[MOC] Athena - Lego ship of the line (in progress)

[Alex75]

Hi there,

I've started a MOC on LDraw a few month ago and I really would like to share it to get some advice and good ideas!

This is my first MOC and the work is still going on. I took the Imperial Flagship 10210 as a start, and gave it another deck. The idea is making a ship of the line, as the glorious vessels built in the XVIII century. To avoid lack of inspiration and being stuck in a dead end, I started from an existing set, as i said it's only my first try.

Feel free to give me your opinion and ideas to get it right, and to share your work of course :)

https://goo.gl/photos/45xEZNNfxu6pnqsXA

[iammac]

Hi Alex75,

I like what you have started here, the 10210 is a good base model. I have a question for you though: Do you envision having the upper deck be removable, or will it remain fixed?

I guess my recommendation after looking over the build is that in this photo, I feel like the bricks around the cannon ports are a bit messy. I like the look of the 1x3 curves in dark blue, but the area feels too crowded with no flow. I do like the use of 1x2 slopes and cheese wedges atop them to sweep the curve back inward, but maybe you could try something that sits more flush?

Right above the tiles that the second deck sits on, maybe you could add a plate that juts out one stud, then use bricks or plates to build directly on top of the headlight bricks (the lower port walls.) Add a second row of said headlight bricks at the same height the lower ones are in relation to the cannons, and finish with 1x2 slopes to cap the entire stack, bringing the walls back toward the deck in time to attach rails.

Clear as mud, right?

Your ship is off to a good start!

Here's an example of what I'm saying. This is a ship built by EB member Dreamweb (His name is Steve.) Notice the cannon port walls extend from the hull and then slope back in?

Hope this helps!

[Cousarmy0001]

The Imperial Flagship is certainly an iconic ship. I remember the first time I saw one, my head almost exploded (that was before I found out about this forum, mind you). If you're going to emulate an official set, that's definitely the one you should do, and you're certainly moving along well!

The more detailed kitchen you designed is a great addition, as is (I assume) the armory on the lower deck.

Furthermore, I like the blue arches between the decks. I think it adds a bit of a personal touch, and makes it less of an exact copy of the original. I'm curious about the floor level window at the bow, though. Are you intending to raise it as that deck continues? Do you intend to have another deck above the upper gun deck as well? If you do, the hull may wind up being disproportionately tall, you may want to add a few hull sections to make it longer and balance it out. That would have the added bonus of giving you additional guns, of course, but will make the ship more expensive if you ever plan to build it.

On that subject, though, you also may want to think about condensing the space between the guns. Sixteen guns spread over two decks is a rather light armament, you may want to consider eliminating the 1x2 bricks between each port, and scooting them all closer together. This would allow you to increase your gun complement, making it look something like this:

If you kept your four hull pieces, and your two decks, this would take you from sixteen guns to twenty-eight. Naturally, if you add additional hull pieces, you would increase the gun count exponentially.

The other thing that stuck out to me from your pictures are what I assume are three beds in the aft of the ship, in what I assume will be the captain's cabin. Historically, pretty much everybody slept in hammocks, so you may want to cut that down to one bed, unless your captain enjoys sharing his living space with his officers and crew. In their place, you could add furniture that would give a lot of character and detail to your ship.

[Alex75]

Hello,

Thanks for your returns ! I'll try to answer to all your questions.

So far I intend to build a final upper deck that will be removable. I'm still working on it because as Cousarmy0001 said, I have to keep balance between height and length. But I want to finish that part and see the whole look of it before making any changes.

Then I will probably had hull parts, I agree it can only add something and make the whole more impressive. About the canons this is really nice indeed, but a lot more tricky. I am not sure it will allow me to keep the hull shields (Blue arches). Of course the idea of 28 canons is thrilling and I'll think about it more than twice!

About the stern, I'm building a dormitory. I did not find any satisfying way to put hammock, so it will be bunk bed. Actually I did find pictures of bunk bed in real war vessels. On the upper deck I'll make the captain's cabin and I intend to put as much detail as I can :)

Thanks again for your very good ideas, I'm going back to it!

[Cousarmy0001]

In looking at your pictures, you should be able to keep the blue arches while scooting everything closer together, the only difference is that the upper level of arches will be continuous, instead of having a two stud break between them.

I can only think of one ship that's even tried making hammocks, and that was the one that IAMMAC posted. I've seen several where people have made bunks on a lower deck where there are no guns, but purists usually comment on it. Most people (myself included) tend to make a nice captain's cabin, and leave it at that. I'm sure your crew will be grateful for the dormitory, though.

What faction do you plan on this ship belonging to?

[Alex75]

I was playing blue coats, and my bro the pirates, and I always wanted a ship that match 6286 Skull's Eye Schooner! Here is my revenge :D

[Cousarmy0001]

Something I just thought of, and I don't know why I didn't sooner, is if you're giving this two decks, you may want to look into "tumblehome" techniques, particularly on the lower deck. (In case you're unfamiliar with the term, that's what it's called when the ships slope inward the higher they go) If the ship is straight up and down from top to bottom, you might not be happy with the finished product. I'm not familiar enough with multi-deck methods to give good advice, but there are some ships on the forum that do this, and there may be a tutorial somewhere as well. It might be worth looking into.

[Alex75]

We did have the same idea, I already found some good example of tumblehome technique and I'm still looking a way to adapt it on my ship. I want the part over the canon to go back inward. My best idea so far is to attach the sloppy part to the final deck, it will come like a hat to close the second deck.

I am now building the structures on which the last deck will lay. I have not yet decided how, but panels will be attached to the third (and last) deck and close the space between second and first deck. They will probably be made of Slope Brick curved 3x1 (50950), as a coating. Hope to show pictures soon!

[Cousarmy0001]

I've seen a few ships that have only sloped the bottom gun deck inward, and I've seen a few images of historic ships that suggest that at least some multi-deck ships did this in real life. You may be able to swing it so that you bring it out at the very bottom, then bring it back in by the top of the bottom level. If you manage that, then you can leave your upper gun deck as it is.

This thread features a multi-deck ship that appears to make use of the Green Hair method all the way to the top, though, so that might work as well.

[Maxim I]

I've seen a few ships that have only sloped the bottom gun deck inward, and I've seen a few images of historic ships that suggest that at least some multi-deck ships did this in real life. You may be able to swing it so that you bring it out at the very bottom, then bring it back in by the top of the bottom level. If you manage that, then you can leave your upper gun deck as it is.

This thread features a multi-deck ship that appears to make use of the Green Hair method all the way to the top, though, so that might work as well.

Indeed

Here is the EB-post of that ship with many more pictures

[kurigan]

This went a while before I could chime in as I couldn't see your images (had to remember to log on with my office PC). My best advice it to deep link your images and if google won’t let you, sign up for a different service which will allow it.

Now normally when I see a ship on this tack, that of emulating an official set, I go the other way, figuring that my particular brand of advice isn't what's being asked for. I am made curious though by your mention of "the glorious vessels built in the XVIII century." Are you trying to model an 18^th c. ship, replicating the style and fashion of that era, or were you merely referencing the size of line-of-battle ships from that time? If it’s the latter I don’t think I can offer anything, certainly no more that what’s been said already. If it’s the former I wouldn’t advise not using the faceted method of the Imperial Flagship at all.

Alright, before I go any farther and upset sensibilities needlessly I’ll leave off. Whichever your goal, keep at it, it’s a good start and best of luck.