Armed Gundalow WIP

[greg3]

A gundalow was a flat bottomed cargo vessel commonly seen on the rivers and lakes of New England and Maine. They usually relied on tidal currents for propulsion and a lateen sail in favourable weather. During the American War of Independence, armed gundalows were used by privateers to attack British supply boats and purpose built gunboat versions (rigged with square sails and carrying 3 guns) took part in the Battle of Valcour Island in 1776.

My version is a hybrid, with the sail layout and leeboards of the cargo version but the hull layout of a gunboat (based on photos of the Philadelphia, a raised wreck from the 1776 battle). I eventually intend to make it more like the original Philadelphia with the cargo replaced by more guns, square rigged sails and a wooden frame to hold fascines to protect the gun crews. At the moment I imagine it to be a private vessel fitted out with guns and given Naval training to act as part of a sort of floating militia (similar to the British River Fencibles during the Napoleonic Wars) The owner still wants to make money though, hence the cargo!!

I intend to take some more/better pics once I've made some improvements.

Bow Gun (a 12 pounder in the original)

Cargo of pig iron, swivel guns and fireplace. You can also see the working rigging - the sail can be furled and the yard raised and lowered.

Helm

Sail furled using the working brail line (I think that's what it's called!!)

Yard lowered and using the sweeps.

As this is my first MOC sailing vessel all comments are welcome!!

Cheers

[Skipper]

Interesting moc, I've never seen this type of ship before. The slide for the gun is nice. How does the jib/beam attach to the mast?

[greg3]

The yard has a halyard tied around it that runs through the groove in the top of the mast which raises it up. The bottom of the yard is attached to the winch which is used to tilt the sail to the right angle (if that makes sense?)

Link to pics of the Philadelphia (eventually my version will look more like this!!)

Edited July 27, 2011 by greg3

[Admiral Croissant]

Interesting ship. I like the colours and all the details on deck. They make it look very realistic.

The sail is also nice but it seems like the yard is a bit strangely attached. Seems like it still needs a masts of about the same lenght as the yard.

But I could be wrong and maybe this is still preliminary.

If you want it to look closer to the Philadelphia you could perhaps make the stern and bow more sharp edged.

And when you look at this image, the front of the deck seems slightly wider than the stern.

Anyway, good luck. It looks very good already

[greg3]

Thanks for the comments... I agree that the hull shape isn't quite right (I wanted to use prefab hull pieces as I don't have the parts/skill to brick build a hull... yet!)

The mast/sail is based on the traditional cargo Gundalow and was designed to be lowered to pass under bridges or close to banks where overhanging trees can snag the sail (hence the short stump mast) Here's a link to pics showing a modern reproduction being rigged... It shows how the yard is attached to the mast.

My link

[Warhorse47]

Very neat job on the mast/rigging.

[Zilcho]

Nice boat, Greg, I like the sail and especially the fact that it rises with the turning thing. I also like your mini side cannons and the the front gun's holder (I do not know its formal name).

[Sebeus I]

This ship is way cooler than it looks on first sight, love the working rigging. That's some smooth work on the bow gun, nice.

I think the mast looks a bit odd though, a bit chunky.

[Gahrian]

Great MOC. Interesting both historically and in a LEGO perspective.

I would love to see more from you.

[greg3]

A quick update...

As mentioned in the first post I've started changing the sail layout to a square rig. I've also lengthened the hull to give it the correct proportions (in fact if you take 1 stud = 1 ft it's almost exactly right) I've also removed the leeboards and slightly altered the bow. Next is to make the sails and add some more cannon!!

Thanks for looking...

[Warhorse47]

The new one looks really good, but I have to admit I really liked your original! Can't wait to see what's next

[SirSven7]

This is a really good moc, we just don't see enought smaller vessels on the Lego waves

Thanks

[Bjornu]

I like The place where the cannon fits in, I used the same technique in my galleon.

If this ship would be sold as a real lego set, I think kids would love it.

It has much room to play on, and the ship looks cool!

Great ship!!

Greetz Bjornu

[greg3]

Another quick update now I've added some sails.... I originally planned to make custom sails and add as much realism to the rigging as possible (having them furl/unfurl and be able to trim them etc) but after lots of attempts I ran out of patience!! So instead I've gone for for official Lego sails (while keeping a bit of realism with the addition of the sheets and tack lines) I think it looks ok, although the topsail should really be smaller (at the moment it rubs on the forestay) and the main sail probably a bit lower... but as a Lego ship inspired by an actual vessel rather than an attempt to recreate it exactly, I'm pretty pleased with it (and it can be "played with" without it all falling apart or ending up in a big tangle!!)

Reference image

Next I'm going to add the rest of the guns and an awning to cover the deck.

Anyway comments are always welcome...

[kurigan]

Huh, I was really hoping to see a lanteen or lug sail on her, more like before, more like the gun boats common in the Mediterranean around the turn of the 19th century. Square rigged, she’ll likely handle more like a floating brick than any kind of weatherly craft, and you’d need more crew crammed aboard to work both sail and gun. All my criticisms aside, however, I still rather like your project. Vessels like this are a huge part of naval warfare but are rarely attempted upon due to their lack of prestige. I applaud you for it and thank you for sharing.

[greg3]

I know what you mean, and according to accounts at the time the boats handled very poorly unless the wind was dead astern (they also needed a crew of over 40!!) but I wanted to stay sort of faithful to the originals!! I think that as they were river/lake craft they were usually rowed and only used the sails when the wind was favourable.