WIP British Frigate

[Foremast Jack]

The English name for 'snauwmast' is indeed spanker mast, it is a second mast directly behind the mizzen mast and is used to connect the Spanker sail to.

When I searched the Dutch I came across quit a view examples.

but searching for English examples I only came by this one;

Click

This man is building a model of the USS Constellation and it uses a Spanker mast.

clearly visible on the picture when you click the link.

And on this page he is actually calling it a spanker mast, on the bottom part.

Here is a picture of the real constellation seen from behind.

I just noticed the previus post got edited while I was searching for information and making my post. And not for the first time Foremast Jack is right, snow mast it is. (but apparently spanker mast is used to)

Bart

I was a little disturbed by you being able to find some reference to "spanker mast" so I took another look around. It seems that on American Schooners (after about 1900) the aft most mast was referred to as the "spanker mast". What would normally be called the mizzen mast. The reason being that at this time schooners were being built with 4,5, and 6 masts (one even had 7 ). Since the spanker was attached to the aft-most mast and they needed a name, they just called it the spanker mast.

[Horatio]

I was thinking- what where the criteria for the colour of Royal Navy ships? Considering the Trincolmalee, and my recent influence by the USS Constitution, I am considering changing the strip from yellow to white. Because I have much more white than yellow, I'm thinking that white might make more sense. What do you think?

[Foremast Jack]

There was no real official criterion for colouring of the ship. It was solely at the discretion of the captain. The right honourable Horatio Lord Nelson used a distinctive yellow and black stripe, with the gunports being black (off-setting the yellow stripe that encompassed them). After the Battle of Trafalgar this pattern became the unofficial standard. Thus named the "Nelson Chequer." I would refer you to a photographic catalogue contained in the index for some fine pictures.

[Horatio]

I know about the Nelson chequer- and that's actually the only reason why I'd want to stay with the yellow. I guess the best I can do is take inventory of my whit pieces, and if I really have so many more, then I'll change it. For the time being, I'll leave it as yellow.

[Foremast Jack]

Yes, I meant to make it clear with my previous post that seeing how you're the captain of your ship you can make her lime green and hot-pink if you'd like. If you're happy with white and have enough pieces for it, then that's certainly what I would do.

[Admiral Croissant]

You could make it in white, but I think it also depends a bit on the period in which your ship would be sailing around.

Before 1800, white was very rare on British ships (if it existed at all).

USS Constitution was originally painted yellow, and Trincomalee was launched only in 1817.

So if you're going for a British frigate before, let's say 1805, make it yellow, otherwise white is okay if you ask me.

[Horatio]

Well, I guess she'll stay yellow- I'll keep her painted in honour of Lord Nelson.

While I've finished the decks, I have been thinking about the capstan, and if it's too large for a frigate. What do you think?

(It's four by four, if that's not apparent).

[Foremast Jack]

4x4 sounds about perfect. (If anything for an exact scale it would be a little on the small side.)

Normally when the capstan was in use a man with a fiddle would be standing on top of the drumhead playing a shantey to keep the seamen working in unison. (if you have access to the movie "Master and Commander" as everyone on these forums should, in the scene where everyone is on deck having a good old time singing and Joseph Nagle, carpenter's mate, comes out to do a little jig that object he climbs on top of is the capstan's drumhead. occurs about the 37 min mark in the film) So as long as your drumhead has sufficient width to support a dancing minifig I think you're fairing well.

[Admiral Croissant]

I think it's actually a bit too large, but on the other hand, 2x2 would make it too small.

And this design is great. Perhaps you could try 3x3 on jumper plates but I guess that will be very difficult.

So in that case I'd go for 4x4. It doesn't look bad.

Can you show us a picture of the capstan with a bigger part of the ship?

[Horatio]

Well, I've done some work on the stern, and aside from tuning the helm system, I've made the transition from waterline to stern gallery much more smooth. My only issue now back aft is the construction of the privies- does anyone know a LEGO model that would illustrate how to build them? I know how they look on the prototype, but as for transferring it into LEGO, I need a little guidance.

Also, brickshelf appears to not be working- does anyone know about that?

[Sebeus I]

Well, I've done some work on the stern, and aside from tuning the helm system, I've made the transition from waterline to stern gallery much more smooth. My only issue now back aft is the construction of the privies- does anyone know a LEGO model that would illustrate how to build them? I know how they look on the prototype, but as for transferring it into LEGO, I need a little guidance.

Also, brickshelf appears to not be working- does anyone know about that?

I noticed it too and it's very annoying especially now since I deeplinked pics for a contest

I hope it gets fixed soon.

[Horatio]

Brickshelf is working! Here's the picture-

Brickshelf is working! Here's the picture-

[Horatio]

Alright- Well I got a new computer, and so I had to figure out my old passwords, which is why I haven't posted in a while. I've built new 9 pounders for the quarter and poop decks, and I also figured out a new why to build the capstan, so that there can be eight bars.

[Foremast Jack]

The new capstan looks great!

[Admiral Croissant]

Perhaps you should try to take some pictures without flashlight next time, some things really got overlighted.

Anyway, the capstan is indeed very nice, and I also like the ropes around the stairs.

[Horatio]

It's been a while since I last did work on the frigate, but after watching a few episodes of Hornblower, I decided to do some work. First, I altered the stern below the waterline, so that rather than having the hull curve towards the skeg, it's more like the hull tapers up to the stern.

Also, here's a picture of her bow- I know she looks a little narrow, but she's about as wide as she is tall amidships.

Looking aft.

Also, I forgot how to make images smaller- if someone could help me with that, I'd greatly appreciate it. Sorry that they're so large.

Edited April 6, 2012 by Horatio

[Captain Blackmoor]

A link to a tutorial about how to resize pictures is in my signature.

I'd suggest you to download Irfanview, I believe there is more about it explained in the tutorials.

But resize them soon, otherwise I have to remove your pictures.

Already thanks and I hope it helps.

[Horatio]

Well, I've completely destroyed the hull below the waterline, and rebuilt it from the keel up. For the most part, I've modeled her after the Cutty Sark seen here:

Cutty Sark

I don't have enough slopes to build the whole hull this way, but I think now she at least is smoother below the water line. I also increased her beam to around 24 studs.

[Bart]

Looking forward to your new version :)

Bart

[Morthen]

i really like the very big size, when you look at the close-up pictures the hull dosent look so blocky, nice job

[Horatio]

Well, I've almost finished the rebuilding of the hull, so tell me what you think. She now has a beam of 24 studs, which is much more accurate than before, and allows for proper recoiling of the guns. Also, I redesigned her mizzen mast to something like the masts of Phred's USS Constitution. Here's a few photos:

Edited May 8, 2012 by Horatio

[SuperSirLink]

That's a great looking hull! Excellent improvement!

[Legonardo]

very nice!, IMO a great improvement. keep these updates coming!

=Legonardo=

[Admiral Croissant]

Looks great! I like how the gunports are in the middle of the black and yellow.

The overall colourscheme and shape are good as well.

But how accurate is your placement of the masts?

It could be due to the camera angle, but the space between the masts seems to be almost even, whilst the space between main and foremast should be much larger than the space between main and mizzen (as you can see here).

And why doesn't your figurehead wear any pants?

Anyway, keep it up! This is becoming a very fine vessel!

[Horatio]

But how accurate is your placement of the masts?

It could be due to the camera angle, but the space between the masts seems to be almost even, whilst the space between main and foremast should be much larger than the space between main and mizzen (as you can see here).

And why doesn't your figurehead wear any pants?

Anyway, keep it up! This is becoming a very fine vessel!

You're right, the masts were not in the right place. However, that was because I just through the mizzen on for effect- the actually location on the deck was yet to be determined. In this picture, they might seem a little more accurate. Also, you can see that the sides are almost done. What originally was just going to be a small redesign turned into the construction of a brand new ship. Anyway, here's the photo:

As to the pants question, this is the figurehead from my HMS Surprise 3 years ago, which was draped in cloaks like a tunic. Now it's just there as the goddess Athena showing a lot of leg.