Wednesday 21 November 2012

HMS Anne, Oronegrean river ship

The HMS Anne like many other Oronegrean naval vessels is named after the fashion of Great Britain. The Oronegrean navy owes its Origins to the British and Moorish settlers in La Ley and the Spanish and french in La Esperanza. HMS Anne is not unusual in having and English name, it is common practise certainly with the river fleet which is based in La Ley. the Anne is a 3rd rate boat of the line a distinct group from the ships of the line first rate boats of the line are in fact what Oronegro calls 10th rate ships of the line...

more on the Oronegrean boats of the line will be posted on the Oronegro blog shortly. Well Hello one and all I have one exam to go next Monday and I am in good spirits :-) a History exam and therefore I can see good revision opportunities arising in school perhaps tomorrow. Thanks for your constant encouragement and as a thank you I am making these warships and naming them after some followers of note... namely those of you who have the same names as some of my family members.

So now I present Anne, named for Anne O'Leary who has a great creative spirit and who I am sure many of you know. The Anne is also dedicated to my Mother (Elisabeth) Anne and my great aunt "aunty Anne". Also coming along are 2 other ships of the same class the Peter for Peter in Belgium and my uncle peter and the Paul for my dads foster brother "Uncle Paul" and for Paul from Paul's bods and Paul who I forgot to mention the first time I posted this post

Right onto HMS Anne 3rd rate boat of the line and river ship.
the Anne floats on the strange waves of the table dimension. a crew member is resting on deck

the name of the ship stands proud above the eye like an eyelash. the eyes are a feature that comes from the Dhows of the moors

the sailor, form a native tribe wakes as a giant with a strange grey and silver object with a glass lens descends of the ship.

the gangplanks are drawn up and now a side view of the vessel the shed-like captains room on the stern stands out... no windows for protection on the wide but overlooked Oronegrean rivers

the royal flag of Oronegro looking a bit sorry for itself

a view up the ship which has been inspired by Arab and European ships

the bow cuts gracefully through the water as the wind pushes the craft along

a look down the deck, showing the hatch that leads down to the small crew section the ammunition crate (made of metal) and the cargo hold which is small but big enough for the small trips between the river ports

a quick look at the rear rigging... I have kept rigging to a minimum as its going to be used in some games and the fragile sails and string could easily break.

a close look at the tiller, unique to the boats of the line this system of steering uses, cogs, wheels, gears, pulleys and levers to give the helmsmen the ability to steer the ship without a wheel and a primitive may to make the steering more or less sensitive depending on what is needed where.

the HMS Anne links up with the Peter (centre) and Paul (left) both of them are in different stages of construction

as you can see I am using my special thick foam core I get from a friend and fellow hobbyist (also called Peter, well mostly Pete)

the underside of Peter, I love this material as you can see is shapes really well. though I have managed to break 2 craft knife blades which are now too short to slice the hull which needs to be almost saws though with the knives

and they sail away Paul have yet to be shaped but now I need a new craft knife, or just new blades because all my other knives are too short or too big.

Oh and I almost forgot, I really did, I am making my own little deck guns for the ships made from Balsa, bamboo skewers and some paper.

there you are, 2 per ship. HMS Anne has the looks now lets give her the firepower.

And so the Anne sails away. perhaps to some pleasant beach along the coast or up a river deep in the territory of some hostile tribe...
Well there you go folks. I hope you are enjoying 18th century Oronegro so far. I have yet to develop a good story as of yet but similar case of 21st century Oronegro in that its a case of loving both sides in the conflict and wanting to benefit from both.... but what will happen? that's what I am trying to figure out.

so the project begins, expect to see some more moderns coming through until I get the new figs and do not worry sooner or later I shall return to the 21st century and the civil war!

26 comments:

  1. Well, I was adrift there, all right! I didn't realise this was to be a gun-armed vessel of war! How many guns will she carry? What weight of metal? Carronades or 'long' guns - or a mix of both?

    That last pic, by the way is very effective, with the wood grain of the table giving the appearance of a swift-flowing river.

    A suggestion, though I offer it with due diffidence: if this is to be a ship of war - a frigate, say - you might want to add a couple of masts. It is fine as it is, though, and could be a sloop of war or maybe a lugger.

    Cheers,
    Ion

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    1. she is a river boat of war and is a special Oronegrean design. I see there you went adrift as far as what the boat was going to be however that figure is the closest thing to a native Oronegrean I have... a cartheginian ally :-(

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    2. OK. You might - or might not - appreciate this clerihew:

      'Twas disconcerting for Hannibal,
      when introduced to a cannibal
      who expressed the highest opinion
      of boiled Cathaginian.

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    3. hehe I am sure that Hannibal decided not to have him as an ally

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  2. Replies
    1. thanks paul... oh I forgot about you paul.... need to edit the post

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  3. I like it a lot!
    What kind of foam is that?

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    1. not quite sure I get it for free from a freind so I don't know what foam it is... maybe I will ask him.

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  4. A jewel of modeling but also of *creativity*, a perfectly credible and 'logical' combination of cultural influences: 'alternate history' at its best!

    'Imagi-nativity' wise your project is not without common points with that (currently stalled, unfortunately) of an 'alternate 19th C. independent Kingdom of Hawaii: had this project progressed, 'original' warboats combining local tradition and 'European' influences, for instance, would had have to be designed.


    Don't hurry to much to return to the 21th C. Oronegran Civil War, the 18th C. is so full of original possibilities! And the uniforms are more colorful...

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    1. thank you very much... nice ideas, I shall keep them in mind. Thanks for the links.

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  5. The boat looks great. Looking forward to the next two coming along.

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    1. thanks sean I hope that they can live up to your expectations

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  6. PS: if I may ask a naive question, *where* exactly is Oronegro located, with reference to 'our' geography?

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    1. on the atlantic coats of South America or there abouts, south of the other great Latin nations of Orotinia, Gran Bolivia and the Pan Andean peoples republic though these are 20th and 21st century places not sure the geopolitical situation in the 18th century.

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    2. I hadn't considered the geo-political position of Orotina, Gran Bolivaria and the Pan=Andean People's Republic in the 18th century. The PAPR won't exist as such - or at least be known by that name. I'll have to think about that...

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    3. Well I assume that the lands are in some kind of parrallel earth that is entered by passing through some sort of portal... if you read the post on the Oronegro blog about the origional colonisation and expansion I said how the ships crossed under an aroura. so a portal. I guess the bermuda triangle is another then eh?

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  7. Looks great. I like the way you´ve named them after certain people...good idea.
    Cheers
    paul

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    1. thanks paul. and I would suspect that you would like the people who I named it after too... happy coincidence of coarse

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  8. The "Anne" looks perfect (doesn't she always?)! And with the Paul and Peter, you will have a warfleet that no-one can beat! :-D

    Sail on Gowan!

    Greetings
    Peter
    http://peterscave.blogspot.be/

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    1. let us hope so peter, I hope you like being pared with my uncle... in this case belgium is putting the War into this warchip :-D

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  9. If you need wheels for the gun trucks, you might consider cardboard or maybe plastic chads, if you have a paper punch. To give them a bit of sturdiness and thickness, two or three such chads glued together should look about right.

    As some paper punches cause the chad to curl, you would have to flatten them in some way.

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    1. Oh thats a great idea. yes I shall use that for the guns thanks ever so much. I tried using cut bamboo skewers but they were terrible. I shall try this straight away or as soon as I can find a hole punch I know we have one somewhere.

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  10. I'm so touched Gowan, I really am. I'm home with my leg up and on ice and saw this on my blogroll. You've certainly done a grand job with this and it's most impressive. And all the history you've gotten on this as well.

    I'll be off blogger for at least another week I should think, but this really lifted my spirits. Best wishes on your exams!!

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    1. I am glad this has cheered you up. it is rotten not being able to do what you want and after having that nastly flu a few weeks back I can sympaphise with being stuck and not being able to do much.

      hope you get well soon.

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  11. Nice work again Gowan, and I awarded your blog :D
    http://benssoldiers.blogspot.com/2012/11/yes-i-was-nominated-for-one-of-these.html

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  12. thanks Ben now I'm onto giving the award to others.

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