Masts

[Iron Outlaw]

Greetings shipmates!

Has anybody thought about this before?

I have been tarting up my ships a little and whilst doing so wondered if Ares could be persuaded to produce the model ships with masts not attached to hulls. If the masts came separately they could:

1. more easily be repainted,
2. removed when a ship lost a mast in battle,
3. set to indicate what tack a ship is on,
4. more easily be stored and transported,
5. make it easier to modify the sails set, ie. full sails, battle sails, even attach studding sails,
6. have masts with no sails set for harbour dioramas/storage,
7. etc., etc..

I suspect manufacture and packaging might also be cheaper and Ares could sell extra mast sets to replace broken ones.

To test this out, I will take one of my 3rd rate ships, cut the masts off, remove the lower section of each mast and replace it with plastic stock making it longer than the original. Also the mounting points on the hull will be drilled out so that the longer masts can be easily placed in position.

I'd be interested in other peoples' opinions on this.

Cheers

Brad

[Coog]

It has been discussed quite a bit in the past. Pretty much a sure thing that Ares is not going to do it.

[7eat51]

Brad, from a manufacturing, logistics, and marketing standpoint, having separate masts would probably hurt Ares more than help. I imagine many, probably the majority, of players who buy SoG are not modeling AoS ships; the folks who are modeling are probably already tied into lines such as Langtons. That is not to say there aren't modelers, as we have seen here, but the percentage of players is probably higher with respect to purchasing off-the-shelf, ready-to-go ships. It is probably true that the percentage of players who would be interested in accurately reflecting the different sail settings, etc., is on the low end as well. I think this is due to the target market for SoG, at least as I perceive that target - gamers who are comfortable with a level of abstraction that want the feel of an AoS game without a lot of the maintenance requirements inherent in a game closer to the simulation-end of the gaming spectrum. Basically, for most players, the ships are good enough. I see the same thing with WoG. It seems on both sites - the Aerodrome and Anchorage - there is a core group of modelers who post repaints/rebuilds; the majority of members do not. I have very few gaming friends who have the time, skill, or inclination to do modeling. If it wasn't for shipmates and wingmen to whom I could turn for advice, I doubt I would have ever considered modifications.

If you do the modifications you mentioned, please post pictures and blurbs on your progress. Best wishes with that project.

[Nightmoss]

It isn't going to happen. Ares has been very clear about the issues involved. But as Eric has mentioned please post photos and information on whatever you might do. Many here would like to see what you come up with.

[Iron Outlaw]

Thanks for the replies guys! I can appreciate Ares position much better now.

Back to the drawing board. Even the Langdon miniatures do not lend themselves to moveable masts as they are made of white metal. Methinks I will replace the masts and yards entirely and the sails with the Ares ones, removed from masts, or new ones of sheet plastic. I'll keep you posted.