The Leviathan

[Howlin]

"the leviathan"

Ancient paddle fire ship

Commander: General Barr B. Queslyesses

crew: 9 (2 under deck)

Armaments:

25-30ft range heated oil/ fire
Oar and hull grinding wheel.
1 archer and 5 men with short swords in leather armor. plus the general.

Backstory:
A retired General, with amassed fortune decides to build his ultimate war machine for the glory of Rome, to prove that he could do more with fewer men who were brave enough to serve and smart enough to think. Whose victories were celebrated with many feast with a unique way of setting off the festivities that gave him fame among the crowds.


How it works. the oil tank under their feet is pressurized by the pump. it then goes into the boiler and when heated has the pressure to then make a good stream. Since it is super hot and oil, it pretty much flashes on fire with water contact (maybe they even mix a little in) but the main damage is from a oil fire on deck. I am not planning on using it as Greek fire that would totally incinerate ships. but devastating nonetheless. 2 men run the pump, 2 men tend the fire, 1 man directs the jet.

All the minis are from the Orion Roman Siege Engineers set. Fortuitously they work perfect for this and I actually never bought this set, it was a mistake sent to me by a distributor and he let me keep it. I likely would have picked it up eventually at some point, and the bulls are from pegasus. Mules would have been preferable but I do not have any I can use.

Issues: this is a complex model with lots of furniture and semi interior, and I know I should be painting parts before gluing others on, but I have trouble with this as I do not want to paint over plastic and glue over that, as I know those pieces will eventually break off and pull a slab of paint off it.

I think if I make it so all the roof parts are removable as part of the gaming experience I can get a bush in there for most details which only I would notice if any might be missing.

Also considering whether to glue cows down, or make a thin base for them to be removable too. and thinking I should put a pin in the crews base so I can drill a hole in the floor to secure them.

So basically looking for tips on what I might do, if there is an order one might attempt or just glue it up and go with it. (like for the paddles Its a choice of either)




















What it might look like if I opt out of the side spikes... I needed to fill the holes and well, I can't help myself




There will be a lot to change and add, the wheels for instance sit high and are just for conceptualization.

Thanks for the interest!

[Peter]

Fantastic project again! Looking forward to your next post here!

[MABO]

Great craftsmanship. And a lot of imagination.

[Xantippos]

Very nice and imaginative . For the style, I would say it look chinese or south east asian!

[Howlin]

Thank you all for the kind comments


Yes, I was thinking that too, even though a turtle ship is not among my list of inspirations, it does draw a lot of design features. Some of it comes down to what parts do I have to select from. When I started to plan this, I had thought it was just going to be a small paddle boat with a ram and open top deck. As I was envisioning it for a while, I felt it needed a special weapon to justify its size, and it just grew after that.

The images I used for inspiration can be found here.
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=24937&start=20

In part of the story in the General Barr's military exploits went to the east and found inspiration for the paddles to propel his dangerous ship with few crew.

Hopefully the painting will make it look a little more Romanesque.


Still lots to be done, and tweak, was just trying to figure out how I am going to paint this. I think I have settled on just putting everything in place, but leaving the roofs removable.

[Bessiere]

I recall a story about the Byzantines using fire ships against Kievan-Rus or whoever was living up the Dnieper. Are you familiar with those fire ships?

[Howlin]

This is total fantasy with a mix of plausible realism. My brain kinda mixes all history together into one so I am not directly aware of that battle or usage.

I think byzantine Greek fire is a little out of my time range but they still had hot firely oil they used. The difference is one sets ships on fire, the other incinerates in minutes. From what I have heard most sailors would jump into the water and drown upon sight of the byzantine ships. They would be a terrifying weapon.

For gaming purposes it will not be that strong but set half a ship on fire leading to its inevitable sinking.