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Malta's galley

Discussion in 'vBench (Works in Progress)' started by franceso sbarile, May 28, 2018.

  1. franceso sbarile A Fixture

    The galley has been the undisputed ruler of the Mediterranean Sea for almost 400 years.Direct descendant of the Greek and Roman ships has fought an infinite number of naval battles and small battles especially during the period of expansion of the Ottoman Empire.The apex of these battles was certainly Lepanto (1571).
    9423387_orig.jpg
    where the galleys of the knights from Malta contributed significantly to the defeat of the sultan's fleet.In the following century especially Venice and Malta continued to use galleys to oppose the corsairs of the Ottoman fleet.I started from the idea of setting a Malta banner-holder on a seventeenth-century galley and inserting a gunwale culverine in this scene but ... there are no 75mm-scale naval culverins . So I started looking for documentation about naval artilley of the period, then a cut an appropriate size street lamp from spare parts, complete it by a cannon mouth also from spare and a plastic cylinder to close the rear of the culverine. Some more brass wire, copper plate, trinkets, and a small brass thin plate with engraved leaves complete the piece. Hope you enjoy it and I will proceed to the next step
    Cheers
    Francesco



    IMG_20180519_162552.jpg IMG_20180520_144843.jpg IMG_20180520_145445.jpg IMG_20180519_155520.jpg IMG_20180519_155805.jpg IMG_20180527_152646.jpg IMG_20180527_154336.jpg IMG_20180527_170109.jpg IMG_20180527_170300.jpg
  2. Oda A Fixture

    Francesco this is a fantastic idea!What figure are you going to use?

    Oda.
    Perseas and franceso sbarile like this.
  3. franceso sbarile A Fixture

  4. Oda A Fixture

  5. franceso sbarile A Fixture

    some steps forward, I glued on the base of the naval modeling strips to simulate the deck of the ship, then I marked with a marker the separation between the boards and simulated the nails that held the boards nailed to the structure.
    I passed some biting mahogany and then I washed with black.
    Then I cut into the plywood a small parapet treated as the bridge and finally I placed a lantern in the corner and the colubrina, on its own pin, to complete

    b1.jpg b2.jpg b3.jpg b4.jpg b5.jpg b7.jpg 6.jpg
  6. Oda A Fixture

    It looks better and better with each step you take Francesco.Can't wait to see it finished!

    Oda.
    Perseas and franceso sbarile like this.
  7. Sergei Active Member

    Country:
    United-States
    Looks very impressive, but the parapet seems to be too low for this figure. I think it should be waist high or even higher.
    franceso sbarile likes this.
  8. franceso sbarile A Fixture


    You are right, and indeed also I had this idea, however I had a look to a galley in the sea museum in Genoa and the parapet looks to be very low.
    Galea-dal-1°piano_Merlo-Fotografia_0511.jpg

    In any case I will think about an higher parapet.
    Thank so much to you and Oda.
    Francesco
    oldtrousers, Oda, KenBoyle and 4 others like this.
  9. Sergei Active Member

    Country:
    United-States
    Many thanks for this absolutely fascinating picture which I have not seen before. It is true that the parapet (I am sure there is a special term for this, railing or something like that?) in the bow section of the galley is very low. But it seems to me that people, especially high-ranking officers, were not supposed to hang around in that area. You also do not want to attach any falconets there because their crew would obstruct the operation of the main gun which is so prominent in the picture. As far as I can tell, the falconet and lantern in your miniature suggest that your figure is standing next to bulwark which would normally be of the same height as the waist-high railing at the stern of the galley in your picture (next to the figure in a red cap) or the bulwark in this miniature, which you are probably aware of:
    https://www.amazon.com/Masterclass-Miniatures-Agostino-Barbarigo-Miniature/dp/B009JW66DA

    Good luck with your exiting project.


    Sergei
    KenBoyle, Nap and franceso sbarile like this.
  10. franceso sbarile A Fixture

    Thank you to you Sergei for your precise analisys , I think to fix the parapet ( or whatever is the specific name) to a proper height.
    Hope you will follow again the next steps of my little work.
    Cheers
    Francesco
  11. Landrotten Highlander Well-Known Member

    franceso sbarile likes this.
  12. franceso sbarile A Fixture


    Correct, the "fleur de lys", as the almost contemporary "le Royale", are the top evolution at the end of XVII century of the concept of galley. The oar propulsion as well as the triangular sails that allows to sail with not constant winds get this kind of ship very suitable to the mediterranean sea up to the coming of the gallions the following century.
    Hope to see your galley, i like a lot also naval modelling.
    Cheers
    Francesco
    Landrotten Highlander likes this.
  13. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Francesco

    What a great idea for a piece , very impressive modelling already

    I can only imagine fighting on these ships !

    Following with much interest

    Thanks for sharing

    Nap
    franceso sbarile likes this.
  14. vincenzo Well-Known Member

    Country:
    Italy
    Francesco!! what a fantastic subject!!!! I love it so so much!!!!
    franceso sbarile likes this.
  15. franceso sbarile A Fixture


    Thank so much people !!
  16. franceso sbarile A Fixture

    Now some more work on figure and ship. I raised the gunwale (thanks Sergei) and add some decoration and a malta's emblem on the rear side (it must be finished) , begin to paint the lower part of the figure. Hope you enjoy it.
    Cheers
    Francesco

    Attached Files:

  17. Viking Bob PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    I thought I had commented on this, obviously not. What a back drop to a lovely figure. Great workmanship. A real beauty.
    Oda and franceso sbarile like this.
  18. arj A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Very nice work on the presentation.
    Look forward to seeing the figure develop.

    Cheers,
    Andrew
    franceso sbarile likes this.
  19. Edorta A Fixture

    Country:
    Spain
  20. KenBoyle PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-States
    Amazing project/build! It looks fantastic.

    Cheers,
    Ken
    franceso sbarile likes this.

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