Model Dhows for Colonial-era Gaming

"...they laid the Eastern seas beneath their keel" --Kipling, The Junk and the Dhow

Native Dhows
for Colonial-era Gaming

Dhows are native vessels of the Middle East and Egypt. They have prominent prows, square sterns and lateen (triangular) sails.

Dhows are very simple to make, and can add a new dimension to Colonial-era gaming. David built this one from thin posterboard (sometimes called railroad board), corrugated cardboard for the deck, birch dowel for the mast and yardarm, and tan paper for the sail. Click for construction details.

The mast is removable for easy play access and convenient storage.

At right is a stern view of the posterboard dhow.

The hull is 7" long with a 2.75" beam.
The prow adds another inch, for an 8" overall length.

This is really a bit too large; it will take over thirty figures. Probably the best size is the minimum that will handle a standard unit of men (20 in our group's games) plus an officer or two.

Here is a detail from a lovely tinted engraving of Nile river craft near the temple at Luxor. It is from a painting by 19th Century Scottish artist David Roberts R.A. There is a website with more of Roberts' amazing paintings of Egypt and the Holy Land.

(Thanks to Christophe Lelong for information on the artist.)

An armed command dhow made from a plastic toy.

The pirate ship from the Weapons & Warriors Pirate Battle Game begged for conversion to a two-masted dhow. Here's how it was done.

Other Sources: A plastic kit of a dhow, called the Persian Gulf Trader, was made by Pyro in the 1960s, and is re-run occasionally by Lindberg. From pictures, this kit appears to be an excellent starting point for a gaming model (though there are those curmudgeons who consider it easier to scratchbuild a waterlined ship than to waterline an existing full-hulled model). The hull is said to be about 8" long. The kit occasionally appears on eBay.

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