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Hiawatha

[MOC] USS Essex

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Hi,

I have been working on a frigate for Commodore Hiawatha, and I have come up with the USS Essex. This is my first frigate, so I will be changing the ship to create a newer version. If you have any suggestions for this ship, please let me know, thanks. :pir-wink:

Some views of the ships:

100_1995.jpg

100_2020.jpg

100_2021.jpg

100_2022.jpg

100_2023.jpg

100_2024.jpg

The details

100_1996.jpg

The Marines

100_1998.jpg

The Helm

100_1999.jpg

The flag and mizzen.

100_2000.jpg

The bell.

100_2001.jpg

The figurehead.

100_2002.jpg

Saliors at work loading cargo.

100_2003.jpg

100_2004.jpg

The bow and the ladder.

100_2005.jpg

The stern.

100_2006.jpg

The rigging on the sails and masts.

100_2007.jpg

Bowsprit

100_2008.jpg

Aerial view of ship.

100_2009.jpg

I built the ship in a way that the lower decks can be accessed.

100_2012.jpg

Sleeping on the job. :pir-laugh:

100_2013.jpg

Some saliors having a good time.

100_2014.jpg

Swabbing the deck.

100_2016.jpg

Entrance to the cabin.

100_2017.jpg

The lower decks and storage.

100_2018.jpg

The ship doctor next to a caronade.

100_2019.jpg

The new POTC black boats went really well with this ship because of its colorscheme. The boat just bleneded in. :pir-sweet:

I hope you enjoyed!

Thanks!

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Looks great! :thumbup:

Technically she's not a frigate but it doesn't really matter. I love the United States black/white colorscheme as well as the interiors, great playability.

I have two suggestions for V2. Make the gundeck stripe go down as opposed to up: and try to make the ship longer, as it looks kind of tubby right now.

Keep it up!

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Looks great! :thumbup:

Technically she's not a frigate but it doesn't really matter. I love the United States black/white colorscheme as well as the interiors, great playability.

I have two suggestions for V2. Make the gundeck stripe go down as opposed to up: and try to make the ship longer, as it looks kind of tubby right now.

Keep it up!

Thanks!

I know she is missing a few guns to be a frigate, but I will add more. I have many more mid sections and will use them in the future. I also will most likely buy a lot of the inverted slope pieces to help make the curve look more realistic. I have seen this technique on the HMS Reliant and I really like the way it turned out! :pir-classic: The only problem with this on the USS Essex is that I want to try to make sure that I can still reach the lower decks. I'll have to play around with that. :pir-wink:

Thanks for the comment! :pir-laugh:

Edited by Hiawatha

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Looks good! Another American ship on the seas! :pir-classic:

As for suggestions, here is what I think.

Like you said, a few more guns would be great. Also if you figure out a way to give the sides a curve, it would look much more realistic. And like Skipper said, the curve of the white stripe should be be going up, not down. The ship looks a little tall, but I'm guessing the bottom part of the ship is normally underwater. And finally, the mizzen is too high up the mast. Normally it sits right above the quarterdeck, like shown in the USS Constitution.

USS_Constitution_1997.jpg

Other than than, its a great MOC, and I look forward to the USS Essex 2.0!!!!!

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In the overall your ship is just WOW! However, I have some comments to make:

1) add perhaps extra length

2) I think you could work some more details in the stern

3) I know doing flags in cloth requires a lot of time, but flags in paper are weird, because they are all strained, and that would never happen unless you had springs in their ends pir_laugh2.gif

4) I am not sure, but to me it looks as if the bowsprit is doing a greater angle than it should in relation to the deck

Just tome feedback, you have here a great project, very nice colour scheme, shape, sails, keep working! pirate_blush.gif

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Looks good! Another American ship on the seas! :pir-classic:

As for suggestions, here is what I think.

Like you said, a few more guns would be great. Also if you figure out a way to give the sides a curve, it would look much more realistic. And like Skipper said, the curve of the white stripe should be be going up, not down. The ship looks a little tall, but I'm guessing the bottom part of the ship is normally underwater. And finally, the mizzen is too high up the mast. Normally it sits right above the quarterdeck, like shown in the USS Constitution.

Other than than, its a great MOC, and I look forward to the USS Essex 2.0!!!!!

Thanks, I think one of the reasons the curve went the opposite way is the fact that the brown and black curve made it difficult to create the pieces that were able to be removed so I could reach the inside. Next time I will also lower the mizzen. Thanks for the suggestions! :pir-wink:

In the overall your ship is just WOW! However, I have some comments to make:

1) add perhaps extra length

2) I think you could work some more details in the stern

3) I know doing flags in cloth requires a lot of time, but flags in paper are weird, because they are all strained, and that would never happen unless you had springs in their ends pir_laugh2.gif

4) I am not sure, but to me it looks as if the bowsprit is doing a greater angle than it should in relation to the deck

Just tome feedback, you have here a great project, very nice colour scheme, shape, sails, keep working! pirate_blush.gif

Thanks for your comment. :pir-laugh: I am planning to make the ship longer. I used five dark brown mid sections and I have six still leftover, so I may try to use seven. I was thinking about cloth and I have seen it on many other ship MOCs. Perhaps I will also try to make the rigging out of real string instead of using the Lego ladder piece. The bowspirt could appear this way from the pictures maybe? It seemed right ot me. Thanks for your feedback! :pir_yoda:

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Dang that's a beautiful ship :pir-cry_happy:

Thanks! :pir-classic:

I should have added this picture. This is the cabin. It's not very detailed, but it has a chest, table, chair, and globe.

100_2027.jpg

I also took Corweena's advice and here is what the lowered mizzen looks like.

100_2040.jpg

Edited by Hiawatha

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I love it when people build American ships- some forget how well we Yanks built 'em. To offer some constructive feedback, you might want to make the white gunport strip two bricks tall as opposed to 4- also, the gun deck should only be around 5 bricks tall, if even that (sailors had to bend down a good bit). that will help in making her look sleeker. Also, our ships weren't as ornate as some other warships- the bow could be a little more simple (some of our ships didn't even have figure heads). She does seem to be very versatile, though- and thus able to handle adjustments as you make her better. Keep it up!

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I love it when people build American ships- some forget how well we Yanks built 'em. To offer some constructive feedback, you might want to make the white gunport strip two bricks tall as opposed to 4- also, the gun deck should only be around 5 bricks tall, if even that (sailors had to bend down a good bit). that will help in making her look sleeker. Also, our ships weren't as ornate as some other warships- the bow could be a little more simple (some of our ships didn't even have figure heads). She does seem to be very versatile, though- and thus able to handle adjustments as you make her better. Keep it up!

Thanks for your comment! :pir-classic: The Americans may have had a small navy, but it was very good! :pir-wink: Thanks for the advice. One of the reasons the deck may appear a little high is the fact that I wanted to make sure the soliders could fit under there with their shakos. Perhaps when I make it longer, the gun deck will appear shorter. I decorated the ship the way I did becuase I wanted to add some artistic qualities to the ship and try out some MOCing techniques.

Thanks again and I'm glad you enjoyed it! :pir-laugh:

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That is one beautiful ship! What material did you make your flag and sails out of? I'm trying to find a decent cloth for making my own flags for my stuff.

I also had the honor of setting foot on the current USS Essex when I was stationed in Yokosuka, Japan in 2003 (I was on the USS O'Brien, named after a certain famous Revolutionary War commander).

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the Mizzen looks much better! :pir-wink:

Thanks again for the suggestion! :pir-wink:

That is one beautiful ship! What material did you make your flag and sails out of? I'm trying to find a decent cloth for making my own flags for my stuff.

I also had the honor of setting foot on the current USS Essex when I was stationed in Yokosuka, Japan in 2003 (I was on the USS O'Brien, named after a certain famous Revolutionary War commander).

I actually just used computer paper. :pir-wink: I may try in the future to use fabric sails like Frank Brick Wright suggested.

That's very interesting! :thumbup: Naval history is always fascinating no matter what time period! :pir-laugh:

My MOC ship is loosely based off of the historic one from the Age of Sail, as I just really liked the name.

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Porter's Essex, or at least his historic journey during the War of 1812 is a great role model for ship building. I don't know if you had this in mind when creating the ship, but I did appreciate the classic name (we had many Essexes in the early navy) and the look of an American ship. I built something close to the Brig Niagara from the War of 1812 about a decade ago, I had the same problem - keeping the decks looking the right size. I never really solved it. I hope you have better luck. Also, I agree, lengthen the ship it should look better. The stripe looks big now, but with length I think it will be fine.

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Porter's Essex, or at least his historic journey during the War of 1812 is a great role model for ship building. I don't know if you had this in mind when creating the ship, but I did appreciate the classic name (we had many Essexes in the early navy) and the look of an American ship. I built something close to the Brig Niagara from the War of 1812 about a decade ago, I had the same problem - keeping the decks looking the right size. I never really solved it. I hope you have better luck. Also, I agree, lengthen the ship it should look better. The stripe looks big now, but with length I think it will be fine.

I'm glad you enjoyed! :pir_laugh2: Do you happen to have any pictures of the MOC Brig Niagara you built?

I did not really model this ship off of a historical one, I rather just used the American colorscheme along with the name of an historical ship. When I modify this first version I will try to make it longer. Thanks for the suggestions! :pir-classic:

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And to think, all of this time I thought the Essex was an aircraft carrier :pir_laugh2:

You're right, it is! :pir-laugh: It was mostly likely named after the historical ship from the originial navy.

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Well, since it's been bumped I have suggestion for your remake. Since you're building on the IFS hulls, why not just use the bottom parts? That would make your ship look a lot faster and sleeker (not to mention more realistic).

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Hiya Watha!

Fantastic design! I wouldn't want to meet her out at sea!!!

Thanks! :pir-laugh:

Well, since it's been bumped I have suggestion for your remake. Since you're building on the IFS hulls, why not just use the bottom parts? That would make your ship look a lot faster and sleeker (not to mention more realistic).

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by only using the bottom parts?

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[quote name='Hiawatha' date='27 November 2011 - 09:43 PM' timestamp='1322426583'

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by only using the bottom parts?

The stern and bow pieces, you know, you can take them apart, and what he is trying to say, only use that bottom piece of the new Bow pieces, take the top part of it away and dont use it when making the stern. Savvy? :pir-classic:

Captain Becker

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The stern and bow pieces, you know, you can take them apart, and what he is trying to say, only use that bottom piece of the new Bow pieces, take the top part of it away and dont use it when making the stern. Savvy? :pir-classic:

Captain Becker

Thank you for the clarification Captain and thanks Skipper for the suggestion. I appreciate it. :thumbup: I just wasn't sure what you meant at first, so sorry about the confusion.

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