Federal Navy Ship (FNS) Hawkwing

[Laura Beinbrech]

Well, I was debating about where to put this, and I decided to place it here, since it looks more Military than Sci-Fi (even if it is supposed to be built 100 years in the future), but if it belongs in Sci-Fi, then forgive me.

Anyways, I recently posted the CSS Baton Rouge, a Confederate Battle Cruiser, so I decided to post one of the ships belonging to "good guys" as well... I had finished this ship earlier this year, and posted it on Brick Forge, but I've made a number of MAJOR improvements to the basic design since, with the final one arriving today with my latest Brick Link order. I was trying to find the perfect uniform for the enlisted/junior NCO sailors in the Federal Navy, and figured out that the Series 3 sailors' hat would be perfect for the torso/leg combo I hit upon (all my series 3 sailors are being used as the enlisted/junior NCOs for the Republic of New Jersey navy), so without further ado, I present the Federal Navy Ship, Hawkwing:

Hawkwing Port by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr

The Kestrel-Class Fast Frigate (FF) was the result of the first joint military project between the Federal Republic of America and the Republic of New Jersey, with the Republic of New Jersey version being known as the John Gotti-class Guided Missile Frigates (FFG). The first three ships of the Kestrel Class were constructed and launched about 5 years after the Final War, and were instrumental in pushing the Grand Duchy of New York's forces out of eastern Pennsylvania (the 120mm howitzer on the roof of the City Island Keep in Harrisburg, as well as similar guns on the Harrisburg Marine Corps base are relics of that dark time when the state capitol was under almost constant siege by New York forces). The John Gotti and her sisters also played a key role in the Republic of New Jersey Marine Corps siezing most of Long Island from the Grand Duchy of New York in a simultaneous operation.

Hawkwing Starboard by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr

In this starboard-side view, you can see the Hawkwing's primary armament: The fore and aft 3" (76mm) Ottobreda cannons, the starboard-side MK-50 sonar-guided torpedo and the starboard MK-5 twin medium-range Merculite missile launchers (the reason this ship is not classified as a guided missile frigate, as opposed to the New Jersey variant is the fact that the Republic of New Jersey ship replaces the aft 3" turret with a 3", six-tube short-range general purpose missile launcher and carries multiple reloads for said launcher). In addition, the Federal Navy Ensign can be seen flying from the fantail, and the National Ensign flying from the rear of the antenna mast. The reason the Federal Navy uses the Jolly Roger as its Naval Ensign goes back to the early days of the North American Union, when the NAU navy was formed by captured pirates who were given the option of working for the government or getting a hemp necktie. The Federal Republic of America, due to having some of the same pirates still working for it in key positions (Redbeard is the current President, and Admiral James Hook is current Chief of Naval Operations). The flattened disk attached to the forward part of the mast is the Furuno Navigation radar, which is also used by most merchant vessels, allowing the ship to go into deceptive EM-CON to fool pirates and other ne'er-do-wells into thinking the Hawkwing is a light cargo ship.

Hawkwing Bow by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr

From this head-on view, you can see the radio antennae (long aerials sticking out horizontally from the mast), and the BFG Industries Mark 98 fire control radar. In addition you can see the two .50 caliber machineguns (12.5mm) mounted on the 02 Level, above the Bridge. Looking into the bridge, you can see the duty Quartermaster manning (or should I say womanning) the helm.

Hawkwing Bridge by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr

Here is the interior of the bridge, where you can see the helm with its navigation radar console and engine order telegraph, as well as the captain's chair with the master plot. The captain of this ship is Commander Honor Stephanie Harrington, late of the Royal Manticorian Space Navy (RMN) (her personal transport got sucked into a space/time rift, thanks to all the anti-matter bombs going off during the Final War), but she still wears her RMN CO's white beret and has her Sphinxian treecat, Nimitz (well, more like she's his human), whom she shares a psychic bond with. (You can sorta see him behind Cmdr. Harrington). As you can also tell, the bridge weapons locker is fully stocked.

Hawkwing Main Deck by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr

Here is a pic of most of the main deck, showing the interior of the Combat Information Center, with Lt. Cmdr. William Turner, the Executive Officer, manning the Tactical Action Offier's/Missile Control console. Just aft of CIC is the crew berthing/lounge for off-duty sailors to unwind a bit before going back on watch. The after-most part of the picture, you can see the fantail, and the two gunners manning the MG-3/42 7.62mm machineguns, which are the standard Squad Assault Weapon for the Federal Marine Corps and Army. The Republic of New Jersey also uses the MG-3/42, thanks to the tech/hardware sharing agreement between the two allied countries.

Federal Navy Convoy by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr

Finally, this is a snapshot of the FNS Hawkwing on convoy escort duty, along with the FNS Inferno (PT-001), an Inferno-Class PT boat commanded by Lt. Cmdr. William "One-eyed Willy" Jensen. They are escorting a tech shipment aboard the Motor Vessel (MV) Merry Maid, captained by one Hector Barbossa through waters frequented by sea monsters, pirates and Confederate gunboats.

Hope you liked the build!

Now for some of the basic construction process: I got the idea for building this when I saw the 2011 Police Boat and decided to run with it... I'd already converted my classic 1991 Cabin Cruiser into a PT boat, and decided that my small fleet could use a Frigate. I tried to use as many parts of the original Police boat that I could, but I still had to put in a fairly substantial Pick A Brick order to finish her out. Initially, the ship had manned turrets, due to the fact that I just couldn't seem to make a good 3" gun turret, and none of the missiles or torpedoes. I got the basic idea for the current torpedoes and gun turrets by stumbling across some designs on LEGO's Design By Me gallery, and made numerous improvements to the initial design (the original torpedo design did not allow the propeller to rotate and was somewhat flimsy... I used a antenna pole with a technic half-pin to allow the propeller to spin freely, and used a 4-L technic Axle to hold the front and back halves of the torpedo together), and there you have it.

[Bearded Castle Guy]

Lol, you put 'The Salamander' in charge? Hope the Republic of New Jersey's navy see a bit less action than she had in her RMN gig

[Laura Beinbrech]

Lol, you put 'The Salamander' in charge? Hope the Republic of New Jersey's navy see a bit less action than she had in her RMN gig

FINALLY!! Somebody actually got the reference, and she's not in the Republic of New Jersey Navy, She's currently in the Federal Republic of America Navy... Here's a map so you can see how the post-Final War North America is divided up:

NorthAMLEGO by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr

But, unfortunately, as you can see, what with Confederate States of America, the Grand Duchy of New York and the Hordes of Chaos causing trouble (not to mention the pirates and sea monsters), she's just about as busy as she was before, but on a more local scale... As a matter of fact, she's the frigate captain that managed to sink the CSS Mobile, the lead ship of the Mobile-Class battlecruisers, a feat that the naval intelligence units on both sides believed to be impossible to pull off...