Belet Posted January 4, 2011 [pid][/pid] 118D EDIT : More pictures available in post #3 with brand new rigging and sails :) Hi everyone! Let me introduce my new (and first MOC), the Crowley! As you will see, she's rather imposing for a sloop but still a quite small boat. She's manned by a crew of 9 plus the captain and is most of the time used as a merchant ship. Its incredible velocity allows her to outrun a lot of heavier, less maniable vessels, which is a valuable asset when it comes to protecting a precious cargo of some sort. She could also be seen smuggling or privateering once the captain got his letter of marque ; at this moment speed was its best weapon to capture smaller pirate ships and poorly defended foreign merchants. Regarding the construction itself, it took me two days to get to this point. The building is over but a few details have still not been completely taken care of, especially the rigging, which is... er... inexistant at the moment except the Lego rigging along the mast. I still have to buy some thin string and make some decent sails. Of course the current ones are just here to figure out what the ship would look like, but it's just paper sails that will be redesigned later. I will also add jibs above the bow as soon as I come up with a decent rigging. The Crowley is armed with 2 small guns, one to each side of the poop deck, plus 2 heavy cannons lower in the hull, that can fire on each side. They can rotate and slide on a system similar to the SES, but that I designed to be smaller and therefore fit in my narrow hull. You will probably notice the dark grey color that comes from the Flybo set, which obviously doesn't have a center section. So i had to improvise with regular bricks, that's not really beautiful but i did what i could :) It is also important to know that i build the Crowley without any external apport, meaning that i just dug for the relevant pieces in my Lego chest without placing any order on Bricklink or similar sites. That explains the shortcuts that i could have had to use from time to time. I apologize for the low quality of the photos but both my camera and the weather are ultra crappy today! Anyway, thank you for reading this and now let's see the pics^^ A side view of the ship. At the stern is the captain's cabin, with a nice cargo compartment under it for food, powder and merchandise. The center section is dedicated to self-defense with the cannons, and the crew quarters are located in the bow. We'll come back to that later. A close-up on the main deck. You can see the heavy cannon hatches in the black band and the lighter gun at the start of the poop deck. Two views at wider angles, nothing fancy to say :) A close-up front view. Note that the figurehead is supposed to be a bird of prey and not just a grey parrot! A bird's eye view... Some views of the stern. All hatches open, guns ready to fire! A rather failed attempt to show you the sliding/rotating mechanism :) And finally, the double trap that leads to the crew's quarters. The flashy beds are just here to be really seen on the pic :) Thanks everyone for reading, any feedback is gladly welcome! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Admiral Croissant Posted January 4, 2011 Nice ship. I like how the acces hatches open, and the sloped stern and colourscheme are quite nice as well. Perhaps a bit more brown on the decks would look good and a sail or piece of rope going from the mast to the bowsprit would definitely be a good improvement. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Belet Posted January 4, 2011 Thanks for the comments Admiral! I followed your advice and got my hands on some string and paper to craft temporary sails. I also made a small modification on the swivel guns so that they can turn around and protect the poop deck better. Here's the result! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Admiral Croissant Posted January 4, 2011 That's a nice improvement. It has a very realistic rigging now. Now all it needs is a crew and then she will be ready to set sail! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Blackmoor Posted January 4, 2011 That looks very well for your first ship MOC. I see a lot of original details, and overall the dimensions are nice too. The sails show you have a decent knowledge of ships, which is very important when it comes to shipbuilding with LEGO! I would add a finishing touch: a lantern at the back of the ship. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Belet Posted January 4, 2011 (edited) I would add a finishing touch: a lantern at the back of the ship. You got me :) If you look closely on the pictures of the stern, I left two 1x1 bricks with a horizontal hole in it (sorry if they have a specific name, i just don't know it), expecting to add lantern holding devices at that spot. I'm still trying to figure out a nice lantern design with the parts I have, though Edited January 4, 2011 by Belet Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Blackmoor Posted January 4, 2011 Ah, the famous 'headlight bricks' as we call them. A good way to attach a lantern to, but I suggest turning them 45 degrees so the hole is pointing towards the back. Lanterns are often situated at the back of the stern, not along the side of it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Belet Posted January 5, 2011 Headlight bricks, right :) Thanks for the heads-up, I'll post the crew and lanterns if I find some time to assemble them Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Becker Posted January 5, 2011 Nice little sloop, the sails and the ridding looks good. Now all she needs is a crew, some gargo and shes ready to sail¨! Good job whit this. Captain Becker Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lt.Gonville brickhead Posted January 5, 2011 (edited) The brick built center sections look better than I thought it would. The rigging looks great too. Overall it's a great little ship you have there. Edited January 5, 2011 by lt.Gonville brickhead Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
