Bregir

Shipwrights Guild Hall (WIPs, feedback, and advice)

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Have another WIP, but I'm not showing the colours yet. Quite happy with the shape of the sterncastle though :D 

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Alrighty. As promised in my now defunct wip thread.
I scrapped attempt 1 and 2 based on CGH method, took onboard prior suggestions to add a third center and swapped blue for black tops.
Also caught up on this thread from page 1, took a bit but hot dog that was good reading.
The end goal is to have a pair of fast, sleek ships for my Blue Coats to use as Interceptors and smuggler suppression.
So You can imagine my eyes lighting up when I saw Legostone's build and Wellesley's Ymir based on the same technique.
I got to thinking at work about ways to minimize the blockiness of the technique and to improve the tumblehome/sheer.

Please pardon the rainbow action, I don't have enough white slopes. It's supposed to be 3 plates of white with the 4th in black.
Please let me know what you think.

 

Spoiler

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@Masked Mini A few quick thoughts:

1) Don't worry about stripping the ship down to studs and starting over, you might still do it again yet! (I have a ship I've rebuilt 3-4 times).

2) I like the length!

3) CGH is still possible! Check out @Wellesley's Ymir (you can see it in the BoBs forum or look a couple pages back in the thread). Take what you like, leave the rest!

4) Consider getting rid of one row of white and dropping the black down. This could simulate the bow-stern curve of the hull.

5) I would make the top two rows flat/even with the rows beneath them. If you're planning on sloping the bulwark inward you need a space that is flat between the curves. Notice, even the Lego Hull pieces do this, they have an inverted slope followed by a vertical one. 

6) I like that you're trying to incorporate the widening of the mid section (overhead view). Looking at your ship from the front, the stepping of the sides works because it mimics the 'planks' on the hull piece. From above, the width changes are too dramatic. Two potential solutions: 1) Use tiles/plates instead of slopes for the top two/three rows. Then you can step down by one plate width (instead of two or even a full stud that some of those slopes require). 2) Order a handful of these https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=85970#T=S&O={"iconly":0} 1x10 curved slopes are MUCH less dramatic and would give you a smoother curve.

Excited to see where your build goes, I'm definitely intrigued by this!

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15 hours ago, TomSkippy said:

6) I like that you're trying to incorporate the widening of the mid section (overhead view). Looking at your ship from the front, the stepping of the sides works because it mimics the 'planks' on the hull piece. From above, the width changes are too dramatic. Two potential solutions: 1) Use tiles/plates instead of slopes for the top two/three rows. Then you can step down by one plate width (instead of two or even a full stud that some of those slopes require). 2) Order a handful of these https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=85970#T=S&O={"iconly":0} 1x10 curved slopes are MUCH less dramatic and would give you a smoother curve.

 

Agreed. Don't forget though, you could also use these guys (https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=99781#T=C) to add a half-stud worth of width. Might be worth investigating...

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Welcome aboard, @Masked Mini! I am happy our little guild hall here can be of inspiration as it has been for me :)

And remember, should the fancy strike you, BoBS is always welcoming new players, regardless of activity level.

As to your WIP, it is looking promising!

On 8/7/2019 at 3:23 AM, Masked Mini said:

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I think I agree with Skippy and Fischer that the top down view shows that the change in width is too extreme when using the horisontal slopes.

Looking at the second picture, it seems to me that staggered vertical 2x2 slopes (possibly combined with others) and horisontal tiles will work better to create what you are trying to do, as the give a gentler curve. Yes, seen from above the width will be a bit more blocky, but as the steps are small it will be less critical - and Fischer's suggestion for half plate offsets is brilliant and could really make that technique pop! I think I have to try that myself! :)

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Thanks everyone for your time and advice!
Thank You Bregir for the welcome.

Now, I don't have (or can't find) any of the looong slopes in any color at the moment) but I will give that a shot as soon as I lay my mitts on some.
In the meantime what I can do is restrict myself to using the 2x1 slopes that raise a plate in height, same as the 2x2's I used vertically.
I will likely have to lose the top row on 2x2's and revert back to using tiles lenghtwise. That should allow me to keep the width increase shallower and stretched over a longer stud lenght.
But that also solves the issue i was facing with the top half needing to be black but the bottom half white. Not to mention it will allow me to dip the line of black in the center.

The half plate offset looks really promising! I think i have a ton of those from PaB too. No, I misremembered. I should have enough to build out one hull, but I will definetly stock up at PaB next opportunity.

So I should mention that I'm a sprinter, not a continous builder. I'll work in big bursts and then not build for weeks at a time while I percolate ideas or catch up on non-ABS life.
I cranked out a little Quay wall vignette last night I'll post today. Blue Coats are ... Corries? Oleon!

Edited by Masked Mini

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Found a whopping 3 of the loooong slopes and even just laying them on top of the current mess they looks VERY promising. Let me re-build tonight and I'll post some pictures tomorrow. If this comes out I'll place a bricklink order or two and get what I need to build out both of the hulls to this point in the proper colours.

Edit: I've done the rebuild (port side only) and I like it enough to have started working the bow and mocking out the gundeck stripe.

Lighting is terrible in my Lego room when it comes to pictures so I'll need to wait for natural light.

My dearest wife has offered to go Lego shopping with me tomorrow. After IKEA. Hopefully I will get lucky and find enough white slopes.

Edited by Masked Mini

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On 8/10/2019 at 1:21 AM, Masked Mini said:

My dearest wife has offered to go Lego shopping with me tomorrow. After IKEA. Hopefully I will get lucky and find enough white slopes.

If you don't find it, or don't want to drag your wife out, here it is on Bricklink https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=85970#T=S&C=1&O={"color":1,"iconly":0}

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8 hours ago, Ross Fisher said:

If you don't find it, or don't want to drag your wife out, here it is on Bricklink https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=85970#T=S&C=1&O={"color":1,"iconly":0}

Thanks bud, I found a fistful. Black, red blue and white, I still need to bricklink some but it cut down on the amount I need to order.

Offtopic regarding my brick sourcing.

Spoiler


I'm a devotee of a used Lego resale franchise (Bricks and Minifigs). They sell bulk bricks by volume for a reasonable price. It takes some time to search through the bulk tables and fill your bag but I can score a gallon of bricks i actually want for 30$. Ofcourse sometimes I strike out and don't find what I need, other times i leave with 3 gallons of dark red/green/blue for 80$. Once I graduate to the wider hulls and building frigates/galleon I hope to have acquired enough of those colours. They also offer BAM 3 for 10$ but with random bits from 50 years of lego, I've scored an army of 80's castle/pirates and space there, as well as the odd rare torso and old CMF bits. I've also gotten to know the owners quite well so they set back ship hulls/masts/sails for me which I am often offered for well under BL pricing. Sadly they are struggling to expand the franchise internationally due to the difference in franchising laws. After several years work they only have 1 guy for all of Canada, eh? But here's hoping more people get to enjoy organized Lego resale stores in the future.

 

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A day late and poor lighting. While looking over Ymir carefully yesterday, I noticed that I missed building in the center dip to the waterline. Then it hit me that I needed to work my widening a bit more carefully.
I also realized that once again I was cramming cannons waaaay too close to one another (3 stud pitch). So the whole gunstripe I was going to take pictures of got torn out again.
So here we go again, not quite a down to the hulls rebuild this time. Now a 4 stud pitch, with a reasonable attempt at curving both fore to aft and rail to keel. I found it tremendously difficult to replicate the fore-aft curvature of Ymir at the stern. But I'm sure that will come with practice.
Future 6 center Frigate for scale.

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Davitts(?) to hang a rowboat later.
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All in all, lots of progress from the first attempts I posted.
Going forward I will incorporate the forgotten rigging blocks in the rail where they are currently placeholding.
I need to find my stash of black hinges! I did find the PAB cup full of short brackets I thought I had a couple days ago for the half plate offsets! My organization and sorting is still very much a WIP in it's own right.
Also I will need to order more 2x2 slopes and 3x white 1x10 for this hull and another 4 for her sister hull.
Mast placement and sail plan will be copied from Ymir to the best of my ability. I hope I have enough round 2x2 bricks. Are those masts stiffened with axles or just held in place through the rigging tension?
I believe my Stern might be a brick taller than Ymir so I'm considering a short covered poop deck.
As far as the Bow is concerned I'm not sure how to proceed but as it is it's only roughed in and I'm not hard set on anything. Might try some chasers or corronades (?), she is supposed to run down smugglers after all.

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I've gotten in some more bricks and found a few through sorting my backlog. Just finished building out the port side. Current state of the build has both hull sides done (short three 1*10 slopes in white), both sides gun deck stripe done, stern and bow done and everything connected. Rigging anchor points are built into both side walls as well.

I stripped the aft most gun port. It looked odd with only 3 studs to the stern wall. But I did add in two chaser gun ports on the bow putting me at 14 guns, 6 gun broadside. Reasonable enough.

I'll take some pictures after work tomorrow. 

Could use some advice regarding mast placement and how to anchor it in the hull/deck.

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Started working on another Galleon, this time a razee. Fairly minimalistic vessel (flat stern compared to usual galleons, not nearly as elaborate detailing around it, but general hullshape still galleon-like)

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One of the goals for this vessel was making the gundeck significantly lower then my other small galleon - I've solved this by turning the entire sides upside down so I could put cheeseslopes at the bottom of the gunstripe. Not entirely happy with the stern yet, hope I can think of something to make it fit a bit better...

Inspired by the Tiger, a british Galleon Razee. 

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Looks great, both!

On 8/12/2019 at 5:59 AM, Masked Mini said:

Are those masts stiffened with axles or just held in place through the rigging tension?

While I can't talk for Ymir, I typically but in an axle in my masts, for strength. The issue with not putting in axles, is that once you put on tension on the rig, if you hit the mast, you risk it very easily collapsing. (Trust me, I have been there... :pir_tong2:)

You could also use technic connectors - makes for much thinner masts, but works well for a vessel that size.

9 hours ago, Masked Mini said:

Could use some advice regarding mast placement and how to anchor it in the hull/deck.

I typically anchor them low in the hull - As I like to have some serious tension on the masts, it is important that they can take lateral tension, so they can't be sitting on a thin deck. :pir-classic:

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3 hours ago, Bregir said:

The issue with not putting in axles, is that once you put on tension on the rig, if you hit the mast, you risk it very easily collapsing.

Would flexible tube (like when making trees) be a viable option in your opinion?

The tension should keep the bricks straight but if it gets bumped the tube should hold them roughly in shape right?

 

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3 hours ago, Bregir said:

Looks great, both!

While I can't talk for Ymir, I typically but in an axle in my masts, for strength. The issue with not putting in axles, is that once you put on tension on the rig, if you hit the mast, you risk it very easily collapsing. (Trust me, I have been there... :pir_tong2:)

You could also use technic connectors - makes for much thinner masts, but works well for a vessel that size.

I typically anchor them low in the hull - As I like to have some serious tension on the masts, it is important that they can take lateral tension, so they can't be sitting on a thin deck. :pir-classic:

Thank you for the input! I have to work on mast placements next.
How do you reconcile round masts going through the deck? overlap with the round 4x4 plates with 2x2 cutout? Add a 2x2 square brick in the stack?

 

3 hours ago, Legostone said:

snip

That's a very nice Galleon!
I'm not seeing how you inverted the gun stripe again for the top rail, what am I missing?
With the walls sitting on cheese slopes... how are they held in place?
And while you're here... Thank You for the sideways plate technique on the hull!

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10 minutes ago, Masked Mini said:

How do you reconcile round masts going through the deck? overlap with the round 4x4 plates with 2x2 cutout? Add a 2x2 square brick in the stack?

Either I simply put bricks under the mast placement, or I leave a 4x4 (square) hole and let them run all the way down. But the 4x4 round with the round hole could give a good look!

As for mast placement, I can only advice taking a look at some pictures of the type of vessel you are building :)

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17 minutes ago, Bregir said:

Either I simply put bricks under the mast placement, or I leave a 4x4 (square) hole and let them run all the way down. But the 4x4 round with the round hole could give a good look!

As for mast placement, I can only advice taking a look at some pictures of the type of vessel you are building :)

I'm with it now, thank you!
As for mast placement I'll have something later today to look at and critique. Wish I could tinker at work but that's not a good look. Even if it's Sunday and I'm practically done working for the day already.

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@Masked Mini I know I'm late with the comment here, but that ship looks great! Colors, bow, man it's fantastic. Love the Bluecoat/blue flags on the stern too. I don't have mast advice, but I would say, consider lowering the middle of the blue gunstripe by a plate (look at the Legostone curve). Other than that, great work!!!

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I've got a ship in the works, a 6-gun cutter (I think a cutter fits it best??) Any suggestions and/or things I should change before moving forward on the build?

48708754833_5ce645e75e_h.jpg20190909_212921 by LM71Blackbird, on Flickr

48708754723_a3d30b8492_h.jpg20190909_212928 by LM71Blackbird, on Flickr

48708754603_1158889284_h.jpg20190909_212943 by LM71Blackbird, on Flickr

Edited by LM71Blackbird
Got my ship types mixed up...

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A cutter typically has a very tall rig, so your lower mast should probably be a lot taller, almost as tall as the length of the hull, with the topmast adding additional height.

I am also a bit divided on your hill, as the lack of any length of parallel sides looks a bit odd to me.

I quite like the look of your stern, though. Nice detailing with those curved tiles, etc.

I would suggest a tiller rather than a wheel, for such a small vessel, though.

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3 hours ago, Bregir said:

the lack of any length of parallel sides looks a bit odd to me.

^^ What do you mean by this exactly? ^^

I did some research and lengthened the mast, and I'm going to experiment with a tumblehome. Also, I definitely think your right about a tiller instead of a wheel.

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1 hour ago, LM71Blackbird said:

^^ What do you mean by this exactly? ^^

Right from the curved bow and backwards, the sides start to converge towards the stern. I think 5-10 studs of straight sides would look better, if it can be implemented in your current design. :)

As to tumblehome, I am not actually sure a cutter would have much of that, but perhaps someone else can enlighten us?

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1 hour ago, Bregir said:

Right from the curved bow and backwards, the sides start to converge towards the stern. I think 5-10 studs of straight sides would look better, if it can be implemented in your current design. :)

As to tumblehome, I am not actually sure a cutter would have much of that, but perhaps someone else can enlighten us?

Ah, I see... unfortunately, the extent of my hinge plates and bricks are already in use (not very many, I know!), so I'll have to get more and try it out on another build. Very loosely, this is the ship I'm using for inspiration. 

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