Dread Pirate Wesley

Eurobricks Citizen
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About Dread Pirate Wesley

  • Birthday 09/11/1984

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    http://www.flickr.com/photos/wesvdell/
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    Male
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    USA
  • Interests
    Sailing, Helicopters, Lego (duh)

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  1. Dread Pirate Wesley

    [OL - FB] 'Persévérante' and 'Comtesse de Praenia'

    Two excellent designs here. I would love to see the concept attempted in real brick, even on a smaller scale. I especially appreciate the waterline concept and rigging on Persévérante . You've given me a few ideas Dread Pirate Wesley
  2. Dread Pirate Wesley

    The Pickle: Now under sail

    Happy to give some inspiration! I apologize for the delayed response. I too was feeling to restricted by the traditional Lego hull pieces. This led to a lot of experimentation that ultimately led to both ships. The taper towards the stern is achieved by two hinges around midships. There are also hinges at the taffrail at the extreme stern of the ship to join it together. That allowed me to achieve the narrow look as she runs aft. Hope that helps! Dread Pirate Wesley
  3. Dread Pirate Wesley

    The 64-gun Ship of the Line Persephone

    As time moves on, with a ship this size one has to figure out what to do with it once it is completed. This is something I have been struggling with for about a year. Along with some other changes this year, I had the opportunity to remodel our basement. I was very pleased to be able to build something specifically for displaying this ship. Here is how she looks and will be displayed until she goes on tour again in the future. Even Lego has artistic value in the home Happy holidays to all! Dread Pirate Wesley
  4. Dread Pirate Wesley

    under construction: French brig WIP

    This is coming along very nicely! Glad that the Pickle was an inspiration, but you have improved the design quite a bit simply by adapting the technique from a schooner to a brig. Looking forward to seeing her completed Dread Pirate Wesley
  5. Dread Pirate Wesley

    Fifth Rate ship of the line

    If you're talking about a fifth rate under the Royal Navy's rating system, then you are essentially building a frigate. Henry Morgan sailed in the 17th century however, before the established 18th century rating system we normally use for ships of the line. These ships have an entirely different appearance, more like a galleon than a frigate. There are several model reproductions of his ship the Satisfaction, I would use these as a principle reference since there is very little actual information from that period. Dread Pirate Wesley
  6. Dread Pirate Wesley

    [LDD] [MOC] 74 gun Ship of the Line WIP

    I must say this is a fantastic ship! This particular photo captures the look of a French 74 perfectly. This was the direction I started with on Persephone but fell in love with the lines of the British 64 instead. Hopefully some of your techniques can be translated to bricks some day, she'd be an excellent adversary Dread Pirate Wesley
  7. Dread Pirate Wesley

    New horizons.....

    Guess I'm in the 10% then... Dread Pirate Wesley
  8. Dread Pirate Wesley

    14 Gun Brig: Pinnacle

    Excellent Brig you have there Mr. Townsend! I too immediately thought of the Sophie. Love the tiled deck and details, but the standout feature has to be those sails. I am quite envious of the craftsmanship you put into them and the rigging, looks perfect. Looks like I missed out on the WIP thread but you've ended up with a fantastic brig none the less! Dread Pirate Wesley PS Thanks for visiting the foundry
  9. Dread Pirate Wesley

    [WIP] ShipOfTheLine "HMS Vanguard"

    I'm a little late to this party but it is looking good so far! I especially like the tiled deck. Sebeus is probably correct in stating that it will look quite narrow on prefab hulls, but you have already taken measures to fit a lot of detail into a narrower hull. Good work so far, glad she will also have an interior Dread Pirate Wesley
  10. Dread Pirate Wesley

    The 64-gun Ship of the Line Persephone

    Thanks for the praise! I'm glad you've enjoyed the journey. I agree the adventure should continue in this thread rather than creating another. Thanks for the feedback The crew features many different torso's and heads from many different lines, let alone sets. If you look closely at the crew photos you will see bits and pieces from Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Sponge Bob, Superheroes, POTC and probably a few others as well. The officer's different levels of dress also gave me a few headaches. I believe the one you are referring to came from the Indiana Jones line. You can find it here. The other one I use for a different level of undress is the new Han Solo torso that you can find here. Here is a slightly different perspective of these torsos as two officer's enjoy a bit of music: Hope that helps answer your question. Thanks everyone for your comments and support! Dread Pirate Wesley
  11. Dread Pirate Wesley

    The 64-gun Ship of the Line Persephone

    I am working on some tattered and worn "battle sails" at the moment for some upcoming battle scenes. For now, just imagine her as just having set her courses for the first time leaving spithead. You can see more of the ships boats in post #16 of this thread as long as some other fantastic ideas from other members. And of course feel free to use any of my ideas in future builds, if I didn't want that then I would have kept her to myself! That would be an interesting idea. I'm working on some interior lighting at the moment, perhaps once that's done I will have a look at the cannons! No, she is an Ardent class third rate ship. Same class as Agamemnon on whoms lines she is based. But I believe that is what you were referring too since, if I'm not mistaken, the Inde was also an Ardent class before becoming a 44-gun razee. Indeed you should Sebeus! We would all love that as you always have some inspired designs. Well she isn't quite in action yet, but here she is sailing in close formation ready to engage the enemy in an upcoming series: I will post a break down of the carronade like I did for the great gun somewhere on this forum. Please see page 2 of this thread for detailed interior photos as long as some backstory of her crew. This brings up a good point though; Since this ship is intended as an ongoing series of stories, would you like to see those chapters in this thread or in a thread of their own? Either way I will update the first post of this thread everytime I add something new. Thanks to everyone who has viewed and commented on this thread. I appreciate all you support! Dread Pirate Wesley
  12. Dread Pirate Wesley

    English warship "Revenge" from 1577 in minifigscale 1:50

    This is outstanding, and really came out of no where! Thanks for sharing all the WIP pictures too. As I was looking at your first post I spent a good amount of time just thinking "how did he do that" and "I didn't think that was possible". That sir, is a testament to your skill and the amount of time and effort you put into this build. Outstanding once again, she really is a treasure. Dread Pirate Wesley
  13. Dread Pirate Wesley

    More ships for the fleet!

    Wow the stern on Magicienne is absolutely fantastic. She turned out to be a real beauty! I also like the way you did the studding sails, that's something I've wanted to do for some time now. If you would like some help with photography I can give you some tips (if you like the way my photos turned out). Here's a pic of my "studio" that I set up strictly for ship photography: It really has very little to do with the camera, more to do with the lighting and the background I find. Perhaps I can make a tutorial or just PM me and I can see if I can help. Plus, if you upload some good photos with neutral backgrounds your fleet and mine can do battle with a little assistance from photoshop! That is, if you think Magicienne could take down Persephone Seriously though you have an outstanding fleet. Best frigates I've seen with some superb details. Looking forward to seeing some crew aboard Dread Pirate Wesley
  14. Dread Pirate Wesley

    The bone collector

    Whoa! It's like Persephone has an evil twin! Nice work, I like the way it's coming along. The macabre style is very unique too. Keep up the good work Hope she will get an interior and sails to match the hull! Dread Pirate Wesley
  15. Dread Pirate Wesley

    The 64-gun Ship of the Line Persephone

    The deck curvature was necessary structurally as well. In order to keep the decks as thin as possible (more room for minifigs) the plates had to be overlapped in certain areas. This does give it a stepped look I agree, but I like the effect of the curve. Yes the rigging is "modular" in the sense that nothing needs to be untied in order to break it apart. Some are connected through these, the rest are simply clipped on to various parts of the masts and hull, making them easy to remove. As we continue the tour below decks, here is an example of how the ship breaks into four sections: As you can see, the only rigging that is disconnected is from the foremast and the main mast. We've already looked into the waist, so now lets move into the bow. The cook tends to his galley amid the upper gun deck. Below his galley, the red pieces are the riding bitts. These are used to secure the anchor cables when the ship is moored. When weighing anchor, the cables would be wound to the capstan in the waist. When the ship is connected, the lower gun deck is continuous with no interruption to the gunroom in the stern. Here we can see 24 of 26 great guns on the main gun deck. These would be 24 pounders on the main gun deck, and 18 pounders on the upper gun deck. The remaining guns are located in the gunroom and are removed when the stern galleries are pulled away from the stern. When the galleries are removed, we can see into the decks of the stern. On the main gun deck we can see the last two gun ports and the foot of the mizzen mast. The upper gun deck houses the pantry where food and stores are held for the wardroom. Above the pantry is the captain's office at the rear of the quarterdeck. It is flanked by the clerk's cabin and the master's cabin. If we continue past the office we get to the stern galleries. One of the most complex areas of the ship, you can see that it is also divided into 3 separate levels. The lower deck is called the gunroom. Here we see the two aft most great guns, and behind them facing rearward are the stern chasers. Between them is the ship's tiller, which would be connected to the ships wheel to pull it side to side and steer the ship. This is also where some of the lesser officer's would mess, in this case we see the gunner and his mate tending to one of the guns and the other to the bottle. Above the gunroom is the wardroom, where the senior officers would dine. It would appear that one of the lieutenants is studying the food of the enemy, with a glass of wine and a croissant gracing the table instead of the usual tea and roast beef. Above the wardroom is the captain's great cabin. The captain would not normally reside here, he would have a separate bedplace or a partition for his cot. In this case however the captains cabin appears to be occupied by an admiral or higher ranking flag officer, which would displace the captain of lower rank. The admiral himself is breathing the fresh sea air upon the ships balcony behind the great cabin. He doesn't seem to be enjoying it however, perhaps there is a lot on his mind, or perhaps the din of life aboard ship is grating on him. This concludes our tour of the interior of the ship. Each area of the ship is distinctly different and serves it's own purpose. Above you can see how all 3 decks change as we move from bow to stern. If there is any area you would like to see more of just ask! There's more to come as we take a closer look at how the ship got her name. This thread will really be directed by your questions so comments are always welcome! Dread Pirate Wesley