What we need

What we need are some high-quality 3D models of ships from the Anglo-Dutch Wars for use in games and illustrations. How cool would it be to have a model of the Brederode? The main issue is the effort involved, as well as having an appropriate tool. Since there is a paucity of van de Velde drawings for the First Anglo-Dutch War, it will be harder to give really accurate drawings, but we have some generic ships from some of the panoramic battle scenes, such as Livorno and Scheveningen. I'm seriously considering using Rhino 3D, as I have had a recommendation that it is good and really impressive models have been done with it, and academic licenses for it are more reasonable than those for 3D Studio Max, although 3DS Max is the top of the line tool.