[WIP] Zephyr (10-gun Brig)

[FrO0ogy]

 

This is very much WIP I am trying to build a 8 gun brig inspired by the style of the fortuna frigate the final color scheme will black with a sand green gun port band and white highlights
I know the quarterdeck is pretty high for a 8 gun brig but i want to build a captains cabin. I plan on having a fore and mainmast in the style of the fortuna frigate and the interior walls and the gun carriages will be dark red. Any advice is apreciated. (yes I know my table is a mess)

Edited May 17 by FrO0ogy

[Mr. Townsend]

This is very cool.  I definitely see the design inspiration in your build. 

With your desire for a captain's cabin while not having the quarter deck as high, you have a couple of options.  Since you won't see a minifig in the cabin with the roof on, you can lower the deck a bit so it still offers the space for all the items while being slightly too short for the fig to stand unless the roof is off.  You could also slightly lower the cabin floor.   Additionally, you could go with both options, which will get your deck in a great spot for external visuals.

[FrO0ogy]

19 hours ago, Mr. Townsend said:

This is very cool.  I definitely see the design inspiration in your build. 

With your desire for a captain's cabin while not having the quarter deck as high, you have a couple of options.  Since you won't see a minifig in the cabin with the roof on, you can lower the deck a bit so it still offers the space for all the items while being slightly too short for the fig to stand unless the roof is off.  You could also slightly lower the cabin floor.   Additionally, you could go with both options, which will get your deck in a great spot for external visuals.

Thanks for the advice, I have lowered the quarterdeck but it unfortunately makes the door look like a dog door, I found this ship model online where the door is taller than the quarterdeck (you can see the back of it in the photo, do you think that would work without looking too wacky or should I just remove the door?

 

Edited April 24 by FrO0ogy

[Mr. Townsend]

1 hour ago, FrO0ogy said:

Thanks for the advice, I have lowered the quarterdeck. Still, it unfortunately makes the door look like a dog door, I found this ship model online where the door is taller than the quarterdeck (you can see the back of it in the photo, do you think that would work without looking too wacky or should I just remove the door?

 

At the very least, it's worth a mock-up to see how it looks in LEGO.  You'd have to change the overhand in that one spot, but I think it could look good and would also get you to the height you're visually looking for.
Using a small door like a couple window shutters could work as well,   It's really down to: Is it better to have the door look slightly off, or the deck look slightly off?

Edited April 24 by Mr. Townsend

[FrO0ogy]

Here is the current progress of my brig. I'm pretty stumped on how to get the curves and the minifigure standing area to all work nicely on the bow (and I am going to fit in the bowsprit and stem too), so I would appreciate any advice.

[Franco Clarke]

You've fitted some great curves into a compact ship, I can see how tricky the bow is proving though. Have you given ball joints a go, they might provide the extra flexibility you need?

[FrO0ogy]

I have not, but I will give them a try. Thanks for the recommendation. I think I can use 4581 or 41750 for the bottom part of the bow, but I still need to figure out the top of the bow area so the inside of the bulwark isn't anti-studs.

Edited May 17 by FrO0ogy

[BrickPerfection]

 Looks really good so far! 

I can see that you're having trouble with the bow - that's normal as it's one of the trickiest parts of the ship to get right.
I'm still having to rebuild this section several times myself to get a satisfactory solution even though I have a lot of experience.

At the moment, the bow shape is too steep - consult with your reference material.

Using slopes in a SNOT assembly and hinging them can achieve a very smooth shape, but it's difficult to arrange them such that they integrate seamlessly into the hull shape.
Simply using a bunch of 2429 hinges as you did in the first update is a lot easier, and that's how I did it as a standard methods in the past. The tradeoff is that you get lots of gaps.

[FrO0ogy]

On 5/20/2026 at 10:52 AM, BrickPerfection said:

 Looks really good so far! 

I can see that you're having trouble with the bow - that's normal as it's one of the trickiest parts of the ship to get right.
I'm still having to rebuild this section several times myself to get a satisfactory solution even though I have a lot of experience.

At the moment, the bow shape is too steep - consult with your reference material.

Using slopes in a SNOT assembly and hinging them can achieve a very smooth shape, but it's difficult to arrange them such that they integrate seamlessly into the hull shape.
Simply using a bunch of 2429 hinges as you did in the first update is a lot easier, and that's how I did it as a standard methods in the past. The tradeoff is that you get lots of gaps.

I have been trying a lot of pieces, but it's pretty tricky with the limited space in the bow, and I'll make sure it's not too steep. Thanks for the advice!