SteamSewnEmpire

If you're willing to make small changes, my only advice (to echo others) would be sail alterations - namely, heightening the fore mast a bit, the main mast more, and then adding additional yards to both. Ships with a full level rig weren't really introduced until the 19th Century (clipper ships, for example, had all masts of roughly equal height). Introducing significant variations in mast height would make this look more like its own creation. Now, as you said, this would likely require redesigning the masts a fair amount, but it probably wouldn't be more than about $10 USD on Bricklink to accomplish this.

Hi all, I'm nearly finished with a 17th Century play-scale 4th rate, and have run into a minor hitch. I'd like to draw inspiration for the stern from a piece of very old Lego artwork featuring a massive (MASSIVE) brick-built man-of-war. The photo I am talking about (probably) came from one of the Lego inspiration books in the late 80s or early 90s (although it might have been a one-off mini poster - I simply cannot remember), and the ship was an all-brick-built transitional galleon/1st rate in true minifig scale that was probably around 15,000 pieces, or so (similar to this, but more ornate). It was a stern-on shot, possibly with a sunset background. My guess is that someone knows what I'm talking about, because for a lot of us as kids at the time, it was just a WOW kind of picture. I was wondering if anyone had it available to upload? I've tried Googling a bunch of different phrases to see if it would come up, but have thus far had no luck... though I know it's out there, because I remember seeing it just a few years ago. Thanks.

Lol, I juuuust received the last two yesterday. I like the New Vanguard stuff, even though they're basically fancy magazines in terms of length. Will look into the others - thank you!

So even during the height of piracy ca. 1700 wheels would have either been uncommon or unheard of? Huh. Learn something new every day. I've only just recently begun reading about 17th Century ships - most of my knowledge is based around Napoleonic stuff. But it's amazing how many truly immense full fleet actions occurred 1600-1700... in fact, it really puts the period of post-revolutionary French expansionism to shame. The Nile and even Trafalgar can hardly compare to several of the 100 vs. 100 battles from earlier (granted, Trafalgar had larger ships, so an outright 1-for-1 equivalence isn't really fair). Unrelated: I am considering doing a companion ship, albeit much smaller - potentially based on the Harderwijk, a frigate forerunner.

Interesting stuff!

It's missing the requisite shark. You know... a menacing fin or something.

Really cool. How does she handle curves with the skirting on the tender? I've always struggled with that on similar locomotives. Or... is the skirt itself a part of the trucks?

You didn't respond to anything I said, and continued to make it a personal attack. Welcome to ignore.

1) Many ships of this era were NOT that fancy. Not line ships, obviously, but, smaller vessels? No. (It also bears pointing out that almost no line ships had really ornate detail on their sides, where they could expect it to be pulverized every time they fought an action. Even Sovereign of the Seas - arguably the fanciest warship in history - had a clean beam face). 2) It really depends on where you perceive the model's waterline to be as to what the payoff is. Doing this further heightens the ship, making the place where the tumblehome turns further above the stock Lego ship keel parts, so there definitely is a tradeoff in terms of design. 3) Similar to 2), this technique obliges the builder to incorporate sheer into the setting of the gunports, which - in most cases - is exaggerated when compared to real world men-of-war. When you look at line drawings from the age of sail - even the 17th Century, when hull curvature was most pronounced - gun ports are in a fairly straight line down the length of a vessel. The hull is extremely curved, but the internal decking much less so. So, again, there is a give and take with this approach. 4) I praised the model. I will praise it a second time below. I'm getting really tired of the indignant attitudes of a vocal minority on this website. You cannot say anything - ANYTHING - without someone injecting ego into the matter. It's a great ship. It is undoubtedly a great ship, and better than anything I have ever done. But there are definitely things to consider with that design. And you don't have to get into a huff on the OP's behalf because I said that and only that. @Brickander Brickumnus asked a question. I answered honestly. It wasn't an attack; it was never intended to be an attack. It was - and remains - an observation. That's all. Cheers.

Just do a Google images search for 'pirate sloop.' I also find the New Vanguard books to be pretty helpful: https://www.amazon.com/Pirate-Ship-1660-1730-New-Vanguard/dp/1841764973

Somehow I missed this. I love it! One small bit of advice: make the mainmast about 1/3rd taller. It's *slightly* too short right now.

Thanks. It's definitely my favorite, too. Sadly, this one is pushing 5,000 bricks... but it's high on my to-do list should I ever have money.

Lol, well this is an old topic. Oddly enough, I was looking at this very thread only like 8 hours ago. He just SNOTted out some curved bricks, gaining about a stud's additional width on each side. Most people probably don't do it because it would dramatically increase the part count for only a modest payoff. It also fancies up the sides far more than a lot of people may want, potentially drawing the eyes away from more detailed parts of the build. On this particular model, though, it's amazing to look at.

Thanks man. I didn't remember that it was a fullblown galleon. Very cool design, even 30 years on.

It runs like a dream.

I don't know why, but after like 10 hours of working on this, it still looks off to me. The photos line up, and I incorporated a lot of extra SNOT stuff (I'm particularly happy with how the steps to the cab turned out - I feel like they are about as slender as they could be) to push the envelope... but something still feels wrong. Sigh. Oh well.

Locomotive: MOC:

I like my Barracuda, but I'll be honest: I think the stern castle is really lazy - it's the one part of the model that I feel like Lego kind of phoned in. On the other hand, right off the bat I thought the core hull was just brilliantly designed, albeit better suited to serve as the base of a galleon than a kind of miniaturized line ship. With that in mind, I went to work this morning... Very little of the original ship remains - the sides, masts, and the lower stern, and that's it. I feel like it turned out *okay* - it's still kind of toy-like, but in a pleasing way that blends a reasonable part count (about 1,600) with some real-world influences. There's no sheer, but a lot of really successful galleons in this scale seem to eschew that characteristic, so it's probably passable.

Sadly, yes.

That's really first-rate stuff, man. Do you plan to use custom XXL wheels?

Like the bow a lot.

Thanks man. I may build it. It would be very difficult to choose between this and the Indefatigable I did last month. Totally different eras... different "loves" (Royal Navy vs. 17th Century piracy). Geesh. Tough call.

It's neat. I just don't know what I'd do with it.

Love it.

I bet it wouldn't be that bad. For one thing, you could use the second wheelset to hide the power, thereby allowing you to do a smaller boiler. Now, if you're talking about making it run as intended... like... with the upper wheels powering the lower ones. Yeah... that would be horrific.