Finally the test prints have arrived! Here they are in all their glory!!
And unpainted:
And here, for scale comparison, attacking an 1/1200 Navwar trireme.
Overall the triremes came out fairly well. Unfortunately n.1, my favourite, was the only bad mould (of course!). You can see here, compared with the master sculpt, how it seems to be sinking at the stern. Also, the "tail" was greatly diminished. This needs a new cast.
N.2 and all the others are fine. N.2 needs a little filing of its tail, it is too fat in the original sculpt. I was afraid of sanding it, that I could break it, but I can do it now.
N.3 is also overall fine. It just needs some sanding in the forward port oarage, which looks longer than the rest.
N.4 is ok too, just needs slimming that fat tail again.
So overall, very happy! I will now prepare them for the real moulding.
Aside from the trimming and sanding and filing, I would really like to try and add a parexeiresia to all of them with greenstuff. The lack of a proper outrigger was the single real mistake, design-wise, that I always regretted but I was never able to sculpt it properly. Maybe now as an add-on it will be easier...?
Many thanks Andrew! Very glad you enjoy. And yes, one of the reasons I am doing this is that I want my triremeto look proper ships, not fantasy. Send me a line next time tou come around!
Great work with your models. Especially like how you have the oars swept forward, some where in the arc we think the ships actually used.
Love the comparison shot with the navwar 1/1200 models (of which I have many many). With oars swept back. I am working towards a 2500th Anniversary Battle of Salamis later this year (unlike others I don't count the non-existent year zero). This year is the Greek Bicentenary of Independence so I understand why they went a year early.
Did not think to visit the Galera Tiberina when I was last in Rome (Just over a year ago at an astronomy conference). Based in New Zealand it will be a while before that happens again. Tha…