27 replies to this topic

[Frank Brick Wright]

144B

*EDIT: Please scroll down or click here for more and better pictures*

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*Historical context*

I am presenting to you all my latest build: Æneias, an Iris class french schooner from around 1820. She is a 14-gun gaff-rigged schooner based on the plans of La Recouvrance, a well-known vessel which sails from Brest. I have followed both the lines and the rigging of the original ship, since I had abundant free plans.There were 5 Iris-class vessels and they were originally used for mail-transport and latter for protection of merchant ships.
In case anyone is wandering, the name is from the classical hero Aeneas which is said to have founded Rome (go remember school stuff! ), though I have chosen to write the name in latin.

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**Acknowledgments**

I would like to thank:

Cb4 for the amazing hull design, most credits for the hull go to him;
Captain Blackmoor for the efficient and neat designs on almost every torso of my crew — credits to him!;
Captain Green Hair for overall support, great assistance and expertise on ship-building:
Thank you so much Rick!

The prow figure (which, by the way, is Dido ):

The stern is one of the ares of which I am most proud: the curve is recreated using an intricate SNOT which places studs in 7 different directions.

The brick-built 12 powder cannons (each one consists of 12 parts):

The crew (around 30 sea-men), the armament and the provisions:

For maintenance reasons, she is almost fully modular:

Finally a view a clear deck, focusing on the capstan:

[Matteo1130]

What an amazing work you have here! I really like the soft lines of your brickbuilt hull.

[Sebeus I]

Aeneas? I thought Romulus and Remus founded Rome...well, that's what I learned at school
Anyway, there are far more important matters that the founding of Rome, this magnificent Ship for example  
She's beautiful, I love the modularity, I didn't expect that from a ship with such refined hull, interior would be too much to ask  
Love it all the way  

[Admiral Croissant]

Such a beautiful ship!  It looks extremely realistic with this technique and rigging.
It's quite visible that you based it on real plans. The measurements seem perfect.
The ship does seem a little bit crowded though, because it isn't exactly minifig scale.
On the other hand that's the only way to use those lovely decals

The colourscheme and cannons are also very nice. Good job! Can't wait to see it with sails!



(I'll index this once the sails are on)

[Walter]

That hull... It is so beautiful.  

Lovely work!

Edited by Walter, 27 September 2012 - 06:01 PM.

[TheLegoNinja]

INCREDIBLE ! The hull design is so realistic and I love the cannons and the modular building style! why is the gundeck not covered? couldn't that lead to wear on the guns?

[Frank Brick Wright]

Thank you all for your feedback! It is very much appreciated!

Sebeus I, on 26 September 2012 - 08:53 PM, said:

Aeneas? I thought Romulus and Remus founded Rome...well, that's what I learned at school
Anyway, there are far more important matters that the founding of Rome, this magnificent Ship for example  
She's beautiful, I love the modularity, I didn't expect that from a ship with such refined hull, interior would be too much to ask  
Love it all the way  

You are right, I abused language but take a look at this (from wiki):

An earlier tradition that gave Romulus a distant ancestor in the semi-divine Trojan prince Aeneas was further embellished; and Romulus was made the direct ancestor of Rome's first Imperial dynasty.

He is a character in Greek mythology and is mentioned in Homer's Iliad, and receives full treatment in Roman mythology as the legendary founder of what would become Ancient Rome, most extensively in Virgil's Aeneid.

He's an ancestor of Romulus and Remus. So he didn't found the city but he brought his family to the current location About the interior, you see, in a slightly larger ship I would be able to make a hold. You can count with that on my next!

Admiral Croissant, on 27 September 2012 - 10:31 AM, said:

The ship does seem a little bit crowded though, because it isn't exactly minifig scale.

Thanks for the blog! Actually I must disagree with you as she is almost exactly minifig-scale (1:50) I've followed the plans and scaled them (for the sake of example, take the beam, 6.4m in the original. I have 17 studs=13.6cm which would be 6.8m at 1:50 scale. Ok, I have an error, but not that much!). I do agree that she is crowded tough I like her this way. The biggest reason for this is that the guns take too much space if the gunports aren't opened. I've checked that she had a crew of around 30 sea-men which is the size of mine. Another issue is that minifigs aren't at scale with real men, so each one takes more space than you or me would take

TheLegoNinja, on 27 September 2012 - 11:09 PM, said:

INCREDIBLE ! The hull design is so realistic and I love the cannons and the modular building style! why is the gundeck not covered? couldn't that lead to wear on the guns?

Well, I'm not sure if I understand your question, but my ship only has one gun-deck, so I haven't built anything atop of those guns.

Thank you all!

Edited by Frank Brick Wright, 28 September 2012 - 06:22 PM.

[Sebeus I]

Frank Brick Wright, on 28 September 2012 - 05:58 PM, said:

...Another issue is that minifigs aren't at scale with real men, so each one takes more space than you or me would take

I completely aggree with you on this, I also consider minifigure scale to be that scale in which a minifigure's length matches that of a real human. Because of that minifigures appear to be too wide (fat) and might make a ship look crowded.
Anyway, I forgot to mention earlier but I really like how you made the keel near the prow, my favorite section  

[Frank Brick Wright]

Sebeus I, on 29 September 2012 - 02:49 PM, said:

I completely aggree with you on this, I also consider minifigure scale to be that scale in which a minifigure's length matches that of a real human. Because of that minifigures appear to be too wide (fat) and might make a ship look crowded.
Anyway, I forgot to mention earlier but I really like how you made the keel near the prow, my favorite section  

So our dear minifigs have the proportions of a baby: head's height is 1/4 of total height

[TheLegoNinja]

@Frank Brick Wright

Well, I'm not sure if I understand your question, but my ship only has one gun-deck, so I haven't built anything atop of those guns.

What I meant was that most ships have a weather deck covering or partially covering the gun deck. this provided a place to stow the guns in a secure place during a storm.

[Frank Brick Wright]

TheLegoNinja, on 30 September 2012 - 07:49 PM, said:

@Frank Brick Wright

Well, I'm not sure if I understand your question, but my ship only has one gun-deck, so I haven't built anything atop of those guns.

What I meant was that most ships have a weather deck covering or partially covering the gun deck. this provided a place to stow the guns in a secure place during a storm.

That wouldn't be very usual in a ship of this size. More specifically, as you can read in the description, she is based in an original ship, La Recouvrance, which, as you can check by yourself, doesn't have a weather deck.

[TheLegoNinja]

Frank Brick Wright, on 01 October 2012 - 05:53 PM, said:

That wouldn't be very usual in a ship of this size. More specifically, as you can read in the description, she is based in an original ship, La Recouvrance, which, as you can check by yourself, doesn't have a weather deck.

I understand.
1.) I did not until now look at your historical background
2.) I researched more thoroughly and what i found concurs with what your saying
I apologize for the mistake. This is an amazing ship!

[Foremast Jack]

Frank she's a beaut! Very impressive in every way. Great designs always result in great lines. Although I think I would like to see a little more attention given to the "capstan" (windlass in this case).

On a side note: I'd like to throw in my 2-cents about the seemingly overcrowded ship. While it is quite true that LEGO men aren't exactly proportioned properly, I think another reason she seems overcrowded is because she IS overcrowded. It's easy to forget that living on a man-of-war wasn't exactly the most comfortable of lives (for the lower-deck hands). Remember that on a ship of the line every inch of space was mathematically accounted for and filled with something. There are so many men packed aboard that half had to always be at work. What I mean here is that each man was afforded 14 inches (~35cm) to "sling his hammock." Now obviously a man is wider than that, but since only half the crew would be sleeping at once this was effectually twice that, still not much. To give you an idea look at this scene from Master and Commander.


Those are bodies hanging there.

So, yes. She is overcrowded, but then again she should be.

[Admiral Croissant]

Seems like I should have rethought it before I wrote the comment.
It caused quite a lot of correcting comments

I know that a ship should be crowded and of course I've seen the hammocks in M&C as well.
When I looked at the third picture it just seemed like a rather small and cramped ship.

But I think I have to adjust my comment a bit, because it actually looks quite realistic on the first image.
The real Recouvrance could also look more spacious due to the fact that there are no cannons on the deck.

Then again, it's not exactly minifig-scale like you said. But it looks quite allright.

Have you considered adding deadeyes to the shrouds?

[Frank Brick Wright]

TheLegoNinja, on 01 October 2012 - 11:32 PM, said:

I understand.
1.) I did not until now look at your historical background
2.) I researched more thoroughly and what i found concurs with what your saying
I apologize for the mistake. This is an amazing ship!

It's alright

Foremast Jack, on 02 October 2012 - 06:21 PM, said:

Frank she's a beaut! Very impressive in every way. Great designs always result in great lines. Although I think I would like to see a little more attention given to the "capstan" (windlass in this case).

[...]

So, yes. She is overcrowded, but then again she should be.

Well I have looked into your tutorial. The capstan is not very far from something accurate. I have based my design in this:



On the other side I also had this:



Whilst your design works rather well in a prefab digital environment I must say that in something with a rather more realistic — and then abrupt — curve, both vertical and horizontal, there isn't that abundance of space that you find in your 16-studs wide hull.

Admiral Croissant, on 02 October 2012 - 07:47 PM, said:

Seems like I should have rethought it before I wrote the comment.
It caused quite a lot of correcting comments

I know that a ship should be crowded and of course I've seen the hammocks in M&C as well.
When I looked at the third picture it just seemed like a rather small and cramped ship.

But I think I have to adjust my comment a bit, because it actually looks quite realistic on the first image.
The real Recouvrance could also look more spacious due to the fact that there are no cannons on the deck.

Then again, it's not exactly minifig-scale like you said. But it looks quite allright.

Have you considered adding deadeyes to the shrouds?

Well, about all this "being crowded" thing, I must say that I believe she is slighter crowder than she probably should. On the other hand, obviously the cannons take a lot of space, but then each one would require some 4 men to maneuver. Then I would need, in the very very least, 28 men for her,  which is about the number I have. This is why I believe that she actually looks good so crowded — because she is supposed to be crowded!

Deadeyes where something which I indeed considered. The main reason for not doing so was the lack of a sufficient number of wheels. Another issue was my absolute lack of patience for doing so. Whilst you have kept your amazing Vesta intact, as soon as my Æneias gets sails and photos, I will wait some 2 weeks and then destroy her for starting another vessel. The time investment to make deadeyes, the overall result and then destroying it all, all things balanced didn't seem to be worth it. I look at these ships as a way of practicing to something bigger which then I will leave intact. That is why custom work is so painful for me — because then I have to destroy it all.

[kurigan]

Wait, what!? Destroy her, after only two weeks? Why? More importantly, I can't fathom bothering with such effort and expense for something you won't allow to last. I'll grant that most models don't last forever, but it seems you've put a lot into something with such a short lifespan. Though there are some points that could bare improvement, you've got a great model here. To me she seems worth keeping. Perhaps you could follow in the good admiral's foots steps and find somewhere to host her as an exhibit? 

[Mr. Townsend]

Wow Frank! You certainly gave it your all on this build.  The hull is fantastic and the color scheme is striking. I like that the deck comes off.  I wonder if you build a larger ship with the same hull technique if the hold could have some detail to it as well.   Your rigging looks very clean and the way the masts are angled is really catches my eye.  

Its disappointing she can't sail the trans blue waters of the LEGO seas for too long but of course this is understandable.  

You've definitely produced a top notch ship.  Great build!

-W. Townsend

[Frank Brick Wright]

I would like to thank everyone for their feedback on this topic.

I am happy to say that she is finished but it has been raining all week long here in Portugal and I have been busy with other issues. As soon as I get a free sunny weekend I will take some outdoor pictures

[CA Magon]

I had many occasion to see La Recouvrance last year in Brest so I can say that your MOC is very well made !
I love the way you built your cannons ! In fact, ships from the Iris class were prepared for 16 guns but it was unusual to carry them all.
Most of the time, there were from 10 to 14 guns (12 pounds) or 6 to 8 carronades (24 pounds).

They also had many missions, such as carrying the mail, patrolling around merchant ships and fighting against slave merchants...

Thank you for this beautiful sight !

[Bonaparte]

A true masterpiece!

Perfect lines, a brick made hull ( ) and I love the masts and all the rigging.

[kabel]

Wow, what a great masterpiece! So many things I like about it, the rigging, the deck, the cannons, all just really cool. And the best thing about it is, that it actually made me take my unfinished Endeavour project from the shelf and stark working on it again!

[Frank Brick Wright]

I would like to thank you all for your support and feedback. Due to all the great appreciation comments I received here at EB and also due to my parent's and my friend's opinions I have decided to keep her intact for the posterity. I have also done my best to place her at the Nacional Maritime Museum here at Lisbon. I have tried to mark an appointment through email and I was soliciated more info (I had not said yet it was a Lego model). I gave them all the info concerning the building methods, the reference ship, the plans I had followed and sent two pictures of the ship to the Museum. I also mentioned our dear Admiral C. that managed to get his Vesta exhibited in the Netherlands as an example, showing that this case was not unprecedented. They impolitely left my email without an answer. I can do nothing more.

I have also managed to take some better pictures of her. I hope you appreciate them.





Ducks!!





Firing a broadside:

[Sebeus I]

Port batteries! aim for those ducks
It looks lovely in the water.

[Commander Red Hat]

She has certainly become a beauty and a very original model!
I love the pictures taken outside, it shows all detail so clearly and is a true tribute to your hard work.
It was a pleasure to help out via PM's, you can always consult me for the next!

PS. for the next I'd like to see the sails a bit less cleanly white and without frays on the edges.

Sebeus I, on 12 November 2012 - 11:45 PM, said:

Port batteries! aim for those ducks
It looks lovely in the water.

[Frank Brick Wright]

Captain Green Hair, on 13 November 2012 - 09:39 PM, said:

She has certainly become a beauty and a very original model!
I love the pictures taken outside, it shows all detail so clearly and is a true tribute to your hard work.
It was a pleasure to help out via PM's, you can always consult me for the next!

PS. for the next I'd like to see the sails a bit less cleanly white and without frays on the edges.

Poor ducks indeed!! I decided to take a picture with them to add that extra… aiming target

Thanks again for your help

About the sails, well, first time with a finished full hull and first time with cloth sails, we can't get everything right at the first attempt About the white, well, I've draw some lines on the sails with pencil but I probably need to draw them with more determination. Although, when looking at the original Recouvrance, the sails are very white (that's why I kept them as so)


And the frays… well yes I probably need to use varnish to avoid that, I will certainly do that on my next

Edited by Frank Brick Wright, 13 November 2012 - 10:21 PM.