This 1:72 scale model represents a smaller Greek Bireme from ca. 500 BC.  This ship  would have been 25 meters long in real life.  The idea emerged from my set of ancient Greek rowers that are available elsewhere on this site.  The primary source is the bireme depicted on the Vulci vase, so go and google that up first if you want to check the historical accuracy of my model.  The model was basically designed more by the crewmen than by myself, because everything here revolves around how a team of rowers could have been seated inside such a vessel, operating a two-tiered system of oars without getting into each others’ way.

The standard rowing crew for a ship like this was 100 men.  I have compromised here to create a “comfortable” version that seats only 68 men.  Plus, we will need a captain, two steersmen, a piper to play music that the crew can sing along to, as well as some marines:  There would likely have been fewer than 20 marines who would have been seated most of the time so as not to disturb the center of gravity of the ship. 

It appears that the original purpose of such ships was to pursue merchant vessels in order to commandeer their contents.  At some stage, maybe, the merchants became too fast and one decided to increase the operating speed by doubling the number of oarsmen and having them row on two levels.   Later on, with the Trireme, one went further and tripled number of the oarsmen per metre of hull for even more speed.

This points to two obvious next projects – one for the missing piper, steersmen and marines, the other of course for a typical merchant ship of that time period.  This will happen after I consult some more pictures of vases.

The full-size model that is shown in the pictures was printed with PLA at standard settings on a FDM printer (0.15mm layer height, 0.4mm nozzle diameter).  Hull is in two pieces, so you have to join them together using epoxy glue before proceeding to the rest of the ship.

Update 08.06.2023: Adjustments have now been made to the two rudders and to the 2x34 oars so that they correspond better to ancient greek ones.  Note also that the additional crew members are now available in a separate post.

Update 09.07.2023: The walkway has now become more printable by coming in three parts (a gangway and two railings).  The supports of the walkway should be placed on the inner sides of the upper-level seats inside the hull.  Before posting, I tried this out myself - see the attached new pictures of my effort.  This "integration test" involved ca. 30 greek rowers. My experience: if you are adding rowers to the model, the walkway should be glued together as shown and put in place only after you have added the inner (lower) level of rowers, since it is harder to add these properly once the walkway has been glued on.

Update 29.10.2023: as some people were asking if this can be reduced to 50%, or 1:144 scale, I tried printing out all parts this way on my FDM printer at standard settings (0.4mm nozzle, 0.15mm layers) settings.  The outcome came out nicely (see the smaller boat in the pictures alongside the large one), although both mast and walkway needed some strengthening while oars and ladders are still problematic unless a resin printer is used.  A waterline version in the 1:144 scale is now also available for wargaming :)