Evil Willy

TUTORIAL: Making Sails

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OK so I think some of you guys might have been waiting for this so here it is...How I make my sails. I will be making an Aft sail for my ship The Lotus which is in desprate need of one. And I am taking pictures step by step.

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Step 1: So to start I will be making a medium that we can make stencils with. What I am doing is simply taking two peices of basic white print paper and glueing them together with an ordinary glue stick.

As so

Papersglue.jpg

And putting them together

Puttingthemtogether.jpg

Now rub them nicely together... wait a minute or so and on to the next step.

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Step 2: Now we need to take sails from our previously bought LEGO Pirate sets or what not and trace them onto our medium we made in Step 1.

Tracing.jpg

Take your time and also make sure you trace out the holes. Now cut out the outside and poke the holes out with anything sharp (Doesn't need to be perfect)

Here is what i got..I am going to be making many little merchant ships from the imperial trading post so I need these and the other of course is my aft sail from the wonderful Armada Flagship.

Cutout.jpg

My holes on the stencils are rough as you can see but work just as well.

Punchedhole.jpg

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Step 3: Now run over to you grandma's and get some old cloth... Anything you like as long as it is not too thick. Now what we are going to do is trace the stencil we want unto the cloth. I like using a pencil because it is quite easily removed...and doesn't show as much as a black sharpie or a ballpoint pen. Anyways trace that on there along with the holes.

Now cut out around the outline, roughly leaving 1 inch of space around the outside.

Like this

Cutouttraced.jpg

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Step 4: In this step we are going to be strengthening the cloth so that it does not shred when we cut it...To do this I use a 1:4, water:White glue solution which I brush around the edges of the cloth and on the area where you will be punching out holes.

Like so

Applyingglue.jpg

This is the solution I use...Which I keep in a little ziploc container, so when I need it, it's there.

Mixture.jpg

Make sure you apply this to both sides, afterwards let it dry for and hour or so.

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Step 5: Now that its nice and dry we need to cut out that sail of yours! Use sharp cloth scisors from you moms sewing kit and cut on the inside of the lines (So that you do not see them)

Cuttingcloth.jpg

The result of a nicely cutout sail

Comparisonofsails.jpg

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Step 6: Now! You have cut out you sails and made everything nice... We are now in great need of holes! To make these I use enscence...I find it is the best way because it burns through nicely, making a good hole the size that u need! Do this on every hole you need, take your time..Do a good job! Believe me its all worth it in the end :D

Cool isn't it?

Holes.jpg

You are now done your sails! Hook them on and yell out Arr! For you have done a great job, I hope you're proud ;)

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Step 7(Optional): And for those of you who want a real old look to the sail(s) then brew up some coffee, enjoy it...And use what is left of it to dye your sail(s). Now what I do is poor it into a tray of some sort (I believe it is ment to make cakes) and soak you sail(s) in it... Hang them up somewhere and let them dry. (If they arn't dark enough for you then dye them again)

Dyeing it

Coffee.jpg

Aft Sail

AftSail.jpg

Front Sails

Newsails.jpg

Sometimes you may need to repeat Step 4 after this because the coffee may or may not take away the glue solution.

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I have now finished making the little merchant vessle's sails..Here it is!

Merchantship-1.jpg

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Well I hope this has helped you on your quest to making sails for your huge fleet of ships! PM me if this was helpful to you, I always enjoy comments and post pictures of sails that you have made!

Enjoy ;)

Yours Truly,

William Poulin (Evil Willy)

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Pretty nice tutorial Evil Willy ;)

I do have a couple of questions to take this great subject a little bit further:

1) how do you make perfect holes in the sails ?? What is the best method ??

2) You used here regular paper, but if you want a more "cloth" feel, what material would be best and easiest to work with ??

3) I remember you were taking about dying the sails in coffee or tea. What quantity do you use ?? I would assume very little, to have just a slightly modified/aged white sail.

I think I will try to do some sails just for fun, it looks fun to do and looks great !!!

Tks for your help ;)

*yoda*

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I was too quick to reply then :D :P

Great tutorial Evil Willy :oD

As a reward, I shall pin this so all our maties can do sail customs ;)

*yoda*

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i think i would iron the sails to get a real smooth surface...

would that work?

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What I don't get is: why do you trace the sails on white paper first and then on the cloth? Why not trace it onto the cloth right away? Or am I missing something? frage.gif

Nice tutorial none the less :)

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What I don't get is: why do you trace the sails on white paper first and then on the cloth? Why not trace it onto the cloth right away? Or am I missing something?

Nice tutorial none the less

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Im quite disapointed that no one seems to care about this...I put a lot of effort in finding the best amnners to do this and yet I seem to get no review. Not a great feeling at all.

Double post..Ooo no spaming the forums!

;D

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Looking good with the sails, i might try to make some for my pirate ships. I am sorry that i can

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Im quite disapointed that no one seems to care about this...I put a lot of effort in finding the best amnners to do this and yet I seem to get no review. Not a great feeling at all.

Double post..Ooo no spaming the forums!

;D

Strange thing is Willy, when something is pinned I tend to forget about it. I think maybe our problem is we have too many pinned threads at the moment and perhaps some of the threads that haven't been responded in for over a month could be unpinned.

As for your tutorial...

Its brilliant! Its obvious you've gone to a lot of trouble to produce this tutorial and it should provide a very useful resource for anyone who wants to create their own custom sails. This thread should be the envy of all other LEGO websites! But fear not, for those in high places are also quite impressed with your tutorial and are contemplating creatnig a special tutorial forum so EuroBricks can build a collection of tutorials. And guess what! You're the one that gave them this idea!

So everyone stand up and give Willy a standing ovation!

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Oo wow... I really felt awsome after reading that! I would love to hear more about this!!! I got this really awsome feeling when I read your responce mr phes..Thank you all for this. I now know people do enjoy my tutorial! wow wowowow :D

Edit: the envy to all other LEGO websites!!! Yeh yeh..Lets get this to other sites too. Maybe i would be famous haha!!!

Double edit (Oo now): remember I wasnt in it for the fame at first! My intentions were good I swear :D

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Ok Willy try these...

My scanner is old and crappy, and I'm not sure how to scan images in so they're 100% of their original size but here's the first attempt:

Sail1.jpg

Sail2.jpg

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This is a great idea - scan your sails everyone and we can all find them here in this thread when making sails of our own the "Evil Willy""-way :oD

Now where did I put the scanner that can hold the entire Viking Longboat Sail? ;)

KimT

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Ooo sorry I had put the wrong pic of the sails at the end....Look again ok and here

Newsails.jpg

Those were my old sails that were on..I had made those before even having the stencils..So look these are better right?

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Did anyone use this method? I would like feedback on it, seeing pictures would be nice!

I have used this method of sail reproduction in the past, up to the point about glue on the sides and coffee stains, pretty awesome ideas right there!

I tend to try to use material that glue is not needed, but my latest batch of cloth is in dire need of glue, i tend to use your method in the near future to use up the rest of this cloth i dont like!

As for coffee stains, thats pretty slick, but i prefer the cleaner looking sails.

I generally use canvas like cloth from fabric stores, usually printed in stripes to match the color of my ship's theme, so i tend to want to keep them cleaner looking.

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Did anyone use this method? I would like feedback on it, seeing pictures would be nice!

I'm out of cloth and don't know where to buy it at all *wacko* but I will use your tutorial for my frigate.

Arrr

Mr Tiber

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Ahh finally! Some people who finally use my tutorial. I can't wait to see your MOCS, cloth can be prchased at any sewingstore I guess, even like Wal-Mart.

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enscence

Incense.

; )

Would it be better to dip it in coffee first, then apply the glue? You know, to lock it in to the fibers better in cases of humidity / wetness?

So like anything they're resting up against when unbuilt doesn't get stained?

Cool idea by the way. I never think about the pirate lines much, but when I see them built, it gets me inspired.

EDIT: Ah, just thought. Instead of burning the cloth, are there any hole-punchers at Walmart (or anywhere?) that match the Lego-sized holes? On a newer looking sail, the edge burn would be more evident.

(Also, the gluing step would come after the holepunching step, to secure the threads on the rim of the hole).

Edited by JINZONINGEN 73

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Those are all good ideas that I have not tried, the way I do it works perfect for me because burning makes it look old...Which is what my sails look like... And yes there are definentley hole punchers somewhere but they are hard to use...

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That is a great Tutorial you got there Willy! I'd definately use it if I had any lego sails. :'-( Either way, thanks for making it. I hope to use it once I get some sails.

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