Galleys Guns and Glory! Venetian and Turkish Galleys

Galleys off the slips

I built and painted these galleys, one Turkish and one Venetian, as display pieces for Dave Ryan of Caliver Books in the UK. 

Each nation or city state viewed their ships as a tool to be used in the way that best reflected the
ideal of their world view. With my ship model kits you get extra parts, flags bulwarks and awnings to deck your ships out (see what I did there) to reflect not only the national traits but individualize each ship.

Examples of Turkish and corsair flag sets- because I don't want to paint all those stripes!

Venetian Galley

To the Venetian the galley was a vast and maneuverable vessel used to make money. They invested
well into the designs and quality of their ships, knowing the investment would boost
profits. They had a large ship and munitions yard called the Arsenal, where ,building ships in an assembly line process, could produce a galley a day! 

Venetian ships were well known as having the best guns and gunners (they could afford them!) and had  Their gunnery skills are reflected in my GGG! rules.

I like using the open Arumbada "forecastle" on my Venetian galleys
to show off the cool big guns they have.

It's up to you how much rigging you want to add to your ships. 

The Turkish Galley

The Turks and Barbary corsairs preferred fast maneuverable ships and crewed them with the
finest archers in the Mediterranean, being able to fill the skies with arrows while boarding. A favorite tactic was to keep near the shore hiding in the shoals, and row swiftly out to catch unsuspecting galleys and merchant ships in the flanks and rear.

 Many of the corsairs who fought for the Sultan, such as the Barbarosa  brothers, were as famous pirates, but who's strategies, bravery and loyalty led them to become admirals of the Sultan's fleet. 

This ship uses flags, bulwark trim and awnings from two different sets
to show how mixing and matching can create unique looks.

To see how to paint multi colored oars, check out my previous post

I chose more flags on these ships in lieu of lanterns, which I save for command ships.