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Greetings, fellow buccaneers.
I recently got gripped by the Lego pirate fever (again, after storing all the sets in the attic as a teenager, some 15 years ago) and decided to build a fleet to play the famous Evil Steve's Pirate Game (ESPG).
I started with some smaller ships, so-called cutters, because they are fairly easy to build and don't need too many parts. In ESPG, every ship has a certain class which determines the damage it can take and the number of cannons it can mount.
The classes are (copied from the ESPG site):
0 - Boat (a canoe, rowboat or sailboat, or longboat)
1 - Cutter
2 - Brig
3 - Regular ship with 1 center section, or wide ship with no center sections.
4 - Regular ship with 2 center sections, or wide ship with 1 center section.
5 - Regular ship with 3 center sections.
6 - Wide ship with 2 center sections.
7 - Wide ship with 3 center sections.
8 - Wide ship with 4 center sections.
Players will start with a Class 2 Ship (Brigs, of which I have only one built so far; think of the brilliantly designed merchant vessel that is inluded in the Imperial Outpost Set). The smaller Class 1 Ships (Cutters) will be used as cheap Mission-Runners and maybe attack vessels if they can swarm the enemy.
I have built five Class 1 Cutters so far. All five where made from parts a had in my big pile of Lego parts, so I didn't have to buy any special parts. From a design standpoint, I had three goals in mind:
1. An overall rugged construction, so that the ship doesn't break in half when handled roughly while in the heat of battle
2. A color scheme which sets the ship apart from others in it's class and makes it easily identifiably on the wide, blue "carpet ocean" ;)
3. A certain eyecatcher at the ship's bow, so that the stern section (which, of course, is always bigger, higher and has an overall more complex construction than the rest of the ship) doesn't dominate the whole vessel from a viewing standpoint.
That being that, I present you my five custom-built little Cutters. Note that I currently don't have any special masts, so I had to made due with substitutes, and three of the cutters have no rudder and flag. Also, cannons of any sort are missing. I will probably add those once I have constructed enough, as the proper Lego pirate cannons look far too big on these smallish ships, even though they can only mount 1 per their class. A big "thank you!" goes out to Evil Willy for his "Making Sails" tutorial. Bigger pictures are available by clicking on the photos.
1. The "Stinger"
This is the first cutter I built. The hull is constructed from white parts of a jetliner fuselage (a very old Lego set, most likely from around 1990). The Color white is very prominent here, with black for the deck, masts and railing. It is one of the two smaller cutters I constructed, being relatively short and with a low deck and stern. The "bow gimmick" here are two lance-like ramming devices pointing to the Stinger's front. I'm not sure which function these would have, but I thought they looked cool.
2. The "Golden Crown"
A majestic name for a majestic ship. The "Golden Crown" is longer and higher than the "Stinger", partially due to it's two-level deck.The yellow elements and especially the ornamental railings invoke a feeling of certain royalty. To the ship's front are two black outward-facing handles acting as a special kind of railing as well as two small yellow torches. A perfect luxury vessel for the governour's spoiled son Sir Eric la Douche, seen standing on the ship's stern with a goblet of fine french wine in his hand. Pity the captain of the Admiral's Guard who has to keep a watchful eye on that brat.
3. The "Bloody Sabre"
A sleek, agressive-looking raider of the crimson seas. Because it has four portholes on each sides, the "Bloody Sabre" looks very long for a ship of it's class, even though it's only one stud longer than the "Golden Crown". The cutter's name derives from two stern-mounted sabres pointing upwards (you can't ever have enough sabres!). The stern also has two tall torches acting as a kind of deterrent to would-be buccaneers trying to attack this fearsome ship at night. I plan on mounting two forward-facing sabres on the ship's bow, where at the moment only two "devil's horns" feature somewhat prominently.
4. The "Swansong"
This ship's long, flowing lines and the purity of it's color scheme (everything apart from the masts, the railing and the decks, as with the "Stinger", is white) reminded me of a mystic ship commandeered by benevolent spirits of long forgotten seafarers. Anyway, the "Stinger"'s bigger brother is the longest cutter I have built thus far; The triple-piece bow adds another three studs over the "Bloody Sabre"'s 21. Mounted on the stern is a rearward-facing, hinged flagpole which makes the "Swansong" even longer. I am a little perplexed about the bow, though; two torches are mounted dangerously close to the ship's main sail! I sure hope they brought the fireproof canvas from Port Brick...
5. The "Dolphin"
Similar in size to the "Stinger", I only chose the somewhat uncreative name "Dolphin" because "Little Blue Ship" sounded even worse. The "Dolphin is the weakest design I have come up with thus far, partly because blue just isn't the nicest color to have for a ship. Also, it isn't really gimmicky; a (unsurprisingly blue) ladder is hung from either side below the sterncastle, and to the front we have a weird, blocky piece from who-knows-which-set. Overall, I think the design is acceptable if it weren't for the dominant blue. I might rebuilt the "Dolphin" (which of course would need a new name, then) in another, more pleasant color.
My Cutter Fleet
So this concludes my latest building session. Please feel free to post your comments.
Happy pirating,
Robert
Edited by Cherno, 26 November 2010 - 04:56 PM.
Did he say they were for sale?
