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Mr Misty

USS Constitution

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[pid][/pid] 153C

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Hi everyone

A few months ago I finished my most recent set of MOCs, I finally got around to taking pics of them so here is the USS Constitution

con_5.jpg

I got a deal a while back on some hulls from the Black Pearl so I decided to build my favorite Navy ship, I've been to visit her 3 or 4 times since she's only a few miles from my home, I ended up with a bit of a hodgepodge of different eras of the ship, some parts are taken from my old photos and others are from more recent pics I found on the internet, I haven't gotten back since her most recent overhaul.

Here's her bow, I used cut strips of electrical tape to mimic her pin striping.

con_1.jpg

The stern. The Eagle and stars are decals I made from pictures I took on one of my visits to the ship

con_4.jpg

The stern deck from above, I used the 1812 version of the American Flag for the 200th anniversary.

The helm is fully functional and turns the rudder very well, though the addition of this feature kept me from adding a full interior.

con_2.jpg

Midship with the stovepipe and a modern life preserver.

con_3.jpg

Lastly another overall shot of the ship.

con_6.jpg

Hope you all enjoy seeing her as much as I did building her. I know she's far from perfect but she still looks good on the shelf in my room. :wink:

Edited by Walter

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Impressive build. Are the sloops (I mean the small boats) lego? Don't recognize the white hull and brown interior, but like the look of them.

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Impressive build. Are the sloops (I mean the small boats) lego? Don't recognize the white hull and brown interior, but like the look of them.

That's another little trick of mine involving different colored electrical tape.

I wrapped the hulls of some brown lego boats with the stuff, it's very flexible and hugs the curves of the boats enough that you can actually see the lines that lego molds into them to give the appearance of planking. I also used the same trick on the keel of the ship to make it red instead of black.

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That's another little trick of mine involving different colored electrical tape.

I wrapped the hulls of some brown lego boats with the stuff, it's very flexible and hugs the curves of the boats enough that you can actually see the lines that lego molds into them to give the appearance of planking. I also used the same trick on the keel of the ship to make it red instead of black.

Amazing build!

What brand of tape did you use? I find that 3Ms Super 33+ has the best adhesion but when it peels off (and it will) it leaves a nasty residue behind.

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The images were working earlier. Now Brickshelf is saying: The image “http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/MrMisty/USSConstitution/snapshot_2013-08-22_22-53-34.jpg” cannot be displayed because it contains errors.

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Amazing build!

What brand of tape did you use? I find that 3Ms Super 33+ has the best adhesion but when it peels off (and it will) it leaves a nasty residue behind.

It's Scotch brand tape, I've been using it since last year when I built my Starship Enterprise model. The tape on that moc has held in place for over a year now with no problem and since I don't take my mocs apart I'm not to worried about residue. I will say though that Goo Gone works really well on removing old adhesive from surfaces. I've been using it on old GI Joe stickers that I've been replacing. It takes a little elbow grease but the results are fantastic.

As for the pictures not showing up, I can still see them on my computer and tablet and they're visible in their brickshelf galleries as well.

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Having been to the real thing, and building one myself(posted here before I joined), I can really appreciate this. I quite like the dark green on the inside, though tiles would have looked a bit smoother, no pun intended. :wink: Not really sure about the usage of the tape, but it does add to the overall look.

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Having been to the real thing, and building one myself(posted here before I joined), I can really appreciate this. I quite like the dark green on the inside, though tiles would have looked a bit smoother, no pun intended. :wink: Not really sure about the usage of the tape, but it does add to the overall look.

I had some hesitation about using so much tape but like you said it makes it look much better than if I had left it off. I began to think of it in the same way I think of the stickers that lego provides with some sets, my police and fire boats for example are really cool but they'd look a little less cool without their decals.

I used the dark green plates on the inside of the spar deck for a couple of reasons, it allowed me to attatch things like the life preservers and the railing which is made up of brown tiles to them. Also the pictures I took on my visit show that part of the ship is studded with bolts, I figured it was to help hold the different layers of wood together, so I thought the studs on the plates would help mimic that as well.

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I can't see the pictures somehow. Yesterday Brickshelf said they weren't public yet.

Now when I visit you Brickshelf I can only see the small thumbnail images and when I click them I don't see them anymore..

Could you try to fix that? Or maybe upload them on another site?

The thumbnail images look very promising!

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I just deleted and re-uploaded all the pics to the brickshelf gallery. I had this thread open in another window at the same time and watched as they went away and came back. Hopefully they work for everyone now. Just out of curiosity has anyone had the same issue over in my USS Monitor post? http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=86096

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I can see them now, thanks for fixing this. It's a beauty!

The proportions seem a little bit odd (the sides are quite high for example), and it could look better with some more rigging and perhaps a few sails (like the ones she carried on the 200 years anniversary).

Outside of that, I think this is one of the best LEGO USS Constitutions I've seen so far. I can see that you know the ship quite well as you did a great job on all the details, like the dark green railings, and the double gunport hatches.

I agree this would look great on your shelf :pirate: Well done!

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Thanks.

I had trouble with the sides, I had to make them tall enough for the deck guns to poke through and to match up with the 1'x 4 tiles I used to mimic the beautifully carved wood at the entrances to the spar deck. I also realized when she was nearly finished that I should have made her a little longer but by that point I was exhausted from building, I actually left her un rigged for nearly a month because of how tired I was.

I was thinking about adding her sails the way they appeared durring Sail 200 (I actually still have the local newscast from that day on tape) but I didn't want them to obstruct the view on the shelf I had planned to put her on, my winter village ended up there instead though. The deciding factor for me was that everytime I visited her in Charlestown she didn't have her sails, I understand that they keep them in storage for the rare occasions when she sails under her own power.

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Beautiful ship! The Constitution is one of my favorite ships and yours is stunning. Very ingenious with the electrical tape.

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Beautiful looking ship you've got there! There are so much smart and nifty work to be seen in here.

The dark green on the inside if a very nice and detailed touch! Great job on the rigging too. :thumbup:

I have a question though, and that's about the windows on the side galleries, what kind of bricks are these?

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Those are 2 x 3 window frames with glass, I used the electrical tape again to give the appearance of smaller panes of glass in them.

I tilted them by using hinged bricks and plates.

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Nice vessel. How did you manage to stabilize those long masts? Did you put cross axels through the 6143s?

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That is what I did. Though I must say that they were still pretty weak until I added the rigging.

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Would you mind to upload some more photos please, preferably a few zoomable hi-res ones? I'd love to behold some of the construction details, as I can't really manage to get my ships stable without gluing the bricks when their masts become somewhat longer than 25cm (they make reasonable wrecks though... :pir_laugh2: )

Edited by pbat

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I tried to get in close but most of the shots came out horrible, here's what I managed to get where things are identifiable.

I started with some of these http://www.bricklink...m.asp?P=6168c01

They go deep into the ship and rest on the support I built that runs down the entire keel of the ship at the centerline, I also built up bricks around them until I reached the gundeck. It's not visible in any of the pics but the gundeck is also fully tiled and the cannons sit in brick built cradles. Here's a pic of the fore mast sticking out of the spar deck.

dscn1444.jpg

Here's the first landing on the foremast. On the thicker parts of the mast I used robot bodies http://www.bricklink...em.asp?P=30361c

to attach the first yard, It also left me with a great little gap at the base to wrap the string for the rigging through. When I transitioned to the slimmer part of the mast I used technic plates and shorter axles for strength.

dscn1445.jpg

A shot from the front of the mast, you can see the yard connected here.

dscn1448.jpg

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Such a lovely ship Mr Misty :thumbup: The Constitution is one of my favourite ships and you got all the characteristics of it :) And very clever customization with the white and red tape.

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Thanks a lot for those detailed shots. Guess I should get some more 30361c, as they seem to come in quite handy when it comes to adding those rigging. Did you use preassembled shrouds or do you knot them all manually? By the way, do you recall how many meters of cord this ship's rigging consumed on the whole? And how on earth do you keep her dust-free without vacuum her kaput?

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I don't recall how much string I used, I needed 2 pacs though. It was sold off a peg hook at the craft store in a braid about 6 inches long. I had to undo the braid and rewrap it into a ball before I could start, this took quite some time since it loved to tangle itself up into very difficult knots as I undid it.

The shrouds were all done on the ship. I started by tying the string in a knot on the hull, then strung it through the modified plates I used on the crows nests. I repeated this on the upper shrouds then used superglue to attach the cross ropes. I also used superglue on each knot to keep them from coming undone. The rigging that goes between the masts is all hand tied. I was able to wrap it around the masts and yards to get the look right in several places. I used glue at the knots again to hold everything in place, there is no glue on any of the lego, not that I'll ever take her apart.

As for the dust. I'm starting to see some when I look closely, I dust pretty much everything with pressurized air in a can that's normally used for electronics.

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