glykan

OK, here is the next step. Still didn't decide of the ram yet, instead will probably go for the masts and the sail rigging and than see what else can (or should) be added.

It's time to report the progress, I recon. Bulwark still needs the top railing and I'll try to bring the total bulwark height to 1m (in original size ship), it seems to me that this height is quite reasonable. Not sure if I keep this rudder platform, for the time being I am not really exited about its size and shape. Maybe it'll look better with the railing and some decoration. Now I need to plank the middle section of the hull and my color options are linden (the same as on the deck), slightly darker obeche, cherry, medium-brown walnut or reddish-brown mahogany (sapele, actually). Or any of them dyed or painted over 🙃 Tough choice...

Yes, the rudder platform (balcony) is in my plans and it should balance the visual appearance of the bow vs stern. Maybe I have to make it, fix it on the hull temporarily and see if the fore part of the outrigger still calls for any adjustment. It isn't really a big deal to cut it shorter and patch the hole though it would bring a number of oars per raw down to 18 which might be a bit low for a 30-meter vessel.

Ram - didn't decide on it yet, two options are to carve it from wood and paint bronze (cheap and dirty option) or to combine a wooden core with some brass details glued on. By the way about the color of brass details. My initial idea was to darken all brass details to antique look with the substance they call "liver of sulfur" (quite popular among craft jewelry makers) provided that the batch I have is still working, since it's rather unstable once opened. Wood be cool to get some green hue too, but it's a special technique which I don't want to go to.

Ian, happy New Year to you and all our colleagues here! For the time being I have the bulwark corresponding to 2'6" (75cm) of original size and I will add some railing on top of it later, so the total should be just below 3 feet. Might be a bit low in terms of practicality for the battle protection but I'll see later if I like it or not - that's why I call my projects "go by flow" when there is no final blueprint and a lot of things can be modified at rather late stage. Which brings us to the outrigger (oar box) issue - btw thanks a lot for your comment, I do appreciate it. After you've mentioned it - yes, it looks to me now that visually it's a bit too long in fore and a bit too short in aft. Now I need to think about it... I ordered the linden strips from OcCre (https://occre.com/en-ca/collections/todos-los-productos/products/chapa-tilo-0-6x5mm) - they have attractive price and the shipment is only CAD$14. I want to see the strips before I decide how to plank the deck, maybe a simple blackening of the plank edge with a pencil or a marker would be enough to create the visual appeal I am after. By the way, my parcel is moving, it's already in Mirabel which means that I may get it in a couple of days! Still wondering why in a hell did they send it to Tennessee when there is at least a dozen of direct FedEx cargo fights from Paris to Mirabel. Maybe all staff in French FedEx branch had a very early New Year hangover syndrome 😉

Upper deck and bulwark are in place. There is still need for some touch-ups and the bow post will be definitely updated but other than that I'd say that the hull is finished. Second planking (especially of the deck and the bulwark) might be delayed since the FedEx parcel from Occre with the thin linden planks has somehow lost the sense of direction - after sitting in Paris airport for several days it has been sent to Memphis, TN (???) and only God knows when it can reach me here in Ottawa. In a meanwhile I have to decide on the color scheme and start making items to "furnish" the deck (not to mention about 80 oars that I have to make).

Thanks a lot Ian, it's all very useful information. I'll stick to 3ft for the time being and see how it looks with my re-designed stern post, the initial one looked way too short for my bulwark. I must admit I never thought that a double-action pump goes back to 2nd century BC, for me it has always been associated with much later period. Live and learn...

Thanks, it actually came out better than I expected. What do you think about the height of the bulwark? Would 3 ft (in a full-size ship) be reasonable? In my model, that seems to be a bit too high but after all it's a warship and people on a deck need some protection from enemy projectiles. One more and rather unusual detail to be (or not to be) included - I've seen somewhere in Internet (didn't make any bookmark on it though) that the quadriremes and larger ships were equipped with the Archimedes screw to pump out the water from the holds. Do you think it's plausible?

First planking done. With all changes of the general design and the hull shape this should be considered as a version 2.4 Upper deck and bulwark are in progress

I decided to make a cut-out in upper deck to show the rowers' benches. In order to make them looking realistically had to re-adjust the height of both decks and the re-shape that extension on a side of a hull (I guess they called it "thranos"). Veneered and varnished this new section while I still have a good access to it. Now ready for planking...

Hi Dick, Thanks a lot for very useful information, it definitely helps. Seems that shrouds are out of questions though the stays (probably with basic pulleys) seems to be there. I've also found a short video about a reconstruction of the Minoan ship in port of Chania, Crete - and it seems that builders tried to stay as close to original techniques and design as possible https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6UX86mv6XI#t=115 Thanks again Eugene

Ian, I think you can find some more details in another video from the same guy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuYBk0znbB8&list=PLN8dHnRD0y61NWWulgdXo7fMLYSnjZ943&index=9 and from the manufacturer's video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw64O3TunfM I would also like to get this kit though it seems to be discontinued (at least I didn't find it on their website) and it would probably cost me an arm and a leg

Hi Dick, Thanks for your reply. Here is how it looks now - really nothing but a couple of ropes:

Ian, I looked at the figures you've mentioned - very interesting indeed. People still can buy them on eBay or Amazon though the manufacturer itself is in Ukraine and probably suffers from blackouts caused by Russian bombing. And I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the company switched to the production of plastic items for military instead of toys

Thanks Ian, I am not a big fan of the figures, maybe because many of them require the meticulous painting and I am a lousy painter but yes, they would be a nice addition to the proper scale model.

Ian, I have, actually, seen your log though didn't realize it was you - sorry, my fault. Or, in Latin manner - mea culpa... You are progressing on the absolutely amazing model and I can't wait to see it afloat next summer in Andrew Haydon park. With corvus, towers, masts and other features and details - I believe it is always a compromise between historical data, visual appeal of the model and technical "doability" of certain things and it is up to you to decide what do you want to see in your model. I, in my turn, am trying to stick to some common sense though very often it's easier said than done.

Thanks Ian, I am in Kanata - not that far from you.

Thanks Ian, Thanks a lot for the information on corvus, I think I'll go somewhere between Polybius description and depiction of it on a roman coin below and just apply some common sense and practicality considerations. As for the model you've contacted "Cast Your Anchor" about, I believe that this is a discontinued quinquereme model "Nave Romana" by Italian company Hachette (https://www.hachette-fascicoli.it/) and there are several videos on YouTube about it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLiGM6MOBL0. Russian model by Zvezda is also pretty good though their corvus seems to be obstructed by the foremast and the excessively raised front of the hull. Do you have a construction log on your model? Thanks again, Eugene

Hi everyone, Glad to meet you guys and happy to find here a lot of very useful info and an inspiration for my next projects. I am rather new to this hobby and started just over a year ago. Put together two simple Artesania Latina models (Swift - finished and Red Dragon - 70% done) rather for training purpose. Stumbled upon a video on YouTube about making the ship models using ice cream sticks and bamboo skewers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFCxvphRl5U and decided to give it a try. I pushed the technique a bit further and got myself three nice models using nothing more than chopsticks, skewers and cheep craft wood from Dollarama: If anyone is interested, I can try to put together some kind of a building log though it will be a bit sketchy -I didn't documented the progress in details. My current project is 1:50 POB model of Roman quadrireme from scratch (I've started the building log here) though I still didn't decide if I want to build it from bamboo sticks (it was an original idea) or I should opt for model-grade planks and veneers. Or should I go somewhere in between? I'll see how it goes... Regards, Eugene

Hi Dick, I will follow your progress and I am specifically interested in what info you can find on sail rigging of that period. You see, I've built a 1:50 POB model of a Minoan trade ship (or my rendition of it) and while I was able to reproduce some of the period features, I didn't find much on sail/mast rigging they had and therefore kept it over-simplified. I'd be glad to go back to my model and add some details to it. Eugene

Hi everyone, This is my first more or less "serious" scratch project and I would greatly appreciate your comments, input or critique. So, the idea is to build a 1:50 POB model of a Roman quadrireme of the Punic wars period assuming the following: - original size about 30 m (100ft) long and about 6m (~20 ft) wide - two raw of oars (about 20 oars in each raw) with two oarsmen per oar - fully decked vessel with protection of the oarsmen from enemy projectiles - two masts with medium-size sails - corvus (not sure about exact design) - on the deck - two scorpions in front and two ballistas on each side (what else???) Since I have no final blueprint to stick to, I would "go by flow" which means that I would add, remove or modify things as I build the model. Here are two photos of what I already did, very first step of making a keel and a current state of the bulkhead frame (still being modified). Most materials are from Dollarama and Home Depot and are inexpensive though later I would probably use some model-building grade planks and veneers. I cut everything with the manual jig-saw and adjust with the sandpaper and use mostly basic household tools - that's why I call my project "low-tech" and "low budget". Eugene