Soon after I built the 1/1200 scale galleys I started thinking about larger ships for the same period. My rule set 'Block Galleys' sort of counts on removable parts, and after some theoretical sketches I came up with a list with all the features required for my test model:
- avoid the 'blocky' look that some gaming pieces have (the model should preferably have the true proportions of a real galley)
- show the crew and not the bare decks (always found it weird at larger scales that the ship sails herself)
- preferably 1/300 to 1/350 scale, to go with Zvezda's 1/350 Armada offerings and Black Swan
- removable prow and forecastle
- removable aft structure
- same for masts and two sail options (to show sailing or using oars)
- and preferably a removable section of oar bank
Then I turned towards designing paper templates for quick construction, and soon I worked out the entire process, the result of which is the Barbary pirate galley, the flagship of the infamous Pasha Aga, you can see on the image above. Of course not all the desired features were executed, but that is why this was a test piece, to see which is feasible and which is not.