[ENTRY] Caribbean Clipper

[TomSkippy]

With the release of The Pirates of Barracuda Bay, TLC produced an incredible remake of the original Black Seas Barracuda. I'd always wanted a 'good guys' ship to go along with the new Barracuda, with TLC delivering a new and improved Eldorado Fortress and a contest, I felt it was time to try for a Clipper.

The goal was to make a ship which was proportional to the original Clipper AND to the untrained eye looked like it was designed by the same people as the New Barracuda. I had to resort to using a bunch of parts off the barracuda, as a result I don't have a comparison shot. That said, part count is around 1300, dimensions/stud count have it only a few studs (4-6 I think) longer than the original clipper, and every vertical dimension is shorter than the new Barracuda. It looks great and should look just as good next to the new Barracuda as the original Clipper did next to the original Black Seas Barracuda.

Shoutout to okbrickworks for the fresh clipper sails. Forgive the minifigures, I don't have Eldorado yet, so I had to use the 'old' new bluecoats. Sadly the admiral has a Dark Bluecoat and an old bicorne. I also don't have enough Black Tricornes with ponytail to have more soldiers (shakos don't go with the Clipper). As a result, the officer uses a modified tricorne with white wig combo and one of the sailors has no ponytail at all(gasp). This will be rectified in the future.

My favorite ship angle a la Endurance. The anchor works same as the new Barracuda.

All the exterior pics are with real bricks. I found a great lego yellow paint, so Owl with Spread Wings 67632 gloriously replaces the original yellow bird.

Stern shot with fleur de lis design.

Another side shot: the non gun side has 2 1x6 black tiles to keep the lines smooth. Gun/Anchor side has 1x2 holes so the gun ports can open down like the original Clipper. Notice the bell. Bluecoat ships need one to call hands when pirates are near. I originally wanted to simply copy the one from the Silent Mary. But with the discovery of TLC yellow paint, I used a 3172 Pith Helmet with a bar with ball joint inside. May not see it, but there's a bucket next to the angry soldier, he's swapping the deck.

While I have built this using real bricks, I did most of the design in Stud.io. The interior shots are rendered with Stud.io. Three reasons: 1) Camera angles for interiors are tough sometimes. 2) Lighting. 3) When it came time to order parts, I didn't want to spend so much on blue cannon carriages, my build uses brown. I may break down in the future for some blue ones.

Captains cabin.

Another angle.

Bed on the other side. The lantern is nice, but I could be talked into a violin.

Under the main deck. Easy to remove and access.

Remove the cannons for bunks. Not sure HOW they would remove them or where, but soldiers gotta sleep somewhere.

Beds flip up to reveal a spot for personal items.

Other side. You can switch out the tricornes for shakos and backpacks if on shore leave.

Aft has storage. The little gray piece is a mouse. Reference to a regular bane of sailors' existence, also Sea Rats represent!

I didn't render the interior of the bow, I just kept the toilet from the original PoBB

 

One last note. when I embarked, I promised to stick to designs that TLC would use. I did make one major exception:

 

The helm does control the rudder. Getting the old ships wheel to actually turn a rudder was ridiculous and some of the methods/connections are wonky (though still legal). TLC would never. This is why the box the wheel attaches to is so large; this is why the rear mast is a couple studs too far forward; and this is why the captain's cabin is so cramped/only accessible through the sides. I think it's hidden well enough to excuse.

Flickr album here, I don't think there are any additional pictures or notes. I plan on putting up rebrickable instructions and probably a helm post at some point. But those will be awhile. 

Hope you like it!

Edited August 27, 2023 by TomSkippy

[thewatchman]

This is incredible, very very well done!

 Feels very organic and still somewhat offical! 
 
Gorgeous update of a set I have a lot of love for!

[durazno33]

Great remake here. Adding the second sail does make it seem that much more complete. I like all the nice details like hidden places in the hold under the cannon and places for cargo.

The one thing which would be hard to modify at this point is that it is a bit short for how tall it is. Adding the second sale required the mast to be taller and the ship appears a little too tall for how long it is. Adding another 2 or 4 bricks in length might help with this but at this point its a bit too late. 

Great job on the update though. It look great!

[MstrOfPppts]

What an awesome looking ship! A bit short and tall for my taste, but the color combination and the details are really awesome. Maybe just a bit too much black around the side windows. I really love the cannon post / bed / hidden compartment combination. I feel those sailor living in a small apartment with family and all the LEGO bricks! Many such solutions would come in handy. (:

 

[Fraunces]

10 hours ago, TomSkippy said:

Sea Rats represent!

 

Love the ship. The scale is a little off as others said but I would not hold it against it as I understand your starting position. I can see LEGO coming  to this design . Good work

[iragm]

This is perhaps the most original-accurate modernization of the Caribbean Clipper in this contest.  Very nicely done!  The interior details are so detailed and well thought out, it's just perfect.  I especially like the inclusion of shakos and backpacks, always good to be prepared for land.  It looks like it would be tricky to reach inside the captains quarters, but that is a small issue for such exquisite detail.

I'm very curious to see how you did the helm/rudder design, a pic or two of the mechanism would be great.

The fleur de lis is a great design, but would be more recognizable if it was black.  But that's minor.  And some elements are copy/pasted from Barracuda Bay.  But there's enough original stuff here that all I can say is that this is simply masterfully done, and the only real issues are ones that were present in the original ship (the cannon covers that open downward, the useless mizzenmast, the ratlines in the center of the ship, and the overall short length).  But it would hardly be fair to complain about those issues, since your goal was clearly a modernization of the original, and in that, you've succeeded marvelously.

[TheCosmicTravelers]

I agree with IRAGM about this probably being the most accurate modernization of 6274 in the contest. I like how you've expanded the stern deck to be longer (the original was too short and wide (kind of like the ship overall)), thus making your enclosure of the cabin underneath look better than some other MOCs/MODs of 6274 that I've seen. I love that you've added a ship's bell.

I also agree that the main issues are issues with the original set (these may not bother some but for those who (somewhat) know sailing ships, they stand out like a sore thumb - there are very real practical reasons why you never find them on real ships!).

[Rogue Redcoat]

Not, much the say here, the build is amazing , anyway, all I would do is add a sail to that back mast and perhaps elongate the ship a little, other than this, happy building :)

[Aanchir]

Since this was such a late submission I didn't end up seeing it until I was browsing the entry list to pick what to vote for, but I'm glad I did! What an impressive redesign!

You stayed true to the the style of the BSB remake from Barracuda Bay in terms of the hull construction, but for the most part that works nicely! The one detail of the hull I feel kind of iffy about is the use of 1x4 double curved slopes and 1x2 slopes for the black vertical stripes in between the white side walls — since the sides of this ship aren't as steep as those of the updated BSB, the "bulging" shape here feels a little more obtrusive. I also wish you'd used smaller tiles on both sides so the gunports can open freely, even if it disrupted the lines a bit.

The owl piece is a great choice for the figurehead, even if it's not quite a perfect match for the ship's British name "Sea Hawk". Its outstretched wings give it a much more dynamic look than the old parrot piece, while still matching the angle of the bowsprit. And the functional rudder is quite an ambitious improvement to the original model.

You did a beautiful job matching the level of decorative detail of Barracuda Bay's sterncastle exterior without simply mimicking that set's specific decorative details. The lattice railings likewise contrast nicely with the cone-and-tile construction of the Barracuda's railings, while looking no less ornate. I also love some of the clever ideas you had for details on the deck like the bell and the ladders to the poop deck!

The interior is often one of my main areas of interest for both sets and MOCs at this high level of detail, and yours certainly doesn't disappoint! The captain's cabin is beautifully furnished. The cozy, decorative bedspread/comforter contrasts nicely with the tiny cot in Redbeard's cabin from the BSB, and speaks to the level of luxury high-ranking Imperial officials might be accustomed to, far unlike the lifestyle of pirates or lowly Imperial sailors! The desk chair, desk and curtains also speak to this sort of lavish lifestyle.

That said, I feel like the 90s fish pieces are an odd choice for the arms of the chair, since most of the other details of this MOC are the sort of thing that might show up in a modern set, while that piece has been retired for over a decade. If I might make a suggestion, the Flame Yellowish Orange/Bright Light Orange seahorses from the marine life accessory pack might be a good modern substitution, and you could maybe even find uses for some other animals from that pack elsewhere in the model (either as actual sea creatures or as decoration)!

Moving on to the gun deck, it's ridiculously impressive to me that you managed to design the beds with so much detail while still ensuring that their "peacetime" function is completely hidden when the cannons are in place — no swapping around necessary! And also having hidden storage underneath the mattresses? Truly wild!

The rack for the soldiers' caps and backpacks is another nice detail on the other side, although I'm less keen on how the hat rack blocks the gunports. After all, even if guns aren't being used on that side, I'm sure the soldiers would still appreciate being able to open up the gunports as windows when not in battle!

Great work overall! I'm glad you were able to finish this in time for the contest deadline, and the amount of creative thought and effort you put into it definitely shows in the final product!