First some more progress on the weaponry. Using a punch and some thin plasticard I produced axels and rivets for the light gun mounts. The light guns' pedestals are made from magnetic sheet. Rare earth magnets glued to the deck will hold them in place and enable them to turn and to be easily removed.
More rivets are glued to the bows/rams for that little extra Victorian flavour.
And of course no Victorian ship, be it sky- or surface-, be it Terran or Martian, would be complete without bridge with a telegraph for speed and of course another one for altitude. Plasticard and dito tubing provided the material for these items.
Of course everything had to be dry-fitted to deck and bridge to check whether it would fit. Bridge machinery and the cover for the hold.
The light guns can be either fitted on the main deck or on the bridge.
The unfortunate hole in the main deck (see Part 1 for the cause of that!) can double as a placeholder for either the main gun or the hold cover. This way, I can transform my galleon from a trader into a warship.
I felt the ships needed some ornate hull decorations, but I couldn't gather the courage to sculpt all of this. Then I discovered the virtues of a hobby which attractions had hitherto completely escaped my comprehension: scrapbooking. It appears scrapbookers decorate their books with wooden or metal ornaments which can be had for next to nothing on the Interweb. I quickly acquired a small collection of the stuff!
This resulted in two finished and unpainted models....
....which of course had to be painted! Below the Last Shadow on her completed standard.
The standard's base is outfitted with three plastic clamps (EM4 card standards) that hold the cards used to plot movement during the game. All standards have this.
And before I divulge my last ingenious secret some luscious detail in full colour pictures!
The bow
The bridge, rear view.
The bridge, frontal view.
Bridge, standard mount and wing mounts.
Tail detail
Some gratuitous pictures for effect!
I felt a Martian Sky Galleon needed some decadent haremesque ladies lounging on the main deck. I might find some actual gaming use for them as a (admittedly slightly mysogenistic) victory objective...
The switchable hold cover and main gun trick works even better with paint on it.
And the sister ship: The Sword of Issos.
Same principle, slighty different design in wings, tail and bow. The lack of upper wings enabled huge banners made of heated and warped plasticard.
Again a -ahem- rear detail of the bridge. Note the little gems decorating the edges. Yes, note the gems. THE GEMS I SAY!!!
Oh what the heck. Gems are from the Dicebag Lady.
Tail detail.
These banners below btw are made from thin plasticard, heated above a candle flame (so as to be not too hot. Be careful not to melt them and experiment first with a leftover piece!) and warped into a shape hopefully resembling banners fluttering in a breeze.
Of course transporting such elaborate models would be a challenge. Which I wasn't keen on, so I made it easy to break them apart for transport. Tail, wings, bow and masts come off to enable easy packaging and transport.
So here they are: Last Shadow and Sword of Issos ready for PolderCon 2017! I think they worked out very well. For Barsoom, I thought that the ships would have to look Victorian high-tech (it's SciFi after all!) but suitably barbaric at the same time to fit into the Barsoom canon. So the gaudy banners, colours and gems really add that Barsoom flavour that I associate with the works of ERB, fit for near-naked technologically advanced barbarians wearing swords and golden bracelets.
NB: All minis are 28mm Bronze Age Miniatures from David's excellent SciFi range!
