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The HMS Otter is a Letter of Marque for the Crown of Corrington, currently being used mainly to carry despatches throughout the New World, where speed of information is one of the strongest weapons in furthering Corlander interests. The painting below shows her carrying word of discovery of a new Island by the Montoya-Cooke Expedition. Owned by Don Isaac Montoya, the Otter has sailed in consort with the HMS Athena as part of the Montoya-Cooke Expedition, exploring the New World. Now she carries a despatch from Cooke, with the position of a newly discovered island and charts of a naturally protected harbour. Along with this comes the suggestion that a single platoon of Royal Navy Engineers could easily fortify the entrance to the port, and with a single battery command a perfect staging point for local development and further New World exploits. The HMS Otter is a large topsail cutter, built in one of the finest Oleander shipyards before the last war betweem Corrington and Oleon. She is swift and seaworthy, and can outsail most vessels when going closed-hauled to the wind, her best point of sailing. In the last days of the Juniper War, where Cooke commanded the HMS Athena (at that time still in the Royal Navy lists) he captured the Otter (then "La Loutre") and sunk a larger brig-of-war in a, at the time, rather celebrated naval action. Currently, she is manned by a group of volunteers, mainly former smugglers and men-of-wars men, under command of Lieutenant Roger McLeod. McLeod was first-lieutenant for Cooke on the Athena, and took charge of the prize crew, and later the current crew, as she was bought by Montoya from the prize agent. Armed with four 8 pounders per broadside, and two bow chasers, she has a bite to match her bark. Abtly armed and manned, she is more than capable of escort duty, privateering missions, or minor fleet action. ___________________________________________________________________ This was a fun build - it is built by the same hull-technique as the Sphinx, and I hadn't intended it to become so large. However, to get the shape I wanted, I had to keep upscaling it! On the upside, I actually got the shape I wanted! Plus, the rigging is easier to do on larger scale. As to the rigging, it is actually done by only a single piece of string (apart from the Lego string holding the gaff), and is strong enough for the vessel to be lifted and/or tilted by the masthead! As to rating, I would like to hear your thoughts. As she ended up rather large, I had to reconsider her rating. I am thinking class 3, maybe even 4, but I should like for it to fit within the spirit of the rating system. Below is a few more pictures (and there are more on Flickr). Thanks for viewing. C&C is, as always, more than welcome.
