40 replies to this topic

[Derfel Cadarn]

105b
Hi there, this is an English Galleon, currently a privateer in the service of the queen of England.
Ive wanted to have a go at building a more realistic ship for ages, but ive never really been a ship builder as I have always prefered landscapes. However, this has changed! Ive really enjoyed building this ship as it was a refreshing challenge. Usually I power build a moc and finish it in a few weeks, but I started this in March and took a bit of time working an hour here and there on her. Its my first try at a Galleon and even though im quite happy with how shes turned out, there are a few ideas and techniques which I'd like to try instead on my next one. My long term vision is to recreate part of a battle in the Spanish Armada, so I need a few of these and then a few big Spanish Galleons. That will take time! I used CGH's tutorial to get me going then built her up from pictures of the Golden Hinde, as there is a lot of info and pics of that ship. I wanted to try a different technique for the colours, so I used the tooth plates instead of a checker pattern with plates. The sails are test ones, as I plan to make some with a printed Elizabethan design in the future. I chose to sow all the sails and ive also sowed them onto the yards. For the rigging I have just gone with the basics, although I really wanted to go all out and add as many parts as I could, however, anyone who builds ships will know rigging is tricky and time consuming.
I'd like to thanks CGH for his great tutorial, Admiral Croissant for his great sail making thread, and all other members who have given me info and ideas! The next ship is already under construction!

The ship has been photographed without figs as I thought it was best in this case. Enough talking, heres the pics:

















There are larger versions of the pics at my Flickr, plus I hope to upload some more shots of the decks, rigging and bow soon.

[Big Cam]

This is fantastic, I thought it looked good in the WIP thread, and I was right. More on my thoughts later, this is blog worthy on all levels.

[MCNwakeboard]

I must comment that I was very impressed with all the detail. I thought at first it was a model boat with the sails and rigging. Keep up the good work!

[Khorne]

Wow! I love the ship you've built. I already looked terrific in the WIP thread, but the added sails and rigging have really made it even more realistic and stand out. I'd love to make a galleon like yours myself one day, but right now I don't have the pieces nor money to do so . Can't wait for the detailed pictures!

EDIT I just went through your flickr gallery and I find myself even more amazed at the amount of detail you put into this. You truly are a masterful builder .

Edited by KhoRne, 10 August 2011 - 08:59 AM.

[greg3]

That is a stunning piece of work... the amount of detail you've packed in is incredible. Even the display base is fantastic!! The whole thing really does look like a "proper" model and shows just how great Lego is in the hands of a talented builder... well done!!

Can't wait to see the Armada!!

[Bonaparte]

It's amazing, beautiful, perfect, refeshing, one of the best LEGO ships ever, ... I simply love it  

And it's now frontpaged on Eurobricks!

[BrickClimber]

Simply great!
I like your landscapes because of the detailed buildings. And now this ship! I hope I can build things as half as good like you sometimes in the future!  

[lightningtiger]

Sheer beauty - that was this ship has 'Derfel Cardarn', a wonderful sailing vessel of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Congrats on being front paged too 'Derfel Cardarn' and Brick On Sail On !

[Skipper]

Wow. That's amazing, everything from the rigging to the hull! NIce to see something other than the usual frigate or man o war here.

All of your moc's are truly inspiring, both in detail and techniques. Great, great work. And congrats on being frontpaged.

Edited by Skipper, 10 August 2011 - 01:05 PM.

[blueandwhite]

Excellent work.

More than anything else, I'm impressed at how smoothly the reddish brown has been incorporated into the design with the old brown hulls.  This really looks incredible.  There really isn't much to be said here as this is easily on of your most beautiful works thus far.  I look forward to seeing her along side her sister ships in the future.

[Bjornu]

Looks like the Galleon you were talking about arrived,

In my opinion this one Beats the planks out of my galleon, this one is so detailed.
Thanks for uploading this creation!

Greetz Bjornu

[MstrOfPppts]

Hey this is an amazing ship! I really like the detail. However I'm not too fond of glueing LEGO but I totaly understand you. With all the clips there would be far too many gaps and the model wouldn't be so smooth! It's just my collection is not big enough to simply use some items to glue them on a model and never disassemble it. LEGO is far too precious ...

May I only add that I'd relly like to see it with some crewmembers added. It would make the ship alive and there would be something happening in the model. Never the less it's still one big masterpiece!

[SirSven7]

This is brilliant, I love everything about it, thanks for building it  

[le60head]

Wow! This is an amazing ship!
Congratulations!

[Bayou]

waoou..."amazing" is the right definition for this MOC !  

[LegoLink]

A truly stunning piece of work, Derfel! The whole curvature is stunning and it all screams NPU. The use of whips adds beautiful detail to the whole cabin. I'm just amazed by this whole thing.

I would LOVE some more pics in addition to the ones you already have, it is easily my new favorite new MOC!

[kabel]

Wow!! As always, I'm totally digging your creations as they resemble what I have on my mind, but am never able to do myself (yet). So I'm really looking forward to your depiction of the fight between the Armada and Drake. BTW, I'm currently reading a really great book about this time by an Polish author, but I don't know whether it ever got translated into English. The German title however, is "Marten" written by Janusz Meissner. If you could get it in English, you should really read it!!

[TheCrimsonTrooper]

This is just plain amazing!   It just looks perfect.  To be honest, I think this has to be my favorite ship MOC I've seen.

[Derfel Cadarn]

Thank you all for your wonderful comments, they are very much appreciated!

Big Cam, on 09 August 2011 - 10:16 PM, said:

This is fantastic, I thought it looked good in the WIP thread, and I was right. More on my thoughts later, this is blog worthy on all levels.

Thanks for the blog, its nice too be back building pirates again as ive been away for aquite a while. This forum is where I first started out and I hope to get a few more piratical mocs done this year!

Bonaparte, on 10 August 2011 - 10:20 AM, said:

It's amazing, beautiful, perfect, refeshing, one of the best LEGO ships ever, ... I simply love it  

And it's now frontpaged on Eurobricks!

Thanks very much for the frontpage and being a great source of inspiration with your ship building.

MstrOfPppts, on 10 August 2011 - 02:58 PM, said:

Hey this is an amazing ship! I really like the detail. However I'm not too fond of glueing LEGO but I totaly understand you. With all the clips there would be far too many gaps and the model wouldn't be so smooth! It's just my collection is not big enough to simply use some items to glue them on a model and never disassemble it. LEGO is far too precious ...

May I only add that I'd relly like to see it with some crewmembers added. It would make the ship alive and there would be something happening in the model. Never the less it's still one big masterpiece!

Thanks, yes the glueing part kind of bugs me as I like to build in a 'legit' way. As I said, I tryed attaching them with the clip piece but that ment they didn't sit flat against the side and you also have the 'clip' part itself showing around the whip which again ruined the effect. Still, it gives a nice effect and is really the only way of doing it. As for minifigs, I chose to leave them off as I wanted to give it a more 'model ship' appearence. But she will be crewed when you next see her!

LegoLink, on 10 August 2011 - 05:19 PM, said:

A truly stunning piece of work, Derfel! The whole curvature is stunning and it all screams NPU. The use of whips adds beautiful detail to the whole cabin. I'm just amazed by this whole thing.

I would LOVE some more pics in addition to the ones you already have, it is easily my new favorite new MOC!

Thankyou! Well, like I said, I don't intend to take her apart, so there will always be photo opportunities. I intend to add some more deck details like cannons and also new sails and flags, which you will see when she appears in my next moc.

kabel, on 10 August 2011 - 05:58 PM, said:

Wow!! As always, I'm totally digging your creations as they resemble what I have on my mind, but am never able to do myself (yet). So I'm really looking forward to your depiction of the fight between the Armada and Drake. BTW, I'm currently reading a really great book about this time by an Polish author, but I don't know whether it ever got translated into English. The German title however, is "Marten" written by Janusz Meissner. If you could get it in English, you should really read it!!

Thanks, that sounds like a great book, Im forever delving into books as they are such a great source of info and inspiration. As for Drake and the Armada, it will be a tough build, expecially the Golden Hinde as I have to get that just right as its one of the main stars. Will the Princess Ceinwyn be one of the ships that survive the battle? who knows...

Thanks all, she will appear at port in my next moc being prepared for war as tension mounts when Spain launch an Armada Which also means she'll be hunting down 'Cagafuego' with Drake.

[maydayartist]

one word ... perfect  

[Nightshroud99]

Fantastic Job!!! Bravo!!!!!!!!!  

[Gabe]

Wow, this has to be easily my favourite lego vessel i've seen.   It's just so smooth - the shaping of the stern is amazing! Can't wait to see her fully kitted out and crewed.  

Yr Armada project sounds massive too - i'll certainly be looking for yr updates on how that's going.  

ps. Congrads on being frontpaged and blogged btw!

[Erdbeereis]

Simply amazing Derfel!  

It just looks so sleek, certainly one of the best LEGO ships I've seen. The sails are perfect, and I also think it was very smart to build such a nice base for it to sit on. It looks like a better version of a UCS Star Wars set.

Thank you so much for sharing this fantastic work of art with us.

[Khorne]

Derfel Cardarn, on 10 August 2011 - 09:36 PM, said:

Thanks all, she will appear at port in my next moc being prepared for war as tension mounts when Spain launch an Armada Which also means she'll be hunting down 'Cagafuego' with Drake.

Will you be posting WIP shots of your Spanish galleon, too? I'd love to see how you build these .

[Captain Blackmoor]

And what a beauty she has become!
The shape is perfect, the colours are nice too. I had expected a chekered pattern somewhere first, but this is perhaps even better! Your rigging is top-notch, and I can't wait to see the Elizabeth print on them!
The deck details are amazing too, nicely tiled decks and it are the small things which make the large things beautiful.

I can't wait to see the next ship, keep it up!