[OL - Ship] The Elise

[KotZ]

"Emile, where are we going?" Elise asked.
"Just keep your eyes closed, we're almos there, promise," Emile replied.
Careful," Jean said as he helped Elise into the boat. "Bit of a drop."
"We're not going fishing are we?" Elise asked, slight annoyance in her voice.
"No, nothing of the sort, dear," Emile returned as he stepped into the boat.


As Jean cast off and rowed, Emile ignored Elise's questions for a few more moments. Then, he said, "Open them now."
Elise gazed in awe at the corvette. "Emile, this is yours?"
"The Elise," he said. "Named for you."


As they pulled alogn the starboard side, Emile started telling Elise about the ship. "18 guns in total. The figurehead was designed to resemble you. Enough room for the old crew and some new ones to keep her afloat."


"Ropes so no one falls in high seas or battle," Emile continued.
"Or for William when he drinks too much?" Elise questioned.
"Yes, but don't tell him that," the captain confirmed in a whisper. "Anyway as you can see some of the new crew have already come aboard."
"Welcome back, Captain," Rene said as he helped pull Emile and Elise up on the deck.


"Gilbert is ready to go, it seems."


"Way up there is Henri for the rigging, as is his job. Also one of the new crewmen is there, positioned perfectly for taking out targets when we board."
"Don't mention that," Elise said.
"Of course."




"Shall we see how she fares?" Emil asked.
"Yes."

Some background on the ship and building. First I want to say thanks to @Sebeus I as I studied his Beatrix for the hull, and various other things, changing them to my own taste. Also a big thanks to @Kolonialbeamter and @Bodi for their feedback as I was designing, specifically on the stern. That was the hardest part (as always). I also took some inspiration from The Walrus from STARZ' show Black Sails for the masts and yard arms, as well as the ropes. Those yellow tubes were challenging to flex and do in LDD, but I think they look fine. I'm actually really pleased with how this came out, and I'm kind of amazed how far I have come in designing ships from a few years ago, which were incredibly bulky and square. Thanks for looking, and C&C are welcome!

[Mesabi]

Very nice ship. It's really a nice LDD build for a ship. Most LDD ships turn out bad IMHO. If I may offer a criticism the back is a little blocky. I think you could extend it out a few studs to make it look a little nicer. All and All though, it's a very nice ship. 

[Bodi]

She's a beauty, very well built, with a lot of nice details. If you don't mind, I'll steal some of your ideas for my next ship.

[Bregir]

That is one nice 18-gun ship-sloop, sir! And I really like how you integrate it into your storyline too.

I like the hull shape, with some nice tumblehome, and the colourscheme is very nice. You've got some nice details on deck like the railing and the capstan. Suggestions for more could be a few swivel guns, carronades, a ship's bell, or similar. The cabin looks nice too, although it seems rather bulky. I think making it narrower would help, although that would probably also require narrowing down the hull more towards the stern. The bow is nice, with its headrails and figurehead.

A few comments on rigging. I like your fighting tops, and really appreciate how you have made room for the shrouds to pass through! You've got the right yards too, although I think you should experiment with a different way to fix them to the mast. Currently, they are rather far out from the mast. If you wish to go for more realism, you could divide the masts into lower masts, topmasts, and topgallantmasts. It also seems to me that the mainmast is a bit to far aft. It is correct that the mainmast would be closer to the mizzen than the fore, though, but it seems a little to pronounced in this case.

And a last pointer. For a square rigged ship, never let the flags fly aft - as the ship wouldn't be able to sail that direction... But perhaps she is at anchor?

All in all, great work!

[KotZ]

17 hours ago, Mesabi said:

Very nice ship. It's really a nice LDD build for a ship. Most LDD ships turn out bad IMHO. If I may offer a criticism the back is a little blocky. I think you could extend it out a few studs to make it look a little nicer. All and All though, it's a very nice ship. 

Thank you! I'll definitely try to make the next one not as blocky.

12 hours ago, Bodi said:

She's a beauty, very well built, with a lot of nice details. If you don't mind, I'll steal some of your ideas for my next ship.

Go ahead!

5 hours ago, Bregir said:

That is one nice 18-gun ship-sloop, sir! And I really like how you integrate it into your storyline too.

I like the hull shape, with some nice tumblehome, and the colourscheme is very nice. You've got some nice details on deck like the railing and the capstan. Suggestions for more could be a few swivel guns, carronades, a ship's bell, or similar. The cabin looks nice too, although it seems rather bulky. I think making it narrower would help, although that would probably also require narrowing down the hull more towards the stern. The bow is nice, with its headrails and figurehead.

A few comments on rigging. I like your fighting tops, and really appreciate how you have made room for the shrouds to pass through! You've got the right yards too, although I think you should experiment with a different way to fix them to the mast. Currently, they are rather far out from the mast. If you wish to go for more realism, you could divide the masts into lower masts, topmasts, and topgallantmasts. It also seems to me that the mainmast is a bit to far aft. It is correct that the mainmast would be closer to the mizzen than the fore, though, but it seems a little to pronounced in this case.

And a last pointer. For a square rigged ship, never let the flags fly aft - as the ship wouldn't be able to sail that direction... But perhaps she is at anchor?

All in all, great work!

Thank you! Yes, the mainmast is a bit back, but there would have been a lot of finagling to bring it forward.