HMS Scorpion… again, a MOC

[kurigan]

UPDATE November 2nd 2019

 

I told myself I wouldn’t start another hull until I was done with my current queue of MOCs, but I just couldn’t resist. After all the fun I had trying to finish Nuisance, I’ve been just a bit tired of sewing and rigging. Instead as I sat there watching Scorpion (the 4^th edition) continue to collect dust, with her crew stoically awaiting completion or reconstruction of their ship, I just kind of snapped. I liked the old hull, but it just needed to be redone. The style, with which it was built, was good and rather conventional but ultimately inferior to the newer one I’ve adopted and adapted. I grabbed a few shots for posterity and reference and began tearing hull. A few hours later I was ready to pass out and had little to show, I went to bed feeling defeated and a little guilty. A couple of days later I came back to the table determined to right the wrong and reduced the old hull down to individual bricks. With the components sorted and accounted for I was in a better place and much more up for the challenge. I’d like to say I did the responsible thing and quit at a reasonable hour, but honestly I became a bit obsessed and in the wee hours, finally stopped work. Rather impressed with myself, I used my cell phone camera to grab a few shots and this is what I had.

She’ll be a 16 gun brig ( 2more ports were added in the bows after the images were taken), a sloop in the Royal Navy under command of my own Charles Finley. Finley is my own fictional character who briefly commanded two previous Scorpions, the original brig and the later post ship. When construction was started on the new hull, I wasn’t sure if I’d be settling for another schooner or if a brig was going to be a possibility. At this stage I’m convinced rigging a schooner on this hull is right-out and have decided she must be a brig. The old battery, made up of something like 12s, is being recycled from the 4^th hull.

I’m considering adding a quarter (really poop) deck and stern cabin, but I’m not sure. Some of the Cruizer Class had cabins added aft, but it wasn’t part of the original design. Then again, this isn’t an exact model any way. For the sake of my fiction it’d be nice if Finley could have a cabin, since he’s essentially taking a demotion just to have a ship to command, but not at all necessary. If it would ruin the lines of the ship I’d rather not, but I like the idea of having one otherwise. What say you all?

Now just for fun

The History of Scorpion:

The first 12 gun brig was a rather rudimentary model. It was a first attempt to recapture my lost skill with a very limited supply of bricks. In universe she was sailed to her station but was shortly thereafter deemed unseaworthy, having been much abused and sadly, sent to the knackers’ yard. Much of her timbers were reused on later iterations.

The second Scorpion was intended to be a replacement for the aged brig but never sailed under that name. She was cutter rigged and had half as many guns as her predecessor, but a slightly more refined technique was used. After being abandoned for a time, in favor of a more suitable replacement, the hull was recycled into what would become Narthex. Though slated for a re-dux, Narthex is still with in service.

http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=59351

The third rendition was a grand experiment in a new technique, intended to stretch my brick supply as far as possible. The ambitious project, had it worked out, would have resulted in a 20 gun post ship, but it was far too fragile. The entire concept relied on gravity and quite a bit of SNOT to stay together. After the second time it was dashed on the floor the design was abandoned. In the grander story, she too never sailed. While fitting out for sea, she was blown up as an act of revenge by pirates. In both reality and fiction she took the cutter Hawk, which had been serving as a test bed for the same techniques, with her.

http://www.eurobrick...c=66085&hl=hawk

http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=59877

The fourth iteration was yet again a complete experiment in technique. Intended more to “stick it to” my detractors, the exercise served to open my eyes to significant new possibilities. As has become my wont, much of the initial concept was inspired by other works here, but to serve my needs required refinement and ingenuity. The result was intriguing and I took it rather far, but still put it aside unfinished. Even though this hull was never complete and a yet another replacement is in the works, she was written in to the tale and the role she played stands. The details will simply be adjusted to accommodate the few differences between the two vessels.

The fifth, and perhaps final, version uses my latest technique and has created a rather impressive effect even at this early stage. Though I had hoped this one could have been more of a direct model of the Cruizer Class, it would require a significantly greater investment in bricks (money) and I just can’t afford that at this juncture. Instead I’ll pour my heart in to yet another historically reverent interpretation, based mostly on the Cruizer Class, of which there was a famous Scorpion in the same historic timeframe.

Edited November 2, 2019 by kurigan
Update

[Zeev]

Wow. It is really interesting to see the changes in your technique, and how the earlier iterations looked. Do you have more pictures of the first and/or second iteration?

[kurigan]

Thanks! They're pretty much mixed in here on my old photobucket.

[Mr. Townsend]

What a beautiful design Kurigan. I very much love the effect this technique offers and I'm sure I'll be trying something similar soon. One feature that stands out to me is the bow being one stud wide. I quite like how you accomplished it.

I think your a bit worse then me with your multiple projects my friend. We will never get the big ones done at this rate.

[Captain Braunsfeld]

Very good to see your work in progress and how you got there over the different iterations.

And right: hulls are more fun than rigging...

[kurigan]

Indeed I cannot deny it. Perhaps if I didn't keep rehashing old ground I might make some forward progress. Since I've no deadline or venue to accommodate though, I think I'll just content myself with my meager fleet for as long as it takes... or I die.

Hulls are defiantly more fun but good rigging is so rewarding. Incredibly frustrating at times, but rewarding. There were a couple of times my wife came hurrying down stairs alarmed by the blasphemy I hurled at Nuisance for her defiance of natural law (hence the name, harmless but oh so annoying). However, when I had her all prepped and hoisted her main sail, trimmed her sheets and put her before the wind (fans) my spirits lifted and it all felt worth it. Of course when it came time to change the set of  her sails and take some different images I'd had enough of fiddeling in tight quaters with tweezers and forceps, so just put her back in port. 

I showed some of this in my profile, but that's a bit out of the way. Why I bothered is; for one, because I too find it fascinating, but also because when I look back at some of my old offerings here, I wonder that people don't think I'm something like a broken record. If you follow along with the history here it all makes a bit more sense. There is method to the madness. What's more though, is I actually care. Don't ask me why, but actually want to contribute to the enrichment of this community. It's such a unique place and such a singular craft, Lego ship building. It's not that I want everyone to be like me, or build like me, but if I can be inspirational, it all feels a lot more worth the while. The thing to take away form this is that there are still places to go with ship design/technique and it doesn't have to involve a professional level brick collection. 

[Capn Frank]

Do you know how hard it was to read that last post with ADD.

I love your progression of ship building techniques. If you don't have a timeline to complete your MOCs, then maybe you need to show off your MOCs at a Lego convention.

I only know of Brickworld in Illinois and Indiana. There's a lot of people in New England area, so there's bound to be a large Lego convention over there somewhere.

[SirValiant]

You have really made some impressive ship MOCs Kurigan! As you said, LEGO ship building is a very unique process, and tedious! But very rewarding in the end. You have really proven diligent in you ship MOCs far more than myself. Stick with this one, the end result will be great I'm sure.

I love your choice of dark red/black/tan for the ship. The brick bending technique is very interesting something that I have never seen in ship-building.

Looking forward to you continued progress!

Sir Valiant~

[Zeev]

I think I'll just content myself with my meager fleet...

I don't think you should feel any pressure to have a larger fleet. It is a good fleet as is, and the iterations are a good way to refine and improve it.

I don't have a single complete ship and do not have room to keep a fleet any larger than yours, and your progress is inspiration to me. One of the reasons I asked to see the earlier iterations was to see how things changed and get ideas for simpler techniques or techniques that had different constraints. The last LEGO sets I played with prior to coming back

There's a lot of people in New England area, so there's bound to be a large Lego convention over there somewhere.

There is a BirckFair New England in Manchester in May but I don't much about it.

[ArchitectureFan]

Good to see your collection of ships. They are getting better over time.

[kurigan]

I took some time off this weekend to build and used up about all the bricks I could towards Scorpion. It was starting to bug me as I passed by her every day and wondered about her deck layout. After a lot of deliberating, I decided to forgo a windlass and recycle the capstan and wheel from previous Scorpions. Now she’ll have a clear focsle for guns and a reliving tackle system, run from the wheel to the tiller. The arched roof sky light has been struck as well for taking up to much precious deck space. I started a SNOT deck, much akin to the Green Schooner, but all in tan. I have very few left and it seems I’ll need a lot more plates to finish it off. With that and several other parts that just aren’t handy, she’s likely to go on hold till I can find the funds with which to make a purchase.

Since I’m going to have to find or buy parts for the purpose, I want to know if the black bricks over the hatch ways really look like gratings or should I stick with the brown?

As for the bent 2714 “ski pole”; it came to me already bent, in a lot of used bricks I bought for my bricklink store. It was already useless and unsellable, so I bent it the other way as well and it makes a marvelous tiller. I only wish the previous owners had bent a black one instead!

Just for fun I lined up the three hulls of this style up for a comparison.

[__________________________]

Looks good! Very interested in this model.

[Builder 05]

well you really are a master builder.

[kurigan]

Pardon me a bit of Threadcromancy if you will, but I believe it’s worth it in this case. You see, I’ve been jealously guarding my progress for a while now and as I continue to proffer advice and commentary I find myself wondering, once again, if those I approach don’t wonder from what experience/success I speak. While to some I may be infamous, I’m not as well-known to others since I tend to not finish my builds before deeming them inadequate and tearing them apart to be redone. Heck, my most complete build (not counting minis) is Reckless, which after 4 years still lacks an outer jib to truly be complete. Perhaps then it’s time to lift the veil.

 

So, what have I been up to? Why a complete reinvention of my technique, of course. Take note that the last iteration shown above was painfully flat. I could go the way a lot of builders have and use the old-school method of building up sheer curve by stacking plates. After all I’ve done in order to create a smooth cross section and dorsal profile it seemed an anathema to me, so, I set about finding a way to use brick bending to create sheer curve as well. I had some limited success with Blanid, but it needed to be more and better. Thus, Scorpion got a 6^th edition.

Background: Originally I was just going to do another Baltimore Clipper/Topsail Schooner, but as she developed, I thought I might get a brig out of her. Too small to be a Cruizer, like what inspired the 4^th, I started thinking of the Cherokee Class. I was just not able to get the bending technique to work with full ports and a cap rail though, so she’s kind of stuck in limbo. Part of me wants to keep her as a nondescript brig and press on while the other part thinks she’d still make a great schooner. If I went with the latter, the Scorpion moniker would be shifted to a sister hull of the current Snake, which is more successful attempt at a Cruizer Class. That build is on hold until I get enough bricks to bring it to a point of completion which will prove its viability. It’s going to be expensive to build one Cruizer, let alone two, though. After stealing all I could from my own inventory, I still spent over 100 USD to get enough tan plates to finish the deck on this 6^th iteration of Scorpion which is considerably smaller; 14 vs 18 guns.

I wish I could say, we’ll see soon enough, once they’re done. There just isn’t time in my life right now for any significant building or rigging and I don’t know if they will ever be complete.

Here is Scorpion the 6^th as she has existed for most of 2019

 

Here is the New Privateer Snake, meant to be a model of the historic HMS Snake. She was one of two prototypes of the Cruizer Class, rigged as a ship as an alternative to brig rig of the class’ namesake.

 

 

 

 

 

The longer hull of the Cruizer doesn’t require the bricks to give quite so much to get the same amount of curvature as on the Cherokee/schooner hull. That’s why Snake can have a top rail, but Scorpion doesn’t. The gunwale of scorpion was so stiff with the added thickness that a ridged enough armature couldn’t be built in the space available and the water line was hogging up ruining the effect. Snake’s hull looks better at this point, but the deck is intended to reinforce the understructure. Without it’s complete I cannot be sure if the tension of the rigging will hog it in a similar fashion or not.

Edited November 2, 2019 by kurigan

[Bodi]

The hull is nicely curved, i see why you are using the brick bending technique, otherwise it will be impossible to achieve a such smooth transition, especially at the stern, where the bricks are bended inward to form the tumblehome. I also like the use of technique plates to connect the wall/hull (don't know the correct term) with the base, or bottom of the ship, maybe it's called the keel? From what I've seen here, the only shortcoming (strong word, maybe should I say imperfection) of the brick bending technique is we can't have the side walls with the hull bottom, so here we can see the limit of the lego bricks, if we want it look right externally, we have to make some compromise with the internal structure.

[kurigan]

@Bodi thanks. I really don't think it's a shortcoming, no. A limitation, maybe, just maybe. it was never my intent to do anything but waterline, but I'm not sure it's not possible to combine this with other methods to make a more complete construction. I'll reference good old Frank again and his Frigate where he combined modified versions of cb4 and CGH's methods to get the best of both. It's not something I want to work on, but I don't see it as impossible. 

Edited November 3, 2019 by kurigan

[Wellesley]

Both hulls look insanely great! What I like about your technique is that it seems to be done out of mostly older/more classical bricks. And the scale you are working with really pays out.

Hope, you had a great start into the new year!