Recommended Posts

Presenting my latest “master work” His Majesty’s Sloop Reckless.

 

20161110_032236_zpsbckbulbx.jpg

 

 

She has been built and commissioned to replace the aging Ramcat. The new design takes inspiration for HMS Alert and other such cutters. She remains a 10 gun sloop but is now in a more appropriate fashion for a commissioned man-of-war shedding her stern gallery and overly large bowsprit. Her scale has also increased to something much more like Mini-fig scale.

 

20161110_032020_zpsnysa1zvu.jpg

 

 

This renewed effort was brought on when an opportunity to participate in an exhibit of “Toys as Art” at the Morris County Museum, NJ came along. Before committing, I made a thorough inspection of my fleet to determine readiness and completion. After careful consideration I simply found Ramcat wanting. She was a prototype that just kept going and was never intended to be finished. What started as an attempt to correct a few issues, quickly turned in to a complete tear down and rebuild. The second version was about as hapless as the original though and that too wound up scrapped.

 

20161110_032034_zpsutgyyq0y.jpg

 

 

For this latest iteration I went back to concept and found new inspiration. Models of Alert captured my interest and I found a lot of useful and free information to help me make a most accurate interpretation. Alas, limitations of the scale and medium have caused me to deviate from an exact replica, as is quite typical. The wealth of information on Alert and sloops of her type though made finding reasonable alternatives simple and easy.

 

20161110_031929_zpsg6feborb.jpg

 

 

At the time of this posting, we are about two weeks from our deadline and thus two weeks from completion. She is as brick built as all considerations can make her until her rig is in place and any subsequent needs become apparent.

 

20161110_032042_zpsayfspbfn.jpg

 

 

Because she is a replacement for Old Ramcat, Nick and crew will be shifting into Reckless to resume their normal duties.

 

Nick-and-Hank001_zps8sbyp12n.png

 

 

Her construction technique is the same I’ve been touting for some time. This time around, however, I was able to further refine my method and take into account needs and limitations previous versions did not. Though I did try to keep the “illegal” stuff to a minimum there are still a few element which may make purists cringe. Sometimes that’s just what it takes when you’re trying to force the system to do things it was never intended to do.

 

20161110_032015_zpshfjz9dfv.jpg

 

 

Thanks for taking an interest. Do check back as updates with greater detail, better images, and perhaps a bit of story worked in, are forthcoming.

 

 

Go ahead and talk her up, share her around and ask me anything. If it’s not obvious I’ll tell you, I love to talk about this stuff.

 

For more images check out Reckless here.

 

To take a look back at her predecessor, Ramcat, click here.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This is turning out great, kurigan!

I like how smooth and curving your hull technique is.  I am looking forward to the finished ship, both because it looks to be spectacular and because it will likely bring inspiration to my own ship-building efforts!

One thing that bothers me is the visibility of the studs on the port-side of the deck.  Could they be covered somehow, or could tiles be used to cover the studs?  How does the deck edge appear on the stud-less starboard side? (In your pictures, this edge seems to always be hidden in shadow)

That bent technic pole for the tiller!!!*huh*  Of course, as you mentioned, LEGO ships of this type can be either inaccurate and purist or historically accurate and not completely purist. :wink:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Just a few quick update shots. Much of her rigging is finished and we are well on our way to meeting our deadline. She'll still need her Topsail yards and accompanying control lines, and there a lot of, literalloose ends to deal with, but Commander Haldon seems pleased with his new charge so far. 

 

20161118_022807_zpsi0gtvuti.jpg 

 

20161118_022033_zpsjpyvsyve.jpg 

 

20161118_021810_zpsmomwmckm.jpg 

 

20161118_022301_zpstnpge7ah.jpg 

 

As for the deck studs: The deck is made in two halves which face studs out to either beam. Where as I used tiles to great effect on Blanid to hide the studs from all angles with the same technique, I simply don't have the parts available for Reckless. With a deadline fast approaching, I figured I wouldn't likely be able to acquire them in time either, so I just went ahead with construction. With all the deck acoutrouments, rigging and crew members in place, I figure there's likely to be plenty to distract the eye anyway. If in the future, once she's back from her cruise, I decide to tear up her decks and remedy the problem, it won't be any trouble. 

 

That bent ski pole for the tiller, I had forgotten it was custom. You see, that came to me in a lot of used bricks for my bricklink store. It was already bent one way and not suitable for sale. Seeking a more realistic tiller, than just a bar, I decided that bending it the other way would do no more harm than had already been done. It wasn't going to ever be straight again. I had it installed on two previous canceled ships and just got used to seeing it. Had it not been damaged for me, I'd never have sacrificed a good brick as such, so I'll grant, that it’s a bit grating to see out of context.  

 

Thanks for the support and keep checking back. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

What set is the 3-corned hat from? It's very unusual. Please compair it to my 10 gun ship in the ideas if you like. How many ships did you use to create this one?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

No sets. Everything is custom. The hat is paper: look here. The ship is a completely original and brick built construction. 

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, Captain Green Hair said:

I love the changes you made from your previous stuff, the ship looks great and I look forward to see the finished model!

Thanks, but to which changes do you refer? make it a conversation, why not? ( Although i'm sure we've had it before :grin: let's do it again for everyone else's sake.)

I hope to be able to determine tomorrow after hearing back from the museum, weather she's waiting for her return in February for sails or if there is still time to get them sewn up and bent on before departure. Otherwise, besides minutiae, she really is about finished. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 20-11-2016 at 9:11 PM, kurigan said:

Thanks, but to which changes do you refer? make it a conversation, why not? ( Although i'm sure we've had it before :grin: let's do it again for everyone else's sake.)

Thinner bowsprit, niftier mast, no electrical tape, glue all that stuff. What else?:wacko:

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The detailing is amazing as usual. However, I finally realized what is bothering me about this ship... she has zero sheer. I normally would not bring it up but I know you are going for maximum realism.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

There is a lot to put me on the defensive here so before I begin I just want to say this:

 

I’ve never put so much concentration and effort in to a build at any one moment. I’ve poured my heart into this project and I know it shows. Earlier in the thread I put Master Work in quotes but as progress continues, I grow ever more impressed and satisfied with Reckless and find I have no shame in using that term in earnest. If my memory serves me well, I’ve put my time in, nearly a decade of development and study to get to this point. So, if I say something like “it’s just a limitation of the medium” or “it just wasn’t going to happen with what’s available” take me at my word. I’ve tried it every way around and still came to these solutions as best for my purposes. Truth be told, this may be my last ship. Though I have a new brig hull mocked up for yet another version of Scorpion, I don’t know if my heart is in it any more. It’s been a lot of work and a lot frustration. However, if I finished Reckless for the exhibit and died, this part of my life would be satisfied. I did it. I successfully built a supremely realistic, accurate and convincing ship with Lego which remains stable and playable. Heck my ships are even quite “swooshable”. Though it may seem like a contradiction of my earlier claim of “I love to talk about this stuff” I’m also not super interested in making a series of excuses for what I know is pretty dammed good. Call that arrogant if you must, but if by this point I didn’t recognize the quality, or lack thereof, in my work I’d be a fool who’s wasted nearly a third of his life in the pursuit.

 

Now, that being said:

 

Cap’n

We’ve had this out before I know, but I doubt most readers are as up on the comings and goings of us “old-timers”. I know your contention on my older ships was that the bowsprits were too thick. At the time I agreed that thinned would be better, but not as thin as 1 X 1. I think we agreed that something like 1 ½ round would be better, especially with taper like the old pre-fab masts, but save for the aforementioned and damned inconvenient piece, the brick does not exist (Yeah there are mini-fig head but that would just look silly.) I compromised by going up to 2 X 2 on those builds to then accommodate a jib boom, spreaders and dolphin striker. Cutters like Reckless here though did not have such involved construction on their sprits which were essentially like really long top masts. So my solution this time around was to use the same 1 X 1 rounds for the top mast on the bow sprit. I agree it looks just right and I’m pleased. I'll tell you all this about it though; the simpler rig generates a lot less leverage and it's harder to pull things straight than on my schooners. I totally get why the technology developed in that direction, from this scale experience.

 

I know the tape thing on Blanid bothers a lot of people, but meh. It is what it is; it looks great, it’s not something that can’t be emulated and even Lego uses stickers from time to time. It solved a problem, and I refused to be ashamed of it. Thing is, there is tape on Reckless, you just haven't noticed. You don’t think the embroidery thread halyards cooperated well enough to be so well flemished down by gravity alone, do you?

 

I admit that outside of insuring knots in the rigging, I have used glue on two separate occasions. One was to hold the companion way hatch in place on the Fishing Sloop. Structurally it’s not necessary, it just got really annoying when it would slide off at the slightest bump. The other was on the long since broken up Raven, where the cabin deadlights were adhered right to the transom with Elmer’s. It seemed a clever solution at the time, though you'd not see me employ it again.

 

Cb4:

Thank you. :grin:

 

Thing is, there is sheer. It’s much less pronounced than you’ll see on other models of Alert, but it’s there and Reckless isn’t a faithful model of that ship either. I started by trying to copy Blanid, which displays a rather successful sheer curve technique, but differences in the hull types made it impractical. What I find happened though is that the leaning of the bricks to emulate tumblehome caused a subtle curve as the corners stuck up. The same thing happened at the water line, evidenced to me that the central member of the frame doesn’t touch the table top at the stern when it’s all level up forward. I don’t know if it can be made out in the shots provided, but the gun carriages give it away. On the foc'sle the carriages are level with the cap rail. Follow the level of that plate to the quarter deck guns and you can see it’s a little more than half a plate higher. Again, not a dramatic curve, but present, and completely by accident.

 

Here’s a graphic:

Brick-Angle-001_zps5casvj7o.png

 

Is she perfect? No, she’s not even done yet, and by no means perfect. Will anyone ever perfectly simulate a wooden sailing ship in Lego? It’s highly unlikely. Lego shipbuilding is such a singular pursuit in that it attempts to force a rigidly digital medium to conform to complexly contoured designs. It, like all modeling, requires compromise. Lest you drive yourself insane, you must decide on what points and to what degree you are willing to make exception. That’s why Reckless does not stand alone but is part of a fleet, each member of which is designed to showcase different key aspects.

 

If you’ve taken an interest, check back in a few days for updated images. Reckless awaits delivery of her suit from the sail makers loft (mom’s basement :blush: ) in preparation for her mission.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Are you calling me old now?:pir-murder:

All jokes aside, I did not notice any tape on your pictures. Perhaps in detail shots I would have. But since it seems invisible, it does not bother me that much. 

About that bowsprit, I find in modelling that slightly too thin mostly looks better then slightly too thick in mist cases. 

Lego ship modelling indeed has it's challenges, but that is why I like it so much. Just keep trying and the results wil be mind bogling to most.:pir-grin:

That being said I look forward to see it under sail!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Captain Haldon had the purser run up some new slops for the crew. Since most are followers from Ramcat who helped him to make so much prize money, he though it only fair that they at least be kitted out a bit less like a rabble of buccaneers and more like a proper man-o-war’s crew. The sails have been delivered but not quite ready yet, so here’s a preview of the Reckless’s snappy new uniforms.

 

Here we see a cranky boatswain’s mate showing a, perhaps over, eager newly the ropes.

20161202_234000_zpsgkpgbsa3.jpg 

 

And here’s one of Nick’s favored followers on lookout for prizes, and it looks as though the captain’s luck hasn’t run out just yet.

 20161202_234618_zps7usejvac.jpg

 

The print outs are super simple. I did the torsos and jackets in Adobe Illustrator. I tried to print them on my ink jet as I had in the past but something went terribly wrong, so I took my file over to Staples where they printed them on glossy paper with a much better printer. One sheet printed was only $0.79! In the past I used packing tape over the printed paper to match the luster of plastic but it made the jackets hard to bend and was a bit too shiny. This new paper is a far better match. The torsos are glued on with Elmer’s and the jackets are held in place by the mini fig’s own arms. The hats are the same as in my Hat Tutorial.

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Judging by the earlier comments, and your explanation of the relative lack of tumblehome slope, I think we could assume that you were a bit "reckless" in your design this time around, Kurigan :grin:

 

I'll show myself out.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well folks, looks like that's about it. It took a little over two weeks to get all that rigged up and I'm about 4 days from delivery so... yeah. We'll just have to see if it can all be untangled and reset in time.

20161208_155424823_zps70a6i0xn.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That is too bad!  "Reckless" was looking really nice.  I hope your repairs and untangling are successful.  What happened to cause such a catastrophe?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well the good news, I was already able to recover the standing rig, but that wasn't the hard part. the bad news i still have all the running rug to re rove and two sails yet to bend on after that.

the project isn't scrapped. it's just likely to take all, or more, of the time i have left to complete, which means the other ships of the fleet will suffer.

20161208_194943826_zpsojonswxc.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I am glad to hear that the project is not scrapped (though I doubted it would be).  It is good to see that some rigging was recoverable.
Here's to hoping you can work speedily enough to finish the rigging by the deadline!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

At this point I've lost track how long I've really been at it, preparing my fleet for exhibition. The last two weeks have been a particularly mad dash with little sleep and much stress. This last stretch is now in it's 40th straight hour. Though Reckless may not be quite "ship-shape and Bristol fashion" she'll pass muster. I'll go in to greater detail when I can, but for now, here's how she sits awaiting departure.  The ship is ready, but the crew are another thing altogether.

20161213_031217990_zpszb96wjr5.jpg

 

20161213_031415989_zps4ainjn5x.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It is great to see her finished!  Good work in such a short time!
Quick question: how do you billow the jib sails to look like they are bearing under wind?  Do they hang like that naturally, or do you need to stiffen the sail cloth?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

OK, quick catch up post.

 

It took another all-nighter, but I made my deadline and delivered the fleet safely.

20161214_124459_zpsauevwdvy.jpg 

It’s still not quite real yet, I think I’m just too wiped out. This was quite an effort. Thanks for the support though!

 

Check out the fan in the background. That’s where from the wind is coming to billow the sails. Unfortunately there will be no wind in the display case, but she still looks pretty slick.

 

That’s all for now, I’ll do it up right later.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That is one nice display!  I am looking forward to detail pictures on each ship.  
Using a fan to billow the sails is an interesting idea.  I totally missed the fan earlier, but maybe that is due to the fan being absent in the picture that best shows the billowing. :blush:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.