cb4

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  1. Uh, my 5F trade ship the Nemesis has a zero with no comments? Was it mistaken for an escort?
  2. Bastion docks... Two grizzled longshoremen work to load the Nemesis... as a cargo ship! What's afoot? Longshoreman 1: I still don't understand. I thought the Nemesis was going to be a raider - a 36 gun ship! Longshoreman 2: Well, yes, she is, but right now there just aren't enough guns available here, so the owners (whoever they are) have decided to fit her out for trade this season. She looks fearsome enough, and she has her upper deck carronades, so I think any pirates or privateers will stand well clear. Longshoreman 1: But it doesn't stand to reason, I say. Why, over at the ordnance yard there are more than enough guns. What does she fit? 12 pounders - there must be at least 30 of them over there, and she only needs 26. Longshoreman 2: Oh, no, those guns are spoken for. Already sold to, um... Captain Moldybeard. Longshoreman 1: I've never heard of any Captain Moldybeard, but I'll take your word for it, I suppose. Still, I don't really understand. If the owners were able to finance such a large, splendid vessel, they should have been able to obtain guns for her. That's not the only ordnance yard, and the foundry is right across the bay. Longshoreman 2: Oh, yes, the foundry. Unfortunately, there's an iron shortage on the island. No iron available anywhere. Can't cast any guns. Longshoreman 1: Well, surely they would have fitted bronze cannon in that case. They're not as durable, but they do shoot true. Longshoreman 2: No bronze either. Longshoreman 1: No bronze either...? You know, I could swear that Nemesis actually had all her guns when she was fitting out. Where did they go? Longshoreman 2: Uh... well, that's because she wasn't in commission. Longshoreman 1: I don't understand. Longshoreman 2: Well, before she was in commission, she could have 36 guns and there wouldn't be any... problems. Longshoreman 1: What do you mean... problems? Longshoreman 2: Okay, I'm going to level with you, but you cannot tell ANYONE. It's impossible to commission a ship with that many guns. Longshoreman 1: What do you mean impossible? Longshoreman 2: Well, if you did, the universe would explode. Do you want the universe to explode? I don't want the universe to explode. Longshoreman 1: Of course I don't want the universe to explode. Why would the universe explode? Longshoreman 2: Because it's not supported, that's why! Longshoreman 1: Not supported? Is that why the ship isn't fully laden? The holds are half empty and we're nearly done. Longshoreman 2: Yes, it's also not supported to load more than this exact amount of cargo in any given ship, no matter how big the holds are. Now, this conversation never happened, okay? Otherwise... explosions! Longshoreman 1: What conversation? I felt it was necessary to have a vignette to justify underlicensing the Nemesis as a 5F temporarily. This is it.
  3. Yes, there's definitely nothing wrong with it. However, if you do decide that you want the mizzen to look further back, you could just rake it backwards slightly more rather than changing where it is stepped.
  4. @kurigan has a good eye - the mizzen was definitely way too far forward. I think it would benefit from having both the main and the mizzen a bit further back, but I understand the tricky problems of changing something like that at this stage. I believe that generally ship-rigged vessels had the mainmast somewhat aft of the hydrodynamic center of pressure so that if the mizzen was lost (it being the smallest and weakest mast), the ship could still point up into the wind to some extent. Otherwise I think it's looking really good! I feel like it's minifig-illusion-illusion scale now, with the closely packed guns, but I don't think it detracts from the ship at all.
  5. This has always been the case, and in my opinion the MCRA has been gamed consistently by all factions since I think about the second running. There is and always has been only one optimal strategy and it is pretty damned safe and very profitable barring things like Hurricanes, Deities, and Monsters. If we had a real economy we'd have runaway inflation by now. I'm really hoping the new MCRA addresses this and also encourages more than one way to play it.
  6. Fractional gunport sizes aren't a real issue... you can easily and cheaply do 1/2 stud fractions with jumper plates as long as there's a whole number of studs between ports. You could do port sizes counted in plates with some SNOT. The real trouble is portlids. I've only seen 2 and 3 stud portlids and I'm not sure if there are any good solutions for fractional portlids available.
  7. And have it captured or lost because it is undergunned? I think not. Us Sea Rats are not so lucky when it comes to these things. The only reason to license a big scary ship is to have a big scary rating.
  8. On a side note, it looks like the plastic used in most Lego bricks (ABS) is quite fatigue resistant. This makes sense since they are interference fit so they stick together, and a single brick needs to be able to be assembled and reassembled many, many times without losing holding power. This seems to be why we can get away with bending the as long as it's not too much. The fact that there is significant inter-brick tolerance is also helpful.
  9. Bregir, I like your small unarmed yacht, but to make the hull look even better, I would clean up the curves a bit. Right now the plating is forming several wavy curves, instead of nice smooth single or reverse curves. In general, the number studs between each step should always decrease towards the ends of the hull, and if it increases again should always increase after that (i.e. a reverse curve). Otherwise, it looks busy and random instead of smooth and curvy. Here's the rear quarter hull of the Nemesis for reference: https://c7.staticflickr.com/1/463/31777211822_9e94728df4_b.jpg Captain Genaro, the best way to verify the proportions of your ship is just by measuring the image. If you've already decided on an overall length, that gives you a conversion of studs per pixel. You can then use that on any other dimension of plans you're using to come up with the right number of studs. I agree with you on bending the bricks - I am personally quite against it. There's lots of ways to get a nice smooth curve without resorting to that.
  10. What about new ship classes? I'm still waiting to license the Nemesis, 36. I know there is a class 6 out there but its stats are a mystery and we can only license up to 5HA.
  11. cb4

    HMS Reckless (WIP)

    The detailing is amazing as usual. However, I finally realized what is bothering me about this ship... she has zero sheer. I normally would not bring it up but I know you are going for maximum realism.
  12. cb4

    Full hulled or waterline?

    I agree with kurigan, it really, really depends on what you're going for with the MOC or scene. From a practical point of view, waterline models are better suited to most normal situations. I build full hull models because I enjoy going for maximum structural realism and solving all the problems involved with that - but the amount of trouble they cause me is pretty ridiculous. Most of the time you just want your ship sitting there in the (flat) water, and if you have a full hull model you have to figure out how to hide that in your shot. Full hull models also tend to want to fall over (especially sailing ships, though this will not apply in your case). On the other hand, assuming you have a wealth of bricks (I don't) you can create very interesting and dynamic scenes with full hull models. A sailing ship can be heeled over or cresting a wave in a huge storm, or run aground or hauled up on a beach for careening. Or, if you just want a cool static model on a stand, that's nice too. Yes, it is in some ways 'easier' to achieve that using other materials, but doing it in Lego is just as valid and impressive in its own way.
  13. cb4

    [SR-FB1] The Nemesis

    Actually she is more or less built to Rattlesnake's lines. I am not sure how close she is now because my initial version looked a little odd because I didn't realize that diagram was not scanned straight. Good eye! Definitely she's not a fancy ship. My goal was BSB color scheme (she's really a 'realistic' BSB homage though obviously more late 18th century) and everything really simple. She's a utilitarian ship for practical pirates. I agree the rigging is subpar. It's not my forte (neither is decoration) and it's something I need to get better at. That includes making sails. At the end of the day it was important to get her out the door. I could iterate on her for years but then I don't get the feedback I need. She's been sitting on my shelf for 4 years and needed to be done. I am happy with her shape for the most part and that's the important thing to me in terms of proving what I can build.
  14. cb4

    [SR-FB1] The Nemesis

    Here's a few more pictures to give a sense of scale. For those who are wondering, she's 92 studs at the waterline, 108 studs overall (not including bowsprit or any rigging) and has a maximum beam of 23.5 studs. She has 24 long guns (+2 chasers) and 12 carronades. No idea what that would equate to in the MCRA. For those who are curious about her construction, here's a few pictures I happened to take while rebuilding a large part of her - I wasn't satisfied with her lines and the upper sides were too flimsy, so a whole bunch of changes got made. However, the general construction principles didn’t change. Oh, and I forgot to mention - I do plan to add sails... once I screw up my courage to start cutting cloth.
  15. I love the rigging. You have so much more patience than I do. I like the long, low schooner shape and the use of window frames for gun ports. My only suggestion would be to raise the great cabin slightly to avoid flooding in a following sea.