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Post by lightning on Apr 10, 2018 4:39:59 GMT -9
In this thread cardboard-warriors.proboards.com/thread/8959/victorian-sci-fi-airship-idea I have seen a nice model I didn't know. It looks great except there is one thing I see often with gaming boats: the deck is on the waterline = table level. I am guessing this is to make it easier and faster to build. As I am in the process of designing a couple of ships (pirates, vikings etc) myself I am wondering what you would prefer? This or a more realistic looking boat?
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Post by cowboycentaur on Apr 10, 2018 5:36:06 GMT -9
Iโd rather see it more realistically depicted. Sure the deck of some boats are close to the waterline, but more arenโt.
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Post by Vermin King on Apr 10, 2018 6:17:31 GMT -9
I think part of it is that most of the boats have been done that way, so other build that way so that the decks are the same height for skirmishes. On a Viking boat, the bulk of the deck is below the waterline. That would be tough to represent. Maybe split the difference? A model of a pirate ship would sit much higher than the boats that are out there. Maybe have one row of below-deck cannon at the waterline (hardly realistic, I know), and then the decks start above that. The field of play would be higher than waterline, but not so high that it wouldn't work for game play. And it would be a much nicer looking model
That Narnia boat I did had the cannon just above the waterline, and it doesn't look bad.
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Post by oldschooldm on Apr 10, 2018 8:15:36 GMT -9
Hmm. The Sea Dragon by fatdragontom is waterline, but the main deck is quite elevated. Same with The Maiden by WWG. The Marauder by Dave is, as you say, waterline == main deck. I like them all for different things. Though, in actual play, I find myself favoring the Sea Dragon, because I can do stuff like destroy the cabins and main deck in sea battles. In the case of the Marauder, I would use a flat map for any "below decks" encounters.
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Post by lightning on Apr 10, 2018 8:41:13 GMT -9
Yes, the viking long ships actually have the deck below water line. So for them I will have to compromise and put the deck on water level :-)
I made some elaborate prototypes for the longbats some time ago and I raised the deck a little because I needed underconstruction to stabilize the form and prevent warping.
For the pirate ships I have in mind (sloops, brigs, galleons), they all have the main deck above water line (canons!).
The ships by FatDragon and WWG and DaveGraffam have great simplistic builds. So that's covered. I am hoping to be able to make more realistic looking ships and still have them buildable by at least medium skilled users. I also want to make them to be played on deck. Not sure how I would handle the inner/under decks but "below deck maps" sounds like a great idea.
Wanting to destroy parts of the ship sounds tricky. Have to think about that. Although I am thinking about a build that you could used as a wreck on the coast. I see them rather as "surface" terrain for either ship battles or action in the harbour. I am working out the best sizes. The galleon probably will be not be built by many as it will be very large (but in scale for 30mm minis!)
The biggest challenge will be to see if I can make the fold-flat or at least take apart (maybe not flat for the hull sides) :-)
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Post by oldschooldm on Apr 10, 2018 9:27:04 GMT -9
None of my ships are fold-flat. Not sure it'd be a priority for me. *Some* things just want to be stored assembled. :-)
Though, removable masts is important!
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Post by cowboyleland on Apr 10, 2018 15:30:49 GMT -9
This ship of mine ( cardboard-warriors.proboards.com/thread/5971/15mm-ships-wip ) has all three decks above the waterline and it folds flat. You glue the sides and the keel all together at the prow and you put a fold in the back, lined up with the slot for the rudder. To assemble you slot the back of the ship into the top of the rudder, slide the masts into the deck from the bottom. Slot the bottom of the masts into the keel and then slide in the deck down which acts as a spreader for the sides.
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Post by lightning on Apr 11, 2018 9:46:49 GMT -9
I prefer the not-to-fold-flat route on the ships :-) I think it could be done but not sure how stable it would be to game on. But this project is at a very early stage so let's see what happens. First I have to nail down the different ship types/lengths/sizes/shapes.
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