cb4
-
Content Count
150 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by cb4
-
-
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.
-
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.
-
@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.
-
13 hours ago, Kolonialbeamter said:Another more general thing... to me the traders income seem a fair bit too high. That is in absolute numbers, compared to property yield (it'll take six months for a 100x100 studs royal property to pay off, and the yield of 500DB can be topped by a medium trade-ship), and now also compared to raids: the MAR raids on practically all ESL settlements yielded 400DB - 'collected' by a ton of ships - which can now be compensated by a single lucky trading 2F...
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.
-
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.
-
On 2016-12-22 at 9:42 AM, Capt Wolf said:For now just license it as a 5HA, and when new classes are announced you can upgrade it.
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
Thanks to everyone for the comments and criticisms!
CGH - Yes, the bow was definitely a struggle. While building her I didn't realize that most frigates have reduced tumblehome towards the bows, which reduces the pointyness up top. I also had trouble coming up with fancy head rails that didn't look silly. Without tubes (which I don't have), I just couldn't make it look good, so I made her utilitarian with minimal decoration, just a few nods to the BSB. I definitely want better decoration for my next ship.
blackdeathgr - I will try to dig out some pictures of her guts. She is built on similar principles to the Parakeet. She more or less looks like a real ship inside. There is a LOT of room down there.
-
-
An unnatural calm has fallen over the Brick Seas. Sailing ships lie in harbour, pitch dripping from their rigging under the pitiless sun. Trade has ground to a virtual halt, with only galleys plying their way along the coasts, their rowers spurred by the incessant beating of the drum.
Richard Walton, smuggler, has been trapped in Bastion by the lack of wind. He sits on the dock... and fishes.
Robert: Hello Brother. How are they biting? I've brought you something to drink.
Richard: Ahh, Robert. How very kind. How's business?
Robert: For now, it's wonderful. The denizens of Bastion have little to do but eat and drink. But I fear they will soon run out of money, and there's precious few in this town to whom I'd extend credit.
I can't help but notice the frigate moored across from you. Has the Corrington Navy come to haul us all off to jail?
Richard: No such luck. I hear Corrington is cool and windy this time of year. No - I forget you're new here - she's the Nemesis. She's been under construction in the yard here for the last few months. She was delayed when Hurricane Stepho hit - the whole yard was washed out - but she's complete now. They just warped her over from the sheer hulk this morning. Now she's being provisioned. They must know something about this weather that I don't.
Robert: So you're telling me that the Sea Rats have built a frigate? Don't you think that will cause some... shall we say... consternation among the other powers? The occasional smuggling and high seas robbery is one thing, but with a ship like that, no merchant will be safe. The Sea Rats will never be able to pass her off as commerce protection or whatever the latest excuse is.
Richard: I don't know what they think. It can't come as any surprise to them. Everyone in Bastion knows - they've been building her openly with no real attempt at secrecy. If the intelligence services of the great powers are worth anything, they already know about her. What nobody knows is who has commissioned her. It seems like whoever is bankrolling her doesn't want anyone to know who they are. Probably so they won't risk arrest once she starts snapping up ships left and right. Even Phineas Studdington, the designer, doesn't know who is paying him.
Robert: Phineas Studdington? The disgraced Corrington shipwright?
Richard: The very same. He couldn't get a job in any reputable town after that incident with that Lord's daughter, but now he's here and he'll build for anyone who can pay.
Robert: Well. All I can say - it's going to be a very interesting trade season. Assuming we ever get some wind, that is.
Here are the real pictures with no set dressing. I have to admit I have a lot of trouble taking pictures of her. She's just too big for my crappy setup.
One mini figure is included for scale (the elusive Phineas Studdington?)
-
This is absolutely brilliant. It must have taken quite a while to get the lines just right but the result is stunning. I love the huge attention to detail in every aspect and the fact that everything is brick built.
-
Beautiful house. I like that you included an interior, but it seems that without that load bearing wall the roof is sagging just a little! The way that you did the curtains is simple but extremely effective.
I love the idea of a settlement built on stilts in a swamp. I think it's brilliant and should open up all sorts of interesting possibilities. I'm hoping to see more MOCs in this settlement soon!
-
Great ship. The rigging is very nicely balanced and quite realistic despite being limited to real lego pieces (everyone who uses paper or fabric is actually cheating!)
I really like the old-school railing around the middle of the stern. Reminds me of the Golden Hind.
-
The inclusion of example ship types/rigs in the spreadsheet of ratings is incredibly confusing especially as it doesn't really mean anything.
At least land-based MOCs have a guideline that is a concrete number. Ships don't, unless someone happens to have some old vanilla TLG MOCs to measure (though you could come up with waterline dimensions quickly enough if you know how many midsections they have).
If it was based on dimensions, something like this could be used (as suggested previously, though I can't recall by whom), which accounts for both width and beam:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Builder%27s_Old_Measurement
Maybe that formula is too complicated, I don't know.
-
In the interest of avoiding all the vitriol and arguments surrounding ship ratings, can we have some concrete guidelines, ie number of studs in length/beam/studs burthen? Right now it is very hand-wavy and there have been many instances of over and underlicensing that have gone unremarked. It's only when someone pops up and says - oh, I think that's too high a rating - that a builder gets victimized and the focus gets pulled away from the actual MOC and it turns into a war of examples and counterexamples. Having a court is all well and good, but the job of the court should be to interpret the rules, and everyone should know what the rules are. Right now figuring out the rating for a MOC involves visiting the ship index, trying to measure existing ships, and then trying to figure out where the MOC fits. I point out that there have never been any size arguments about any land based builds because the rules are very clear (excepting the whole perfect square thing). There are now too many ship MOCs with too much size variation for 'gut feeling' to be sufficient.
-
I wasn't party to the decision to send ships on a predator run in the first MCRA.
My character is a smuggler so he went on an independent trading mission.
Do not be deceived - predator runs are not very profitable. After I built an MCRA simulator for Ska, it became clear over 1000's of runs that predators do not make very much money in the long run. Yes, they will capture ships - sometimes. Sometimes, they will capture nothing. Other times, they will be captured or sunk. What's important is the opportunity cost of a predator run. If you take three large warships and send them on a predator run, they might make some money. However, they would make a lot more money if you sent them on an escort mission. As defenders, they will have an inherent advantage in combat. Additionally, by sweeping through multiple zones, they will have more encounters and more chances to capture ships. And - they will help traders make money.
-
Oh, this two layer concept is brilliant. Watch out for sinkholes!
Kings Port Advertiser and Ship List (Vol 2, Issue 1) Feb 617
in Brethren of the Brick Seas
Posted
Uh, my 5F trade ship the Nemesis has a zero with no comments? Was it mistaken for an escort?