Tiger was a small Royal galleon built in 1570. Tiger had a burthen of 120 tons (Baker's Rule), 200 tons BM. She carried a crew of 80 sailors, 12 gunners and 8 soldiers. Her armament consisted of:
Gun Deck: 4 British Culverins
8 British Demi-Culverins
8 British Sakers
10 Light Guns
In 1588, Tiger fought in the battles against the Spanish Armada under the command of John Bostocke in Admiral Howard's Squadron.
Inspiration for the model came from Joseph Wheatley's illustration in "Historic Sail". This shows a light Elizabethan galleon, possibly Pelican/Golden Hind. Although the Golden Hind was decommissioned before the Armada events of 1588, she is a reasonable basis for a Tiger conversion which did fight the Armada.
 |
| Joseph Wheatley's illustration in "Historic Sail" |
I asked Julián Fernández de Sevilla Campos of ModelJShip to attempt the conversion using Zvezda's new 1/350 plastic model of Golden Hind. Julian did his usual amazing job, adding a new tiger figurehead, a higher poop deck, higher gunwales in the waist, additional gunports and a new quarter gallery. Crew were added using converted Langton Miniatures figures.
The photographs of Tiger were all taken by Julian. My fleet now comprises Revenge, Tiger and San Martin.
 |
| Before: the basic Zvezda model of Golden Hind |
 |
| Conversion required |
 |
| Conversions made |
 |
| After: the fully converted Tiger |
