From NoelW: Douglas' Shallows: A Barbary Lugger (35 Points)

Hearing there are riches of peculiar value and unusual gratification to be found in a strange isle west of Ultima Thule, we say our farewells to the coast of Barbary, set full sail and, graced by winds of special virtue, on the third day sight that shadowy land of promise. As if great white horses break their chests across shallows of golden sand – well, perhaps just a little more like scruffy grey donkeys stumbling over an old cat’s litter tray - we negotiate that minor hazard with bravery and very few casualties.

On landing, we come across a pile of old clothes that seem to have been abandoned by a homeless person but, on approaching, we find they assemble themselves into a madman with paintbrushes wedged in his hair and another somehow glued between his teeth. When slightly pressed by the application of a sophisticated dagger, he tells us the place is quaintly known as “Dougras’ Sharrows”. Odd, this seems, but then the place itself is odd.

The land, we’re led to understand, after only a modicum of pressure is applied by means of a blunt oar, is known as “Chawwenge Eggs”. Who among reasonable men would use such an epithet? It takes little more than the sharpening of a rapier on the old man’s bristly chin to learn he knows the golden way, the trail long lusted for, the Path of the New Shiny. Shininess is something we understand well.

So we drag the ship beyond the tideline, conceal it under fronds of scraggly palm, and start our march to a place the man with paint in his hair calls “Mudly’s Mesa”, our first step on the long road to the Lord’s Snowy Peak and its fortune of golden Eggs.

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I’m always late to submit my first post, as my birthday coincides with the start of the Challenge, so opportunities for painting are lost amidst endless opening of cards, the heady round of family carousing and the ripping of paper from unguessable objects. But amongst them were new toys which should figure in my next submission.

Meanwhile my major project of the moment is Black Seas, Warlord’s Age of Sail game which came out in October and which I’m proud to say I was involved in creating. I love the 1/700^th ship models, and the game itself is great fun to play, so I’m planning several submissions in the next few months. The first is just  a small one to get a foothold on the lower slopes of the table. This is a lugger, produced not by Warlord but a German firm, Hagen, who’ve begun a small range in 1/700^th.

This is the first ship for my Barbary pirates, so it’s painted as a somewhat worn and un-cared for ship, battered by negligence and abuse. Citadel Contrast paints are a good medium for such an impression. (The larger ships in the fleet will be prettier.) My grand aim is for the Battle of the Nile (or Aboukir Bay), but also to try some associated small-scale actions of Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt, for which small ships like this will be really useful, as well as US frigates vs Barbary pirates.

Hagen supply their ships without sails or rigging, so these have to be worked out from their pictures – not a difficult task, but it takes a bit of working out, and it’s the first time I’ve attempted to decode rigging for myself. I’m quite pleased with the results overall, though the sails are poor - I'll have to figure out a better way to make and paint these from scratch.

As for points – you tell me! It’s 1/700^th, about 1.5 inches high and 2 inches to tip of bowsprit.

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Haha, your preamble was fabulous, Noel. Great stuff and it really sets the mood for Challenge Island.

Wow, you've done a beautiful job on this lugger - I especially like the subtle weathering on the hull and sails; and the rigging, wow, that's really lovely work. I've not succumbed to Black Seas yet, but it is only a matter of days with the rate of these wonderful ship entries coming in. Besides, now that I know somebody who was actually involved in the development of the game - I'm absolutely compelled to get a copy, I have no choice! :)

An elegant first entry to the Challenge, Noel. Happy belated birthday and the very best for the New Year.

-Curt