[MOC] Simple Fishing Sloop (First Moc)

[Fame]

Hello Everybody.

This is My fist Moc i ever build and posted on this site. I Watched alot of mocs from all of you guys and i got inspired to make my own. I know im not that skilled as most of the guys here.

Take in mind im limited, alot, i dont own any Pirate sets that involve ship parts, and i gave 60% of all my legos to my brothers children so thats what i managed to build with my 40% and with 7hours on my hands.

I present to you Small Simple Fishing Sloop. I didnt add riging just becouse i will destroy this ship later :/ .

Please Leave your opinion :)

Edited June 17, 2016 by Fame

[Cousarmy0001]

Not a bad start! That's very generous of you to give away your Legos, as well.

I like how you placed the buckets at the base of the mast to store tools and such. That's a neat touch. The window hatchway is a neat idea as well, it suggests there's more going on below deck. You've also done a very good job getting the overall shape of the hull down.

I would suggest shortening the sail on the back of the mast (I believe the technical term is "mizzen"), and making yourself some sails, if you can get a hold of some fabric, a pencil, and a straight edge of some kind. That adds A LOT to any ship.

Here is a good sailmaking tutorial that I follow when I make sails. I generally don't dye mine, and I've found that dipping the sail edges in white school glue diluted in water stops fraying if you can't get a hold of hobby epoxy. It's your MOC, though, feel free to do whatever you like with the sails.

[kurigan]

Welcome to the community! Always great to see new builders.

When I look at a ship MOC I’m looking for 3 things. A certain scope or level of ambition, a concept of how a ship is shaped (even if it just superficial), and detail inclusion. You have all that here, even without sails and cordage.

You used a fairly modern/unconventional technique, perhaps for lack of any “ship parts” but necessity is the mother of invention; and pre-fabs can be a crutch anyway. You used that technique to create real-world like profiles and shapes. Things like the paint job and the cabin sky light add depth to the whole thing. This is a good build in general, let alone for a first venture.

Clever parts usage is a sign of a good builder, and can often hint at skills beguiled by a limited brick supply. On this front I feel your pain. One of the most expensive and parts consuming elements of Lego shipbuilding can be the masts and spars. This is where I see a lot of that clever parts usage on your ship. In particular I like the use of techic pins and antenna to make a smaller diameter on the bowsprit.

Where sails and rigging are concerned: on the one hand you’ll want to practice before you try it on anything you plan to keep but on the other it’s not something you’ll relish destroying when you decide you’ll need another rendition before you’re satisfied. It’s a conundrum somewhat unique to ship builders. In this case, if she’s already bound for the knacker’s yard, I’d suggest saving the effort for a later build so you can plan for the specific structural needs of a more complete rig. I see no problem with your brick built sails though.

I’m seeing a few things included that suggest to me that you did a bit of research before clicking bricks and don’t need an education in ships from the likes of me. However, everyone here, myself included, are always happy to help. Just ask if you want it otherwise most will be too polite to offer without prompting. Thanks for sharing! I hope to see more from you soon.

[Cousarmy0001]

At the risk of sounding like a suck up, Kurigan is one of the more knowledgeable people on the forum, both in terms of the actual ships, and in terms of Lego expertise, especially among the active members of the community. He's certainly an excellent source for information and ideas. I've stolen quite a few things from him over the past few years.

[Fame]

Not a bad start! That's very generous of you to give away your Legos, as well.

I like how you placed the buckets at the base of the mast to store tools and such. That's a neat touch. The window hatchway is a neat idea as well, it suggests there's more going on below deck. You've also done a very good job getting the overall shape of the hull down.

I would suggest shortening the sail on the back of the mast (I believe the technical term is "mizzen"), and making yourself some sails, if you can get a hold of some fabric, a pencil, and a straight edge of some kind. That adds A LOT to any ship.

Here is a good sailmaking tutorial that I follow when I make sails. I generally don't dye mine, and I've found that dipping the sail edges in white school glue diluted in water stops fraying if you can't get a hold of hobby epoxy. It's your MOC, though, feel free to do whatever you like with the sails.

Thanks for your opinion and generous comment :)

Welcome to the community! Always great to see new builders.

When I look at a ship MOC I’m looking for 3 things. A certain scope or level of ambition, a concept of how a ship is shaped (even if it just superficial), and detail inclusion. You have all that here, even without sails and cordage.

You used a fairly modern/unconventional technique, perhaps for lack of any “ship parts” but necessity is the mother of invention; and pre-fabs can be a crutch anyway. You used that technique to create real-world like profiles and shapes. Things like the paint job and the cabin sky light add depth to the whole thing. This is a good build in general, let alone for a first venture.

Clever parts usage is a sign of a good builder, and can often hint at skills beguiled by a limited brick supply. On this front I feel your pain. One of the most expensive and parts consuming elements of Lego shipbuilding can be the masts and spars. This is where I see a lot of that clever parts usage on your ship. In particular I like the use of techic pins and antenna to make a smaller diameter on the bowsprit.

Where sails and rigging are concerned: on the one hand you’ll want to practice before you try it on anything you plan to keep but on the other it’s not something you’ll relish destroying when you decide you’ll need another rendition before you’re satisfied. It’s a conundrum somewhat unique to ship builders. In this case, if she’s already bound for the knacker’s yard, I’d suggest saving the effort for a later build so you can plan for the specific structural needs of a more complete rig. I see no problem with your brick built sails though.

I’m seeing a few things included that suggest to me that you did a bit of research before clicking bricks and don’t need an education in ships from the likes of me. However, everyone here, myself included, are always happy to help. Just ask if you want it otherwise most will be too polite to offer without prompting. Thanks for sharing! I hope to see more from you soon.

Well Thank you very much. I was trying to recreate a sloop that i saw on google imiges but now i cant find it, but i did my research.

Well i am limited so after all these comments i decided to create another sloop and try a bit harder just because i noticed that i missed alot of nice touches i could have made but i didnt, So any help you can provide me would be awesome (take in mind i still have alot of little piecies i can still add) . And i have a question , should i make it smaller , just because i feel its too big for a sloop And talking about "ship parts" im kind of sad i dont have them but somewhat happy just because im not sucked in into making big ships

So yeah any ideas will be helpfull

[Cousarmy0001]

Oh, the big ships will come, trust me :-D

It might be a little big for a sloop by MOC standards (most of the ships you see here are rather smaller than what they should be, my own included), but if you're after an accurate model, I'd say it's just about right.

[kurigan]

Scaling is never a fun topic where Lego and mini-figs are concerned. In short, it always comes down to this: mini-figs have the same basic proportions as human babies. When you have to account for them as adults they either have to be extremely wide or extremely short. What that means for ship building is that what often seems too big, really isn’t. The figures just look short on deck. This is where mini-fig illusion scale comes in. The basic idea there is to pick somewhere in between so that mini-figs appear to comfortably inhabit the environment even if the ship is a little small to true scale. It’s not to be confused with mini-fig scale where thing tend to windup a lot bigger, like Poseidon.

Now what you have here, I don’t think is necessarily too big. If anything it’s just too narrow abeam for its length. It doesn’t look like a fishing sloop either. It’s more of a cutter what with a huge mainsail, square topsail and long bowsprit, handy for multiple headsails. The high gunwales and up-swept stern also suggest “merchant” to me. Nothing wrong with any of that and doesn’t mean it can’t be used however it’s owner’s desire.

I always suggest starting on small vessels first anyway. If you’re trying to learn about ships through modeling there can just be too much to take in a full-sized/full rigged ship to completely understand. Working on smaller rigs and hulls and moving up in time makes everything so much easier to understand.

Here’s what I suggest for the next build. Find one ship in particular to model. Doesn’t have to be an exact replica, just something inspirational. If say you wanted to make an armed cutter I’d suggest Le Renard as there is a popular full-size replica sailing out of Saint Malo today as well as several highly detailed models all over Google and the like. You don’t seem to have a lot of “round stock” so maybe go for something with less spars. If you want to stay with the fishing theme maybe try something like a Baltic Ketch.

Google has actually gotten very smart over the years and now tracks your habits to better serve your needs. That’s probably why you can’t find the same pic again. (That or it’s been taken down) The more you search and click links of interest the keener it gets at finding what you're looking for. You'll learn a thing or two as well to help it along. Things like new terms and vocabulary. Personally I've also learned a lot by reading (sometimes listening) to nautical fiction and looking up what I don't know or doesn't make sense. You find yourself trying to picture the action and asking "what the heck does "off tacks and sheets" mean?” Or "what are bunt lines and futtox shrouds and can I bring them up in polite conversation?"

Wow, that’s a book’s worth of ramblings, huh? Any of it helpful yet?

I think the one key thing missing on this build is the channels. Those are the platform on the side of the ship next to the mast(s) up from which the shrouds extend to the top of the mast. Since you’re not doing any of the rigging yet, they aren’t mechanically necessary but would break up the side of the ship, perhaps making it look, not-so-long. There is also a distinct lack of a wheel or tiller, which I just chalked up to technical limitations; namely a lack of parts.

Don’t be afraid of color either. We all like very marshal blacks and browns, but people of the past were possessed of paint and did make liberal use of it. If the parts you need seem to be in an inconvenient color, don’t be so quick to judge. Without modern materials like Polyurethane, it’s actually unwise to leave wood grain exposed at sea, so they painted everything, and often in bold colors.

Alright I’ll leave off here. I think I sucked up enough space on your thread so far.

Cousarmy0001: I appreciate that, thank you.

[Fame]

Scaling is never a fun topic where Lego and mini-figs are concerned. In short, it always comes down to this: mini-figs have the same basic proportions as human babies. When you have to account for them as adults they either have to be extremely wide or extremely short. What that means for ship building is that what often seems too big, really isn’t. The figures just look short on deck. This is where mini-fig illusion scale comes in. The basic idea there is to pick somewhere in between so that mini-figs appear to comfortably inhabit the environment even if the ship is a little small to true scale. It’s not to be confused with mini-fig scale where thing tend to windup a lot bigger, like Poseidon.

Now what you have here, I don’t think is necessarily too big. If anything it’s just too narrow abeam for its length. It doesn’t look like a fishing sloop either. It’s more of a cutter what with a huge mainsail, square topsail and long bowsprit, handy for multiple headsails. The high gunwales and up-swept stern also suggest “merchant” to me. Nothing wrong with any of that and doesn’t mean it can’t be used however it’s owner’s desire.

I always suggest starting on small vessels first anyway. If you’re trying to learn about ships through modeling there can just be too much to take in a full-sized/full rigged ship to completely understand. Working on smaller rigs and hulls and moving up in time makes everything so much easier to understand.

Here’s what I suggest for the next build. Find one ship in particular to model. Doesn’t have to be an exact replica, just something inspirational. If say you wanted to make an armed cutter I’d suggest Le Renard as there is a popular full-size replica sailing out of Saint Malo today as well as several highly detailed models all over Google and the like. You don’t seem to have a lot of “round stock” so maybe go for something with less spars. If you want to stay with the fishing theme maybe try something like a Baltic Ketch.

Google has actually gotten very smart over the years and now tracks your habits to better serve your needs. That’s probably why you can’t find the same pic again. (That or it’s been taken down) The more you search and click links of interest the keener it gets at finding what you're looking for. You'll learn a thing or two as well to help it along. Things like new terms and vocabulary. Personally I've also learned a lot by reading (sometimes listening) to nautical fiction and looking up what I don't know or doesn't make sense. You find yourself trying to picture the action and asking "what the heck does "off tacks and sheets" mean?” Or "what are bunt lines and futtox shrouds and can I bring them up in polite conversation?"

Wow, that’s a book’s worth of ramblings, huh? Any of it helpful yet?

I think the one key thing missing on this build is the channels. Those are the platform on the side of the ship next to the mast(s) up from which the shrouds extend to the top of the mast. Since you’re not doing any of the rigging yet, they aren’t mechanically necessary but would break up the side of the ship, perhaps making it look, not-so-long. There is also a distinct lack of a wheel or tiller, which I just chalked up to technical limitations; namely a lack of parts.

Don’t be afraid of color either. We all like very marshal blacks and browns, but people of the past were possessed of paint and did make liberal use of it. If the parts you need seem to be in an inconvenient color, don’t be so quick to judge. Without modern materials like Polyurethane, it’s actually unwise to leave wood grain exposed at sea, so they painted everything, and often in bold colors.

Alright I’ll leave off here. I think I sucked up enough space on your thread so far.

Cousarmy0001: I appreciate that, thank you.

Holy .. thank you so much, alot of words i had to google but i got everything that was realy helpfull i realy appreciate everything. Today i'll try to find some inspiration and i might start making a new sloop :)

Oh, the big ships will come, trust me :-D

It might be a little big for a sloop by MOC standards (most of the ships you see here are rather smaller than what they should be, my own included), but if you're after an accurate model, I'd say it's just about right.

thanks for the tip :)

[TitusV]

even for a normal MOC, this would have been nice, but for a first MOC ever, this is great! Keep on building, and you'll see you'll improve rapidly

[Staslegomaster]

A good beginning in a good place!

[Captain Green Hair]

Really not bad for a first!

Maybe for the next you can make some more clear pictures so I can give you feedback (if you like). I do see the curvature of the dech is a bit irregular at the bow, the decks do not need to follow the sheer of the ship exactly;-)