[MOC] Pirate-hunter Airship: Leviathan

[thomassio]

Leviathan by Thomas van Urk, on Flickr

The Leviathan is the ship of the pirate-hunters, led by the fearsome Lord Gaylord, one of the most powerful people in the empire, who was sent to hunt the McZep to keep him away from the political power-struggle at court. His crew consists of specially trained soldiers who are most loyal only to him. Taking his job seriously, Gaylord will burn down any suspicious looking airship.

Leviathan by Thomas van Urk, on Flickr

With the McZep I wasn't really satisfied how the captains cabin turned out to be, but this time the captains cabin is my favorite part of the entire moc. 

Leviathan by Thomas van Urk, on Flickr

During his mission to end piracy, Lord Gaylord once battled the Lady McZep in the most epic way, in which he burnt a large part of his body. He survived, and is now determined to find the McZep, for he is working on a crafty scheme to surprise them.

Lord Gaylord by Thomas van Urk, on Flickr

My new airship is 130 centimeters tall, took me half a year to build, and three hellish days to photograph. I will try to bring it with me to Skaerbaek.

Leviathan by Thomas van Urk, on Flickr

 I have got plenty ideas for more airships but I think I will take a break now with this project to keep the fun. I haven't built a castle in years to which my body is severely responding.
Thanks for looking and have a nice day!

Leviathan by Thomas van Urk, on Flickr

 

Edited September 4, 2018 by thomassio

[Cousarmy0001]

I always get a kick out of these!

I especially like the little gangway that opens in the hull.  A very clever touch!

[thomassio]

Thanks!

[neonic]

Probably on of the weirdest things i've seen  cool, like it.
I like the crowsnest too. Must be a strange feeling ... flying and than watch out in the crowsnest haha

[Laura Beinbrech]

Being a huge Hayao Miyazaki fan, as well as a sucker for steampunk & dieselpunk in general, I gotta say that I absolutely love this thing!  I also like how yo managed to build the envelope entirely out of plates & curved slope pieces and how you were able to integrate working landing gear in the galleon-inspired gondola.

[Roadmonkeytj]

Wow ... Just wow ... The first thing that caught my eye was the prow ... Very detailed and shapely ... The hull curvature it great was that simply achieved by stress curving the bricks?  The captains cabin is well a favorite part of this for me ... The windows are they custom stickers or are they out of a set?  My only "gripe" is I feel the captains cabin slopes back too much but it works well with the integration of the zeplin.  The gangway in the bottom of the ship is very clever design ... Does this have an interior then or just that space? I would also love to see how you did the cannons for the photo ... Are the plates just resting on top of the cannon piece? 

All in all I love the overall look to the whole thing and look forward to your future creations ... I only wish I could see it in person.

[thomassio]

On 9/5/2018 at 8:21 PM, neonic said:

Probably on of the weirdest things i've seen  cool, like it.
I like the crowsnest too. Must be a strange feeling ... flying and than watch out in the crowsnest haha

Thanks! It's probably very windy out there.

On 9/9/2018 at 10:08 PM, Laura Takayama said:

Being a huge Hayao Miyazaki fan, as well as a sucker for steampunk & dieselpunk in general, I gotta say that I absolutely love this thing!  I also like how yo managed to build the envelope entirely out of plates & curved slope pieces and how you were able to integrate working landing gear in the galleon-inspired gondola.

Thanks! Yes the Miyazaki films can be very inspiring. I still have to see Castle in the Sky.

On 9/10/2018 at 4:58 PM, Roadmonkeytj said:

Wow ... Just wow ... The first thing that caught my eye was the prow ... Very detailed and shapely ... The hull curvature it great was that simply achieved by stress curving the bricks?  The captains cabin is well a favorite part of this for me ... The windows are they custom stickers or are they out of a set?  My only "gripe" is I feel the captains cabin slopes back too much but it works well with the integration of the zeplin.  The gangway in the bottom of the ship is very clever design ... Does this have an interior then or just that space? I would also love to see how you did the cannons for the photo ... Are the plates just resting on top of the cannon piece? 

All in all I love the overall look to the whole thing and look forward to your future creations ... I only wish I could see it in person.

Thanks! The prow is from the Knights Kingdom 2 action figures. The captains cabin windows are from the Studios Moviemaker set, they're just printed 2x2 bricks, and it is my favorite part also.

The hull is indeed achieved by bending strokes of small tiles, attached to headlights and brackets in the middle and at the ends. The large tiles are indeed just laying on top of the canons. The difficult thing is that a few of the canon holes aren't big enough to fit the tiles so the upper dark tan stroke is pushed up a little. There is no room for an interior.

Unfortunately it won't fly to the USA but I will bring it along with my other airship the Lady McZep to Skearbeak Fanweekend this month and Legoworld Utrecht next month.

[GeoBrick]

Those curves!

How did you manage those on the gunport line of the boat?

And a clever solution for the for -and aft parts of the balloon.

[Runeman]

The airship is in itself impressive, but the way the ship part has been implemented is just hilarious. Will there be sky pirates to hunt for the happy fearsome Lord Gaylord?

[rock raider]

I love the Lego Studios Windows. It's a perfect way to get small window detail. I also love the creative gold detail on the bow.

The only thing I thought could be better was the wheels. To my eye, they don't seem to fit the aesthetic of either the blimp or the pirate ship so they just seem like the wrong kind of wheels. Maybe wooden looking or airship strut wheels? Other than that a positively lovely MOC.

[iammac]

I always love LEGO blimps! The scale of them always blows me away.

Now I'm going to have to look up your previous mocs. Great job on this one.

 

MAC

[thomassio]

On 10/16/2018 at 6:03 PM, rock raider said:

I love the Lego Studios Windows. It's a perfect way to get small window detail. I also love the creative gold detail on the bow.

The only thing I thought could be better was the wheels. To my eye, they don't seem to fit the aesthetic of either the blimp or the pirate ship so they just seem like the wrong kind of wheels. Maybe wooden looking or airship strut wheels? Other than that a positively lovely MOC.

Well you're actually not the only one who mentioned that. I kinda understand but I like it this way. Since it's multiple vehicles mixed into one I wanted to add some sort of airplane landing wheels. It would have been nicer if it had only wheels at the bow and stern but that would only work if the zeppelin was actually filled with gas. I think it turned out better than my previous airship the Lady Mczep, and my next airship will even be better.

Thanks for commenting!

Edited October 23, 2018 by thomassio

[neonic]

Do you have brown rims? Maybe is that an options (without the tyres)?
a Kind of modern 'wooden' wheels.

[peedeejay]

Very sexy shaping and awesome details all around!

[Captain Edward]

Very nice smooth shape! Would almost beg you to make an actual 18th century ship out of it. Show us how you did that curvature on the vessel!