HMS Anne, Oronegrean river ship

The HMS Anne like many other Oronegrean naval vessels is named after the fashion of Great Britain. The Oronegrean navy owes its Origins to the British and Moorish settlers in La Ley and the Spanish and french in La Esperanza. HMS Anne is not unusual in having and English name, it is common practise certainly with the river fleet which is based in La Ley. the Anne is a 3rd rate boat of the line a distinct group from the ships of the line first rate boats of the line are in fact what Oronegro calls 10th rate ships of the line...

more on the Oronegrean boats of the line will be posted on the Oronegro blog shortly. Well Hello one and all I have one exam to go next Monday and I am in good spirits :-) a History exam and therefore I can see good revision opportunities arising in school perhaps tomorrow. Thanks for your constant encouragement and as a thank you I am making these warships and naming them after some followers of note... namely those of you who have the same names as some of my family members.

So now I present Anne, named for Anne O'Leary who has a great creative spirit and who I am sure many of you know. The Anne is also dedicated to my Mother (Elisabeth) Anne and my great aunt "aunty Anne". Also coming along are 2 other ships of the same class the Peter for Peter in Belgium and my uncle peter and the Paul for my dads foster brother "Uncle Paul" and for Paul from Paul's bods and Paul who I forgot to mention the first time I posted this post

Right onto HMS Anne 3rd rate boat of the line and river ship.

the Anne floats on the strange waves of the table dimension. a crew member is resting on deck

the name of the ship stands proud above the eye like an eyelash. the eyes are a feature that comes from the Dhows of the moors

the sailor, form a native tribe wakes as a giant with a strange grey and silver object with a glass lens descends of the ship.

the gangplanks are drawn up and now a side view of the vessel the shed-like captains room on the stern stands out... no windows for protection on the wide but overlooked Oronegrean rivers

the royal flag of Oronegro looking a bit sorry for itself

a view up the ship which has been inspired by Arab and European ships

the bow cuts gracefully through the water as the wind pushes the craft along

a look down the deck, showing the hatch that leads down to the small crew section the ammunition crate (made of metal) and the cargo hold which is small but big enough for the small trips between the river ports

a quick look at the rear rigging... I have kept rigging to a minimum as its going to be used in some games and the fragile sails and string could easily break.

a close look at the tiller, unique to the boats of the line this system of steering uses, cogs, wheels, gears, pulleys and levers to give the helmsmen the ability to steer the ship without a wheel and a primitive may to make the steering more or less sensitive depending on what is needed where.

the HMS Anne links up with the Peter (centre) and Paul (left) both of them are in different stages of construction

as you can see I am using my special thick foam core I get from a friend and fellow hobbyist (also called Peter, well mostly Pete)

the underside of Peter, I love this material as you can see is shapes really well. though I have managed to break 2 craft knife blades which are now too short to slice the hull which needs to be almost saws though with the knives

and they sail away Paul have yet to be shaped but now I need a new craft knife, or just new blades because all my other knives are too short or too big.

Oh and I almost forgot, I really did, I am making my own little deck guns for the ships made from Balsa, bamboo skewers and some paper.

there you are, 2 per ship. HMS Anne has the looks now lets give her the firepower.

And so the Anne sails away. perhaps to some pleasant beach along the coast or up a river deep in the territory of some hostile tribe...

Well there you go folks. I hope you are enjoying 18th century Oronegro so far. I have yet to develop a good story as of yet but similar case of 21st century Oronegro in that its a case of loving both sides in the conflict and wanting to benefit from both.... but what will happen? that's what I am trying to figure out.

so the project begins, expect to see some more moderns coming through until I get the new figs and do not worry sooner or later I shall return to the 21st century and the civil war!