Foremast Jack

Eurobricks Citizen
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Everything posted by Foremast Jack

  1. Foremast Jack

    The Sea has Spoken by gearcs

    The turtle made me lol.
  2. Foremast Jack

    Concerning the Black Pearl's Unfortunate Rudder

    Could you maybe describe how it's designed for those of us that don't own the Pearl?
  3. Foremast Jack

    Friendship hairpieces good for Pirates?

    I thought the same thing. Here's the best screenshot I could find:
  4. Foremast Jack

    Friendship hairpieces good for Pirates?

    I rather like the look of it. Yes, it would need to be painted to pass for a powdered wig, but I think the general shape is pretty good. Does anyone have a part number for it? I looked through the minifig headgear listings on bricklink, but didn't see it in there.
  5. Foremast Jack

    MOC/LAYOUT: Mediterranean Islands with fortress

    I rather like your MOC. I was a bit taken aback with the real stone in use at first. It strikes me as being somehow intrinsically wrong, but at the same time I can't deny that it really looks good. It seems almost like a real-life photo slowly blending into a Lego creation of that picture. Ultimate verdict: P.S. Get rid of those rocks!
  6. Foremast Jack

    My Grande Armèe

    Thanks for the tutorial link. I was going to ask if you had the time to make one. I am curious though. The video is just the casting part, how do you make the prototypes/originals (not sure the correct term) to use in the mold. They look so good.
  7. Foremast Jack

    Tutorial: Fort Outworks

    Yes, Saint Augustine is quite a delightful town, but my high-school history teacher would have a fit if I didn't make a point to draw attention to the fact that the Castillo de San Marcos isn't in fact stone, but rather Coquina. As briefly mentioned in the wiki article the coquina is soft and some-what "pliable". So that enemy cannonballs actually sink into the fortress walls instead of breaking apart. There are still cannonball indentations in the sea-ward walls today. All the local tourist guides like say that the defenders would pull the enemy cannonballs out of the walls and shoot them back.
  8. Foremast Jack

    LDD and New Ship

    You need to set unlock and set your LDD into extended mode. Here's a tutorial. Keep in mind there are still certain pieces that aren't there, but this should satisfy your needs. Also, you won't be able to check the price and order your made set through Lego anymore. Enjoy.
  9. Foremast Jack

    (WIP) MAN-O-WAR - Brick Hull

    She's a beaut! I know it's probably a little late in the developmental process to add a suggestion, but I just have to say that for this size of vessel the capstan is WAY under-sized. (not to mention it should be located somewhere abaft the fore-mast) It's a small detail that is of little consequence. I'll drop a link for my recent tutorial just so you have an idea of what you may want to try and work in if you ever get around to tearing it down and rebuilding like you've mentioned. Again she looks amazing and is quite inspiring.
  10. Foremast Jack

    British Frigate WIP

    It seems several great minds beat me to the punch, but your reference makes it clear that if cannons are to be employed in the build they need be 9 pounders. If carronades are to be used then those would need to be brick built as well. However, the builder is a lot like an historical novelist, who is more than allowed to take certain liberties with history. So anything can be done. I merely want it to be clear in his or her mind that historical certainty can be found here among these numerous and knowledgeable peers.
  11. Foremast Jack

    British Frigate WIP

    First let me say that it's always nice to see a ship that so many people can relate to. So get it done as soon as you can. :D The only recommendation I would make at this point is to maybe think about designing a brick-built cannon. The Lego one is generally agreed upon to represent an 18-24 pounder whilst the Surprise historically would have carried long 9's (or long 12's if you're going off the O'Brian books). Either way, keep up the good work.
  12. Foremast Jack

    Tutorial: Fort Outworks

    Thanks for the great addition Skipper. Very nice. Was also nice to see a nod to the Castillo de San Marcos since it's about 10 minutes down the road from my house.
  13. Foremast Jack

    Flying Dutchman WIP

    She's looking pretty good. Keep up the good work.
  14. Foremast Jack

    [Tutorial] The Captain of the Capstan

    I left you a private message. Get back with me when you can please.
  15. Foremast Jack

    [Tutorial] The Captain of the Capstan

    [pid][/pid] Tutorial - The Captain of the Capstan This tutorial is complete Updated with clearer, more succinct illustrations Hello all! In the spirit of Horry's recent tutorials based around making more historically accurate nautical vessels I've decided to help him spread the wealth of knowledge that is to be had. I plan to update this thread every so often with a new capstan design for all the different ships that are of interest to the great patrons of these forums. Seeing how it seems most applicable I first present the capstan assembly for rated men-of-war from the late 17th century till the end of the age of sail.(Those being frigates and ships-of-the-line.) Part I: Rated Men-of-War from pre- and post-Napoleonic era. "'All hands unmoor ship,' said Jack, raising his voice to the pitch of an order, though every man had been at his station these ten minutes past, angrily willing the pilot to stop his prating, to stash it, to pipe down; and instantly the bosun sprung his call. 'See,' cried Stephen, 'the carpenter and his crew put the bars in the capstan - they ship them, pin them and swift them.' 'They bring the messenger to the capstan: the gunner ties its rounded ends together. What are they called, Maturin?' 'Let us not be too pedantic, for all love. The whole point is, the messenger is now endless: it is a serpent that has swallowed its own tail.' 'I cannot see it,' said Standish, leaning far out over the rail. 'Where is this messenger?' 'Why,' said Martin, 'it is that rope they are putting over the rollers just beneath us in the waist, a vast loop that goes from the capstan to two other stout vertical rollers by the hawse-holes and so back.' 'I do not understand. I see the capstan, but there is no rope round it at all.' 'What you see is the upper capstan,' said Stephen with some complacency. 'The messenger is twined about the lower part, under the quarterdeck. But both the lower and the upper part are equipped with bars: both turn: both heave, as we say. See, they undo the deck-stoppers, or dog-stoppers as some superficial observers call them - they loosen the starboard cable, the cable on the right-hand side - they throw off the turn about the riding-bitts! What force and dexterity!' 'They bring the messenger to the cable - they bind it to the cable with nippers.' 'Where? Where? I cannot see.' 'Of course not. They are right forward, by the hawse-holes, where the cable comes into the ship, under the forecastle.' 'But presently,' said Stephen in a comforting tone, 'you will perceive the cable come creeping aft, led by the messenger.' John Foley, the Shelmerston fiddler, skipped on to the capstan-head; at his first notes the men at the bars stepped out, and after the first turns that brought on the strain, three deep voices and one clear tenor sang Yeo heave ho, round the capstan go, Heave men with a will Tramp and tramp it still The anchor must be weighed, the anchor must be weighed joined by all in a roaring Yeo heave ho Yeo heave ho five times repeated before the three struck in again Yeo heave ho, raise her from below Heave men with a will Tramp and tramp it still The anchor's off the ground, the anchor's off the ground 'There is your cable,' said Martin in a very much louder voice, after the first few lines. 'So it is,' said Standish; and having stared at it coming in like a great wet serpent he went on, 'But it is not going to the capstan at all.' 'Certainly not,' said Stephen in a screech above the full chorus. 'It is far too thick to bend round the capstan; furthermore, it is loaded with the vile mud of Tagus.' 'They undo the flippers and let the cable down the main hatchway and so to the orlop, where they coil it on the cable-tiers,' said Martin. 'And they hurry back with the flippers to bind fresh cable to the messenger as it travels round.' 'How active they are,' observed Stephen. 'See how diligently they answer Captain Pullings' request to light along the messenger, that is to say pull along the slack on that side which is not heaving in -' 'And how they run with the flippers: Davies has knocked Plaice flat.' 'What are those men doing with the other cable?' asked Standish. 'They are veering it out,' answered Martin quickly. 'You are to understand that we are moored,' said Stephen. 'In other words we are held by two anchors, widely separated; when we approach the one, therefore, by pulling on its cable, the cable belonging to the other must necessarily be let out, and this is done by the veering cable-men. But their task is almost over, for if I do not mistake we are short stay apeak. I say we are short stay apeak.' But before he could insist upon this term, better than any Martin could produce, and reasonably accurate, a voice from the forecastle called 'Heave and a-weigh, sir,' whereupon Jack cried 'Heave and rally' with great force. All the veerers ran to the bars, the fiddler fiddled extremely fast, and with a violent, grunting yeo heave ho they broke the anchor from its bed and ran it up to the bows. The subsequent operations, the hooking of the cat to the anchor-ring, the running of the anchor up to the cat.head, the fishing of the anchor, the shifting of the messenger for the other cable (which of course required a contrary turn), and many more, were too rapid and perhaps too obscure to be explained before Jack gave the order 'Up anchor' and the music started again; but this time they sang We'll heave him up from down below Way oh Criana That is where the cocks do crow We're all bound over the mountain to the sound of a shrill sweet fife. The ship moved easily, steadily over the water - the tide was making fast - and presently West, on the forecastle, called 'Up and down, sir.' 'He means that we are directly over the anchor,' said Stephen. 'Now you will see something.' 'Loose topsails,' said Jack in little more than a conversational voice, and at once the shrouds were dark with men racing aloft. He gave no more orders. The Surprises lay out, let fall, sheeted home, hoisted and braced the topsails with perfect unity, as though they had all served together throughout a long commission. The frigate gathered way, plucked the anchor from its bed and moved smoothly up the Tagus." - excerpt from The Thirteen-Gun Salute by Patrick O'Brian The capstan assembly is the device used to raise and lower the ship's anchor(s). The capstan is a vertical-axled machine passing through at least two decks depending on the size of the vessel. It is operated by up to 100 men, again depending on the size of ship. Here we see an exterior view of the bow of a 2 decker ship-of-the-line. The cable anchor passes through the hawse holes. It does not connect directly to the capstan (as we'll see). At this time in history the anchor was so large that it would break the capstan was it to wrap directly around it. It also took several men to handle the cable. Okay. So here we can see all the inner workings. The way it all works is this: the messenger cable is wound around the trundlehead. (It would have been wound much more than once as pictured, but can't do it in LDD with those tubes.) The messenger cable then ran around the rollers and rode on the bits to keep it off the deck. (Also when the ship is "at anchor" the anchor cable is wove around the bits. This is how it keeps the ship in place. Otherwise the end of the anchor cable would just slide out the hawse hole and someone would have to handle another rope's end. ) The anchor cable was lashed to the messenger cable with bits of rope called nippers. (The nipper lashings would have extended from the hawse holes down the length of cable all the way to the hatch, not just the two I have pictured.) As a nipper reached the cable hatch a small boy (called a Nipper) would untie the lashing and run up to the forward bulkhead to tie it onto the cable that was just coming through the hawse hole. Down in the orlop were several strong and hearty lads who man-handled the anchor cable to lay and stack it neatly. (Though not displayed here, since the pre-fab hull pieces cut off some depth, the area of deck the cable was laid on had several planks missing so that air could circulate about the cable to dry it. A note on the deck location for different sized men-of-war. As previously stated the displayed ship would be a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th rate "two decker." Were this a 1st or 2nd rate three-decker the trundlehead would extend up one more deck and there would be a second drumhead there. On a frigate: the deck where the trundlehead is shown would be the single gun-deck and the drumhead would be on the main deck (aka weatherdeck). With most frigates the capstan was light enough that when not in use it was bodily lowered into the gun deck to clear the main deck and a ship's launch was stored there. A note on capstan location within the ship: Whilst pictured here just abaft the foremast the location of the capstan (trundlehead and drumhead) could be as far aft as just fore the mainmast. I think that's about it. I'll probably do un-rated napoleonic ships next. Questions, comments, concerns, critiques and criticisms are all welcome. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
  16. Foremast Jack

    [Tutorial] The Captain of the Capstan

    Redid all the pictures. Looks a lot better now. Enjoy.
  17. Foremast Jack

    [Tutorial] The Captain of the Capstan

    Here you go. My link The pump windlass isn't completely functional. I kind of fudged a couple aspects when I couldn't make it small enough and squeeze in all the details I wanted. The other two work though. I deleted a couple things though. The horizontal capstan is off a WIP of mine I'm getting ready to build irl, and there are some techniques I don't want to give away til I get them done.
  18. Foremast Jack

    [Tutorial] The Captain of the Capstan

    Thanks for the comments. I tried using the screenshot capabilities of LDD from within the program, but it gives the background an off-white background and the editing program I use has difficulties rendering it when I paste in to add labels. (Displays it as gray and white checkers.) And yes I'd be more than happy to post the LXF's. However, being new I'm not sure the best way that would keep all the admin's happy. What would you recommend for attaching the files?
  19. Foremast Jack

    [Tutorial] The Captain of the Capstan

    I glad the illustrations are helpful. Some of them are VERY time consuming and insanity inducing. I'm happy to see the effort is worth it.
  20. Foremast Jack

    [Tutorial] The Captain of the Capstan

    Part III: Merchant Ships (and the like). Welcome the third and final part of the Captain of the Capstan tutorial. With this installment we'll take a look at the Pump Handle Windlass. The machine used to raised the anchor on most smaller (lightly manned) merchant ships and other generally small vessels (combat oriented or not). We should note that with merchant ships, the size of the vessel did not have as much to do with the type of capstan used. Rather it had more to do with its compliment of men. With the pump windlass as few of two men could operate it. note: Obviously with such merchant ships as the famed "indiaman" (which carried as many men and guns as some 4th rate ships-of-the-line) they would employ the style of capstan described in part I. The operation of the Pump Handle Windlass is fairly straight-forward. One of more men took hold of each handle and alternatively "pumped" the handles up and down. On the down stroke, an iron rod attached to the rocker arms moved a ratcheting gear on the windlass barrel. Thusly, drawing in the anchor cable. Whilst that was happening a gravity type pawl plate locked it from reverse motion. a note on location: the majority of the time the windlass assembly was stored on deck in the bow; however, it was not uncommon (especially on Clippers in the mid-19th century) for it be stored under the fo'c'sle and brought up on deck when needed for use.
  21. Foremast Jack

    What are your questions when building ships?

    Oh most assuredly! I plan to have my capstan one finished in the next couple of days. I was then thinking about doing one on rudders/steering mechanisms. Maybe masts after that, but that's as far as my plans go. Working on one together could prove most effective and I'm VERY much open to the idea. Let me know if you have something in mind.
  22. Foremast Jack

    [Tutorial] The Captain of the Capstan

    I'm very grateful for such great words from such a great mind.
  23. Foremast Jack

    What are your questions when building ships?

    Oh, well... I'm a bit taken aback now. I just wanted to help you out some, not step on your toes. I beg pardon. Perhaps I should wait and have you tell me what would best help you? I'll finish up this capstan one, then fall into silence.
  24. Foremast Jack

    [Tutorial] Sailing ships interior

    I know EXACTLY what you mean. I nearly lost mine getting all those damn tubes in order on my first capstan entry.
  25. Foremast Jack

    What are your questions when building ships?

    I know this question was answered to complete satisfaction, but I was thinking about doing a rudder tutorial after my capstan one is complete. (There were quite a few different types used other than just the one described here.) Is there any interest in such a thing?