpey clay is very strong when baked. However as build your ship, you should watch for thin spots, adding clay as needed.

Concluding part 6:
This will conclude part SIX of the Pirate Ship build.

In the next installment, I will cover the addition of wood and clay parts designed to strengthen the gunwales and mast supports.

• Do you have comments, questions? Then please add a comment, and sign up to follow the blog by using the links in the upper right hand corner of the page.
  

John T. Cusack
Www.battlefieldhobbies.org

Building a Pirate Ship - Part 5

Part 5:

Adding details to your pirate ship.

Up to this point most of the work has been shaping and adding the various parts of the ship. In this installment I will outline the steps required to detail the removable quarterdeck piece.

• The primay tool needed is a fine saw tooth blade, which can be fitted into a standard exacto knife.

Cut out the captains door:


This piece is about 3/4 inch wide by about 1 inch tall. I have made this piece about a 3/8 inch thick, however i did not measure the it. Just rough the demension by look. Start by cutting a larger square, they trim the piece, round the top, and place it on the face of the quarterdeck piece.




Tool in the door frame:
The door frame grove seen on the left, is made by pressing the tool into the "door" piece cut in the previous step. Pressing the details into the door, also serves to bond the door to the quarterdeck face.




Also notice I have added three vertical "panels", to form the door.



Adding the wood grain:
This technique you will use repeatdly as you add wood grain to nearly all surfaces of the ship. Here I am adding the wood grain horizontally to the left of the captains door on the face of the quarterdeck. I alternate with horizontal and vertical wood grain as needed.


For example the bevel cut area is vertical wood grain, while the side and inside are all horizontal.


Add port holes:
The port holes are created by adding a bead of clay in a circle. Then I press a compacting dental tool into the bead to form rivets.


If you do not have access to dental tools, then cut the pointed tip from a tooth pick and use the cut end to make your rivets.

Notice on the left bulkhead, I have added vertical lines, to look like panels, before I added the port hole.

=> Also press a circle into the clay inside the porthole to give it the illiusion of depth.

• Do not however, pull an actual hole in the clay. Later I will demostrate painting the port hole sky blue with clouds to make it look like it is reflecting the sky in a translucent or semi translucent glass window.

Adding the wood grain deck:
With the saw tooth blade, add wood grain on the top of the quarterdeck. Then add, wood decking, with the edge of the saw blade, or with a fine edges tool.

The tool show here is the dental compact tool mentioned above. It works great for adding rivets at the ends of each deck plate. Notice how I have added the deck plates in a pattern to make it look like different length of planks had been used to build the ship.

=> The "rivet" marks on the wood planks would represent wood pegs, bolts or nails depending on the area of the ship. For ease of explaination, I will call them "rivets" as a general term, since that best describes the hundrens of little holes you will make on the decks.

Add wood grain on all surfaces:
Add the wood grain and the plank details on the side, and even on the underside. Also add the rivet marks on each plank.

Notice the two vertical boards on the beveled section, which each have only one rivet mark on the top and bottom.

= >Use your creativity with the wood grain, planks and rivet marks. At times I will even add battle damage on ships, or carve speical features, skulls, or other marking to give each ship more character.


Add a railing:

I have used small skewer sticks, carved a grove in the stick, then worked a point to creat this post rail. This too is rather tedious work, however I like the customer look to the post once finished.

Notice I have four holes in the deck, made with a deep plunge of the dental compact tool.

=> I strongly suggest to cut the sharp tips off the skewer sticks. The fine point will draw blood while you work details, adding chians, ropes and rigging. If you intend to use the ship for gaming, it could also cut a careless finger. Trust me on this one, I cut the shape tips off all the skewers or tooth picks used on my ships now. Your finger tips and knuckles will thank you for this suggestion.



Install the rail:

Push the four posts into the clay, using the four guiding holes shown in the previous picture.

Work the post in slowly, twisting as you go to avoid crushing the bulkhead, or mis-forming the deck.

=> Also do not push them in to far, or you will have a post in the port hole. The post on the far left, did just that, so I had to rework the port hole.

• You can also add hinges and a door knocker if you like to add that special touch. The door knocker on this ship is a skull. You can look back on the finished picture above to see the finish details added.

Concluding part 5:

This concludes part FIVE of the Pirate ship build. The next installment will prepare the main deck, and exterior hull for the wood grain and plank details. I will cover in detail, how to strengthen the mast supports, working to bring life to your pirate ship.

Thanks for following the Blog!!

John T Cusack

www.battlefieldhobbies.org

Building a Pirate Ship - Part 4

Part 4:

Creating the gun ports.

Up to this point, I have walked through the steps of building the basic hull, adding the stern, forecastle, spar deck and creating the removeable quarterdeck.

In this installment, I will cover cutting in the gun ports, adding a temporary fore mast and main mast, then the creating of steps leading up to the Quarterdeck. When you get right down to it, the gunports MAKE the ship!

Test figures:
Select a 25mm figure from your collection. If you do not have any figures, pick up a pirate figure from your local Game/Hobby store.

The Figure I use, is primed, however not fully painted. It should however, be mounted on a base like those you may use in your figure collection. The one shown is on a 1 inch masonite base.

In addition, I have selected a deck gun (Cannon) which has a barrel that measures 30mm in length.



Measure the gunwale:
This is by far one of the most important steps. As you work the model, the sides droop, stretch and otherwise become mis-shaped. Througout the entire build, I work and re-work the side of the ships. As you cut gun ports, the side will "sag" even more. So for this reason I stress, this is important, so measure, now then measure again, and again, before you bake the model.

=> I use a doll rod, with a red mark at 1-1/4 inches. Hold the measuring stick all along the side. Correct any areas that are below the mark.



Prepare the main deck:

With your fingures, flatten the main deck to remove any bumps of rounded areas. This step will make the workable main deck surface larger, at the same time ensuring the surface is flat.

You will want to flatten the surface very well, while spot measuring the gunwales throughout this step. I even use the "test" figures since the 1 inch round base helps to level off the main deck surface. All the more reason to use an unpainted figure.



Mark the gun ports:
Using the deck gun, place and press the barrel into the side of the ship. Take note in the picture you can clearly see the first two locations, to the right of the deck gun piece.

I suggest using an unpainted deck gun too, since clay will often stick to the piece.

Mark out each gun port, for this ship I have eight ports, with four on the port and four on the starboard gunwale.


Cut the gun ports:
Using a flat, square ended tool, press the gun port by forming a square in the side of the ship. While pressing the tool, you will need to place you fingure on the outside of the ship to support the gunwale. Press until you feel the flat, square edge against your finger.

Once you have press "cut" the four sides, push the piece through from the inside. It will make a rough square hole. Take only a moment to square off and clean the gun port. There is still some detail wrok to be done later, so you do not need to have the gun ports perfect at this point.

=> Test fit the deck gun at each gun port hole to ensure it is lined up correctly.



Insert temporary masts:
Using a short doll rod, insert the foremast, then insert the main mast into the mast supports.

When baking you will use these temporary mast, later I will demonstrate the placement of the actual full lenght masts to provide vertical alignment of the the mast.

=> The doll rods for the foremast can be 1/4 inch or 5/16 inch. The main mast, I like to use a 3/8 inch doll rod, since it will be taller it should be thicker at the base.


Forming the steps:
The steps are only for show, and will not be made for figure placement. Star with a small piece of clay, I like to star with a lump or ball, then cut it down, verse flattening a piece of clay. I find that using a ball of clay is best, carefully worked with your hands to remove any air pockets.

Cut a small square, about 1/2 inch thick by 1 inch square. Cut the piece from as shown, from corner to corner.


Trace the step pattern:
With a flat, square ended tool, lightly trace the step pattern. Don not cut the pattern, only mark it so you can see the pattern on the side of the steps.

=> Nothing too fancy, again this piece is only for show.




Install the steps:
Place the steps against the side/gunwale, with the pattern you traced showing. Then with a flat, squared ended tool, push the pattern into the steps. Do this while working the clay into the side/gunwale seam.

Work the bottom seam, blending the clay into the main deck and sides of the ship.
=> Do not bond the steps with the removable quarterdeck. In fact, remove the quarter deck and work the back seam, forming a clean fit.

• Note: You will recall the beveled edge I had mentioned in a previous step. As I recommended earlier, matching a flat quarterdeck face with a flat backing on the steps will make the removable quarter deck much easier to fit together. I have made a beveled edge, which took many test fittings and work to gain a fit like a "key" for my removable quarterdeck. Since my ships are all hand made and customized, I like to have a "key" type fit for the removable deck. But again, I suggest a flat cut for your first ship.

Concluding Step 4:
This concludes part FOUR of the Pirate ship build. This is the final "rough" build section, before I move on to showing you how to add the fine details that will bring your ship to life.

In the next installment I will cover adding detail to the removable quarterdeck and Captains cabin doorway and port holes.

• How is your build going?
• Post comment on your progress, tips for your fellow craftsmen, comments or question.

As a master craftsmen, teacher and artist myself, I have a goal to learn something new each day. Thus far every day is successful, as I learn every day with every new project. Today could be your day to teach me a tip or technique that you have picked up along the way. Be confident to share what you have learned, it helps build the artists community, and who knows, some day you will be the master, and I but the student.

I hope you are enjoying the instructions, and learning a few tips along the way.

John T Cusack

www.battlefieldhobbies.org