[GoC] Class 3 Merchant Lugger "Plucky Manatee"

[Wellesley]

At the Farrensman Shipyards another ship has been launched.
A class 3 trading vessel, lugger rigged, fit for turbulent seas and long voyages. A gift to the crown's merchant fleet. Her rig is easliy manageable even for a small crew.

So far she has no noteworthy armament, besides of course a Corrish crew. It will be best to make her join a convoy and recruit some sea soldiers.

R M G C $ H
4  5  0 0  5 1
This is just a stat recommendation, change what you think fits her better.

This is the first entry for the Glory of Corrington task "The Merchant Marine" and the one that goes to the crown.

Jorin Farrensman and the Plucky Manatee's first skipper Rascal "Eagle Eye" inspecting the new ship and checking the cargo. Rascal was a smuggler in the past, whose nondescript face made him perfect for this life. However, he was longing for a more regulated life and managed to regain trust by the authorities. His nautical experience and trade skills as well as his criminological knowledge make the ship a desirable one to sign on.

Crew members and dock workers stow the freight in the huge cargo load, which inspired the name.

And off she is on her maiden voyage! Some additional cargo was lashed onto the deck.

Spoiler

As always excuse me for the bad lighting and background.

[LM71Blackbird]

Wonderful! Great color scheme, the dark green sails are a nice touch. How long did all that rigging take you?

[Bregir]

Excellent lugger, Wellesley! A from me from the start. As I said on flickr, I am also working on a lugger, although that will have a less peaceful purpose...

First a "little" well deserved praise:

I am very impressed with the technic technique you have used for the bow and stern bulllwarks - never seen that before, and it works surprisingly well. Some sort of closing up on the top could be the final touch, but I feel like a tile or similar would probably seem to blocky. But the shape you have achieved is excellent.

The rigging plan is excellent, and you have captured all the interesting peculiarities of the lugger rig such as the raked masts and the sternsprit-thingy that I do not know the name of.

The sails and sailplan are excellently made too. Can you share what material you are using?

Additionally, you have given the ship life. Both by an excellent backstory and by presenting at your Dock, which brings it well into the world of BoBs. There is also good details and activity on deck and I think your presentation is very good, with all the interesting angles for the story. (But I am also happy that you added the spoiler photos for details and full shots)

I also have a few suggestions and questions:

I have never seen the three lug-yards on the same mast before. In the (few) depictions I have seen, there would be one or two. Can you perhaps share your source material, as I would love to learn more of the lug rig.

I'd suggest using a different type of string for your rigging. The rough twine (?) you are using makes the rigging look worn and old, with many "Irish pennants" (all the little pieces of string jutting out and about). I also feel like it may be a bit too thick for the purpose, but it's hard to say as the rough surface makes it look thicker.

Model building shops typically have specialised, vaxed string for the purpose, but cheaper alternatives, such as thickish seewing thread, or household cotton thread/string can also do the trick, and can be found in different colours.

My last question is if your masts are actually held up by the rigging? Is it tightly rigged, and is it strong enough that you can (more or less) lift the whole vessel by the masts?

All in all excellent vessel, Wellesley, and I am sure she will serve Corrington well. Keep up the good work!

 

[Professor Thaum]

What a nice ship you made  !

18 minutes ago, Bregir said:

I have never seen the three lug-yards on the same mast before. In the (few) depictions I have seen, there would be one or two. Can you perhaps share your source material, as I would love to learn more of the lug rig.

 

I was about to ask the same question, for the same reason than @Bregir I'm also working on a lugger, with this picture as inspiration :

 

[Ross Fisher]

It is a very pretty little tub. I'd like to echo the compliments above. Very well done sir!

[Wellesley]

@LM71Blackbird, @Bregir, @Professor Thaum and @Ross Fisher Thanks all!
 

9 hours ago, LM71Blackbird said:

How long did all that rigging take you?

Two dedicated (long) evenings. I'm pretty fast at times, no comparison to when I started. Everything runs smoother and better planned by now.
 

2 hours ago, Bregir said:

I am very impressed with the technic technique you have used for the bow and stern bulllwarks - never seen that before, and it works surprisingly well. Some sort of closing up on the top could be the final touch, but I feel like a tile or similar would probably seem to blocky. But the shape you have achieved is excellent.

Thanks, it was an emergency solution I had to try out. I didn't have any hinges in yellow, black or grey left. I also was impressed, but mainly surprised by how it turned out. You are right though about the top. Only tiles wouldn't have worked because of the curve, I either would had to use round tiles at the bending points or use 3x1 tiles on how it is like now. Both options weren't available as I have none of the round ones and the last 3x1 tiles are already used for this ship. I was hoping to achieve some sort of cover by the railing, which also turned out better than imagined.

The masts stand on their own, even tilted (the inclination is fixed). But I can't lift the ship by holding on to them. This has more to do so with the bottom part of the masts. I don't trust them:) Strong enough to hold the entire vessel sideways though.

You are right about the twine, the "Irish pennants" (thanks for teaching me a new word) are a bit extreme. I always was using this to get some rough effects, but on some ships that bothered me as well. On the Lipizzana's shrouds for example (looks horrible). The white rope is especially made for model rigging and I'm quite pleased with the "knotting properties". For the future I will look if it is available in another colour.

For the sails I used an old cotton napkin. Still have one green and two blue ones left for that use:)

@Bregir and @Professor Thaum I used the Grayhound as main inspiration. Without stumbling across pictures of her I wouldn't even had started with this ship. The plan to do so already exists for quite a while though, but I didn't think I would manage to build another hull fitting her. It was either full dark grey but no inverted slopes or brown/dark grey but no brown tiles to cover the dark grey areas. I looked at some other vessels and was impressed how well they do without covering it. So I started:)

 

[Wellesley]

3 hours ago, Bregir said:

the sternsprit-thingy that I do not know the name of.

Me neither.
I found a few terms that seem to fit, like: mizzen boom, (mizzen sail) boomkin, beam(?)

[Professor Thaum]

4 hours ago, Bregir said:

sternsprit-thingy that I do not know the name of.

 

48 minutes ago, Wellesley said:

Me neither.
I found a few terms that seem to fit, like: mizzen boom, (mizzen sail) boomkin, beam(?)

The french name is : " mat de tapecul avec queue de malet "  but I can' t find the translation. I found this but I'm pretty sure it sucks : " seesaw mast with dovetail "

on the french lugger "Corentin" this rear mast is a foldable one... much more easy for berthing purpose ( this probably explain " seesaw " )

 

[Fraunces]

I really love this piece of work. Those colors are amazing! So odd and still they do not feel unfitting. I am no expert on rigging and sailmaking, so I will not comment on that. But the sails are just so.. peculiar.

[Tezclatipoca]

That's a Great ship !

I really like your colour choice !

The sails in green are very eye catching !

Good job !

[kurigan]

Humm... Yes *nod* very nice. I like her. Technic lift arms... good use. Thought about this once and never perused it. Looks good though.

[Wellesley]

Thanks all:)

[LM71Blackbird]

13 hours ago, Wellesley said:

Two dedicated (long) evenings. I'm pretty fast at times, no comparison to when I started. Everything runs smoother and better planned by now.

Well, your hard work definitely has paid off. Simply beautiful work!

[Bodi]

A very, very nice ship, I'm impressed by the amount of details you managed to reproduce at this scale.

[Keymonus]

Very nice ship, excellent rigging and a lot of details! I gave some doubts about the color scheme (the white tiles inside) but it is more a matter of personal taste rather than a real defect

[SilentWolf]

A  from me. I am no expert on ships, which is why I am slow at building them. However, I do recognize beauty in lines, colors, and story shots. You have done an excellent job of showing off this build and creating activity on board. The sailing pictures are also well done and the use of the blue sheet helps the presentation. If you have a few small translucent blue pieces, spreading them around the ship helps add realism to this technique of picture taking as it blends the build into the otherwise smooth sheet/cloth. 

I would ask if the flags are facing the right direction. They seem to be going the wrong way, but you have them all so precisely placed it seems you were intentional on it. 

Note: I had mentioned on your other build to include the GOC task you are submitting for, but I notice you had already done that here. So please ignore the other comment and carry on as you have done in this build. 

[Wellesley]

Thanks all:)

@SilentWolf Well, it is very close-hauled:) But as it is one of the benefits of such rig, I wanted to have the wind from that direction.

[Captain Dee]

Very nice. I enjoy looking at your vessels and this one also turned out well. Approved  for the Glory of Corrington!