BrickPerfection

lol this one really made me laugh. Nice battle mech.

Wouldn't it be more funny to have him killed by jealous Bluecoats? But wait - that's impossible since only Redcoats have such poor character.

Very creative to refer to the traditional French - British rivalry. However you aren't correct about who won most of the time (at least in land battles) .

Really nice how you've build the toilet! Even though I'm more on the Bluecoat side, I enjoy watching this. It's a floatation ring.

Now this is Magicienne, she's a 38gun super frigate build on 7 midsections. "Super frigate" refers to the fact that around 1780 normal frigates where much smaller and carried less heavy guns. The French were among the first to build such ships, causing a lot of panic in the Royal Navy! Magicienne ad Concorde are quasi-sisterships meaning they share many techniques and the same bow and basic stern design, but have different dimensions; just like Achille and Guerrière. I've build Magicienne first, Concorde was build in a rush in less than a week with parts I had left. I've build both frigates according to plans from the book "The History of the French Frigate 1650-1850" by the famous Jean Boudriot. This means they are rather historically accurate, especially the sail and mast dimensions. I've designed the sailplan in accordance with the regulations of the French Navy between 1760 and 1781. This is also true for studding sails. For the colourscheme and stern I've taken some inspiration from the replica of the french frigate "Hermione". I The picture quality isn't great, but I've been too lazy to take new ones.

Nice to see you are still in the business of shipbuilding! I like how you gave her full cannons and not just fake gunports. The whole look is very classic. Even though the gallerys arent't angled I quite like how they look with that single pane. Since you said she has been on display already, are there any pictures of that? I've never had a ship on display so far, so I'm quite interested how that works too. The black 1x3 plates with the pearl gold 1x1 round plate and 1x2 grille appears to be glued on the inverted slope, am I correct? Anyway, it's good to have one more fine vessel for the French fleet!

I've thought about using cannon wheel for blocks when I visited HMS Victory in Spring 2011, but to be honest I was too lazy to make it work on 8 ships . The soap? for standardising the spacing is a very clever idea . This ship is going to be really good. Obviously you did benefit a lot from techniques already available, which made it all easier for you and the result better. Still, your own touch is very visible and your talent shows in such details. Congratulations! From my own experience I can tell you though that you are probably not even half way through the building process since rigging and sailmaking usually takes longest. Especially ratlines require a lot of patience. Good luck on completing her!

I don't know so much about these early day sailing ships. What you have so far is looking quite decent.

A very nice surprise to have you back; and that is a great project at a nice scale! I really believe in your hull technique as it seems rather smooth and in many respects most similar to a real ship. I haven't tried it mysel so far though. The floating test made me laugh, very funny idea. What I'd like to criticise is the hull shape. The bow is far to sharp and the frigate is lacking the "belly" that is so typical for age of sail ships. Good luck with her!

Thanks! I've got a more recent photo which I'd ask you to put on the blog: Like I said, she's complete apart from studding sails. Don't forget,there's also the other frigate: Magicienne; an almost-sistership on 7 midsections which I've actually build first. She's quite similar in terms of technique, but still an individual ship.

Now that this thread has been bumbed and I'm looking at the pictures I really get a sense of how much has changed since I first finished her - especially the sails now seem completely outdated to me, and their shape isn't accurate for the 1780s, but rather for the 1800s making her more a Napoleonic than a Royal French frigate. Since I'm now sitting on 8 ships which are now all finished apart from studding sails, I really should be able to show that evolution soon. A few hints can be seen here. Because I abandoned swivel guns and fixed chasers, the new gun count is 28, also a very classic number for frigates of the age of sail!

Thanks for your comment! The structure is the same as in the earlier version of Achille - no trouble at all. They way I build ships on prefabs is to put all structural reinforcements below the gundeck, so all the interior doesn't need to contribute to strength. In the end you gain a lot of freedom for constructing the decks and still the entire model remains very sturdy. By the way, modern trains like the ICE are constructed in similar manner with a strong base and light upper body. Well I think that hardly noticable bending is a bit over the top nitpicking - you said yourself that it isn't really posible to avoid that, and I even saw a little bending on higly detailed wood models. Well, obviously I can't stop anyone from copying stuff I post online and even though I tried to encourage giving credit some time ago there just isn't any culture to do so and over the course of time people tend to forget who initially invented or first made use of a specific technique. While I feel a little sad about that, I'm more than happy when a builder provides information about his sources and inspirations and maybe even a link. If you'd do that, you can feel encouraged to take whatever technique you like and blend it with your own individual touch. If you've got questions how something comes together you can send me a pm. I'm happy to share a few secrets, but I can't provide full building instructions (somebody asked my a while ago ). By the way, how's your fleet progressing? I think I remember seeing three ships of yours in the making? Thanks Captain! Well I happen to come and go... life has been a bit turbulent for me the last two years, and I've been quite uncertain which role Lego can still play for me. For the moment finishing what I've begun is what I'm looking forward too. Maybe there will be a new project at some point, maybe not.

Nice concept. I really like your water although the colours are a bit schematic.

Given a limited amount of bricks, your ship is still instantly recognisable as an 18th century sloop; and that is quite an achievement! I'd still try to find a better solution to attach the windows at the stern; or just leave them out and add some ornaments.

Well, I've been visiting this topic a couple of times now. While many of the building techniques are familiar to me in the sense that they've been "borrowed", I also spot that you're aiming for a level of detail that is higher than my own. Your swivel guns are the best I've ever seen in Lego; and the tan deck looks brilliant. When I compare your brig to my own, the Medée, which you took as example I guess, I have to admit that your deck design is not just more detailed, but simply better looking. While that's not true for other parts of the ships, esspecially bow and (improved) stern, I still feel challenged. My problem here is that for playability (space on the deck) and cost (reddish brown instead of tan) reasons I can't quite compete; in other words: you did a lot right here. I'd still try to give her a more ornate stern ( the shape is good I think) and get the headrails sorted; the middle tube isn't quite in the middle. I'm still curious to see how you're planning to make sails and rigging.

Quite a good idea to build something different then ships I really like how similar the overall appearance is to the original set; very classic! The rock looks sound too. I'm curious to see this progress.

Very funny! Great concept to use 3D cinema for unveiling that incredibly naive redcoat stupidity!

Why didn't you allow her to favour pirates? I've always been on their side as a kid.

Now that look like it will be possible to make white hulls in the future. While that's certainly interesting, I'm still fine with black.

That's indeed a very clever use of the prefab rocks! I've never seen them upside down before. The whole concept is pretty sound though. Maybe a bit chaotic, but very lively!

That's indeed a very clever use of the prefab rocks! I've never seen them upside down before. The whole concept is pretty sound though. MAybe a bit chaotic, but very lively!

That's really well build and the proportions match exactly to the original minifigure! I'm surprised sbout so few comments since I believe it's not really possible to build a much better maxifigure. Great work!

While this isn't the most detailed ship project in minifigure scale and your gun count isn't anywhere realistic, you are actually making some real progress and you've got good chances to be one of the very very few to actually complete such a massive ship model. I've got one question though since she'll become really heavy in the building process: can you still move her? Is the structure stable enough?

Thanks, Admiral! I will most certainly do my very best to find a more "perfect" solution. ;-) By the way, this might also solve my problem how to attach the bottom of the sails. :-)

Thanks! I used one of the new style hinges - it's hidden in the table. Many thanks! I'd really love to come to an Eurobricks event at some point, but I'm afraid this year it won't work out. When there's another possibility to put some ships on display however I might do that. Thanks! Well, the older two frigates now have both: a removable deck and sides. Personally I consider removable sides superior in all aspects; they are easier to implement, quicker to remove and allow for better playability. It's also possible to leave one side open and one side closed when on display. The only reason I made the removable deck back then is because I couldn't make the sides modular with the old style hinges. The Superbe has been broken up. Also I've sold a lot of Lego already, so I don't really have bricks for anything big anymore. I'm still looking for ways to get rid of many of the specialised parts I've bought for her though. I must admit that building ships at minifigure scale with such high ambitions is very risky, expensive and time-consuming. I figured that since I won't have the necessary ressources in the near future, it would be best to terminate the project. Exactly. Well, like I said these pictures are from July last year. All staysails are already in place, I just didn't take pictures yet. Currently I'm working on studdingsails; I started with Achille: