Greek Bireme by Robin Lous - FINISHED - Dusek - Scale 1:72 - First wooden ship build

[Mike40]

Your oars look terrific Robin as does your hoplite. A good paint job on anything can bring it to life or kill it. Your hoplite is alive and kicking!

[Mike Dowling]

A couple of questions Robin if I may. Firstly what is a 'hoplite' and secondly what paint/colour do you use for skin tones?

[Robin Lous]

Thanks gentlemen, you're all too kind! 

 

A Hoplite is an ancient greek soldier armed with a spear and protected by a helmet and large round shield (aspis). With or without additional body armor The battle formation was almost always the phalanx, a close formation, 8 to 16...and even 32 ranks deep.

 

For painting the skin I used Vallejo basic skintone 70.815. Applied a brown wash afterwards and softened / highlighted by drybrushing the skintone paint again. 

[Mike Dowling]

Thanks for that.

[Robin Lous]

Today we returned from our city trip to Paris and to get back on track I started making the shield I want to hang on the railing.

Just one shield...it wasn't common practise to have a full line of shields on the sides (like on Norse and Phoenician ships), so one shield for decorative purpose will do.

 

At first I planned to use one of the plastic shields I have now, but...well...they're not that great, so I decided to make one from brass...

Hammered the bowl and filed and sanded the rim.

I'll make the inside lining from fine red silk, the arm loop from brass and the rope and tassels from...thin rope.

 

I'll try to do the shield decoration with a 0,2mm waterproof marker pen, when I fail...a decal

 

Will start with the mast and stay also this week.

 

So...more soon,

 

Robin

Edited September 22, 2017 by Robin Lous

[Robin Lous]

I don't have much time to work on my build at the moment and I hit some sort of "writer's block".

 

One of the problems I have to deal with is the ships eye...and I have to do it before I start with the mast and rigging.

Designing the eye took me countless tries the last few weeks, but I finally made one I'm happy with.

I cut out the design I made to see how it looks and where to position it.

And the template. I can use it on both sides.

Marked the lines with a fine waterproof marker pen.

 

I'll let it dry overnight before I start painting the eyes, so hopefully I can get this done tomorrow...and move on to the mast.

 

More soon,

 

Robin

Edited September 19, 2017 by Robin Lous

[Robin Lous]

Yeah...it was!

 

Had to remove the waterproof ink again, because it wasn't that waterproof after all.

 

Marked with a pencil instead. I painted the white first and the dark grey outline after that.

 

Finished!

Edited September 19, 2017 by Robin Lous

[Old Collingwood]

She is looking really nice  the head on shot stands out so well - you can imagine how frightening that would have been for the folk being attacked.

 

 

OC.

[Robin Lous]

That was the first thing I thought when I looked at the result head on. Not something you like to see coming at you.

 

So I guess they look okey. 

[Baker]

Gewoon toppie Robin !!

 

This can not be translated into English.

 

It just means : fantastic,great job Robin (in Flemish or Dutch)

 

Groetjes

Greetings 

Patrick

[Robin Lous]

Thanks guys!

 

Another small update...

 

About the spare oars.

It's unknown how many spare oars a penteconter carried, but a trieres with 170 oars had 30, so 50 plus 8 spares is an estimated guess.

To replace broken oars quickly, there's only one suitable spot to place them. Tied to the centre top deck railing.

So that's what I did....

 

Also made a bench on the rear deck (just a plank) and placed the pin rails...on the rear deck railing and centre deck railing. And the shield I mentioned before.

 

A nice photo of the Argo at full speed...with the spare oars.

 

More soon,

 

Robin

 

Edited September 19, 2017 by Robin Lous

[Mike Dowling]

Let's be honest, you just love making oars !!

[Robin Lous]

Err....well, making them wasn't too bad, but I was happy when I finished the job.

 

With the eyes painted on...mast, yard and rigging time. I doubt I'll ever enjoy doing the rigging, because I still have nightmares from rigging WWI biplane models.

 

Anyway....

 

For the mast, yard and rigging I use the Olkas trade ship photo's from Messis (thanks again!)

I have some prefab painted and stitched bireme sails from Daniel Dusek. They're wonderful! very fine thin sails and the stitching looks fantastic.

I'm not 100% sure painted sails were common, but I know Homer mentioned them, so ...ok.

Won't see much of it anyway, because I do a furled sail.

The yard will be a 3 part construction (seen on the Olkas trade ship and Argo).

I already curved a dowel to match the shape of the sail. The mast is not fixed to the (lower) deck yet. I'll do (part of) the rigging and the yard before I fix the mast to the ship.

I used the width of the sail and compared it to one of the sublime Olkas photo's from Messis to get the measurements for the yard right.

 

More soon,

 

Robin

 

Edit: I also adjusted the lenght of the mast to make it all work. +1cm (above the deck). Not much going on above the yard in the manual and a lot going on there on the Olkas, so I need that extra 1 cm.

Edited September 19, 2017 by Robin Lous

[Mike Dowling]

Not sure which I am going to hate more. Making millions of oars or rigging ! I don't especially like rigging either but after all those oars !!!!!!!

 

You say you got some sails from Daniel Dusek ! Did you get them with the kit or did you have to contact the guy personally ?

[Robin Lous]

They're for sale on his website...several designs and a plain sail.

 

Millions?...nah...only 200 for my next build

[Robin Lous]

Today I made the yard.

The 10 brass eyelets (U shaped brass wire, so I had to drill 20 0,5mm holes for them) are there for the lines to raise and lower the sail.

The yard is made from a 2mm dowel.

 

This took me whole darn day  (ok...with lots of breaks and time searching for escaping tiny eyelets on the floor).

 

Mast done, yard done...sail and rigging next!

 

More soon!

 

Robin

Edited September 19, 2017 by Robin Lous

[Mike Dowling]

Good job done there ! If it is of any comfort, I have spent half a day making suspension brackets for my stagecoach which of course I am not allowed to show here (!!!!!) and after some quite colourful language I am quite pleased with the results as I am sure you are with yours.

[cog]

I bet it was colourful, your language, wouldn't expect anything else for an Irish Scot ...

[cog]

 

This took me whole darn day  (ok...with lots of breaks and time searching for escaping tiny eyelets on the floor).

 

Yeah right ... your bottle's cap you mean

 

That's why you shouldn't use a carpet, but something smooth and contrasting in colour!!! Makes searching a lot easier

[Robin Lous]

Mike...I won't mind you sneaking in a few photo's of your stagecoach build here

 

I had to solve one last rigging mystery.

Already figured out the Greek lowered and raised their sails with the lines (orange) that go from the bottom line of the sail...over the yard...to the rear deck of the ship.

But I wondered about only pulling the bottom line of the sail up...this will result in the rest of the sail ballooning in the wind...or a shapeless sack at best.

Making the whole system pointless.

 

A closer look at one of the Olkas photo's showed how ingenious the ancient Greek were...

 

Several rope loops stitched to the sail (green) keep the sail from ballooning. It works like a horizontal curtain or blinds (red).

The (pink) free hanging lines to secure the sail to the yard are only needed when the yard is lowered and stowed for battle.

 

This will keep me busy for a while...

 

I replaced the Dusek rope with Corel 0,5mm. The Dusek rope (on the piece of cardboard) is great, but I need more.

Also got some sewing thread from Amman Mettler for the thinner ropes I need. Same colour as the Corel rope, sail colour and a dark brown.

 

I can imagine my eyes go on strike when I work on the rigging for a while, so I might do the ladder and/or the steering oars somewhere in between. Also thinking about making the ram, but I'm not sure how to make it yet. Meanwhile...the burnished copper sheet is still weathering naturally outside.

 

I'm not sure this build tought me much about how to build a wooden ship, but it surely tought me a lot about ancient Greek ships.

 

Robin

Edited September 19, 2017 by Robin Lous

[cog]

Every build will teach you something about the type of ship and something about their builders, or you must be following the instructions like a puppet ... Haven't seen that in your log yet ...

[Robin Lous]

I hardly used the manual, because I changed, modified or scratchbuild most of the build.

The shape of the hull is what remains "original" ...the rest is....different.

[cobra1951]

I hardly used the manual, because I changed, modified or scratchbuild most of the build.

The shape of the hull is what remains "original" ...the rest is....different.

 

And very nice it is too

[EJ_L]

Whatever you are doing and however you are learning to do it, the finished result speaks loud and clear that you are doing it right!

 

Learning about the ships, the people who built them and the people who crewed them, in my opinion, is just as fascinating as building the ships.

[Robin Lous]

Thanks gentlemen, you're all too kind. 

 

Sunday I took a day off from the shipyard. Was too tired after some crazy busy days...and had to watch the last Formula 1 Grand Prix  race of the season (with "our" hero Max Verstappen).

 

Yesterday I started with the rigging. Sail first....and I'm amazed about the amount of "stuff" that has to go on it.

Started with the "curtain loops" 8 rows of 5 loops needed, so that's 40.

 

7 rows...35...done. Very time consuming, because I didn't do just a loop through the sail.

3 stitches one side...loop...3 stitches other side. When I finished this, the rest will be fairly easy.

 

I first planned to use the sewing thread for the (10) lines that go from from the bottom of the sail...over the yard to the pin rail on the rear deck (is there a proper nautical word for them?), but I use the 0,5 mm Corel instead.

Perhaps the sewing thread is more true to scale, but it will be hardly vissible and I'm afraid it won't look good.

 

More soon!

 

Robin

Edited September 19, 2017 by Robin Lous

[Robin Lous]

To my own amazement....so far...I kinda like rigging. One mast, one sail...I can handle that! 

The vertical "curtain" lines and the loops on the lower corners of the sail will be next.

 

More soon,

 

Robin

Edited September 19, 2017 by Robin Lous

[cog]

Nice needle work, Robin. I wouldn't break my head over the sewing thread, the weave isn't up to par either at this scale, I wonder if it is at all available ...

[Robin Lous]

True...although....about 550 BC...thread and fabric were likely not as fine as in more recent years.

But the ingenuity and craftmanship of the ancient Greeks were amazing, so who knows?

 

the "curtain lines" (does anyone know a better word for this?)....

 

I take the evening off...done enough for today 

 

Robin

Edited September 19, 2017 by Robin Lous

[cobra1951]

I think they are Clew lines and Buntlines

Check this out https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clewlines_and_buntlines

Edited December 2, 2016 by Cobr@

[EJ_L]

I was going to say clew and bunt lines also. Those are the terms that I have seen them called on most ships but, due to the era and region of your particular ship they could be called something else.

 

Excellent work on the sail, mast and rigging so far. I agree that I love rigging the first mast also... after that well....