cehnot

I missed these updates from last year. How you got these interior were wonderful. What a great topic. I still have the set in the box.

I am also learning quite a bit about rigging. The various rigging I am doing helps keep the masts vertical, straight, and seem to work like real ships. I doubt I will add as many lines as a normal ship should have, but I want it to blend the system set with real rigging and that compliment will happen when I find a balance that seems to be easy to take off to remove panels, floors etc. Right now I can remove most the floors without touching the rigging and only need to separate some rigging strings to separate then ship into 3 parts.

I decided to have custom sails made. Working with Okohiobricks on modified Barracuda Sails. Jib sails, mizzen sails, taller main mast sails, and a bow spirit sail. I also want them double sided stripe printing.

The orders have shipped so hopefully soon. I had 5 orders placed and 2 came in. These two were parts replacing my placement temporary parts for several sections. One expensive rule I made for myself on this project was all new parts. I bought the Barracuda Bay intending to continue making the enire project using new pieces no matter the cost. The second rule was use as much LEGO original rigging and string as possible. Instead of doing a realistic rigging system with just string I wanted to combine the system parts and forma happy medium. The stuff minifigs climb are plastic and the rest string. I wish LEGO would do more string with bar end options than the 1 they have. This would solve my rudder issue instantly. I could use the bars to slide through all the technic bricks and plate holes and keep the entire ship easy to access. The string with studs are bulky and would need an alternative option for holes. I thought about making my own string with bar using a hose. Slide the string through it and glue it inside then cut the bar to the length I need. I could run the string inside it with those thin blue floss threaders. I only need 1 stud length to go. This would create a great option for future sting connections. I could then Let us talk about expensive parts and rare parts for a bit. I love the newer parts released in 2020 - 2022. 2x6 wedge plates will replace the cut parts I did as a temporary fix from 3x12 wedge plates. The new Globe set has the new 2x6 plates in dark tan so that will solve the wheel deck issue, and hoping they do a reddish brown set of these plates to replace my cabin issue. The plates line up to the side walls and create great angled side tables in the captains cabin. I used the new 1 stud wide brackets that are 2 studs tall in 2 areas that I felt needed more strength. I am glad more parts came in reddish brown since I began designing the ship. You can see I did use the other cut parts from my 3x12 to make dark tan 2x6 table tops in the cabin. The new Globe set offers dark tan 2x6 so those will be used on the deck above and here until brown comes available. Because of these parts the walls line up to it without a gap. Perfectly placed tables. The photo on the wall above the door has a 2x2 black bracket. I ordered a dark tan bracket so it looks like the photo frame is thicker rather than a weird black square on the wall. Many parts were too rare and expensive in 2019 and now easy to get. The 2x3 container doors in black are hard to find as new. Only in Europe and Asia. I went back to the poop deck with the container design I originally did in the Studio program because I lost so much space in the cabin for the stairs. Lego just released a new container drawer in black so I'll check out those, order them and see if I like them over the door. I like the container idea because they fit a map inside and a sextant. I am not sure if I like Iike the compartment I created at the back of the poop deck since I lowered the deck back down. It flips up and you can put a bunch of items in it. It allows the minifigs to use it as a platform to stand on. This idea was used in an earlier concept I did on studio file. Non compartment idea on the ship below. The floor is raised in the photo because the stairs wee inside that idea. But i can do the same black cheese slopes but lower to the floor at the same height then add a platform on top to stand. In the image below you can see the doors to stairs leading down to the cabin vs the digital file containers opttion. I am waiting for the rare black container doors and old 90s/2000s 4x4 45 degree wedge plates I found on a Europe bricklink store in New condition. I currently have old scratched and dented ones on the bow and clearly noticeable. I look forward to seeing the new parts from Europe. Cost about 2.50 each plus shipping so I made sure the order had the doors and other various island building parts as I could afford. Other rare items, the 14 stud yellow flex hose for the bow. The set uses 12 stud hoses. The change isn't noticed too much since the effect is similar to the set, but this project needed a longer bow spirit. I built the bottom hull frame for the ship and reworked the inside structure with technic bricks since it fell apart. The whole ship surprisingly didn't cause the stand to buckle under its significant weight. The temporary grey neck brackets will be replaced with black ones. They are my solution to rigging with LEGO string with studs. I wish we had more length options than 11, 31, and 41 studs. 31L is hard to find and I am waiting for them to arrive. The rudder and wheel mechanism. Check the link for a 10 second video showing the rudder working only using 1 piece of string method. No gears. https://bricksafe.com/files/cehnot/pirates/barracuda-galleon/20220128_1351391.mp4 I currently am using a cotton waxed string from a craft store for the rudder. I want to do a string with stud option. I would need a connection solution for the rudder that would not detach. I did a test run with two 41L string and when the wheel turned the string detached from the rudder causing me to take off the 2 floors to fix it. The waxed string option holds up well and gives me the ability to use technic bricks and plates to run the string through the ship. The stud option forces me to run it against studs and make the studs round so they don't catch. The smaller 12 lb cannons are connected to the floor using 1x1 dark bluish grey brackets. The larger cannons on the ship are held in under the wheels. I did not use the lego wheels for the cannon because I wanted them stationary and a narrower width. Those use the same sort of brackets in black with the grey round tiles you see above. The other reason for this is I can use the plates underneath and grab them with bricks to lift up the removable flooring to expose the galley level with all those neat storage areas for food, loot, crates, magazine, and rum barrels. Since taking these photos I realized I didn't finish some of the side brown hull curved slopes near the ladder. Easy fix. I modified the stand to raise the ship up higher on it by a stud or so. After resting it on the stand it hid the nice compass in the center. The image below is a studio rendering. Do you think it's too low? The last decision for this is cutting rigging. Right now the ship photos you see use a shorter front set of rigging. I cut the tops off to shorten the rigging. The digital files I proposed taking the stort rigging and cut it in half to only have 2 vertical rigs for the top of the ship and back towards the missed mast. I don't mind them on top of the masts anymore. I still don't like how it looks connecting to the mizzen mast. You can see the old digital file with cut mast design. It looks great.

I was going to share more progress photos, but I am waiting on 3 different orders that I need to make changes to the ship. I expanded the interior of the front arsenal area and moved the ladder leading up to the forecastle. I am also going to remove the new doors on the poop deck. I forgot I purchased a globe and had a few more decorations that I thought in another bin. I began working on the masts and bowspirit. Lego reviews came in from the new Ideas Globe. They include 2x6 dark tan wedge plates and 1x2 dark tan wedge plates. I will be able to improve the poop deck design. I need Lego to get those 2x6 reddish brown wedge plates made and I will have a complete ship. Right now I have black ones as placeholders in the cabin. The masts were not as strong as I was hoping so I made some changes to the top platforms that strengthen the whole thing using bars and hoses inside several areas. I cannot place them on the ship until I complete the new changes to the forecastle. The forecastle is changing slightly on the exterior for the better. I already solved a few internal connection issues when I changed the interior design. I need to solve a hose connection to the forecastle so the ship railing in the front bow doesn't pop off. I also changed the bow a bit so the statue is more secure. I'll get more photos uploaded tonight.

Long overdue progress update: It took me a long time to collect all the LEGO parts for this build. Work and babies this was difficult to finally get free time to build this. Barracuda stand nameplate: The company I used required 10 printed parts as a minimum requirement for UV printing. If anybody would like to buy some PM me. Each nameplate came in separate bags. Okay, we all came here to see what I have done with the ship! I decided not to do a bunch of string custom rigging. Instead I have decided to use LEGO parts. I changed parts for structural purposes and realized that the original ship I designed had areas that needed stronger connections to hold up the shear weight where the pins connect to separate all three hull sections. The original thought was to do waht LEGO did, disconnect everything with pins and what I found was that when I lifted it up, the pins snapped off. What I have done was create a series of overlapping decks that help connect it. The decks now serve as the important connection to hold the whole thing up. I also found that there is a specific disassembling process to the whole ship that gives me access to the lower rear hull. The process is 4 steps, but necessary for it to not collapse under its own weight. I am working on the front forecastle. The string needed to turn the wheel and rudder system will be added later. I also need to add an anchor string to capstan connection for that to work. I have 2 working capstans in the ship A front one which I will use for the anchors and the middle one for other items. The main capstan in the middle of the ship behind the main center mast was used for anchors, but that would interfere with removing the different hull pieces. I am fighting with my internal demon on whether to have access to the wheel deck from the captains quarters or just have a container compartment. I raised the rear poop deck by 1 brick. The original poop deck only existed 2 studs higher than the wheel deck. I also had 2 containers located where you now see a 3stud high set of doors. I wanted a place for the nautical equipment and love the design, but i have this rolling stair case that flips down to the captains quarters. This gives him access to the top deck instead of walking through the other crew quarters to the main door then up the stairs. This looks great, but I love the old design file with the black containers. This also gave me a place for the bell. The bell would sit too high up now. This is the rolling staircase. There is still a hallway with doors you can close on the main level beneath the stairs. Decisions, decisions. The captain's quarters is spacious when you lift the stairs. Again, if the containers were here instead of the stairs, then the room si quite large. And of course I included a secret storage compartment under the floor for the captain to hide items. Its 4 plates tall in the center. I also made sure that the bed is actually his treasure chest. This contains a bunch of jewels and gold. The chest is removable if you lift up the two pillows. Main capstan: 2 levels. If you remove the cannons this rotates without hitting the support beams. The upper section has clips to hold the beams when people are using the quarters to sleep. Raising the beds up like this allows people to turn the capstan. The great part about the doors leading to the captain's quarters, they serve as private sleep chamber doors for the quartermaster and first mate. The second capstan, located near the front. Each cargo hold does have items in them. Surrounding the capstan under the cannons are about 20 dark brown barrels for their rum. Closer to the back I have about 6 black barrels for gun powder and dark brown 1x3 wand boxes representing smaller ammunition boxes. When the ship is complete I will take lots of photos and a cargo photo of everything that fits inside the galley deck. Its a lot of food, bags, boxes, barrels, and loot. This added weight to the whole ship for sure. I forgot to order some ladders, but here is a great photo of the cook's station. The hatches under the floor where the tables are contain food. Let me know what you think on these areas, especially the poop deck.

I have most the hull built and the crew assembled. I have all the part, but I began packing and moving to a house we finally was accepted an offer a few months ago. I hope to set up my lego building area in the next month or so so I can finish it. I have all the cannons made, but changed the design so it could use the flat pearl grey steel looking color like the cannons use in the set. The ship has walls up until past the cannon ports. I am glad that several parts are now available in dark tan and reddish brown. I hope to have the ship finished in November before thanksgiving since I have a few weeks off. I'll take some photos of the current state when we get internet set up in the house 2 weeks from now.

I have debated on ordering from that service since there isn't as many pieces available. I kept going back to Brick and Pieces when I was looking for all the parts I needed. I wish Pick a Brick offered the same parts as the other. They don't need to include the printed parts or minifigs. I am perfectly happy waiting 5 weeks for my order since they are better priced on shipping than bricklink orders. The great part about thos service is how easy it is to obtain new parts and colors. Each month I check new elementary website for parts and ID numbers and head over to Brick and Pieces to see if they are available. I do not understand why I didn't do this before 2021.

I solved part of the bow gaps. I am having trouble with the gap as it comes to the front 45 degree angle. I'll need to see where exactly the hull base meets the prefab parts. I am hoping some of it hides the issue in finding, but I'll investigate it when I begin the hull.

I will have my custom printed "Barracuda" tiles in hand the next few days. I received my last few brick and pieces orders yesterday and I will be able to take a crew picture this coming week. The new black 2x6 wedge plates are used in the ship. I originally made a custom 2x6 wedge plate for the captains cabin angled tables. I wanted them to line up to the straight table and bed in the rear. I heart rumors that LEGo was creating these and it fits perfectly with the ship cabin design. I actually need these plates in reddish brown, but for now they will at least flesh out the cabin design. I ordered extra torsos for several barracuda bay characters because I wanted to make sure I had a clean copy. I also found it cheaper to order Redbeards torso and legs than getting the peg leg and hook individually off bricklink. I needed several peg legs and hooks for other characters so this was a great opportunity to keep backup torsos. More pineapples! Another row boat for the island portion. The dark tan parts are not all used in the new ship. I only needed 2 bracket parts for the ship, but I am sure ill use others for the island. The windows and doors were not originally part of my ship design. I didin't know these were available in this color so i picked them up. I think i can incorporate one or two as compartment hatches in the floor. I purchased a bunch of rare reddish brown doors like you see in the photo for the ship. I am still not sure if I will use them for that or the island. The next 2 photos are not all pirate related. The white tiles are for a BBF van I am building and obviously the 20 knights and 5 horses will fill the new creator set and blacksmith set. I may be purchasing 2 or 3 creator sets to build a larger castle in the future. The important parts for this first image are those new brackets. I use a few of them in the ship. I originally designed a custom part to do the same thing and now they are available in black and brown. Cannons, dark tan, and reddish brown pieces galore! I couldn't resist myself from purchasing a bunch of barracuda set parts from bricks and pieces. Almost all of these new parts were cheaper than bricklink and I wanted extra printed pieces such as the flags, and maps. This finishes my ship order and now i can sort everything for building the massive galleon. I may showcase the massive crates, barrels, boxes, bags, and containers for my pirate display. I realized I have been purchasing them in every order. A galleon needs stuff to fill to hull off to the island retreat.

My last 2 orders finally came in. This finishes my 20 Black Falcons, 5 horses collection. I may buy more horses in the future, but I am extremely happy all the torso and leg parts came in. Now that they are coming out with a creator castle I may purchase a few sets and combine them into a larger castle and may incorporate the blacksmith set into the set. This ends my pirate bounty. I found it cheaper purchasing extra torsos an legs than the flat silver hooks and pegs of bricklink. I now have plenty of backups for the main 4 pirates, including heads, hair, and hats.

check my Flikr account for final model. I used aluminum colored custom parts by chrome block city for the car. Van parts are ordered. thanks. It will be a while. I am tackling several smaller builds first. Doc Brown van and blue vw van parts are ordered. The garage will be my next large project to order while I begin building my large 14,000 piece gb firehouse.

I personally would love to see The Rocketeer and a Disney Live Action CMS series featuring characters from their films. Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Willow, Tron, Flynn, etc.

Not yet. There are a few alternative solutions for making this happen, but the cannons won't be entirely pearl dark gray. 2 issues I would face: need to use a jumper plate, and a bar with a round stud at the end. My only concern is the gaps under the bow parts. The old bow and stern were solid structures underneath the ship. I need to investigate how to fill those gaps when the ship is constructed. Looks great sideways, but not so much underneath.

My second and third LEGO B&P order came in. The dark tan, pearl gray, and reddish brown parts finish my pirates order.