Ares by GeorgeKapas - 1/144 - Greek brig

[Chapman]

The Ares will be great!

Many brig sloops had carronades as their main armament.
Would this be a credible weapon for your model?
If you can't find any suitable carronades, you can still build your own. Perhaps a small series of metal or resin casts would be suitable for this, as is the case for all guns?
It is possible that they could also be used for the other planned Greek ships.

 

I make my guns from white metal alloy because that's what I work with. Resin will definitely work too.
Attached is a photo of earlier gun casts.

The 3 Dutch guns were built from wood. Plastic or brass would be better here.
the British 4 pounder shown on the right was built from polystyrene.  All were cast in white metal alloy.

[GeorgeKapas]

Thank you wefalck! Early 1800s is quite difficult to find plans from Venice, private ships even worse and there is a distinct lack of naval historical archives in Greece as well. I hope some day they will, at least there are many photos of Ares, I'll post more. In fact Ares launch date is not even certain, other sources state 1807, not 1819... Thank you for your input about the use of materials, yes they are just a means to an end. I dislike the use of wood in smaller scales, much prefer plastic and paper aswell. As far as the copper plates, I am a big proponent of "scaling for effect" especially in smaller ships. I originally used very thin 0.3mm thick plastic plates, like you suggested, to create the effect on the Frigate Hellas, a model I have yet to post. The process took much more time, it looked terrible from close up, like a brick wall (in reality the plates have to overlap to created a visible raised lip on their edges) and just a few centimeters away, the pattern became invisible. I could not make it work... I also feel that I cant depict the size of the model properly here, it is hard to translate how small it is, because of the closeups, just visualize her keel is just 18cm long. 

Edited June 8 by GeorgeKapas

[GeorgeKapas]

26 minutes ago, Chapman said:

The Ares will be great!

Many brig sloops had carronades as their main armament.
Would this be a credible weapon for your model?
If you can't find any suitable carronades, you can still build your own. Perhaps a small series of metal or resin casts would be suitable for this, as is the case for all guns?
It is possible that they could also be used for the other planned Greek ships.

 

I make my guns from white metal alloy because that's what I work with. Resin will definitely work too.
Attached is a photo of earlier gun casts.

The 3 Dutch guns were built from wood. Plastic or brass would be better here.
the British 4 pounder shown on the right was built from polystyrene.  All were cast in white metal alloy.

These are great ideas. Ares had, in theory at least, 12 pounder long guns. You are right, turning these guns individually cannot work, they need to be casted or made in that fashion. I'll try to calculate all the deck guns that I need for all the 1/144 models, then decide along these lines. I dont think I have any skills yet to even approach casting things myself..

[Keith Black]

 George, I work at 1:120 and have ordered 1:125 naval figures from Shapeways, they're a good company.

 

 They make a 18th century cannon in 1:125, 0.096" (1:144, 0.083")  this is .013 inches greater than your 144. They're a bit spendy and the size isn't quite right but it's the closest I could come up with.

 

https://www.shapeways.com/product/B4G38YSST/18th-century-6-cannon-naval-carriage-1-125?optionId=300722641&li=marketplace

 

 

Drawing I found while looking about, didn't know if you had it.

[archjofo]

Very clean and precise work, and at this scale. You have my full admiration for that. This will be an extraordinary and wonderful model.