Roman Corbita and other ancient merchant ships

[Howlin]

Hello, other than my introduction post this is my first posting and I wanted to share some pictures of some of the work I am doing with ancient inspired merchant ships. I get excited about the 1/72 world and not many around to share that with so... I use a lot of scrap parts from bireme and trireme models that I also enjoy customizing, I use pictures for inspiration but there is a lot of artistic license taken.

The roman corbita.... I really did try to get this one as close to a picture as possible, and spent the most time on it.... I would have liked the sail to be like 1 section longer but thats all the plastic I had.
the cabin might be a little high, but overall I really am happy with this. I still need to add some milliput to smooth out some other areas and maybe add some bags of supplies and it will be ready for primer I think.










the bow and stern are inspired by some pictures of other Roman ships for this one, but a lot of that artistic license is taken here... for my gaming world it will be like the opposite side of the Romans. I just need to add some weathering.





This is my phonetician trade ship inspired because I had parts that would make it, and because Linear A made the minoans so they will be piloting this ship.... Which for the thousands of ships they used who is to say they did not use this style? or capture or trade for one? the sail is much smaller than I wanted so I may update it someday but its the best I have at the moment. I also need to add milliput details.



and this is my fishing/ merchant ship, really total fiction, but not impossible design in my mind. I will likely cut off the spiral on the bow, add some tarps for the top of the middle cabin.





Thank you for looking and any comments and constructive critiques welcomed.

[MABO]

Looking very interesting. But maybe you can post bigger pics?

[Howlin]

Thank you.

Try clicking on them. That works for me.

This is my first time using "postimages" website...

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[MABO]

It works but it is more complicated. Maybe you can have a look in the FAQs about posting bigger images. Your work is worth it. Welcome here!

[Howlin]

Ok so I found out a better way to post images, I am not allowed to edit my top post so reposting pics.

[MABO]

That is really much better!

[Peter]

That are some real nice ships in progress!

PS: good work with the pictures!

[Cryns]

Dear Howlin . Great work! It is not often we see someone building a full range of ancient merchant ships in our 1:72 scale. In fact I have never seen it before except from some individual ships and some handmade museum diorama's.

The roman corbita.... I really did try to get this one as close to a picture as possible,
the cabin might be a little high

Thank you for looking and any comments and constructive critiques welcomed.

Nice work. If painted and rigged, your ship will look good.
But yes, you should consider making the cabin lower now its still unpainted.
In the world of shipwrighting cabins and lower decks are usually as high as a men's size or a bit lower but almost never higher except for the cargo section down under. Even halve decks existed, both in Europe as in Asia, where sailors had to bend over to be able to move and not hurt their heads.
It is also a matter of proportion: Your corbita is all over sized down, just like some paper model kits of the corbita you must have seen as well.
In combination with an oversized high cabin, the effect is somewhat unbalanced. While it would be very easy to make the cabin 30% lower.

A question to you: I see some white elements, like the corbita mast, that looks like a reproduction of an Atlantic mast. Did you make your own resin copies of some of the ships parts?

Regards from Cryns

[Howlin]

Thanks for the critique.;.. i just may do that... but then I also feel it might put the back goose head out of balance.

The main mast is from a Academy Roman Warship, The rails and sides are from a Zvezda trireme, and the hull is the bottom section of the airfix golden hind. the front mast and bow spirit is from an aurora bireme model viewtopic.php?f=2&t=24577
You can not see it but there is some details under the goose head that are the carvings from name plates of the academy models.

[Howlin]

As per the mast, Academy and Imai use the same models for their roman warship, And Imai also makes a copy of the Atlantic Greek warship. The mast for both are very similar and seem like they were made to go together.

The Heller bireme is likely my favorite of all the models out there but are the rarer ones and generally costly but occasionally a good sale is found on ebay. The auroa bireme is much smaller but could be envisioned for a penteconter. They all play a role to being a penteconter, bireme or trireme (the larger Zvezda versions), as there were several sizes of vessels for various purposes and types of waterways.

[wilberforcefrog]

I think these ships are quite remarkable, and it's really neat to see this area explored. I'm really a big fan of the fishing ship.

[Howlin]

I think these ships are quite remarkable, and it's really neat to see this area explored. I'm really a big fan of the fishing ship.

Thank you! do you think the bow curl is too much?