Ship-of-the-Line Under Construction

[cb4]

There are cannon on either side, as there is in the cabins behind the bulkheads. How often these cannons were used I dont know, but I think Horry is right that mostly they are stowed there as spares as I doubt any guncrews were assigned to them. I know the dimensions look tight but despite the size of the ship is still much smaller than minifig scale, so some creative adjustments are needed while maintaining as much historical accuracy as possible.

Ah, that makes sense. I wonder if those cabins would be removed when the ship was cleared for action? I know that any below-decks bulkheads would tend to fall victim to the carpenter's crew. That would solve any accessibility problems for the guns.

I'm still curious as to where your mizzen mast is going to go. In most models I've seen it seems to be located almost exactly halfway between the end of the poop and the mainmast.

[Admiral Croissant]

Great progress again. It seems a bit cramped indeed but that's hard to avoid in minifig illusion scale.

The compass house and the doors/windows around it look excellent.

But -like cb4 said- the mizzen mast could be a small problem.

I compared your ship to a 'real image', I saw that your fore- and main mast are placed in the right position, but the mizzen would be on the place where you put the steering wheel:

I think the best solution is to move the wheel a bit more forward if that's possible.

But outside of that it's looking perfect IMO. Keep it up!

[Dread Pirate Wesley]

I'm still curious as to where your mizzen mast is going to go. In most models I've seen it seems to be located almost exactly halfway between the end of the poop and the mainmast.

Yes you spotted a problem that I hadnt noticed! That's why I created this thread And thank you Admiral Croissant as well for the image. I was focusing too much on placement of the bulkheads rather than the mizzen, but I think I found a solution. I moved the whole assembly 4 studs forward, and made a little bit more space by moving the wheel for'ard and the binnacle aft like so:

This allowed me to move the mizzen 5 studs forward into a more correct position. By my estimation it is still about 2 studs aft of where it should be, but I would rather have space and details on the quarterdeck at this point. A comparison shot with my original reference drawing:

I think this is an improved placement and should look good with the poopdeck installed as well. It looks like the foremast is also slightly aft but that may be an illusion of the camera lens, I will double check it. Any further advice is appreciated!

DPW

[Captain Bayonet]

This ship is coming together much faster than I would have anticipated. Great job! I really love your use of the IF bow technique. Well done. I look forward to seeing the finished product.

~Bayonet.

[cb4]

That looks much better. I always count studs and then come up with a conversion vs my diagram when it comes to checking dimensions or proportions. The other option is to put your camera on maximum zoom and shoot from across the room

[Nefarious]

Already at this point I adore her to bits :) Absolutely extraordinary work there, Wesley. It's been a joyride to follow the WIP hitherto, as I'm sure it will be henceforth.

Can't even begin to imagine the cost of all those pieces... :P

To make the space around the wheel less cramped, you could look into placing just one windowdoor closest to the railing on either side of the wheel, much like on the Victory and the other ship you posted a picture of yesterday. There would be no space for a minifig inside the cabin by that window though...

Captain Green Hair did it in his build-a-frigate tutorial, to great effect actually:

Can't wait to see more, good luck :)

Edited June 30, 2011 by Nefarious

[Captain Becker]

Looks great, i am intrested to see how you manage to pull the stern together. I would make the hatch instead of 2x4 in to 4x4 or atleast 3x4. Just to give it a better look. Right now it just seems at the crew cant fit in there. Keep it up.

Captain Becker

[Dread Pirate Wesley]

Already at this point I adore her to bits :) Absolutely extraordinary work there, Wesley. It's been a joyride to follow the WIP hitherto, as I'm sure it will be henceforth.

Can't even begin to imagine the cost of all those pieces... :P

To make the space around the wheel less cramped, you could look into placing just one windowdoor closest to the railing on either side of the wheel, much like on the Victory and the other ship you posted a picture of yesterday. There would be no space for a minifig inside the cabin by that window though...

Captain Green Hair did it in his build-a-frigate tutorial, to great effect actually:

Can't wait to see more, good luck :)

Welcome to EB Nefarious! I would like to widen the bulkheads but I also want the space there to fit an officers cot or trunk. Right now the two cabins on either side (which I believe is called the cuddy?) are 3 wide which is just barely big enough for a fig, at 2 wide I think it would be too narrow, although I agree it would look better from the outside. Thanks for the comments! More updates soon

DPW

[Captain Green Hair]

It looks fine, but I would make the whole stern curve up rather then having it run straight to the back.

That might make it look less bulky and massive there, looking close at the reference image shows the same.

Good luck on it!

[Dread Pirate Wesley]

It looks fine, but I would make the whole stern curve up rather then having it run straight to the back.

That might make it look less bulky and massive there, looking close at the reference image shows the same.

Good luck on it!

Not quite sure what you mean here. If you are referring to the stern galleries those are really just there for demonstration purposes. The stern itself does curve as it runs aft, albeit rather gradually. The poop deck will also slope upwards using the technique I came up with for HM Schooner Pickle. The upper gunports actually are straight with the waterline, as youll notice in the reference drawing, and the stern curves around them. Any more elaboration is appreciated!

DPW

[Captain Green Hair]

Well, the upper black part at the stern doesn't follow the curve of your yellow line.

Next to that I think the black part is too high.

It would improve a lot if it was slightly lower and follows the curve.

Though it does curve very gradually, I think a bit more curve would improve things even more.

I know your gallery windows are just for show, but they are too low as they are now. As you can see in the reference, the top window would be above the gun deck.

I hope that clarifies my first post, I wish you all the best with the build!

[Dread Pirate Wesley]

Well, the upper black part at the stern doesn't follow the curve of your yellow line.

Next to that I think the black part is too high.

It would improve a lot if it was slightly lower and follows the curve.

Though it does curve very gradually, I think a bit more curve would improve things even more.

Thanks for the explination. Ive been looking at ways to improve this but haven't come up with anything feasible. The black part is high to fit a minifig standing up under the poop deck in the cabins. All the decks in fact are just barely tall enough to fit a fig so I can't really lower them any. That leaves the only solution to lengthen the ship to give it a more accurate proportion. For example if there was 6 studs between every gun instead of 4 then the height would not be an issue since it would be longer overall. I will not be going that route though, since it is minifig illusion scale and designed to fit figs at every station while still looking as accurate as possible, this is the best my design will allow. I think I will curve the yellow line more at the stern however, and once the poop is done you will also see how it will match the curve quite nicely. Still very much a work in progress, but thanks for the advice

DPW

Edited July 4, 2011 by Dread Pirate Wesley

[spideryear]

do you mind if i use that sexy headrail design??

[qwarek7]

UPDATE!UPDATE!UPDATE! PLEASE

[Captain Blackmoor]

UPDATE!UPDATE!UPDATE! PLEASE

I believe he will post an update as soon as possible when he has one.

Such ships take a lot of time and money to build, and don't forget the planning of it all.

So please, be a bit more patient.

[Hiawatha]

This is looking very good! I think you have been following the model very well!

[hobbes5a]

May I ask how to adjust the angle of the rocker bearing 1x2? (in LDD)

Edited September 26, 2011 by hobbes5a

[Dread Pirate Wesley]

UPDATE!UPDATE!UPDATE! PLEASE

I apologize for my protracted absence. I took a bit of time off during the POTC contest and have only recently started building again. Alas I have been making progress though! During my hiatus I was pondering a new capstan design that would look accurate, be functional, and also connect between the two gundecks. Here is ultimately what I came up with:

This piece was really my inspiration since it allowed for six bars to be connected to it for manning.

Here's what it looks like fitted between the decks. the design allows for 6 4-long bars to be attached to it as shown in the second picture. The bars are chest high on a minifig which is just right.

As you can see Ive added quite a bit to the waist of the ship, including boat rails, hatches, ladders etc. But more on that later. Here is one more view of the lower gundeck. You can see how it connects to the upper capstan through the deck, allowing them to rotate together.

Let me know what you think. More updates soon I promise!

Dread Pirate Wesley

[Sebeus I]

Very nice capstan, looks accurate, maybe a bit big though,

I used a smaller one some time ago

this one connected to the boats crane.

[Dread Pirate Wesley]

Very nice capstan, looks accurate, maybe a bit big though,

I used a smaller one some time ago

this one connected to the boats crane.

Actually capstans on ships of the line are quite huge. I was in awe of the size of the caps on HMS Victory first time I saw it. Heres a picture for reference:

And for size comparison of a human at 1/72nd scale I believe, courtesy of Model Ship World:

As you see it should be about chest high, and the beams should be quite massive since they required nearly 100 men to make them move. Heres a small picture of the beams on Victory:

Hope that makes a bit more sense!

DPW

[Horry]

additionally, many capstans would have the ability to house part of the rigging inside the hull. I can understand Sebeus' irritation, though - Lego scale often looks a bit odd when it comes to details on deck or below deck.

Great capstan design, by the way!

[Captain Becker]

I think you should replace the bottom part whit this. And the pushing stick things whit Lightsaber blade part.

Captain Becker

[Sebeus I]

Wow, those capstans are massive indeed

I guess it also depends on the type of ship, a big ship, a big capstan.

I haven't build anything this big so far so didn't know

[Captain Green Hair]

I quite like your capstan design, though I agree with the others it looks a bit large compared to the rest of your ship. For the model of my Prince Willim (1:39 scale), I made it like this:

[Dread Pirate Wesley]

I quite like your capstan design, though I agree with the others it looks a bit large compared to the rest of your ship. For the model of my Prince Willim (1:39 scale)

I like your capstan, though I think its a bit too cylindrical for a ship-of-the-line. From my research anyways, the capstan should taper up to the drumhead where the bars attach.

This drawing illustrates just how big these capstans should be:

Obviously it is very difficult to make it that size on a minifig illusion scale ship. I tried a couple of everyones suggestions for comparisson. The top photo is my original design but with a narrower barrel base. In the second example I replaced the bars with narrower ones. I think this looks good but because of the design it makes a rather odd star shape rather than having the bars aligned towards the center. And the final photo is my original design. All three have my trusty sigfig for a size comparison.

Let me know which version you prefer!

DPW