The "La Formidable" 24 gun ship opening!

[Captain Blackmoor]

First update is at the next page!!

As some of you might know I'm currently building the "La Formidable" along with Port Augustine but this day is special:

The Grand opening of the "La Formidable".

The ship is opened like the traditional way, because I like old traditions.

First, the governor's wife will baptise the ship by smashing a bottle of champagne against it.

Because the new ship has no cannons or a crew on board it might be an easy prey for enemies, the soldiers keep a sharp eye.

Now the cruel part of the ceremony...

Before the ship is tasting the water, it's still in the dry dock.

Some poles keep the ship from shoving into the sea.

To shove the ship into the sea, the poles should be removed. And so they did, until the last one.

This pole is very dangerous because if you take this one the ship will roll over you if you aren't fast enough.

It was a tradition to let a prisoner take the last pole, if he made it he was set free. If he didn't made it....we'll find out.

The prisoner walks to the last pole...

He takes it...

He runs for his life...

But the poor lad didn't made it and was crushed by the ship. :pir-skull:

It finally floats! As you see the hull is completed!

The stern was a hard part to do and it still could use some improvements but I'm happy till now.

As you see I couldn't resist to put some parrots on it again.

I've created a tumblehome effect in the hull and tiled it. The rings on it are for the rigging.

Another picture.

It has quite a length and needs a lot of space to not to be damaged.

I was wondering if tan decks would look better or not.

Well, that was it for now. Hopefully you've enjoyed it!

I will post ship updates in this topic from now on.

Comments appreciated as always!

More on Brickshelf.

EDIT: Poll added.

Edited February 17, 2009 by Cap'n Blackmoor

[Patriot720]

That's a very nice ship so far! I am a big fan of the color scheme

[El Bucanero]

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[Ye Olde Pirate]

Nice. I like the color scheme. Can we see the insides?

Edited February 10, 2009 by Ye Olde Pirate

[meschepers]

I like this a lot. The color scheme you are using is similar to the one I am using for a snow brig that I am building. Instead of a black deck I am using grey plates to break up the darkness of the ship. As far as interior goes on mine there will only be a cabin with the back opening. It'll have 14 guns (quite a lot for a snow brig).

But, to answer your question I think that a tan deck would look better if you have the parts. If not I'd say try looking into grey as option. I think the black sides and black deck give it a rather plain and (not to be offensive at all) boring look. Breaking up that monotony of black all over would make it look a lot better as more of the details would stand out.

My last ship MOC was all black except for the brown hull pieces and it looked boring which is the sole reason I say that you should have a different deck color.

Great MOC all around though. I can't wait to see i finished.

[Huntleyfx]

I like it, I like it very much. How many sails will she have?

[El Bucanero]

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[Captain Blackmoor]

Thanks for all the replies. And I defenitely need some yellow parrots for the stern indeed. There is an interior but the captain's cabin needs some work.

It would be probably better to change the colour of the deck into a light colour. I've tried light grey like the deck below but doesn't fit with the rest of the colour sheme.

Tan plates are hard to find in the quantity I need them. To save shipping costs I want to order them all in one store in one order but it's quite hard.

So I need some more BL orders!

[Ratshot]

I love the guts from the squashed prisoner :pir-skull: :pir-skull: :pir-skull: Nice ship, your color scheme is good but why is the ships wheel in the center of the ship?

[Guss]

Beautiful ship ! I want to see it finished with sails and everything , but can I ask you something, why did you call it "LA formidable", instead of "Le Formidable" , is there a reason ?

[El Bucanero]

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[Zorro]

I love the poor guy that has been crushed by that magnificient vessel. But I DID notice the Playmobil bottle (istn't it one?)

I leave the constructive critic up to the shipbuilding experts .

[Captain Blackmoor]

I don't know if captain Blackmoor agrees with me, but isn't it obvious since ships are usually referred to as she rather than he?

But you're French yourself, so I guess you know better how french people refer to ships, so please correct me if I'm wrong.

You're right about the he/she names. That's why it is the LA Formidable.

I don't know why I like France so much while I'm Dutch. I actually like all the countries but France has something with military power and military history.

I love the poor guy that has been crushed by that magnificient vessel. But I DID notice the Playmobil bottle (istn't it one?)

I leave the constructive critic up to the shipbuilding experts .

That's a Playmobil bottle indeed. I don't like the Belville bottles and Playmobil bottles are easily to attach to Lego bricks.

You don't need to be a shipbuilding expert to give me some building tips!

Edited February 12, 2009 by Cap'n Blackmoor

[General Armendariz]

I think the ship would look a lot better if it had gun ports on the lower deck.

Even with out cannons it still has a furious look :pir-skull:

[TLV]

black and white seems to be the best color scheme possible for a ship. The dash of red in the ship is pretty well done too. The stern of the ship is usually one of the hardest part to built and you seem to have gotten the shape pretty correctly. Really nice ship you have got there overall. Can't wait to see it with its rigging and sails done up and in action on the high seas.

[Admiral Croissant]

Very great ship! I'm curious about how you are going to solve the cannon-problem (that there's no room in the ship anymore ) but it's a nice piece of work, well done

[Captain Blackmoor]

I think the ship would look a lot better if it had gun ports on the lower deck.

Even with out cannons it still has a furious look :pir-skull:

It has guns, 12 on the lower deck and 12 on the upper deck, without swivel guns and forechasers. But there are no cannons in it at these pictures.

Thanks for your compliment!

black and white seems to be the best color scheme possible for a ship. The dash of red in the ship is pretty well done too. The stern of the ship is usually one of the hardest part to built and you seem to have gotten the shape pretty correctly. Really nice ship you have got there overall. Can't wait to see it with its rigging and sails done up and in action on the high seas.

Thanks for your kind words TLV.

Very great ship! I'm curious about how you are going to solve the cannon-problem (that there's no room in the ship anymore ) but it's a nice piece of work, well done

Funny thing is you are the only one (except me) who has seen it a lot of times already.

I think I should remove the wheels from the cannons to make space. I can't make the deck more dedicated, the tumblehome effect will be lost then.

Thanks for your kind words YnyklY!

[Guss]

I don't know if captain Blackmoor agrees with me, but isn't it obvious since ships are usually referred to as she rather than he?

wrong, in France I never saw a ship referred as a "she" , it even shocked me when I learnt that in english it was like this ^^ I lived in Marseille before, and there were a lot of ship, some old ones too, all the ships name were "he" "Le coureur" "le passe à l'ombre" "le marseillois" "l'océan" , unless the name is "she" : "la méduse " "la Lorraine"

So I think the name is supposed to be "Le Formidable" but who cares ?

as example : this is an old ship wich has been "transformed " into a restaurant, it's called "Le Marseillois" and not " La Marseilloise"

Edited February 17, 2009 by Guss

[Captain Green Hair]

That's starting to look like quite a ship Captain!

I've never heard of the prisoner release tradition, i like it, so cruel. :pir-skull:

Is it a real tradition, or did you make it up? (Would like to read about it, if you have a link?)

Now for some feedback:

I think the forecastle is a bit high, it could look better if you lowered it about 2 bricks.

The colorscheme is a bit busy IMO, it might be better to add some more black, like a black line directly on the hull.

It could also be nice to switch the dark grey tops on the hull for red ones, to make the colors more solid.

A tutorial on how to do so can be found here.

Oh and about the bloody French language....if it sounds cool, it is.

Good luck on finishing her!

[Captain Blackmoor]

Thanks Guss for your little lesson of French ship names. From now on it will be the Le Formidable.

Also thanks for your compliments.

That's starting to look like quite a ship Captain!

I've never heard of the prisoner release tradition, i like it, so cruel. :pir-skull:

Is it a real tradition, or did you make it up? (Would like to read about it, if you have a link?)

Now for some feedback:

I think the forecastle is a bit high, it could look better if you lowered it about 2 bricks.

The colorscheme is a bit busy IMO, it might be better to add some more black, like a black line directly on the hull.

It could also be nice to switch the dark grey tops on the hull for red ones, to make the colors more solid.

A tutorial on how to do so can be found here.

Oh and about the bloody French language....if it sounds cool, it is.

Good luck on finishing her!

The prisoner tradition is not really popular but I've heard it from YnyklY and I've read about it in a few books. I thought it would be a nice addition to the openings ceremony. :pir-skull:

You're right about the hull colours, I was planning to change the hulls for brown ones with black trim. The turtorial is very helpful though.

Also thanks for your kind words and tips.

Check this thread for some updates soon!

[Captain Blackmoor]

I am aware of my double post and I apologize for it.

This post contains the first update of the Le Formidable.

Hopefully you enjoy it!

As you see the ship has his masts but no ropes and stuff on it, it will come later on and I'm still trying to get it perfect.

The main part of the update is the stern.

I noticed the steering wheel was almost in the middle of the ship so I placed it backwards. The ship is still modular and can be taken apart at any time. The deck has no tan colours yet because I can't make the decision to tile the deck with tan tiles or just tan plates.

A pic where you can see the stern from another view, some windows frames have no windows in it, another thing I have to order ASAP. I have to replace the grey parrots with yellow ones too.

There are some changes in the colour sheme of the bow and the anchor beams have been updated. The anchors are in place as well.

The front of the ship. It looks pretty fearsome from here.

That was it! I've made some more changes but they are quite small. I'll post some updates soon!

Thanks for watching, feedback always appreciated!

[El Bucanero]

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[Captain Blackmoor]

But still I can't help to wonder what the blue and white bricks on the stern represent.

It's on the old and new stern, in between of the parrots.

Ah, that's the little 'shield' which represent my French army. The flag is in blue and white and the bluecoat soldiers too.

I tried to put a crown above the shield in the new stern as well.

It's a shame there are no large yellow transculent cones for the lanterns.

[Teddy]

Hi Cap'n Blackmoor,

thats a real nice ship you got there.

Poor prisoner getting crushed...

I like what you've done with the tumble home.

I'm looking forward to the color change of the hull.

Kind regards and keep up the good work,

Teddy

[Capt. Kirk]

That's a real nice ship Cap'n Blackmoor...

Especially I like the colors...

It are the colors of the Belgian Flag...

And that from a Dutch... that deserves kneeling...

Edited February 18, 2009 by Capt. Kirk