A third painting commission

[Lluis of Minairons]

Right after completing Stewart's order, the gaming mate I had painted a few ships for came to me again with a new request: three piggy large warships, that he wished as WSS Spanish frigates.

I started working on them immediately, along with a Skytrex galleass that had inspired my curiousity.
However, there has been little observable progress in the last weeks, due to lack of time --unnerving!
Finally, I've managed to put some hours together this weekend to finish the job, so here you have them four (the galleass at picture left).



This time I have performed little changes on the piggy ships: the model designed by the user to be his flagship has been replaced its original bowsprit by another one with staysails; while the other two frigates had their foremast changed by another one with three sails instead of two.



As for the painting schemas applied to each, they're quite similar except for the rails colour (black, green or blue), or bow and stern decoration (golden for the flagship and yellow for the rest), or the dark tinged sails of one (no historical reasons behind, just a trick intended to allow the user identifying that particular ship on tabletop).



Flags and pennants are those used by the Spanish navy between 1701 and 1785. Worth to note that the flagship's mainmast flag is the actually one used by a particular Spanish admiral of those times, Blas de Lezo.



If looking into the galleass now, this was destined to increase my own collection  I had no room for such a ship in my miniature fleets but, as said, curiosity beat me.

Expriming myself to find a use for the new ship, I remembered a 1714 Turco-Venetian War what-if campaign I had been musing with for a time, so I decided to dress the ship as an Ottoman galleass. One never knows when a nearly forgotten wargaming plan can resurrect! 



A good number of features have been thoroughly (if not skilfully) modified there, starting by rigging –masts and square sails were replaced by Minairons ones, while bowsprit and lateen sail came from a piggy kit.



I also enlarged both castles making them higher and wider. I also discarded the bulwarks protecting the main deck, replacing them by long runways that formed some kind of open upper deck.



As you can see by the picture below, I used a piggy stern piece to complete the model’s stern castle. And last, the ship hoists a flag set used by the Ottomans until 1730 (when an islamist burst in Turkey removed red from all flags and replaced it by the Caliphate green).



That’s all for the moment. I have now another commission in hands, a couple of small pirate ships!!

Lluís

[Colonel Kilgore]

Very very nice - I do like the broad consistency, yet ship-level individuality, of the Spanish fleet.

And the Ottoman ship is just lovely too....

[Stewart 46A]

As all ways Lluís they look really excellent

[Lluis of Minairons]

Just a latest hour addendum to this topic: I've just finished this morning two more pirate ships for this 3rd commission.

The painting pattern I've followed for them is the same one you've already seen in other ships of this commission, or in those destined to increase my own collection. Here you have the pictures on the ships:







One of the ships has been given red pirate flags, while the other one hoists a white ensign with the motto 'For God & Libertie' commonly attributed to the Libertatia pirate republic settled in Indian Ocean. In the next few days these ships are going to sail to the Isles. Enjoy them!!!!

I'd like to take advantage of this post for sharing some pictures on a few oared vessels I've been building from scratch lately --these, destined to my own collection:



As you can see, there is a 2-masted ordinary galley ('galera grossa' as we call it in Catalan language), a single masted half galley (or galera subtil) and a small, oared gunboat.



An ordinary galley would usually be around 40-45m long, powered by around two dozen oar pairs, and armed with 5 guns of varying calibres. On its side, a half galley would have between 16 and 24 oar pairs and 3 guns. Both have been built entirely from plastic parts and bits picked from everywhere (PVC for hulls and HPS for all the rest)



They've been dressed as Catalan galleys, like those the General Deputation of that principality deployed in 17th century to protect coasts against Barbary pirates. As such, they hoist large Saint George standards on mast tops, for this was the Parliament and General Deputation device; with smaller, rectangular crimson standards at chief position showing the royal arms of Aragon.



BTW, the ensign ship of this small fleet (we're talking of four galleys) was christened 'Sant Jordi'.

[Stewart 46A]

They look very good indeed, you have a very rare talent.

[Colonel Kilgore]

Very nice, Lluis - I particularly like the red skull & crossbones - that really is a talking point!

[Sean Clark]

Wow. Having used Stewart's ships at the Piggie weekender I can vouch for how excellent these look in real life. You are also providing inspiration and reference material for my own ships when I come to paint them in the new year. Well done!

[martin goddard]

These are truly excellent Lluis!  Hats off!!

[Lluis of Minairons]

Thanks for your warm comments, Sirs

BTW, regarding the scratch built galleys: if anyone is willing to give a trial to it, here it goes a quite basic schema on the thing:



This should help you building any generic galley's hull structure; about how to dress it afterwards, I leave it to your for sure exuberant imagination

Lluís