28 gun Frigate HMS Suprize

[Horatio]

Alright, I decided to do another upgrade on the HMS Cucumber, but it turned into the building of a new ship. I retained some of the items, as the masts, figurehead, and wheel, but added a smoother bow and stern, and a good deal more weight. She now is a frigate with 28 guns. The Foredeck is broader, there's a hatch on the quarterdeck, and the wardroom is larger to accomodate all of the officers. The deck is also built inside the bulkheads, eliminating the brown line that used to run along the ship. Other details I've included are the fire buckets by the mizzen mast, a galley and chimeny, as well as a capstan below deck. I still have some more work to do, such as add proper rigging, sails, and grates over the hatches.

Here, I have my own attempt at one of cb4's cannons.

I named her Surprize because she's inspired by the HMS Surprise, but isn't supposed to actually be the HMS Surprise, and I didn't like the sound of HMS Athena- for her figurehead.

Edited August 30, 2011 by Horatio

[Bart]

Looking good, I like your brick build hull.

are you going to complete her rigging?

Bart

PS this might be helpfull; click this click-able

[Admiral Croissant]

I'm always excited when I see another HMS Surprise (or something similar) on this forum.

This MOC didn't dissapoint me. The shape and colours look good.

I just can't find much room for improvement and I can't wait to see this under full sail and with a crew.

The only thing I don't like a lot is the square masts but I guess that's just due to a lack of the right parts.

And perhaps it might look better if you would also make a part of the bowsprit with square white bricks.

I think you could also put some more work in the headrails, but outside of that, it's an awesome ship.

Keep it up!

[qwarek7]

I hate it when Admiral Crossaint comments before me cause with his MOC-sharpend eyes he mostly tells everything there is to say. Great ship. Not a thing at the wrong place. Perhaps I would work a little more on the stern cabin. Putting a little more ornaments to it. But I guess thats just my opinion since I´m always very focused on that.

[Tiberix]

Looks good, I love the HMS Surprise.

Thanks for uploading

Tib

[kurigan]

I kind of like “HMS Athena”, and though I’m a huge Patrick Obrien fan, I think we have enough "Surprises", IMHO. Excellent all around, I love to see the constant improvement, the progress of the build and the decisions you’re making. I can’t offer much constructive criticism, but to suggest continued refinement, which already seems to be your plan and to agree with the good Admiral. One trick I came up for my MOCs, lacking round brick for masts was to use barrels with technic axles down the middle and string rigging for stability. Keep up the good work, and thanks for sharing!

[Horatio]

Well, I actually do have the proper round pieces- the only thing is, they are in my star wars models. I've actually already torn apart much of my Millenium Falcon- to give you an idea of how many bricks I have, my RMS Titanic was 5 feet long- so I do have a lot of pieces still to use, but I've been hesitant. Only just now did I steal back my grates from my AT-AT. Fortunately though, I have found adequate replacement parts in some cases, so I have been able to do some upgrades, such as adding a head in a quarter gallery, putting in wardroom skylights, and I also stole some stormtrooper heads (the black plain ones) to build some of cb4's guns (you don't need to see the Stormtroopers' heads though, so it's all good). Here's the new gun lineup:

Left to Right, we have a 6 pound carronade, a 9 pounder gun, and a 12 pounder.

Here they are out of the carriages.

Here's the new gun (with obvious influence from cb4- credit is due)

I still don't like the carriages; the guns are just wedged in, and they don't have wheels. However, the new cannons are nice.

[Horatio]

I have built better carriages for my guns- The new line-up is (from left to right) 2x32 pound carronade, 8x9 pounder guns, and 12x12 pounder guns (with 10 more invisible 12 pounders- I still have to make them).

The new carriages hold the guns with a hinge- no more wedging in the barrels.

The new carronades are my favorite- they actually look like carronades, and they slide on a track set up on the foredeck.

I do have some adjustments made to the Surprize, such as improved gingerbread work, which I'll take some pictures of later. She really is shaping up to be a nice vessel.

[Horatio]

Here's some new pics of the stern (with hinged bulkheads) and the bow, with the carronades in place (and also of me as a midshipman).

[Horatio]

In an effort to increase her draft, I have added two bricks of height below the waterline, to look more like this:

I have also improved the deck plan a little, represented by this layout:

The brown rectangles represent the guns, with two open gunports at the bow, and the numbers correspond as follows:

1-Wardroom

2-head

3-galley

4-chain pumps

5-captain's sleeping cabin

The black rectangles represent hatches, while the light gray outlines represent the hatches above. I just want to know if this is accurate, or if I need more hatches, less, a smaller wardroom, a larger Captain's sleeping cabin, ect.

[Admiral Croissant]

The black rectangles represent hatches, while the light gray outlines represent the hatches above. I just want to know if this is accurate, or if I need more hatches, less, a smaller wardroom, a larger Captain's sleeping cabin, ect.

I believe the hatches are in the right place, but of course this wasn't the same on every frigate.

I made a simple paint image to show a few other things:

As you can see, the galley is usually placed behind the foremast. There's no hatch above it, but there's a chimney.

The pumps are usually just in front of, or behind the main mast as far as I know. Not next to it.

Hope that helps a bit.

My gundeck image is that of USS Constitution, which is quite an exeptional one but most of these things arrangements should be the same on any other frigate, except for the number of guns of course

This site could also be useful to you. Good luck

[Horatio]

Well, I did move the galley behind the foremast, and added a manger behind the forward bulkhead. I made foremost hatch on the main deck smaller, and I did some work on the aft cabins. First, the canvas bulkheads for the Captain's sleeping cabin go all the way to the ceiling, and I put a "hanging" cot (it's actually attached to the floor) and in the wardroom, there's the old Grandfather clock from the Cucumber, a dining table, a desk with an inkwell,some random tables and chests, and also an enclosed quarter gallery, with an arched doorway from the wardroom. I also fit in two more cannons to replace my "invisible" cannons. Here's some pictures-

[Horatio]

OK- so I've finally decided to add a tumblehome to my ship, by stealing most of the hinge pieces of the Millenium Falcon (may she rest in piece(s)). I've increased the beam by 3 studs, which gives a little more space on the gun deck, and also rounds out the overall structure. I also learned that on Frigates, the Wardroom was often on the mess deck, and the Great Cabin was the Captain's separate cabin, so I built a wardroom (pictures will come soon) and the Great Cabin is now smaller, but more detailed (you'll see the "tiled" floor). The prow was also enlarged.

Here, the Tuumblehome is most evident.

[Bart]

She keeps getting better and better, good job

Bart

[Admiral Croissant]

I completely agree with Bart. It's getting better all the time. Nice job on the interior.

Perhaps you could add a table in the cabin, and remove the bed as that was usually placed elsewhere as far as I know.

I really like this colourscheme. The red suits the black and yellow and the white masts are a nice variation as well.

The tumblehome also turned out good IMO. Are you planning to make a curve in the gunport line as well?

I'd also like to see the ship with all the gunport hatches open or closed.

Anyway, keep it up

[Horatio]

Well, unfortunately, I don't have enough yellow resources to put a line in the gunport strip. Also, I've been wondering if the black area below the gunport line is too big? it should make sense based off of refernec pictures, as this one:

Where the waterline appears somewhere around the mess, deck, and the black went down to the waterline, as in this picture:

I think it might just be me though.

I'm also in the process of building the mess deck, as my wardroom is isolated below the gun deck while all around it is just an empty shell, and since the Millenium Falcon is no more, I have more grey to complete that deck. Also, I'm going to get rid of my preliminary green rigging for some more accurate coloured rigging, which will go nicely with my more accurate (I don't know the proper name) ledges to attach the shrouds to on the gunwhales. Also, I found parts to build at least two more cannons.

Edited September 16, 2011 by Horatio

[Horatio]

Well, I've started work on the mess deck- more detailed pictures will follow. For now, here's a couple of mid-construction pictures:

You might notice that the main mast doesn't line up- I'll fix that, i just put a plat in backwards. I am wondering if I should strive for having the columns line up or not- right now, unalinged, they provide the best stability, though. I think I've gotten to the point where I won't expand her anymore- I could scrape up a 3rd rate ship of the line with all of my present pieces, but I don't have the guns, crew, or details such as windows and hatches. But here's the mess deck in her first stage.

[kurigan]

I'm concerned, as you photography does all your fine work no justice. i have some experience and would like to help if i can. would you tell me what sort of camera are you using and are you using a tripod (or some other device like a stool)? I really like what i can make out, your level of detail is impressive.

[Tiberix]

I really like the captains cabin!

Great ship, I would love to see it finished!

Tib

[Horatio]

Here's the plans that I made for the mess deck (the bottom one). The top one is the gun deck, which has undergone some changes, mostly at the stern where the Great Cabin is smaller, but also towards the bow I added a manger and a hatch above. The galley was also moved aft to behind the foremast. (igonre the brown rectangles on the gun decks- they're supposed to be cannons, but there's a few more than there should be, and I only drew them in on the starboard side. The Mess deck has brown rectangles meant to represent tables, with the Wardroom at the stern. I'm not sure what exactly to do with the yellow space at the bow- I want to build a powder magazine, but I'm not sure exactly how to build one- My only influence is the HMS Victory, which is much larger. Right now, the two doors at the forward end of the gun room just lead straight down to the bilges.

Here's the key:

1 Quarter Gallery

2 Wardroom

3 Mess Deck

4 Empty space

5 Galley

6 Great Cabin

7 Manger

8 Chain pumps (forward of the Main Mast)

The light grey lines represent the hatches above

The green represents doors

Again, I'm not sure how I would go about building a Powder Magazine- I'm hoping someone might help me with that.

Edited September 18, 2011 by Horatio

[Admiral Croissant]

I don't know exactly what a gunpowder room should look like, but I guess it's just a room full of barrels.

The entrance to the gunpowder room is usually with 2 walls and a rather typical lantern window.

Here's an image of the the double wall of HMS Trincomalee and the inverted place for the lantern.

I always find this site very useful. Click on "III Virtual Trincomalee" in the upper right corner.

Then you can click on one of the deck names to get a nice overview of the arrangements.

Our index has a very useful section as well (here) with a lot of interesting detail pictures.

Good luck!

[Frank Brick Wright]

Nice, somewhat blocky but still a great ship, deserving to belong to any fleet!

[Derfel Cadarn]

This is looking rather interesting! I like the shape and colourscheme, look forward to seeing this complete. Any chance of some clearer shots?

[Horatio]

Sorry about the pictures- I was trying to hold the camera, but I have a twitch, and evidently it showed. I did just about finish the mess deck, but I'm trying to rig the helm, and I as wondering if anyone had suggestions for a good line to use- I tried yarn, but it got caught on the barrel, so I tried dental floss, but it didn't stay tied. It's modeled like a real helm, with the rudder and the wheel and all of the pulleys inbetween. I just don't know what to use for line.

[cb4]

Sorry about the pictures- I was trying to hold the camera, but I have a twitch, and evidently it showed.

Perhaps you might build a little jig/tripod out of lego to hold the camera for you so that all you need to do is trigger the shutter. I'd really like to see some pictures that do this MOC justice.