[SR- FB1] The Donatus (Class 2 Armed)

[Kwatchi]

The first ship Captain Meloche commandeered when he turned his hand to piracy was the Oleon packet ship Chevalier Neuve. Soon afterwards, he renamed it after an infamous heretic as a further affront to the Church of the Patheon on which he wishes his revenge. While slightly altered by painting and a replacement of the figurehead, the Donatus takes to the seas appearing much the same as it did before, and had been known to fly a false flag in order to close on its unsuspecting prey.

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Here's my build of a Class 2 Armed Sloop. I am pleased with the hull and masthead, which I attempted to build in a "official set" style similar to the original pirate series (BSB and CC serving as inspiration). My sails and rigging did not come out as well as I hoped, but they did prove a learning experience so the next MOC should prove better.

The Donatus cruising my $1 dollar store cardboard ocean :)

While I liked the look of a black hull, it certainly does not take to showing detail well in a picture

This view looks better in RL for some reason, as you don't get a sense of the angle the rear window is on.

My 8 pounder cannon "standins"

Makeshift-anchor away!

Edited September 12, 2017 by Kwatchi

[Garmadon]

Great pirate ship Kwatchi, the color-scheme is excellent, and the details all over are not less so! A couple of my favorite details would be the stern and your anchor Your jib looks awfully long, but the other sails look pretty nice to me My main piece of advice would be to try to tiles the deck and railing if possible, along with some of the other places where studs are visible

[blackdeathgr]

A nice, cozy and well built ship! I like it

[Bregir]

Nice litte sloop, Kwatchi. I really like the colourscheme, and the hull turned out really nice, although it is a little hard to make out the black in the pictures.The sterncastle is pretty nice too, and looks great from behind with that sloping backwall, the arches and the brown accents. Custom guns are always nice, although the gunports are a little close to the waterline. I wouldn't like to open her leeward ports in a fresh gale!

As has become my (self-assumed) role here, I will comment a bit on the rigging. First of all, she appears to be wearing her storm sails (apart from the very large jib), as they are very small! And that sail before the mast with a boom going forward from the mast appears to be a new invention. I am not too sure it would work in reality, though...

I would suggest giving her to staysails (jibs) before the mast, by adding another forestay (the rope that prevents the mast from falling backwards), probably from the top of the mast to the middle of the bowsprit or so. That way, you can have one jib on the existing forestay, and another (inner) jib on the new forestay.

And then I would suggest making the mainsail much larger, with a long boom reaching all the way to the wheel (or a little longer, but not overreaching the stern), and adding a gaff on the overside on the mainsail, so that you get a 4 sided polygon. (From your pictures, you might already have done that, but it is quite hard to make out.)

All in all a great sloop, but as you note yourself, the rigging can use some work - and I agree - it is definitely a learning process!

Great work, and welcome amongst us!

[Captain Dee]

Nice looking sloop. I like the white over black colorscheme even if the black conceals the details. The custom guns look appropriately sized for a vessel this small.

Bregir already commented on the rigging; I'll just echo what he said about enlarging the main sail (back of the mast) and doing something with the forward-facing sail which isn't a realistic arrangement. And another jib wouldn't hurt either.

All in all she's a good start with a nice hull.

[TitusV]

Neat ship, sipmle but good. I like her Colors!

[Kwatchi]

Thanks for the welcome all.

Garmandon, you're spot on about using tiles instead of regular plates. I'll have to rummage to see what I have in my bins. I should be able to at least manage the railing I think.

Bregir and Captain Dee, thanks for the tips. I already have pictures for another "scene" taken, but should the Donatus come through the next round of MCRA afloat I've already got modification plans in my head to extend the main sale both back and up, and rework the jib and fore sail. Frankly, I have only attempted square rigged ships in the past, and I got it in my head that the sail aft of the mast was a stay sail hence I kept it small. Things make far more sense to me now.