The Berber War Galley 'Aga Pasha'

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 setion 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 Barbarian 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.

To get the dimensions right, this model by a Greek gentleman and the plans he shared were of great help. 

Anyway, the ship is 12cm long from prow to stern, has twenty pairs of oars, and is built from 1,2 and 3mm balsa pieces. The awning, sails and ensigns are colour printed. The crew is also shaped from 2mm balsa. I chose a beat-up pirate paint scheme with flat browns, and some decorative green stripes here and there.

And here's the trick: when damaged, I can disassemble the model as these parts are only held together by pegs. Building a removable oar deck section and separate sails had proven to be overcomplicating things, so I omitted those. 

By the way the PVA fixing the hull to the base is still drying, so you might be able to see that in the pics. 

This is my last post before Christmas, so I wish all my readers a merry time for the holidays.