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Thread: WIP - Simple Wooden Ship

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    Community Leader Jaxilon's Avatar
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    Default WIP - Simple Wooden Ship

    Something I've been working on per request. The full image is 25" x 30" at 150ppi.
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    “When it’s over and you look in the mirror, did you do the best that you were capable of? If so, the score does not matter. But if you find that you did your best you were capable of, you will find it to your liking.” -John Wooden

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    This is super cool, Jax! I love ship-maps--they're always so groovy. I'll rep you if it'll let me...

    Edit: Oops, gotta spread some around before I can drop the rep-bomb on you again.

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    looks really good - If I should come with a couple of points. Sometimes the captain, mates rooms have real beds and mostly only the captain have a decent sized room. The crew also have very spacious quarters, the could be pushed more together to make more room for cargo. And you need a galley so they can get something to eat
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    Other points to consider: Ships rarely have such straight sides as you are suggesting. Both front to back, and top to bottom. Your lower decks should squeeze in as the hull narrows toward the bottom. (Top deck may even squeeze in a bit compared to a lower deck.)

    Have you considered how you actually steer the thing? You seem to have a rather small wheel, then it connects to nothing.

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    Thanks for all the great points and comments.

    I was working from a drawing provided so I haven't added anything other than the few items you see tossed in (chests, crates, casks, hammocks and doors). I was thinking about that Captain's bed but I haven't drawn one yet. I think a 4 corner post bed for him

    The lower level does squeeze in from the main deck (about 2.5' on each side) but I didn't change the upper decks at all (which matches the sketch). Maybe I should have mentioned I was provided an initial drawing that I used for the layout.

    How wide can the steering wheel be? I can make it 10' across. As far as connecting it to something well, I guess I could try but I thought to leave as many grid squares as possible so it's more fun as a battlemap which is the main purpose. It is kind of small to begin with. Is it better to have that kind of detail or to leave the map uncluttered for VTT and miniature play?

    Another thing that was kind of on my mind was the lack of a head. I guess they can let fly over the sides, lol. Still I agree it's not much for accuracy as far as all the little details. This is for a battle that takes place on the ship so I hope they will be more concerned with survival.

    If I can add some of the details you all have mentioned it would probably make the thing more useful to a broader range of folks. I have a deadline on this but that doesn't mean I can't continue adding to it.

    Oh and as far as how rooms are set up, that will be up to the GM. All the items are provided as separate objects that can be placed wherever wanted. So, if I do the Captain's bed for instance, it can be placed anywhere.

    Thanks again for the comments. I'll post more when I get something completed.
    “When it’s over and you look in the mirror, did you do the best that you were capable of? If so, the score does not matter. But if you find that you did your best you were capable of, you will find it to your liking.” -John Wooden

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    Hey, look at that. I really shouldn't attempt to judge distances that early in the morning. (The sides are still oddly straight, looks more like a modern bulk carrier or container ship.) Exploring hull design is a very interesting subject.

    As for the wheel, you have a the ship's wheel on a thin little stick. Most older ships would have had a larger structure that the wheel attaches to. (In sailing you can have some of the greatest stresses acting on the rudder and wheel.) I'm drawing a blank on the proper term, but I guess the closet modern term for the pillar the wheel attaches to would be console or something. This would often include things such as a gimballed compass, lights, and storage for other important navigational tools.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Talroth View Post
    Hey, look at that. I really shouldn't attempt to judge distances that early in the morning. (The sides are still oddly straight, looks more like a modern bulk carrier or container ship.) Exploring hull design is a very interesting subject.

    As for the wheel, you have a the ship's wheel on a thin little stick. Most older ships would have had a larger structure that the wheel attaches to. (In sailing you can have some of the greatest stresses acting on the rudder and wheel.) I'm drawing a blank on the proper term, but I guess the closet modern term for the pillar the wheel attaches to would be console or something. This would often include things such as a gimballed compass, lights, and storage for other important navigational tools.
    Good stuff, I'll at least beef that up. It does look a bit spindly And while I'm no shipwright I surely appreciate the effort on your part to respond and post something at all. Thank you for the help because as much of it as I can add to the project will make it that much better. Also, when I first did the sides, I sort of wondered but didn't worry about it too much....now that you brought it up though, it's bugging the heck outta me, LOL. I'll have to see if I can do something to put some bow into it.
    “When it’s over and you look in the mirror, did you do the best that you were capable of? If so, the score does not matter. But if you find that you did your best you were capable of, you will find it to your liking.” -John Wooden

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    Updated deckplan more rounded (about as much as I dare considering how straight I started). I'll be sure to keep an eye on this whenever I do my next ship.

    I also added a "console" in front of the steering wheel and enlarged the wheel as well.

    This is just the base image. All the items, furniture, etc will be included as individual .png files so they can be placed wherever the GM wants. (I may mock up a full ship at some point but don't want to bother until at least the base deck plan is solidified.)

    This is still at 50% size.

    Looks like the thumb dohicky is acting up. I'm still not sure if someone comes along and fixes this or if it just happens on it's own.
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    “When it’s over and you look in the mirror, did you do the best that you were capable of? If so, the score does not matter. But if you find that you did your best you were capable of, you will find it to your liking.” -John Wooden

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    And a version with some of the items tossed in so you can get a better feel for what it would look like.
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    “When it’s over and you look in the mirror, did you do the best that you were capable of? If so, the score does not matter. But if you find that you did your best you were capable of, you will find it to your liking.” -John Wooden

    * Rivengard * My Finished Maps * My Challenge Maps * My deviantArt

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    Oh, oh! A ship, and Crayons has looked! (Sorry, I tend to focus on ships a bit, but I hope to be helpful!)

    The "console" you're referring to is usually called the "binnacle" - it's the housing for the compass. In more modern, metal, ships it also contains all the "tuning" stuff that negates the magnetic effects of the ship itself... erm, digression. In sailing ships with wheel, that wheel is usually mounted on the binnacle, so the helmsman can look at the compass...doh.

    The size of the wheel. It can feasibly be of any size. Having a wheel means that there has to be a set of wheels and gearing connected to the actual rudder. That is where all the stresses are. If you look at a modern yacht with a wheel - the top of the rudder axle has a large "wheel" - maybe a yard across - with a wire or chain or whatever around the circumference and running forward to another much smaller "wheel" at the bottom of the binnacle. Think of a bicycle, cogs and chain. Only think of a really low gear where the front cog is small and the rear cog is big! This, of course explains why, when the captain shouts "hard a-starboard", the helmsman literally spins the wheel. It's a very low gear. I'm rambling. Basically the wheel is what it needs to be for "human factors", so about a yard is fine. One or two helmsmen can operate it at need.

    Straight sides. There's no spectacular reason against these. Wood is wood and can be made to any shape. If the ship is mainly cargo then a tubby old scow is fine. If it's a warship, then speed and manouvreability become important and the hydrodynamics of the hull come into play more, but in reality, for max speed it's less of a factor that you'd imagine.
    The main limiting factor to the maximum speed of a sailing ship is the ship's length, unless that ship can "plane" (or sort of "skim"). It's a pretty hard limit, where mass, sails etc just improve or degrade within that limitation. I see no problem with the shape of the hull here in plan view.

    I think I need a view of the scale here? Your masts look huge. At most I'd think maybe 2ft dia, a lot of the real work is done by the stays and shrouds (ropes holding the mast upright). Masts go all the way down to the keel.
    The rowing boats look too small? Depends n what sort of ship this is I guess.

    Hammocks - try doing a google images search of "hms victory hammocks". They did tend to pack people in. In and over the cannon, cargo, whatever.

    Cabins. Officers would have cabins. Either their own, or shared, depending on rank. The best place is at the rear of the ship - remember it's wind powered, so usually the wind is behind in some manner - the smell of the ship therefore goes forwards! For that same reason, the galley is usually forward, so if there is a fire it will blow the smoke and flames over less of the ship. Galley will probably be under the foc'sle deck

    Sanitation. Yup, the crew will just take advantage of the latest in freely ventilated, open planned toilet faclities. The officers will have a head but I guess that's just a small box room with a hole over the side. Officers are "gentlemen" after all.

    Deck fittings. Generally a ship is symmetrical. Like the cargo hatches - you might moor up on either side so there is no reason to favour one side over the other for access.

    The lowest Bow storage area is usually where the anchor chain lives, fed up through holes in the deck. The bow is also a place where unused sails are stored - perhaps under the foc'sle deck too?. There would likely be a hatch rather than stairs here (the mast is in the way!).
    There are also some skilled workmen to accomodate - a carpenter and sailmaker for example. If it's a warship with cannon or arbelests etc, then some sort of armorer?

    'snuff for now! I hope it helps?
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