36 replies to this topic

[Mr. Townsend]

Hello all,

I started building this ship in LDD about a year ago and have been working on it in bricks for about 4 months.  I've been meaning to post this WIP thread for awhile, and now while waiting on another Bricklink order I've finally taken the time to photograph my progress so far.

The Matterhorn is going to be a 26 gun frigate in minifig illusion scale.  All of her guns are going to be brick-built as I think these better fit the scale and also provide for a more spacious interior.  The interior has been a major focus for me which prompted the snot walls hinged at the top allowing for a more open floor plan. The weather deck will be completely removable to allow easy access to the interior, while the gun deck is broken into removable sections to allow for viewing of the hold though that deck is purely display.  The Matterhorn will have a working capstan as well.  

This ship has been largely influenced by The Achille and The Vesta and I would like to thank their builders and everyone else who's work has inspired me.

I hope everyone enjoys my ship as much as I have enjoyed viewing many of yours.
Comments and Criticism encouraged and appreciated.  

-W. Townsend

Most recent update:



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DSCN1191 by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr

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Matterhorn by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr


Matterhorn by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr


Matterhorn by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr


Matterhorn by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr

Edited by Mr. Townsend, 17 May 2013 - 02:50 AM.

[Captain Becker]

It seems to be very white ship.    I like it a lot so far, i hope that you could upload some LDD screenshotss for the Flick also. And if possible LXF-file would be nice as i tend to take a close look of it by myself and just have fun whit it. I wish you the best of luck whit this ship.

Captain Becker

[Ecclesiastes]

That looks promissing! I really like the brick build cannons!

If you want to deeplink photo's from flickr, first select the size(no more than 800x600) Than you can link it!

Different photo sizes.

[Mr. Townsend]

Captain Becker, on 30 June 2012 - 08:55 PM, said:

It seems to be very white ship.    I like it a lot so far, i hope that you could upload some LDD screenshotss for the Flick also. And if possible LXF-file would be nice as i tend to take a close look of it by myself and just have fun whit it. I wish you the best of luck whit this ship.

Captain Becker

I'm glad you like it Captain Becker.  I know she's a bit monochromatic and it's not historically accurate, but I really wanted her to stand out and look more Lego then Model.  I'll upload some LDD screen shots for you soon and will try to add the LXF as well.

Ecclesiastes, on 01 July 2012 - 05:48 PM, said:

That looks promissing! I really like the brick build cannons!

If you want to deeplink photo's from flickr, first select the size(no more than 800x600) Than you can link it!

Thanks Ecclesiastes!  The long guns are of course DPW's design but I enjoyed making the carronade and swivel to match.
I appreciate you showing me how to deep link pictures but it turns out to have been my post count holding me back.

-W. Townsend

Edited by Mr. Townsend, 01 July 2012 - 09:28 PM.

[Dread Pirate Wesley]

Good looking cannons   were you surprised by the number of pieces required?  I like your carronade design too.  As to the ship she is very white indeed, Im anxious to see this progress.  Keep it up  

Dread Pirate Wesley

[Axis600]

Okay, I have to ask. What is minifigure illusion? I've heard it used a fair few times about ships, and I don't really understand...

That's a pretty good ship. Are you going to post the LDD pictures, or leave us in suspense as to the final appearance? Either way works for me.

[Mr. Townsend]

Dread Pirate Wesley, on 02 July 2012 - 01:15 AM, said:

Good looking cannons   were you surprised by the number of pieces required?  I like your carronade design too.  As to the ship she is very white indeed, Im anxious to see this progress.  Keep it up  

Dread Pirate Wesley

   They certainly do require a large amount of peices. 18 each really adds up the piece count!



Now I have an update on the ship.  The weather deck is now mostly complete and the starboard side of the ship has been enclosed.  I've started tinkering with the head-rails and would appreciate some feedback there.


7-27-12 016 by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr


7-27-12 014 by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr


7-27-12 013 by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr


7-27-12 010 by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr


7-27-12 012 by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr


7-27-12 026 by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr


7-27-12 023 by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr

Edited by Mr. Townsend, 23 August 2012 - 01:54 PM.

[Morthen]

Okay, this is a truely amazing vessel.
I like the snot technic at the sides,
i always just make the sides with the regulary brick technic hehe.
Great job, keep it up,
and im looking forward to see the final edition.

[Hiawatha]

I like the fact that you topped off the decks with the smooth tiles.   Judging by the colorscheme of the ship, are you planning on making it American?

[Billy Bune]

I love your boat, it is simply delightful but i cannot get over how the floor of the captain's cabin looks like a picnic sheet  

[Sebeus I]

The shape is very nice, I'm not really font of the concentrated white, perhaps changing the color of the cannon hatches would help, keep it up.

Billy Bune, on 03 August 2012 - 05:14 PM, said:

I love your boat, it is simply delightful but i cannot get over how the floor of the captain's cabin looks like a picnic sheet  

Eventhough I heard that it's historically accurate I will never have such picnic sheet in my ships  
Nice one.

[Mr. Townsend]

Morthen, on 27 July 2012 - 07:41 PM, said:

Okay, this is a truely amazing vessel.
I like the snot technic at the sides,
i always just make the sides with the regulary brick technic hehe.
Great job, keep it up,
and im looking forward to see the final edition.

I'm glad you like the snot walls as I'm quite proud of them.  I am however, a bit disappointed that I didn't show their true potential. That being, the outer hull of the ship can be any color you want while keeping the inside 'painted' white.

Hiawatha, on 31 July 2012 - 08:45 PM, said:

I like the fact that you topped off the decks with the smooth tiles.

The tiled decks were definitely an element I wanted in my ship since I first started planning it out.  I really love the way it looks especially after having seen it on Achille. The tiles also  play a strong role in keeping the weather deck sturdy enough to be lifted off in one piece.

Hiawatha, on 31 July 2012 - 08:45 PM, said:

Judging by the colorscheme of the ship, are you planning on making it American?

The Matterhorn's alliance lies with the Imperial Red Coats.  

Sebeus I, on 03 August 2012 - 05:52 PM, said:

The shape is very nice, I'm not really font of the concentrated white, perhaps changing the color of the cannon hatches would help, keep it up.


Eventhough I heard that it's historically accurate I will never have such picnic sheet in my ships  
Nice one.

I'm rather attached to the pure white at this point, though I may experiment with some colored gun ports.  Maybe dark blue.

I have no reference material showing a red and white tiled floor but I really like it.  


The Matterhorn is currently packed up for a move across country this coming week, so I've taken some screneshots of her from LDD.


Matterhorn LDD by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr


Matterhorn LDD by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr


Matterhorn LDD by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr


Matterhorn LDD by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr

Also, I did take one picture of the main mast the night before she was packed.

001 by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr


I tried to attach the LXF but its to big to upload.  Any advice on how to fix this would be appreciated.

Edited by Mr. Townsend, 05 August 2012 - 12:56 AM.

[Captain Becker]

Looks great! I really cant wait to see it in real bricks. And for the LXF file: Have you tryed to uplod it on the Brickshelf yet? Its way easier way to upload pictures and other stuff over there and put them here instead of using Flickr.

Captain Becker

[Mr. Townsend]

The Matterhorn has been unpacked and now being finished in her new shipyard.  I've kept working farther towards the stern adding the stern galleries and the captain's skylight.  I also reworked the capstan and the axle running down the ship.  The capstan now connects to string wheels at the bow that the anchor cables will coil around making the capstan now fully operational.  I've also added a capstan to the gun deck so now 12 minifigs can raise the anchor.    
I've made progress on the masts as well though I've run out of bricks to make the foremast appropriate in height.


Matterhorn WIP by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr


Matterhorn WIP by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr

The skylight opens to reveal a ladder to the cabin.

Matterhorn WIP by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr

The stern galleries are no where near being finished but I managed to find a connection to allow the angle I want here.

Matterhorn WIP by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr


Matterhorn WIP by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr

The capstan is now existent on both the gun deck and weather deck.
The capstan design is one by Sebeus.

Matterhorn WIP by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr


Matterhorn WIP by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr

-W. Townsend

Edited by Mr. Townsend, 09 September 2012 - 04:32 AM.

[Frank Brick Wright]

Great job on this I think you have been doing an excellent job and she is turning out fantastic! The carronades and the overall shape are great

I would like to suggest a couple of notes for improvement, tough.

The masts are a bit too technique and the way of attaching the yards is quite complicated and requires a lot of parts. I would suggest you take a look at Perfectionist's Next Gen way of attaching them (he's not the first to do so, though, but there I know you have good pictures), especially the yards at an angle — if you are going to keep your LDD plan, of course.

Then we have all the white, but that has already been said.

Another point for me is the hull shape. It is alright but there is a here and there where it could be corrected:



Take a look: you have a central section of A LOT of jumpers, then 4 jumpers, then 6. The curve should be progressive , say 20, 6, 4 and not 20, 4, 6 as you have in there.

Also, the capstan would be in the bow of the ship, which would ease a lot raising the anchors Getting all that way with a cable would be hard!

I'm not very sure about the cannons on the bow in the top deck — I would rather suggest chasers below — though I believe that they brought sometimes cannons there to fire during a chase.

This points being said I would like to add that the tilling really makes her smooth and nice. The platforms for the shrouds are very interesting too! Moreover from what I've seen the galleries are going to be great! I hope this honest criticism helps you and I'm looking forward to see the end of the project, keep up the fine work!

[Mr. Townsend]

Frank Brick Wright, on 08 September 2012 - 09:55 PM, said:

Great job on this I think you have been doing an excellent job and she is turning out fantastic! The carronades and the overall shape are great

I would like to suggest a couple of notes for improvement, tough.

I'm glad your liking it so far Frank.  

Frank Brick Wright, on 08 September 2012 - 09:55 PM, said:

The masts are a bit too technique and the way of attaching the yards is quite complicated and requires a lot of parts. I would suggest you take a look at Perfectionist's Next Gen way of attaching them (he's not the first to do so, though, but there I know you have good pictures), especially the yards at an angle — if you are going to keep your LDD plan, of course.

A number of things have been altered from the LDD and the way the yards are attached is one of those.
I plan on making the yards with the ability to be lowered and raised and therefore not attached at all.

Frank Brick Wright, on 08 September 2012 - 09:55 PM, said:

Then we have all the white, but that has already been said.

Another point for me is the hull shape. It is alright but there is a here and there where it could be corrected:


Take a look: you have a central section of A LOT of jumpers, then 4 jumpers, then 6. The curve should be progressive , say 20, 6, 4 and not 20, 4, 6 as you have in there.

This is something that I've always noticed and written off .  Mostly because that four wide section never wants to sit correctly and I was hoping it could be reinforced to sit better therefore looking better.  However, since you bring my attention to it I can't unsee it.  This is definitely something that you will see changed in a next update. In fact I've already started fixing it and I believe it already looks much better.

Frank Brick Wright, on 08 September 2012 - 09:55 PM, said:

Also, the capstan would be in the bow of the ship, which would ease a lot raising the anchors Getting all that way with a cable would be hard!

I based a large amount of the ship including the location of the capstan of the Achille.  From pictures on the web i also believe I've placed it properly. Of course it will move if it is in fact inaccurate.  If anyone else can back up either way it would be appreciated.

Frank Brick Wright, on 08 September 2012 - 09:55 PM, said:

I'm not very sure about the cannons on the bow in the top deck — I would rather suggest chasers below — though I believe that they brought sometimes cannons there to fire during a chase.

I'm rather sure it is proper to have bow chasers on a frigate of this size on the forecastle.

Frank Brick Wright, on 08 September 2012 - 09:55 PM, said:

This points being said I would like to add that the tilling really makes her smooth and nice. The platforms for the shrouds are very interesting too! Moreover from what I've seen the galleries are going to be great! I hope this honest criticism helps you and I'm looking forward to see the end of the project, keep up the fine work!

I'm glad you enjoy many parts of my ship and greatly appreciate your comments and criticisms that help make the Matterhorn a more complete and accurate ship.  Thanks for the pointers.

-W. Townsend

Edited by Mr. Townsend, 13 September 2012 - 05:41 PM.

[Mr. Townsend]

Double posted. Please delete.  Thanks.  

Edited by Mr. Townsend, 11 September 2012 - 03:33 AM.

[Frank Brick Wright]

Double post too sorry!

Edited by Frank Brick Wright, 11 September 2012 - 09:20 PM.

[Frank Brick Wright]

Mr. Townsend, on 11 September 2012 - 03:32 AM, said:

I based a large amount of the ship including the location of the capstan of the Achille.  From pictures on the web i also believe I've placed it properly. Of course it will move if it is in fact inaccurate.  If anyone else can back up either way it would be appreciated.


(...)

I'm rather sure it is proper to have bow chasers on a frigate of this size on the quarterdeck

-W. Townsend

About the chasers I guess I was tired because I don't know why I wrote that. It clearly is nonsense: chasers were very common, I apologize

Now on the capstan, I'll quote Foremast's Jack tutorial, which is a fantastic reference:

Quote

On a frigate: the deck where the trundlehead is shown would be the single gun-deck and the drumhead would be on the main deck (aka weatherdeck). With most frigates the capstan was light enough that when not in use it was bodily lowered into the gun deck to clear the main deck and a ship's launch was stored there.

A note on capstan location within the ship: Whilst pictured here just abaft the foremast the location of the capstan (trundlehead and drumhead) could be as far aft as just fore the mainmast.

Yours isn't quite fore of it, is it?


I don't want to discredit your source, the Achille, as is also one of my favourite ships but I have never seen in any model a capstan so aft…

I'm glad I was helpful!

Edited by Frank Brick Wright, 11 September 2012 - 01:01 PM.

[Captain Becker]

How did you angle the stern galleries like that? I have never figured it out how they do that.

Captain Becker

[Bjornu]

Great colorsheme you used!
Well done.

Greetz

Bjornu

[kurigan]

There appears to have been a typo some where along the way as Constellation, Constitution, Surprise, Trincomalee, and Dom Fernando all have there capstans abaft the main, before the mizzen.

Edited by kurigan, 12 September 2012 - 10:39 AM.

[Bonaparte]

I love the deck and all the details on the deck. Also your masts are a piece of art. I admit I'm still getting used to the amount of white, but it's growing on me. I guess this is best judged when seeing the ship IRL and not on a picture.

Looking forward to seeing the end result!

[Mr. Townsend]

Captain Becker, on 11 September 2012 - 03:34 PM, said:

How did you angle the stern galleries like that? I have never figured it out how they do that.

Captain Becker

Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of the connection before it was changed but it was done using 2 headlight bricks and a tap piece.  It was however the weakest connection possible.  I had planned on reinforcing it with flex tubes but ultimately I scrapped it because it was much too insufficient to hold for good.
  

Bjornu, on 11 September 2012 - 05:11 PM, said:

Great colorsheme you used!
Well done.

Greetz

Bjornu

I'm glad you like it Bjornu though you and I may be the only ones.  

kurigan, on 12 September 2012 - 10:39 AM, said:

There appears to have been a typo some where along the way as Constellation, Constitution, Surprise, Trincomalee, and Dom Fernando all have there capstans abaft the main, before the mizzen.

Thank you for the clairification there Kurigan.  I'm rather glad I don't have to move it!

Bonaparte, on 26 September 2012 - 11:36 AM, said:

I love the deck and all the details on the deck. Also your masts are a piece of art. I admit I'm still getting used to the amount of white, but it's growing on me. I guess this is best judged when seeing the ship IRL and not on a picture.

Looking forward to seeing the end result!

Thanks Bonaparte!  I'm very excited to have many very good builders like you commenting on the Matterhorn so far.  I am even more excited that you appreciate the masts as I feel they are one of the defining factors of the Matterhorn.  The brown Technic tubes are perhaps the most rare pieces she holds and I'm very proud to have acquired so many.  I think they show how much dedication I've put into the ship.  
About the white.  I'll admit that when the gun ports are closed it looks a bit like a large blob of white (though the the white sheet for my backdrop surely doesn't help) but when they are open she is simply striking to me.  I just love staring at the beautiful white vessel perched upon my building desk.

Now enough with the chit chat, I've got new pictures for you!

I took Frank Brick Wright's advice and got rid of the 4 length wall in the middle and I think her line looks a lot better now.


DSCN1189 by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr

I've added her anchors and she's got a complement of 4 carronades on her fo'castle.  The anchors are straight from perfectionist but I wanted to make the beam at the top brown.  The flex tube isn't bent yet but you get the idea.


DSCN1198 by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr



DSCN1195 by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr


DSCN1191 by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr

Equipped with a Xacto knife I cut Technic tubes for the pin rails.  I'm very happy with the way they turned out.  The swivel has also been improved from my original design. The box wrench will be black ofc.(I've got some in the mail currently )


DSCN1194 by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr



DSCN1199 by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr

This is her stern at current though I plan on changing it to make it much more my own.  I think the large windows will be replaced with 2x2 much like the Vesta.


DSCN1201 by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr



DSCN1200 by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr

-W. Townsend

Edited by Mr. Townsend, 24 November 2012 - 03:23 AM.

[Captain Becker]

So far it looks magnificent! But way too white into my taste, makes my eyes hurt and makes its almoust impossible to spot any details. Keep it up, Shes becoming a real beaty!

Captain Becker