132 replies to this topic

[SuperSirLink]

Another small update... still need a few key parts to continue the build...

[Frank Brick Wright]

You must have spent a fortune buying all those dark tan plates, but the result is simply outstanding. That colour is indeed amazing for decks. (your pattern at the prow with the light tan seem slightly too geometrical, perhaps you could disorganize it a bit)

Besides that this is surely an impressive vessel and is amazing to see the progress as she starts to take shape

[SuperSirLink]

Frank Brick Wright, on 26 February 2012 - 07:56 PM, said:

You must have spent a fortune buying all those dark tan plates, but the result is simply outstanding. That colour is indeed amazing for decks. (your pattern at the prow with the light tan seem slightly too geometrical, perhaps you could disorganize it a bit)

Besides that this is surely an impressive vessel and is amazing to see the progress as she starts to take shape

Actually wasn't too bad... But yeah, I am not sure if the pics do the color justice, but I think they are a nice color for a natural wood feel...  Wish they made them in 1x4 and 1x8... Darn Lego's color selection...  

I played with that for a while one night... Hard to do since I can't put the 1x1s and the end.  It is hard to tell from the pictures, but those 1x2's in the front are only held down with one stud, they overlap a tile one plate level below to transition to the sloped 1x1s...

It would have been easier if they made 1x4s or 1x3s...  Although that part is so small compared the the rest of the deck, it is less obvious when the rest of the deck in on...

[SuperSirLink]

Another update... Waiting on some parts to finish the captain's cabin, as well as the bow...

[Frank Brick Wright]

You surely master the picture-taking process! That last photo is an oeuvre d'art by itself, one can almost see the reflex in the table

There are, however, two thing I think you could have worked out better. I know I would have been more useful while in the LDD phase but in real bricks one gets a better perception of shapes and colours. The first is that arches in the stern give her a, hum… too gappy look. I don't like particularly that piece because it has a huge gap on it and with so many together… I just think it looks weird after such nice curves in the hull. The other thing is the prow. I feel that your intention with cables is quite good but you need more to add more detail, with just two it looks quite incomplete Bows are possibly the hardest part of vessels as they are very curved and detailed. I think you could go for a look more similar to this:


Other side suggestion: I am currently building and planning a vessel with the same technique for the tumblehome in the gun's deck, with the hinge bricks. Two ideas: instead of placing a lot of hinge bricks you could place some panels 1x2 between them, to save parts (hinges are expensive). The other is that the 1-stud difference between the deck's sections is way too much. It looks slightly blocky. It is quite hard, but to get a perfect shape I think one must offset the plates using jumpers

I'm not suggesting to start building her again (far from that!) These are just some considerations that can be of some sort of interest for future projects. She is looking great already anyway

Edited by Frank Brick Wright, 04 March 2012 - 11:02 PM.

[Sebeus I]

That last picture is beatiful, I bet you wouldn't be able to make that picture again once teh ship is complete
The forecastle section doesn't look very natural I think, as you can see on the picture in Frank Brick Wright's reply there is a somewhat flat part on the bow. In your ship it's triangular...
But considering the gunports I don't see an elegant sollution either  

[SuperSirLink]

Frank Brick Wright, on 04 March 2012 - 10:58 PM, said:

You surely master the picture-taking process! That last photo is an oeuvre d'art by itself, one can almost see the reflex in the table

There are, however, two thing I think you could have worked out better. I know I would have been more useful while in the LDD phase but in real bricks one gets a better perception of shapes and colours. The first is that arches in the stern give her a, hum… too gappy look. I don't like particularly that piece because it has a huge gap on it and with so many together… I just think it looks weird after such nice curves in the hull. The other thing is the prow. I feel that your intention with cables is quite good but you need more to add more detail, with just two it looks quite incomplete Bows are possibly the hardest part of vessels as they are very curved and detailed. I think you could go for a look more similar to this:


Other side suggestion: I am currently building and planning a vessel with the same technique for the tumblehome in the gun's deck, with the hinge bricks. Two ideas: instead of placing a lot of hinge bricks you could place some panels 1x2 between them, to save parts (hinges are expensive). The other is that the 1-stud difference between the deck's sections is way too much. It looks slightly blocky. It is quite hard, but to get a perfect shape I think one must offset the plates using jumpers

I'm not suggesting to start building her again (far from that!) These are just some considerations that can be of some sort of interest for future projects. She is looking great already anyway

I couldn't resist grabbing that shot.  
You mean the arches under the windows?

It is incomplete.    I still have more to do on the bow, going to try and fill in the bowspirit to the cable rails...  I am also going to try and make some vertical connections between the two flex cables...  I have defiantly found that to be the hardest to work with. Especially since LDD is not much help with the flex cables...  It will probably take me a few more tweaks till I get something that that fits with the rest of the ship...

I am trying to get something that resembles this: here

Might not be too late to play with adding some jummper plates... I have not started building the gun walls yet...

Sebeus Iniwum, on 04 March 2012 - 11:28 PM, said:

That last picture is beatiful, I bet you wouldn't be able to make that picture again once teh ship is complete
The forecastle section doesn't look very natural I think, as you can see on the picture in Frank Brick Wright's reply there is a somewhat flat part on the bow. In your ship it's triangular...
But considering the gunports I don't see an elegant sollution either  

The deck will be removable at that level, but given it was natural light, it would take a bit to recreate...  I think it gives a nice effect of light coming into the cabin through the windows, even though in actuality it is coming over them... Thanks to a little cropping...  No PS effects, everything else was natural.

I actualy had a flatter railing but it didn't look like it fit very well.  seemed to abrupt.  

Edited by SuperSirLink, 05 March 2012 - 12:53 AM.

[SuperSirLink]

small update... worked some on the bow...  Think some verticals between the flex cables will be the finishing touch...

Edited by SuperSirLink, 06 March 2012 - 12:31 AM.

[SuperSirLink]

another update:

[Admiral Croissant]

This is becoming a very nice ship
Of course it's a bit of a fantasy MOC, but it contains quite a lot of interesting techniques.
I especially like the round gunports, the colourscheme, and the bow details.
Perhaps you could make the poop deck a bit more narrow on future ships, that's all I can say.
I'm looking forward to the next update.  
Will she get the same rigging and sails as the Unicorn? Also with square bowsprit sails?

[SuperSirLink]

Admiral Croissant, on 11 March 2012 - 07:52 PM, said:

This is becoming a very nice ship
Of course it's a bit of a fantasy MOC, but it contains quite a lot of interesting techniques.
I especially like the round gunports, the colourscheme, and the bow details.
Perhaps you could make the poop deck a bit more narrow on future ships, that's all I can say.
I'm looking forward to the next update.  
Will she get the same rigging and sails as the Unicorn? Also with square bowsprit sails?

Thanks!  The goal was to make it resemble the Unicorn, not copy it.  In that regard I hope it does.  I wanted a ship that could be a pirate ship and looked like it came right out of Sid Meier's Pirates!  

Narrow the poop deck, like maybe moving the angled walls in 1 stud?  I was planning on doing the sails as they were on the Unicorn, though I am not sure yet on the square bow spirt sail...

[halfpenguinhalflego]

This ship is shaping up extremely nice! I especially love how you did the tan details in-between the gun-ports (If that makes sense  ) And the cabin is beautiful!    

[SuperSirLink]

halfpenguinhalflego, on 12 March 2012 - 08:49 PM, said:

This ship is shaping up extremely nice! I especially love how you did the tan details in-between the gun-ports (If that makes sense  ) And the cabin is beautiful!    

Thanks!  Have to admit, that happened by accident.    They don't make 1x1 bricks with a technic hole in dark red, which is how I originally intended it have it.  What resulted was my solution to that.

[SuperSirLink]

Another update...  Still have more details to add, sails, rigging, cannons, and anchors to build...

[Skipper]

That looks amazing! I really like your technique for widening the hull, it's much more seamless than the other techniques I've seen. The stern ornaments are really pretty too. I don't however like how the main shrouds go all the way up (even more how they're offset to connect in the middle). I think it would look better if instead of the second large ladder you added a small one going outwards to represent the futtock shrouds, and then continued from there.

[Frank Brick Wright]

There is obviously an issue with the shrouds, as Skipper just said. Its nice to see a ship built using different a original techniques and yours surely turned out pretty well! The stern is especially amazing and quite an inspiration! Perhaps the masts are slightly higher than what they should be but that's not really an issue. In next ships I think that if you build the hull with half stud offset she will be ever smoother

[hobbes5a]

What an impressive frigate! A little flaw is that the hull is a bit edgy. Kepp it up!

[SuperSirLink]

Skipper, on 17 March 2012 - 11:58 PM, said:

That looks amazing! I really like your technique for widening the hull, it's much more seamless than the other techniques I've seen. The stern ornaments are really pretty too. I don't however like how the main shrouds go all the way up (even more how they're offset to connect in the middle). I think it would look better if instead of the second large ladder you added a small one going outwards to represent the futtock shrouds, and then continued from there.

They definitely looked better in LDD...  I was trying to match the rigging of the unicorn which is why I was going all the way up.  I was trying to do it with while staying all Lego, but the sails I have don't fit very well.  So I think I am going to do custom sails, so I might do custom ratlines as well.  

Not sure I know what you mean by making them go outward.

Here is what I am working toward: Unicorn

Needless to say there is lots of work to do...  

Frank Brick Wright, on 18 March 2012 - 09:23 AM, said:

There is obviously an issue with the shrouds, as Skipper just said. Its nice to see a ship built using different a original techniques and yours surely turned out pretty well! The stern is especially amazing and quite an inspiration! Perhaps the masts are slightly higher than what they should be but that's not really an issue. In next ships I think that if you build the hull with half stud offset she will be ever smoother

I tried working that techniuqe in, but it is not easy to do if you want to make the deck removable...  I think the next ship I want to try my hand at a brick built hull...

[Skipper]

SuperSirLink, on 18 March 2012 - 02:04 PM, said:

Not sure I know what you mean by making them go outward.

Like this. I wasn't saying there shouldn't be any topmast shrouds, just that they shouldn't be continuous all the way from the hull. If you look closely at the Unicorn, you'll see the futtocks are there as well.

But custom rigging sounds even better.  

Edited by Skipper, 18 March 2012 - 03:57 PM.

[SuperSirLink]

Skipper, on 18 March 2012 - 03:56 PM, said:

Like this. I wasn't saying there shouldn't be any topmast shrouds, just that they shouldn't be continuous all the way from the hull. If you look closely at the Unicorn, you'll see the futtocks are there as well.

But custom rigging sounds even better.  

I see what you mean...    But yeah, I think once I go through the effort on the sails, they will look out of place...

[SuperSirLink]

Anyone know where to get string like Lego uses?

Found some that might be close...
1mm thick Tex400 or waxed cotton cord...

http://www.store.jew...ylonclc400.html
http://www.firemount...IMITATIONCOTTON
http://www.suncountr...s.com/cord.html

Edited by SuperSirLink, 20 March 2012 - 02:30 AM.

[SuperSirLink]

Small update...  Been working on the shrouds...  Still alot more to go...

[Admiral Croissant]

You've done a nice job on the rigging so far
I have a few suggestions but if you don't want to be accurate you don't need to apply them.

On every large sailing ship I know, the main yard (the lowest one) on every mast is at the same heigth as the first "crow's nest", which is also the place where all the shrouds lead to.
So two of your yards, and the shrouds, have been placed "wrong".
And as you can see here, the shrouds lead much further towards the stern. And they become a lot wider towards the deck.

Anyway, these are just suggestions, but nevertheless I think it's a great ship!

[halfpenguinhalflego]

This ship is amazing! That rope looks leathery, what type is it?
By the way, the cabin is spectacular!

[De Sandman]

This is an amazing ship, love the rigging, can't wait to see her with sails.