Ship for "Lego Pirates of Penzance" animation

[Xrisl]

I built this ship to use in an animated film I've made, the "Lego Pirates of Penzance" (which is now on YouTube).

When I was a boy, there were no Lego pirates sets! Any pirate ship had to be built from ordinary Lego bricks. The ship shown here was built that way (even though I made it earlier this year) - every part used was available in the 1970s - and so it contains no special pirate components at all, except for a few minifigs. That's why Lego's such a great toy - you can make almost anything, if you use your imagination.

The hull (which you can barely see in the photo) came from the Lego tugboat set 310 (so this pirate ship should actually float - though I haven't tried it yet). The most amusing thing for Lego collectors will be the ship's wheel - it's one of the first-generation gearwheels, that Lego stopped producing about 30 years ago!

The video, a stop-motion animation, is set to the opening song from "The Pirates of Penzance" (the pirates are drinking because they have something to celebrate ... watch the video to find out more). See it at

[Commodore Hornbricker]

Fantastic movie!!!!!! I really love the dives and the splashes. The dancing and singing is great. That is really cool....more...more ...more. How long did it take you to make...how many images?

[Captain Blackmoor]

I am fond of your animation skills. It runs so smoothly and the water splashes are fantastic! Yet very simple, but very handy!

I don't really like the ship, but I do like the fact you've used only bricks which were avaible in 1970.

[Admiral Croissant]

First I thought this ship was quite stupid because it didn't look very realistic. But then I saw the movie, I was very impressed by it. The movie looks very good and the music is also very funny And now I take back every negative thing I said about the ship, because for a musical-like movie like this one, this ship is just perfect! And very original ofcourse to build it with 1970-bricks. good job!

[Sir Wellington]

Fantastic film! The ship is great for pieces used in the 1970's, I love the dives and flying. A+

[Captain Blackmoor]

But where are the bottles from? Are they LEGO pieces?

I think they are quite handy and better then PlayMobil bottles.

[Ratshot]

Good movie. I am looking forward to more movies from you in the near future.

[Xrisl]

Thanks for the comments. It took nearly 100 hours work, and I took nearly 1000 photographs.

Cap'n Blackmoor - I actually made the bottle myself, as I was in a hurry and couldn't wait to get something on eBay! I made it from the sprue of a plastic kit, luckily I had one in clear plastic that happened to be just the right diameter to fit minifig hands. I cut it to the right length, then filed one end into the right shape for a bottle. As this took some time, I only made one bottle - but used it in many scenes, to make it look as if there were many bottles. I'm glad you said "bottles", it obviously worked!

[Xrisl]

I said earlier that this pirate ship should actually float. I have now tried it, at last, and have to report that it was too top heavy, so that (1) it tried to capsize, even with the keel weight fixed to the bottom, and even if it hadn't tried to do that, (2) the weight on the rear of the ship was enough to sink it.

So it doesn't float on real water. Maybe I should convert it into a model of the Vasa...

For anyone interested in the early history of LEGO, the hull sections I used originally came from the Lego tugboat set 310, which is shown on this page from the 1973 LEGO catalogue.

[Mister Phes]

This is quite a delightful video you've created Xrisl!

I realise I'm a bit late in commenting but I think this is worth frontpaging on Classic-Pirates.com.

[Captain Zuloo]

I realise I'm a bit late in commenting but I think this is worth frontpaging on Classic-Pirates.com.

I'd agree with you if I could log into the Dashboard. Honestly mate, the sooner your ISP gives back some decent internet speeds so you can fix up WP the better!

EDIT: I can log in now, and yes I sure as hell do agree that it should be frontpaged!

[Mister Phes]

For those who don't know, Captain Zuloo is also a fine stop-motion animator so he appreciates the amount of work that goes into something like this.

Meself on the other hook, just doesn't have the patience or dexeterity for this form of animation.

[Lego_Warlord_8]

Great movie! I love the splash effect. Great work. ~LW 8~

[frontbeast]

the flying around is amazing. loving it

[Captain Zuloo]

For those who don't know, Captain Zuloo is also a fine stop-motion animator so he appreciates the amount of work that goes into something like this.

Why thank you very much Mister Phes! That might even convince me to get to making another Pirates film. We'll see.

And congratulations Xrisl, you have been frontpaged!

[Xrisl]

Thanks for frontpaging me! I was very pleased about that ... and it produced quite a surge in the number of people viewing it!

PS: my nephew (who started all this by challenging me to make an animation) has recently bought a Lego pirate ship! It's a lot bigger than the one I used for the film...