Dreamweb

[MOD] Caribbean Flagship, or maybe Imperial Clipper?

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EDIT: Five years after I first built it, here's a new improved version with new pictures! :pir-classic:

Hi there!

This is partially a MOC, partially a MOD - something I've never tried before, but decided to give it a chance.

The two classic sets of the late 1980s/early 1990s: 6274 Caribbean Clipper and 6271 Imperial Flagship have always been among my favourites in the whole Pirate theme. That being said, I also considered them both lacking in some ways. The Clipper was my first ever LEGO ship so the sentimental value is enormous. However, I found the lack of a proper cabin and some other details a bit disappointing. On the other hand, the Imperial Flagship is one of the most beautiful ships LEGO has ever released, but I always felt it could be better if given a wider hull and some extra features.

So my idea was to take the best parts of those two sets and merge them into one ship, adding some additional details designed by myself for good measure. The result can be seen here.

00.jpg

Since it's a combination of sets 6271 and 6274, I guess you can also call it by the number 6272.5. :) What is also important is that I tried to retain that classic feel of both sets, at the same time trying to increase the whole thing's play value. The hull is wide, Caribbean Clipper style, but it has been customised to fit the colour scheme of the Imperial Flagship (the grey top deck pieces are taken from the Red Beard Runner). The colours of the whole ship are adjusted to fit the palette of the Imperial Flagship. The Flagship had no figurehead to speak of and I really liked the yellow bird of the Clipper. Since no white parrot piece exists (as far as I know), I decided to use a white owl instead.

 

01.jpg

The shape of the sterncastle is copied from the Clipper, but using the colours of the Flagship. I always liked this part of the Clipper with the two windows, in fact it's one of my favourite stern sections as far as all official LEGO ships are concerned.

 

04.jpg

As mentioned above, there are some additions made on my own - one of them is the more built-up forecastle, with ladders leading to it. Also, you can see 4 cannons on the gun deck - both the original sets only had 2 guns each, but 4 gunports. The hatch in the bow section is very similar to what you had in the Clipper. On a side note, I used a redcoat crew just like in the original Flagship, but decided to choose the newer version of the redcoats, introduced in 2009 - just to be up to date (besides, I plan to use my old redcoats for different purposes).

 

03.jpg

Neither of the two ships had a proper captain's cabin, so I decided to fix this. The cabin's front wall with the door is inclined, not vertical, and I must say I like it a lot. The bell is another addition, albeit a small one.

 

05.jpg

The inside of the cabin - not much room in here, but I guess it's better than no cabin at all (like in 6271).

 

02.jpg


That's it! Did this genetic experiment work or not? Feel free to share your comments and have a nice day everyone! :)

FINAL EDIT: And here's a picture of the original 2017 version, just for comparison:

cf_old.jpg

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It's a very nice adaptation of two classic ships!  The Clipper was my first Lego ship as well, and like you it shares a special place in my heart.  I always wanted the Imperial ship, but never actually got one.  I only have two improvements I could suggest for this, given that you're pursuing a classic feel, is to tile everything over to give it the appearance of plank decks, but I imagine you're after total playability here, rather than appearance, so that's probably not compatible with your aims.

The second suggestion is that it should be a bluecoat ship! :laugh:

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When I saw your avatar, I thought, "Hmm... probably another ship!" :excited:

Neat project. Those vessels were special, being the first for their respective factions, and while I like both, I agree with your assessment of them. The Clipper in particular always seemed like a lot was missing, and the Flagship was a bit undersized but very pretty.

Anyway, I'm seeing this as more "Imperial Clipper" since it maintains more of the IFS appearance. I like the overall look, nice and classic, and it should fit right in among the official sets. You've done a pretty good job combining the two designs. :thumbup:

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I really like these kinds of hybrid classics, and you've done a wonderful job of creating a new ship with the classic feel of both originals. :thumbup:

Something I might do differently would be to preserve the proportions of the Imperial Flagship, which used a narrower hull, by using two middle sections instead of one, but that would likely necessitate adding a second mast and become a whole 'nother ship. So I return to what you have here, which is a great combo and looks quite "playable." Consider your experiment a rousing success!

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Thanks for your comments, they are highly appreciated!

On 22.05.2017 at 4:21 AM, Cousarmy0001 said:

The second suggestion is that it should be a bluecoat ship!

I really wanted to use those Imperial Flagship sails and they don't fit quite well with a bluecoat crew. The new redcoats were my choice, because the old redcoats are ground troops in the world of my MOCs, not sailors! There will be more ships for the bluecoats (old and new version) in the future so no worries! :pir-classic:

10 hours ago, Capt Wolf said:

Something I might do differently would be to preserve the proportions of the Imperial Flagship, which used a narrower hull, by using two middle sections

That would definitely require another mast. The point was to make it rather small, and besides, these are the only Imperial Flagship sails that I have! :pir_laugh2:

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Wow I love it just the way it is. I think of updating my Imperial Flagship too, the original one like yours. And this is a real cool work that inspires myself. Thank you for sharing this here. Appreciate your work.

I like the white details paired with black and red instead of blue, I did that already on my one replacing all blue with red and the two blue lights with black ones (swiped them with the BSB which is my blue coat flagship. 

Love the way you designed the back in white and the entrance. Angled like the back of other ships. You came up with a real new idea and build it great. 

Only thing I don't like is the door, I would use a different one as I don't like that "farm" looking doors on ships, like the SES have that too.

But that's just my opinion and should not take any point off from the perfectly nice designed project ;-)

 

 

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Five years after I built it, I made an improved version of my Imperial Clipper/Caribbean Flagship. I have edited the first post so that the pictures now show the new version, plus there is a single picture of the old version for comparison. I really felt it deserved an upgrade, so here it is! :pir-classic: I hope you like the changes I made to it!

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Well, this is certainly worth closer inspection. This is remarkable. The incline wall is wonderful idea, and you managed to pull it off really great.

Does the roof come off easily, how do you access the cabin on the stern?

 

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18 hours ago, Marooned Marin said:

Does the roof come off easily, how do you access the cabin on the stern?

Yes, the roof rests on tiles, so it's easy to lift. :pir-classic:

By the way, the new version is now on Instagram too, so check it out in there as well! :pir-devil:

Edited by Dreamweb

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21 hours ago, evancelt said:

Awesome job!

Thanks mate!

16 hours ago, Marooned Marin said:

Yes, I already gave you my heart, I mean thumb up

Much appreciated, thanks!

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That was very much intentional. I had the building instructions of both 6271 and 6274 on the table while making this. :pir-classic:

The old version (last picture in the first post) resembled the Caribbean Clipper even more. The current version is more customised. :pirate:

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