Roman the Skies

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I intend to build vehicles for my test armies. For the Free Martians, I want a flying ship.  One of the classic Martian images consists of a skiff or skimmer or ornithopter.  Since I'm using ancient models as my Martians, a classical ship seems the most appropriate base.

For this project, I purchased two model ship kits, Academy's "Roman Warship" and Zvezda's "Niña."  I intend to use the hull from the Roman ship as my base model.  I will then use the masts and sails from "Niña" as my vehicle's wings. Each ship cost about 30$ online.

The Academy ship.

The Zvezda ship.

My first step is to make the ship compatible with a Games Workshop aircraft base.  I have several of these for my Warhammer 40K armies, and they are sturdy and attractive.  As you can see, the base has a cross-shaped section, onto which the aircraft sits.  The only odd thing is that the curve in the base bends the opposite way you'd expect. 

A GW aircraft base.

So I assemble the lower part of the ship: the keel and rower's space.  (I'm not going to assemble the oars.) I cut a hole in the keel to accommodate the flying base, and reinforce the interior with a plug of green stuff.  I wet the end of the flying base, and press it into the green stuff for the correct shape.

Here is the underside, with the base hole carved.

Here it is from above, with the green stuff blob visible.

Now I can rest the ship on the base, or remove it if I need to. I assemble the upper decks of the ship.

The ship on its base.

Now I take out the Zvezda sails from Niña.  I envision the final craft looking like a dragonfly or ornithopter.  Anti-grav holds up the keel, and the sails adds propulsion or maneuvering.  I really like the Niña's Lateen sails.  They look Middle Eastern, and add an Orientalist touch reflecting retro setting.

I mount the masts to the sides of the ship, at an angle.  One is larger than the other, so the final vessel will be asymmetrical.  I hope it will look cool and not goofy, but danged if I'm going to cannibalize two 30$ Niñas.

The ship with side masts.

The ship from another angle.

 The sails themselves are an extremely thin plastic, which is slightly flexible. I don't know whether it will hold primer without cracking or flaking.  So I intend to leave the sails off until the rest of the ship is painted.  I test them out for size but do not attach them.

The sails.

 Here is the resulting ship, on my gaming table for scale.  I will post more as I complete the project.

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