Ares by GeorgeKapas - FINISHED - 1/144 - Greek brig

[GeorgeKapas]

Good evening all! I have not posted for quite a while, not because of a lack of projects and modeling, but due to other issues, like moving house etc. That said, the new place has enabled me to set up a proper permament workshop. Although several plastic kits and some scratchbuilts are still unfinished, I decided to embark on a more holistic and focused project, after my experiences with the scratchbuilt Mahmudiye, that I finished back in 2022. The idea is to make a series of scratchbuilt models of Greek revolutionary ships and beyond (all dated between 1821-1899). These projects will all be at the same scale, that of 12 feet to the inch (1/144), a traditional scale, which felt comfortable to me, starting with:  

The brig Ares (1819)

The frigate Hellas (1826)

The steam sloop Karteria (1826)

The ship of the line Emmanuil (1824)

The corvette Loudovikos (1838)

Almost all these are at least at an initial stage of construction, Hellas being quite advanced, but I decided to finish the smaller Ares first. I'll post threads about all of them eventually, and have changed the links on the signature. 

 

[GeorgeKapas]

Ares is possibly the most famous ship of the Greek revolution, but unlike the rest on the list, there are no plans of her. She actually survived till 1920s and many photos and paintings of her exist. Yet, with the exception of the dimensions and the number of guns, no more information survives. The models that apear in the various museums seem to be rather different from each other and are rather crude. There is also a wooden kit of her from "Navarino Models". After inspecting it, I was not satisfied, her lines bear little resemblance to the visual evidence, at least as far as I see it. A few years ago I found out about a project from National Technical Univercity of Athens, funded by Laskaridis foundation, to make a model of Ares and test it on a water tank. I saw the presentation, and in my disappointment, their design is also a conjecture. In fact, it was wildly off, both in shape and propotions, more so than the Navarino kit, which at least had an early 19th century brig design in mind. All I had were photos and paintings, books like "The history of the American Sailing navy" etc and some french brig designs (Ares was build in Venice, so not very helpful). With little experience in drawing plans, I drew lines on the pictures and paintings in layers, printed them, hand drew them again, assempled test hulls in paper, cut and sanded them, went back to the computer to drew the modifications etc. Rather brute force approach, with only the dimensions and number of guns as a known element, while for the rest it was matching the lines with the photos by eye. Even that was a problem, as 1890s Ares was significantly altered from her 1820s appearance, and the Roux painting of her was of limited use. I knew that she was a rather rounded brig, high sided, as she was a cargo vessel. Long story short, I ended up with a design that satisfied me, which was enough. It came out much different than other models of her, so in that sense, I feel it was worth the effort. This design will be properly published after I finish with the model, but hopefully in a more organized way. 

Edited May 27 by GeorgeKapas

[GeorgeKapas]

The plans went from these, to these: But the process was rather stressfull as it was unknown whether it would come to anything in the end. In any case, I'll now slowly post the built to its' current state. 

[GeorgeKapas]

I use very thin (1mm-2mm) balsa pieces so I can cut them with the exacto knife, the scale is very small. I reinforced the balsa for the keel and hull frames by glueing thick paper on both sides before cuting the shapes, and then soaking the outside edges with cyanoacrylate glue. The filled the frames with balsa stripes and then sanded it down. Even at a stage as late as this, I had to make corrections to the hull lines, and go back to the pc to update my last drawings. That below is the full extent of my use of balsa on the model.

Edited May 27 by GeorgeKapas

[GeorgeKapas]

Afterwards I "planked" the hull with thick paper, which was in turn soaked in cyanoacrylate to harden solid. Added the keel, and after this point, I switched to polystyrene plastic sheets to build the rest of the model, following the frame lines to finish the gunports to the level of the main rail. This is similar method I used on Mahmudiye, but this time with much harder material, plastic and balsa instead of paper and foamcore. 

[GeorgeKapas]

The hardened paper and plastic surface was then sanded down and filled with humbrol filler. After sanding this down again, it was coated with an enamel spray paint to seal it and protect that layer. Then I did this again a second time making the whole model look and feel like it was made out of smooth plastic. I encased the keel with polystyrene  plastic as well. I have various thickness sheets of it, but for this scale it was mostly 0.3 and 0.5 mm thick.

[GeorgeKapas]

The above process is something I'm going to follow with all my later scratchbuilts, it is rather unique and time consuming tbh. But considering there are few projects in this scale, and I'm happy with the result, it is what it is. Here I was starting to add more details in plastic: chainplates, catheads, rail details, defined the waterline and a pre-assembled the mast pieces. The surface still needed filling in places, as late as this stage. The stern began to take shape, following the photographs of the real ship.  

[GeorgeKapas]

Details of the bow section, with some blue plastic mesh to indicate gratings. 

[GeorgeKapas]

Now, this is some interesting part. The hull required coppering, but in this scale, I could get away with simply painting copper color on the flat surface. Also, since it is tiny, one could just put it in a sea diorama base and dont bother with the hull. But I went through so much to design and make the plans and the shape of hull of the ship that it was not an option to just hide it. I went over many threads of fellow modelers here, of how they approach coppering the hull, but none really were of any help in this situation. So the hard path approach it is... I drew the lines of each plate, first the horizontal, then the vertical to create the pattern of the plates on the hull, and then put 0.25mm thread on it....After soaking it with cyanoacrylate glue, I sanded it very lightly, and slowly moved up the hull... 

[GeorgeKapas]

The process was slow, mostly because I was streamlining my method of creating this copper plating effect. A lot of back and forth, that took a while, but in the end I think it was worth it. Also I started to add more details, like the bow railings etc, brace knees on the shroud chain plates etc. 

Edited May 28 by GeorgeKapas

[GeorgeKapas]

More of the same. The method was quite smooth after a while, it will be used in all my 1/144 projects 

[GeorgeKapas]

A clearer view after applying the copper plating pattern

Edited May 28 by GeorgeKapas

[GeorgeKapas]

The details of the stern, based on her 1890s photos. The rigging plan and as much as I could discern from the paintings will be in her 1820s configuration, but for everything else, I'll have to take some later details to fill in the gaps.

[GeorgeKapas]

More details around the head of the ship, the boomkins etc. Also added the various hooking points (ringbolts) for the bowsprit rigging  

Edited May 29 by GeorgeKapas

[Ian_Grant]

Another masterpiece in progress!

[GeorgeKapas]

Thank you Ian! Oh well, my unorthodox builts are still a bit of a way to go to become masterpieces hahaha 😅 

Here some photos of the hull, almost complete, with most outside details in place. I am very relieved of how it came out, having designed it myself, despite its shortcomings. It is not perfect, but from pictures of Ares and paintings of similar mediterranean merchant brigs, it looks much more correct to my eyes, so that is enough.  

[Rudolf]

Very cool George!

By the way I have book on Austro-Hungarian Brigantine of the the same period, the Zaida, which had been built in Venice as wall.

She looks very similar to Ares. I think you did a splendid job creating the plans and the model .

Greetings, Rudolf

 

[Ian_Grant]

4 hours ago, GeorgeKapas said:

Thank you Ian! Oh well, my unorthodox builds are still a bit of a way to go to become masterpieces hahaha 😅 

 

Respectfully disagree, considering your outstanding Mahmudiye and Venetian galley builds.......

[GeorgeKapas]

Thank you all! Since I now try to put daily work on the models, and with most other non modeling issues mostly resolved, I'll be more consistant in posting here in general. 

Timberheads on the bow are now done, and the hull is ready for painting. The forecastle is also temporarily dry fitted. 

On the matter of the deck, I improved on my older solution, that is, I drew a 1/144 scale deck pattern, complete with colors, planking and nailheads on the computer. 

I printed it on thick paper. Then I glue it on 0.3mm thick plastic sheet in the shape of the deck and painted it over with matte enamel coat to seal it. I like the result, not many other solutions in that scale (other than buying ready decks or sth) so the same deck pattern will be in all my 1/144 models from now on. 

[GeorgeKapas]

The masts are made of balsa soaked with cyanoacrylate and plastic. Added eyebolts for the rigging as well, mostly to make the rigging easier, than anything else. And a closeup of the foremast. I have set the yards at an angle, I'll put sails later and prefer to have them with the wind at an angle, even if it is not an a diorama base. 

[Tony Hunt]

I really admire the way you have reconstructed this vessel in the absence of actual plans. Great work. And your construction methods are novel and fascinating.

[Keith Black]

 George, hitting the 'wow' button with each new post loses emphasis of how greatly I admire your work. So when I hit the 'like' button please understand it's really a 'wow'.

[CiscoH]

i really like your copper plates technique.  makes them stand out beautifully

[GeorgeKapas]

Thank you! If one is happy with the final result, the methods and materials can be quite unique, indeed! The thread is now approaching the current state of the model. After a  big hiatus with using it, I finally decided to start painting with the airbrush again. 

[GeorgeKapas]

The deck fittings, guns and ship's boat are bit of a challenge.. I have a lot of spare pieces of various kits to use though. For the boat, I found one lower hull of the right size, and added the rest of the details in the correct scale using plastic strips and scrap pieces. 

[Ian_Grant]

George, to put this in perspective, what size are those cannon carriages? Or, what is the major grid on your mat?

Edited June 7 by Ian_Grant

[GeorgeKapas]

The grid is 1sq cm, the carriages are a mix of parts, about 10mm long with 2mm glass beads for wheels with melted sprue for axis , the body was part of a larger carriage that I cut down. Here are most of the rest of the pieces of the model ready for painting. Ladders hatch covers, capstain, doors, the bits, the pinrails, rigging bounds and euphroe etc are scratch, done from the pastic sheets I have, these were easy.  The steering wheel is from a kit with a scratch base. The anchors are each from 3 different sources put together. Generally the scrap pieces I have are not very compatible with the 1/144 so I could not use many. The guns are the right size for a 12 pounder at 1/144, dont know where they were orriginally from, probably 24poundes at 1/220. I will most probably use them, but there is a catch. I want to make a series of 1/144 ships and want consistency. I have yet to find a way to make gun barrels at such scale, I might need to resort buying metal ones, 18mm are the smallest ones I can find online. 

[Keith Black]

3 hours ago, GeorgeKapas said:

I have yet to find a way to make gun barrels at such scale

 George, you do such a wonderful job on the other bits and pieces I'm surprised you don't turn your own barrels. I don't have have a lathe so I use my drill for turning. It's pretty simple and works well with small bits like barrels and such. 

[GeorgeKapas]

Thank you. Maybe I need to try making a rig to secure a drill like you do. At least for an test attempt 

Edited June 8 by GeorgeKapas

[wefalck]

Just stumbled across this log, while I am waiting for something to dry in my workshop ...

 

I think the model looks very convincing and the strategy is good in the absence of real plans. There would have been, however, sources of plans for both, commercial and naval vessels built in and around Venice, that one could have explored. Venice at this time was under Austrian rule (formally Kingdom of Lombardia-Venezia) and the arsenal built for the Austrian-Hungarian navy - miraculously the archives largely survived two evacuations: 1866 to Trieste and 1919 from there to Vienna (though I seem to heard that many boxes are still unopend in the national archives there ...). So some lines plans that could have been adapated may have been there. Depending on, where the other ships your are modelling were built, this might be still a possibility.

 

I like unconventional approaches to construction when it serves the purpose. At small scales wood is not always the best and most convenient material. Wood can also be messy to prepare, if you don't have a suitable workspace. And at small scale, the wood-grain is usually to coarse and needs to be covered up with fillers. So acrylic, styrene, bakelite-paper etc. can be indeed better options - even when the final surfaces are supposed to bare wood, as for decks. Painting may give a much more realistic appearance at small scales.

 

At small scales real copper indeed probably is not the best material to represent coppered ships' bottoms. Very thin paper painted is a better way - I agree with you there. However, your overlapping plate-seams appear too pronounced, I must say. To be quite harsh (apologies), I think it spoils this lovely model somewhat. If you look at images of real coppering (me and others have posted a lot of pictures here on MSW), show that the seams are not very pronounced, as the copper-sheathing in fact was quite thin. I would have probably just butted the plates against each other, as even the thinnest paper would be overscale.

 

Looking forward to further progress 👍🏻