[OL-FB4] The Pharaoh

[Franco Clarke]

Erwin stood on the decking outside Eldorado Fortress, next to the Governor, looking out across the waters of Breshaun harbour.  Having successfully returned the secret plans, he had been invited to watch the latest warship from the naval shipyards leave on its first patrol.

The new ship slipped swiftly through the waves, its vast expanse of sails eagerly catching what little breeze disturbed the still morning air. The flags of Oleon fluttered at the mast heads, as the ship moved out of the bay, flanked on either side by other smaller warships. However, its newer more efficient sail plan propelled it through the water much faster than the other more elderly ships, and it soon left them far behind as it disappeared into the distance.

Erwin thanked the Governor for the invitation, and then walked to one of the fleet of dinghies which were waiting to convey the Governor's guests back to the mainland. He felt in his pocket, and held the letter he had just received from Nightheart. He wondered why he had asked to me him, and stepped down into the boat.

 

It is with great excitement that I present The Pharaoh, my newest ship. This ship has been running around my head for at least 5 years now, and I have failed to build it many times now. However, here she is, finally completed.

She is a 30 gun frigate for Oleon's navy, hopefully making her a potent force in the sea of storms. She takes a lot of her inspiration from other ships on this forum and I would like to thank those who helped me during the building process. 

This ship was originally inspired by the wish to build a ship that could level the playing field with the redcoat Imperial Flagship, which I think this does quite nicely, being taller, longer and more heavily armed 

Seen here from the side, you can see appreciate the firepower of this vessel. I know that the gunports are rather too close together, but I'm cheap so I always like cramming my ships with guns.

As always, the stern is one of the most enjoyable parts of the build, and this was no exception. It is a nice break from the smaller ships I usually build, which have much less room to work with. 

A view from the other side, which is pretty much identical to the other.

Down under the prow for a better view of the figurehead, from which the ship got her name. The head-rails didn't come out great so I might rework them later.

Some of the details of the deck, marines drilling at the front, and the boats in the centre. Just forward of the boats is the bell and a pair of guns.

Further astern, the wheel and compass, with four more guns. Finally at the back a couple of stern guns and a deck hatch.

The deck is removable, but it is very awkward, since you have to remove the main mast first, so most of the time it stays attached. Although the gun-deck is cramped it is at least a little better than it's predecessors due to being a bit wider.

Finally here she is compared to my other 'big' ships, the Black Barbarian and my Redcoat/Corrington heavy brig. She is undoubtedly the biggest, which is good enough for me 

I know she isn't perfect, and there are quite a few things that I would do differently, but for my first complete frigate, she'll do, and I can hopefully learn more for future vessels.

 

[Slegengr]

Nice ship, Franco!

I like how you included maritime details, such as the ship's bell, compass, and sextant for navigation!  The figurehead is great, as is the color scheme!  The gallery and stern details give an interesting appearance.  The gun deck seems a bit cramped, but that seems hardly avoidable to include that number of cannons on a ship based around the prefab hulls.

This reminds me of classic LEGO ships in a good way, but you incorporated an even higher level of detail!

[Garmadon]

AVery nice ship, Franco Clarke, the stern is excellent, and your sails overall are quite neat as well!   And with all those guns, it definitely does look like a formidable foe! 

[blackdeathgr]

El classico !  I loved your ship. And crammed in my books equals more stuff to play with! To glory my fellow compatriots ! ! To glory!

[Kolonialbeamter]

Franco, this is a very good looking frigate you've built here, a classic design fitting well to HRS Tigre you've built   My absolute favorite part is the stern, and the color pattern in general.

You've come a long way since your first ship design, I'm proud to call you my fellow Oleander  Next step on the road to perfection is masts and sails 

As BD said, to glory!

Keep it up, his Majesty is watching 

[Captain Braunsfeld]

Looks good! 

[Tezclatipoca]

Great Frigate you've build !

I like its colour scheme and your stern is very well done !

Good job !

[Franco Clarke]

On 18/11/2016 at 1:58 PM, Slegengr said:

Nice ship, Franco!

I like how you included maritime details, such as the ship's bell, compass, and sextant for navigation!  The figurehead is great, as is the color scheme!  The gallery and stern details give an interesting appearance.  The gun deck seems a bit cramped, but that seems hardly avoidable to include that number of cannons on a ship based around the prefab hulls.

This reminds me of classic LEGO ships in a good way, but you incorporated an even higher level of detail!

Thank you, I'm happy you think she feels classic, as that is what I aiming for!

On 18/11/2016 at 2:03 PM, Garmadon said:

A very nice ship, Franco Clarke, the stern is excellent, and your sails overall are quite neat as well!   And with all those guns, it definitely does look like a formidable foe! 

I'm glad you liked the stern, it was my favourite yet so thanks for the the encouragement.

On 18/11/2016 at 8:52 PM, blackdeathgr said:

El classico !  I loved your ship. And crammed in my books equals more stuff to play with! To glory my fellow compatriots ! ! To glory!

To glory indeed, I'm sure she will be enough to send our foes packing!

On 18/11/2016 at 9:14 PM, Kolonialbeamter said:

Franco, this is a very good looking frigate you've built here, a classic design fitting well to HRS Tigre you've built   My absolute favorite part is the stern, and the color pattern in general.

You've come a long way since your first ship design, I'm proud to call you my fellow Oleander  Next step on the road to perfection is masts and sails 

As BD said, to glory!

Keep it up, his Majesty is watching 

Thank you I am honoured by your compliments! Hopefully by keeping the colour scheme the same on my ships, they will fit together quite well. I am aware that the sails and masts aren't perfect, but I'm not quite sure what is wrong? do you have any suggestions?

 

[Bregir]

That is a great looking frigate, Franco. The elegantly curved hull is very well done, and I really love that cabin. The amount of mini-figs is spot on, showing a lively scene without hiding too many details. The hull could perhaps be a bit lower, but construction-wise that might be hard to achieve. As to presentation, putting up too pictures that close with no framing made me look at it twice; The angles were all wrong until I realised it was two pictures.

I will agree with KB. The hull is fabulous, and now it is time to look to the rigging, if you really want to get to the next level.

27 minutes ago, Franco Clarke said:

do you have any suggestions?

I would suggest taking a picture or drawing of a real life frigate to see the proportions of their rig. Right now, it is a bit unbalanced.

I think your lower masts are too tall, and your lower sails (the courses) thus hang too high. They should reach from the lowest yardarm to just above the deck and be about twice as wide as they are tall (goes for all square sails, more or less. It should be the only sail on the lower mast. Above the courses (lower sails) you would have the tops, where the topmasts are connected to the lower masts. On the topmasts, you have the next square sail (the topsails) which are close to the same size as the courses, and reach from their own yardarm to the lower yardarm. Rinse and repeat with the topgallant masts and the topgallant sails. If you then want an even higher rig, you can add royals over the topgallants. The sails are largest on the main mast, but almost as large on the foremast. The mizzen mast is a bit different, as it normally has a spanker sail, and sometimes no square-course. Was this of any help?

Basically, you have more or less the right sails, but their proportions are a bit off. You are well on your way towards being a veteran ship-builder. (And next you have a WIP, you are welcome to post some pics in the Shipwrights Guild Hall for some tips and tricks on rigging. I am also convinced you can get advice in PM's, but by taking it "out in public" everyone else can benefit too!

Great work!

BTW, second-hand bookstores could be a good source of old books on sailing ships and rigging. For my last birthday, I got a great book with detailed drawings of details, names of spars, rigging, hull-construction, etc.

[Kolonialbeamter]

Not much to add to what Bregir said - agreed, it's mostly the general proportions, resulting from the use of those prefab masts. So should you come around using 2x2 round bricks (and other pieces for the upper mast parts), it'd be easier to come up with more realistic proportions.

Here, to demonstrate, check this pic - a vessel with royals (those smallest top sails on all of the three masts), but well, it portraits the proportions between hull length, mast height and yard length pretty decently, and also gives an idea of sail size:

[Franco Clarke]

Thanks for the help, I'm currently searching for a suitable cloth to make more durable sails from, once I have got them, I will revamp the rigging and sails to make her look more authentic.