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Thread: Harbor inspired by San Domingo.

  1. #1
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    Default Harbor inspired by San Domingo.

    I wrote inspired by, because it's going to symbolise a mini-version in the game I will set up for the Battle of San Domingo.

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    The 1:1000 architecture palm trees I ordered seems to take forever to even be sent.

    I hate the actual harbor but I'm not sure how to make it instead. Any suggestions?

    The fort/batteries are only put there with blue tack as is the harbour part.
    Last edited by TexaS; 04-26-2015 at 08:05.

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    That is coming along superbly Jonas.
    I would have less beach in front of the town, and put two or three buildings like warehouses right up to a paved cobblestone Strand or Hard. Then more jetties which go straight out at intervals so you can dock four or five bumboats, lighters etc. Maybe a couple of derricks and some ships spars stacked up on the hard.
    Think Pirates of the Caribbean, without Jack Sparrow.
    I'd also put two gun emplacements on the spits either side of the harbour.
    Rob.
    Last edited by Bligh; 04-26-2015 at 12:46.

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    Hi Jonas,
    I would add to Robs comments, More buildings it is too open. Look at Langton's harbour pieces, I think it would help with the look of the dockside. If you are thinking of ships being tied to the harbour, Think deep water right up to the harbour dockside. Or add buoys a little out to sea and lots of smaller boat on the beach. I wish more would do as you have and make a safe place to rest-up in. Some talk of games of merchant ships racing across the board to escape. Why not into a nice harbour with big guns like yours.
    Be safe
    Rory

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    While there are some suggestions on possible improvements, as requested, it still looks a great looking town. Partly as it has clean lines and well constructed areas. Even now it would look great on table I'm sure.

    I try and invest some time making terrain for my gaming but I'm yet to tackle terrain for Sails of Glory.
    Last edited by TWR; 04-26-2015 at 14:15.
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  5. #5
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    It is looking good so far, Jonas.

  6. #6

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    ooooh, pretty...

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    Jonas,

    I agree with Bligh there's way too much beach for a harbor setting, and the buildings in town would be built fairly close together or at least touching with narrow lanes between them. Overall, though it does look pretty good for a start, and will make a nice harbor with your game!!
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  8. #8

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    Hi Jonas. I think it looks very good. My suggestion would be to build breakwaters out from your island using balsa or sculpy or just about anything will work at this scale. Make your deep harbour with the breakwaters. Make the leg extending from shore wide enough for wagons and build your dock off of the breakwater to the inside of the harbor. That's the way it was done when there was no deep water close to shore.

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    Well... I started by looking at google earth and pictures of Santo Domingo today. There are a lot of beaches... and palm trees... and babes and margaritas...

    Then I found a few historical maps and tried to make it look a little more like that.
    There are a few problems with that though. I scaled it down due to not wanting a town covering half of the game area. The actual harbor seems to have been up the river and I wanted to show it as a harbor without covering half the gaming area with land. In the historical drawings it doesn't look like sandy beaches, though. An easy fix might be gluing some rocks on the beaches along the town, a little like what it looks like in the first picture below.

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    1785

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    1912
    Last edited by TexaS; 04-27-2015 at 00:37.

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    I thank you for your advice and I will make some changes as you have suggested.
    I'll try to add planks, spars and whatever I can think of that will show at all in this scale. Everything is much easier in 28 mm or 15 mm as there are barrels and stuff finished, just to put in a port to make it look busy.

    Perhaps if a just glue little pebbles together with white glue and then paint them as a pile of sacks...

    Thank you for the nice comments too.
    Last edited by TexaS; 04-27-2015 at 00:40.

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    Very interesting prints. I would suggest having the harbour off table up the river will greatly simplify the modelling.
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    Kind of negates the whole idea having the port up river.
    I'm sure that larger ships would have anchored or made fast in the outer estuary inside the sandbar especially if there were a whole Squadron at anchor. I'd go with your 1785 chart as a basis, and do a generic take on it.
    Rob.

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    Is that not a larger ship anchored of the coast in the third piccie?
    Id go with that. It would appear from pic 3 that the river port was for fishermen and the like.
    Not sure it was 1912 tho lol.

    Ps. Great job so far!
    Last edited by Popsical; 04-27-2015 at 06:47.

  14. #14

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    Jonas,
    Langton miniatures has a reference you could use.

    M47 Dockyard Misc (Variety of any of the following: barrels, piles of timber,
    sacks, cannon balls etc.)

    I also would make a perimeter wall. You could use M42b Walls, Buttressed and M37, Clock Tower. The clock tower has two piece, you only would use the tower.
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    I forgot... Great work!

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    The year 1912 is when the library added it to it's collection, apparently. I added the picture as it to give a feeling for the town. The ship looks more like 17th or first half 18th century. The city looks to be a lot thinner and ends to the west about two blocks from the cathedral. At the battle the French ships, from what I have found, were at anchor about where the ships is pictured.

    I agree with Rob, there should be a port to visually give the idea even though it historically were off board.

    Thank you very much Julian! I feel very much lost on his site as there are so few pictures.

    I will probably not use walls towards the water as that hides the city from view too much, but a wall to the left would probably be good. I'm thinking of moving the walled compound to the right side of town then. There was a walled of section there.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Redcoat View Post
    I forgot... Great work!
    Thank you!

  18. #18

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    Nice contruction.

    Bringing more atmosphere to the game.

    Sometimes I combine a SoG mat and the WoG costal mat.

  19. #19

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    Great job! It would look good to highlight your table if running a convention game or even to attract players at a game store.

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    Hi Jonas.
    First I love your port. I have made one too. I only show a bit of the town with the port. This gives you an idea of the town behind the port. I only wished to help you not put yours down. If you do nothing new to your port it will still look good.
    Be safe
    Rory

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    It is all from Langton's and adds new ideas for games, or a nice back-drop.

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    Thank you, thank you.

    It's being built for a convention game but it's nice to have when playing back home too.

    Rory, I love your town and port, but doesn't it take up a lot of space on the gaming table?
    I'm trying to give a taste of the town and hint that there's more behind, just as you do, but an over all smaller town. And in the Caribbean and not in France. Yours is great looking though.

  22. #22
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    Yes indeed, that looks like a proper Naval Base town. Great buildings too. Where did you source them Rory?
    Bligh.

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    Hi Jonas,
    On a 4ftx6ft Board. So no it does not take up a lot of space.

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    Enjoy your port
    Be safe
    Rory

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    That is an impressive table!

    It will be long before I can put that many (50?) finished ships on the table not to mention such a good looking port, but one day...

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bligh View Post
    Yes indeed, that looks like a proper Naval Base town. Great buildings too. Where did you source them Rory?
    Bligh.
    It is all from Langton's. It is the Langton's dockyard set, with one longer harbour arm and an extra row of the harbour dock-side to make it deeper added to it. Also added the thin wall and gate to keep the town from the dock-yard. The old castle is to give the harbour age (The keep from Langton's castle). I have seen towers on the end of the arms of harbours, so got 2 light-houses and cut the top of one to make mine. Walking around old towns seeing the narrow streets and lanes in them. Portsmouth harbour too. The big open spaces and long buildings in Portsmouth harbour. It is not a real place, just to give one the feel of a 18th-19th century working harbour and town. Langton's house rows helped a lot. I had too buy more and more building as I made it. As the harbour is not set in line with the shore I had a triangle of town to fill in with buildings. It cost me a little more than planed. I did not add the town walls as it made it too European main-land to me. Langton's models are made for a big model of Toulon.
    Think scale! How big the ships are to how wide streets would be. Hope this helps.
    Be safe
    Rory
    Last edited by Devsdoc; 04-27-2015 at 14:46.

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    Jonas, I think you're off to a great start on a nice addition to your gaming table! You've been given some good advice above, so just keep up the excellent work!!
    "War is the greatest game Man can play!" BG George B. McClellan

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    Thank you.
    Sadly I won't be able to get more things painted in time if I order it now, but I will anyway. I still want to make it better looking for future games.

    Most things are ready. I still need to fix flags for some ships and print ships logs.

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    Jonas, the setup looks very impressive!
    Last edited by TWR; 04-28-2015 at 01:43.
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    Slightly improved... I'll have to wait for more houses before i can make the town more crowded.
    Perhaps the removal of the beach in front of the town can make the port look deeper.
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  30. #30
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    That's starting to look more like an active seafront already Jonas.
    Bligh.

  31. #31

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    Looks great!

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