Special thanks to Epitaph and Safty for these awesome renders!



This ship is entirely fictional, and doesn't have a story, as it was inspired by my classmate Denislav, who gave me a free sheet to draw a ship on and build. Not only that, but technically it couldn't exist, as Bulgaria was under Ottoman rule when this kind of ships were built. It turned out to be my first paddle steamer ever - a weird cross between SS Great Eastern and a huge iron-hulled clipper. The original design drawing of the ship (a quick sketch I made at school) is also here. You will notice a lot of differences between that and the final result.



The thing required enormous amounts of work to do, especially in order to have it posted exactly today on my birthday.







I decided to name the ship after Theodore Ballina (bulg. Тодор Балина) - a Bulgarian nobleman of Nicopol, who led the First Tarnovo Uprising of 1598 - the first Bulgarian uprising against Ottoman rule. After the defeat of the uprising, Ballina had to hide in Russia, where his traces were lost.