Dread Pirate Wesley

Ship-of-the-Line Under Construction

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She's looking delicious,

I really like the skylight, I suppose it's not really a skylight but that would have been hard to do.

So now comes the question everyone has been wanting to ask...or maybe only me...

Bluecoats or redcoats ?

:monkey:

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She looks amazing, Great work, I've been watching this topic for so long now, and yet i can't wait to see it finished, But don't let me rush you :pir-look:

but is it the camera angle, does the collor play tricks on me or is your Topmast taller then your lowermast?. or is this supposed to be so?

It just looks a bit out of proportion to me.

I mean the distence between deck to top, and top to crosstrees

Bart

Edited by Bart

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Now that is probably the best Third Rate I've ever seen, which is also not suprising as not many of them are being completed! Only because you've completed it already deserves so much respect. :pir-wub:

Words cannot describe the accuracy of this ship, the realism, and it's size. The rigging is already fantastic! :thumbup:

You have done an outstanding job on this, and I have a little present for you soon!

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I am totally speechless. She is an absolute oeuvre d'art. I think you have surpassed the Lego dimension and went even further to something better and better.

Your rigging is absolutely tremendous. I can't see very well because of the distance at which the photos were taken but your rigging is extremely complete. Two small additions I could suggest (I don't know if you are planning on adding them, as she isn't already finished):

1. I have seen those telescopes over there near the cannons pirate_classic.gif I hope you are going to make these ones:

1.jpg

2. I don't know for sure if you are planing on adding more of these ropes but I thought it would be worth mention nevertheless as I think it is the final touch — next to shrouds and sails — that she is needing

2.jpg

You actually have some ropes alongside the masts — 3 or 4, I can't perceive very clearly. Mast had plenty of ropes near the base, if you are interested I can provide you more photos of these ones in actual ships pirate_classic.gif

Again, fantastic one, you deserve the attention of the entire lego world! pirate_wubnew.gif

Edited by Frank Brick Wright

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This is truely outstanding!

Everything looks very neat and detailed and I really like the red deck details.

The different colours of rigging also looks splendid, just as the yellow hoses above the side galleries.

The only tiny thing that bothers me a bit is that you've only made the lower row of deadeyes on the crow's nests.

Because they are yellow they draw your attention and then it just seems as there's 1 row missing.

Outside of that it's superb :thumbup:

Good luck on the sails! I can't wait to see it completed!

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Whew, I think I'm out of compliments now, used all of them already in this tread... oh wait I haven't...

This is currently my favourite lego ship and this compliment only works once :pir-grin:

Be sure to take enough pictures of the display and the people losing their lower jaws and extending their eyes :pir_laugh2:

Edited by Sebeus I

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Overall, the ship looks absolutly amazing, but theres one tiny little thing wich i dont like, and thats the stern. I prefer the old version. :pir-look: And one more thing: make Step by step instructions for this!!! :pir-grin: Ive got nothing else to add, just B-R-A-V-O! :pir-wub:

Captain Becker

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You've certainly made a wonderful looking and beautifully detailed ship! :thumbup:

I do have some points for improvement.

First you have made the guns a bit close to the water, there should be a bit more space under it in black.

Secondly I think you have made the back too high, lowering it 2 to 3 bricks would look more accurate IMO.

Here's a picture that should explain this:

image001.jpg

Note that these are merely my point of view, your ship is really beautiful and since it is functional, I suppose that some choices had to be made in heights etc.

>insert jaw here<

:shark:

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I really have nothing but respect for your undertaking and for your perseverence during the build. With her being almost finished now, all I can say is wow. Such attention to detail on a huge model like that is really nothing short of impressive! :) Such a beautiful ship. God I love those masts and that rigging.

The shrouds look unfinished? No horizontal lines in them?

Thanks for the compliments! I forgot to mention in my previous post that I didn't have time to complete the shrouds before the show this weekend. That will be one of the last details to be added.

So now comes the question everyone has been wanting to ask...or maybe only me...

Bluecoats or redcoats ?

:monkey:

Well I can't answer that question just yet :pir-classic: But I can tell you that for the display this weekend she was sporting a redcoat flag and crew, mainly because I borrowed all the crew and flags from Praetorian and Pickle. I do have a lot of redcoats on those ships! Here is how she looked on display at our local LUG event with yours truly:

P1050154.JPG

but is it the camera angle, does the collor play tricks on me or is your Topmast taller then your lowermast?. or is this supposed to be so?

It just looks a bit out of proportion to me.

Bart

You are correct about the color. The yellow black scheme on the lower portion of the mast and all brown above makes it look very out of proportion. I didn't bother counting the height in bricks but the lower section of the mainmast is 10 inches, the upper part from the top of the lower mast to the bottom of the cross trees is a little less than 8. Then from cross trees to tressle trees is 5 inches. I'm not sure how exact this is but proportionally I think it's close.

Now that is probably the best Third Rate I've ever seen, which is also not suprising as not many of them are being completed! Only because you've completed it already deserves so much respect. :pir-wub:

Words cannot describe the accuracy of this ship, the realism, and it's size. The rigging is already fantastic! :thumbup:

You have done an outstanding job on this, and I have a little present for you soon!

Thanks Captain! Looking forward to seeing yours restored and completed as well :thumbup:

I am totally speechless. She is an absolute oeuvre d'art. I think you have surpassed the Lego dimension and went even further to something better and better.

Your rigging is absolutely tremendous. I can't see very well because of the distance at which the photos were taken but your rigging is extremely complete. Two small additions I could suggest (I don't know if you are planning on adding them, as she isn't already finished):

1. I have seen those telescopes over there near the cannons pirate_classic.gif I hope you are going to make these ones:

2. I don't know for sure if you are planing on adding more of these ropes but I thought it would be worth mention nevertheless as I think it is the final touch — next to shrouds and sails — that she is needing

You actually have some ropes alongside the masts — 3 or 4, I can't perceive very clearly. Mast had plenty of ropes near the base, if you are interested I can provide you more photos of these ones in actual ships pirate_classic.gif

Again, fantastic one, you deserve the attention of the entire lego world! pirate_wubnew.gif

I can't see the photos you posted for some reason, but looking at your brickshelf page I think the first one is referring to the telescope pin rails. There will be plenty more ropes on the pin rails once the sails are in place.

The second photo I think shows pin rails at the base of the masts. Each mast right now has 6 lines tied to the bitts at the base of the masts. This will probably be the extent of the lines here.

This is truely outstanding!

Everything looks very neat and detailed and I really like the red deck details.

The different colours of rigging also looks splendid, just as the yellow hoses above the side galleries.

The only tiny thing that bothers me a bit is that you've only made the lower row of deadeyes on the crow's nests.

Because they are yellow they draw your attention and then it just seems as there's 1 row missing.

Outside of that it's superb :thumbup:

Good luck on the sails! I can't wait to see it completed!

Thanks Admiral! I think I have a solution to the deadeye problem, but Im still experimenting with it. If only they made lots more of these in black! They are pretty tough to get a hold of right now.

Whew, I think I'm out of compliments now, used all of them already in this tread... oh wait I haven't...

This is currently my favourite lego ship and this compliment only works once :pir-grin:

Be sure to take enough pictures of the display and the people losing their lower jaws and extending their eyes :pir_laugh2:

Thanks Sebeus! I did get a lot of pictures from the weekend. It got a lot of attention from the youngsters that's for sure. I think this is one of my favorite pics from the day:

P1050137.JPG

It was displayed as a cutaway as well giving a view between decks. It was amazing how many people thought it was a set! If only it were that easy :pir_laugh2:

P1050128.JPG

Overall, the ship looks absolutly amazing, but theres one tiny little thing wich i dont like, and thats the stern. I prefer the old version. :pir-look: And one more thing: make Step by step instructions for this!!! :pir-grin: Ive got nothing else to add, just B-R-A-V-O! :pir-wub:

Don't worry you'll like the stern once it is finished :pir-grin: This thread will probably be the most complete set of instructions I can provide, but if there is any part that requires more of a tutorial I can certainly provide more details.

You've certainly made a wonderful looking and beautifully detailed ship! :thumbup:

I do have some points for improvement.

First you have made the guns a bit close to the water, there should be a bit more space under it in black.

Secondly I think you have made the back too high, lowering it 2 to 3 bricks would look more accurate IMO.

Here's a picture that should explain this:

image001.jpg

Note that these are merely my point of view, your ship is really beautiful and since it is functional, I suppose that some choices had to be made in heights etc.

I agree with you on the first part, she may be reverting to her original height above the water line now that the rest of the hull is completed. I also want to incorporate the original sweep of the stern that she had if I can.

I don't fully agree with the second point, although this could be a matter of perspective. based on my original plans the tallest part of the stern is 25% taller than the tallest point of the fore castle. the tallest point on the foc'sle on my ship is 14 bricks, where the tallest point of the poop is 19 bricks (almost exactly 25% taller). Based on ratios it is nearly correct. However, since the ship is shorter and taller overall, it does look slightly exagerated. I've had to make these compromises throughout the ship since she is minifig illusion scale, using ratios however has helped to keep proportions as accurate as possible. Here's my original plan for the ratio, showing the waterline and stern on the left, bow on the right:

5691779572_bb58993352_o.jpg

Another thing which adds to the height on the ship is the hammock netting (fences), which adds an additional 2 bricks to the stern. This is transparent or non-existent on the model you showed so it's hard to tell. Also the perspective that the photo you posted is taken makes the model look very flat. It should not be. Looking at the gunports on the model they also seem to curve downward while the gunline does not, it almost looks fisheyed or broken at the keel. Hopefully this is not the case and it's just the photo. For me this is a better example of how Agamemnon would have looked:

1-aga_058-52-1075395873-mid.jpg

Even in this rendering there are no hammock nets, so add a little bit more height for those, but you can see the height difference between bow and stern. Perhaps I need to make actual nets instead of using fences for the hammock netting, that might decrease the illusion of how high the stern is.

Now that the display is over with it's back to work on finishing her up. Thanks again to Dafi and Legonardo and everyone else for the comments and suggestions!

:jollyroger: DPW

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Sorry that it's a little late, but I have to congratulate you on such a fantastic model. It's actually not surprising that so many people thought that she was a set, because she looks professionally built (imagine the price tag on her if she was a set though! :pir_laugh2: ) You've done a great job though, and I can't wait to see her fully rigged!

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It has been almost a year since I have posted any updates. I want to thank everyone who is still following this project and supporting it. Over the past several months I have been making some decisions about the crew for this ship. Ultimately, since realism was the goal, I decided to go with an all fleshy crew. This is a departure from all my other Lego creations, and proved to be very challenging in its own right. Alas, I believe I am now satisfied with the make up of her crew so here they are:

9437197620_31969da9e3_c.jpg

I found this book particularly useful in researching the makeup of a crew of a ship of the line. The author does an excellent job of not only providing accurate numbers of men, but also where they might have come from, whether they were pressed or volunteered, age, and many other insightful tidbits. After a lot of research I settled on a crew of 50 men, 1/10th the actual amount of crew for a ship this size. Here is how each group breaks down for those who are interested:

Seamen%2520copy.jpg

These are the seamen. The majority of them are volunteers, although as many as 20% would have been pressed in to service. These "land lubbers" would have a rough time of it at first, though most would eventually adapt to naval life. Most except "Lucky Jack" front and center, he has had a hard time adapting to life at sea.

Marines%2520copy.jpg

These are the Marines. A ship this size would carry quite a large contingent of Marines and officers to command them. Here we see a captain and his Sergeant on the front left, accompanied by the all important drummer who seems to enjoy his job.

PettyOfficers%2520copy.jpg

These sea dogs are the Petty Officers and ships boys. This would include the ships clerk, quartermaster, gunners mate, etc. A lot of these men would be promoted from ordinary sea men to their new position. On this ship, when they get promoted they would be issued a red cap and blue sash to denote their rank. The ships boys would usually range from age 7-12 and be responsible for running powder to the great guns in action.

Officers%2520copy.jpg

This sharp looking group are the ships Officers. This would include the Lieutenants, Midshipmen, as well as the Warrant Officers like the Master and Boatswain. The 3 Second Lieutenants in the front are at different levels of dress.

Captains%2520copy.jpg

And finally we have the Rear Admiral of the fleet (Admiral Gibbs?), accompanied by the ships Captain and a Major General. I believe it would be rare to have a Flag Officer and a General on the same ship, but considering whilst on station Admiral's used their rooms on board a ship as a place of meeting and strategizing, it would not be unheard of.

So there you have the ships crew ready to board their trusted ship. Soon, I will post a final presentation of the ship in all her glory ready to take to the high seas and voyage to her new station with this band of men with hearts of oak. Thanks for looking, C&C are much appreciated as always!

:jollyroger: Dread Pirate Wesley

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Great crew, are you going to pose them on the ship? or just place them in front of it for display?

Edited by Sebeus I

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Great crew, are you going to pose them on the ship? or just place them in front of it for display?

The crew will definitely be manning the ship. Having a crew was one of the main things that drew me to Lego ships in the first place. There is so much more life and activity that can be on display versus most wooden models. The next step is photographing the crew on the ship. I have plenty of static pictures but need to devote some time to some interesting "under sail" scenes.

:jollyroger: DPW

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great collection of crew you've got there,

its obvious you have put some time and research into it.

Bart

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Awesome crew :thumbup: I like what you did with the rubber band sword holder and drum.

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The drummer is great, and I immediately loved how you've included midshipmen. Great job creating so much diversity. Also, those are some beautiful anchors. :thumbup:

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The drummer is great indeed! What a smart technique.

It looks like a tough crew, ready to board the ship!

One suggestion for the anchors though; the anchor bar looks rather flimsy compared to the huge wooden beams above them. Perhaps you could thicken them a bit?

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The drummer is great indeed! What a smart technique.

It looks like a tough crew, ready to board the ship!

One suggestion for the anchors though; the anchor bar looks rather flimsy compared to the huge wooden beams above them. Perhaps you could thicken them a bit?

Thanks Captain! It occurs to me now that this is the first time I've shown the anchors here. It has been quite the evolution trying to get their design right. They started off like this:

7311453830_dee1f65727_z.jpg

This version used a thicker bar, as you noted Capt. Blackmoor. To me, it just didn't have the right dimensions. I wanted to get them very similar to these anchors:

victory-anchor.jpg

As you can see the proportions were just all wrong, so I made the bars thinner, and the flukes smaller as well. After that bit of modification I ended up with these:

7578909676_99fb5be26f_z.jpg

I'm quite happy with them, though they are extremely fragile. Perhaps I could make the wood beams smaller to even out the proportions however. Thanks for the comments everyone!

:jollyroger: DPW

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Great crew! I agree that a crew is an important aspect that makes a LEGO ship appealing.

I think you did a great job composing this crew with such a good diversity.

Perhaps you could add a scandinavian crewmember as well but I don't know if they were often aboard British ships.

I also see that you've used some excellent literature. I definitely need to get one of those anatomy of the ship-books sometime.

Thanks for sharing!

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I also see that you've used some excellent literature. I definitely need to get one of those anatomy of the ship-books sometime.

Thanks for sharing!

It is a great book. Perhaps a little dry for the weekend reader but it is excellent when you have a specific piece of information you are looking for.

As for the ship, I can now say that after two and a half years of research, design, and construction she is no longer a work in progress. Her crew is assembled and the final piece is completed:

9680453617_46e9ff1957_c.jpg

Many of you have been asking about the name and here she is. After all, they say it is bad luck to have a ship without a name!

Soon I will post a new thread for this ship with many more pictures and her backstory. I hope you've enjoyed this work in progress thread as much as I've enjoyed making it. Keep a weather eye on the horizon!

:jollyroger: Dread Pirate Wesley

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