Moomin

Hey - sorry for the late post. You mentioned the vessel on a recent response to a post, so just taking a look now. I really like it! Great cabin details and storage, and love the cannons with the rounded end. Best way to go , custom cannons, with the smaller vessels IMO. Did have a long hard thought about tumblehomes and experimented: they were present on most vessels of around this size but pretty minimal in some cases. In my opinion, adding tumblehomes to vessels of this sort of size isn't necessary: in fact, when I tried, it made my brig look odd - almost like an ironclad or the hull started looking like something out of WW1! Just didn't fit. Really think if going up to corvette/frigate size (prefabs or no) it does look better with a tumblehome however if building fun but reasonably realistic ships. All the best! Great build!

Thanks Plaid Beard . Was pleased with it overall. I'm not on here much - just tend to browse once in a while. I've cleaned up the ratlines now and added better mountings for them on the hull using technics pieces. I agree - it is a mission trying to source parts from ebay and the like - I ended up with quite a few surplus parts: amongst numerous chests and barrels I now have maybe a dozen of the official cannons (too big for my project), and several jolly boats in my stores! Last time I checked the official store, no hull pieces were available - I searched for them looking under spare parts for the 'Imperial Flagship model. All the best!

Hey! Seems you may be in a similar position to that which I was a couple of years ago - wanting a larger, slightly more realistic ship but still on the old hull - I built 'The Parrot' from parts of the old Carribean Cipper' set - had a few other pieces too, but mostly I sourced hull and masts etc from ebay, bricks from the official lego store - about £125 all up, not including the original model of course. The flush decking was most expensive! so many tiles needed! Still upgrading, working on this now - should really get some new pics up... http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=98226&hl=parrot All the best!

Hi - off to a good start, and like it that you have considered features such as the tumblehome, and given thought to the sail plan too. The masts look well spaced - I am certainly no expert on these maters though! Kurigan is of course correct to state that this is not a frigate but a brig - frigates have three masts. Only my opinion, but I would work her up as a brig, rather than trying to cram an extra mast on - did consider doing that with my brig, and really didn't work. All in all, think you have made a great start, and look forward to seeing more! The guys here are really helpful, and can offer excellent advice. All the best! M.

Taken with my phone this morning... ...nothing particularly innovative with this bunch, but like the idea of showing the crew separately - AND I wanted to proove I do have a crew (the last pics of Parrot several months ago showed her totally abandoned! - just need to get the vessel in order and put them on board now....:-/). Anyway, here is the crew of The Parrot (a 14 gun brig, originally built for naval service, but now in the hands of several privateers) Preparing stores and equipment before the first voyage: The co-owners, from left to right: Marcus 'Moomin' Moorhen, an explorer and journalist chronicling the adventures of The Parrot; Olivier Owl, physician; Roderick Redfeather, Captain; Ruby Wren, first mate; Leonard Lark, Quartermaster The Head Gunner, Purser, Armourer, Bosun, Carpenter, Cook, Sailors and pets

Oh thanks Zeev - that is it, for sure - 'tis a fine blade;-).

Hi! Great idea posting minifig crews! Will get my privateers of The Parrot up here soon;-). Love those already posted - was just wondering: where is the sword of the type carried by the Cardinal's Guard from? (Think Capt Braunsfeld also has such a weapon).

Looks great! Super build so far - my gut says more galleon than frigate, given the fairly high stern, but I'm a novice!

It is awesome, for sure! It will be one fast ship, I think! I really like the 'glasswork' above the captain's quarters, and think the whole look is very clean. She is well defended from every angle with the quarterdeck stern cannons, also.

Thanks Behemoth. Yes! needs crew, and have a few officers, marines and sailors - I simply forgot to add them in any shots! will rectify that later;-). Re the helm: I think you are right for vessels with a proper quarterdeck - the helm would be there, but the stern superstructure is not a quarterdeck with the parrot: just a covered area a bit like seen on (few) smallish brigs (google HMS Badger - Nelson's first command, for example). I think more commonly on a brig of the Parrot's size, there would be no stern cabin - just an entirely open deck, with the helm positioned on that deck. I added the rear cabin more for fun than historical accuracy, though as noted above, they were not unheard of. I believe that more often than not, on smaller brigs at least, the Captain - who would probably be only the rank of commander in the British Navy, but still referred to as 'Captain' when in control of the brig - would most likely be housed below decks! On the Parrot, he is lucky!;-). Sorry for the essay!;-).

Thanks! Really hope so, Capt Braunsfeld! Would love to see it, for sure - have enjoyed looking over your builds :-) Thanks! Really nice to get comments from such great builders :-) Thanks! Loving the way your brig is coming along, Captain Genaro - is going to be a lot more technically accurate than The Parrot, for sure - wanted the custom cannons as this is a pretty small vessel, and agree with you (as noted in your thread) that whilst carronades are probably more historically apt for vessels this size, cannons not by any means unheard of, and, well, just kinda prefer them;-). Only realised she was having many sails up with no crew after the rater rushed photo shoot, so will have to sort that out, along with a bit of a tidy up and some better quality pics. Overall, fairly happy with the build; was aiming for a slightly more historically accurate vessel than the official ones, without becoming too technical - amazing to see the vessels that have really focussed on technical features though - I'm really impressed with these. Anyway, will most likely do some tweaking over the next weeks, then post some more pics;-). Thanks again for all the support/comments here. M.

Oh - if anyone who hasn't looked already but that is interested, here is the link to the WIP thread - http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=90091&hl=parrot Kind regards, M.

Thanks for the comments - glad you like it! Whilst it is now complete, of course I may make a few alterations, and neaten things up a bit - any suggestions still welcome! My aim was to build a reasonably simple square rigged vessel on prefabs - this is not intended to be as historically accurate or as detailed as some of the great builds on here, but for me I felt a prefab brig is a good place to start as a first project;-). I just realised no crew at all in any pics! A bit Mary Celeste!;-). Sounds a bit funny, but one of my favourite things is that she has front facing chaser ports - was eager to include these, though did take time getting it to work! Think the cannons should be 9-pounders - considerably smaller than the regular Lego cannon. Too small and lightly built for any big fights, so think she will be used for delivering dispatches and the odd dignitary;-). Thanks again for all the support on here!

165A Hello all, Finally got around to putting some sails on the parrot, so now it is pretty much complete - has had a few modifications, notably I have scaled down the broadside to 7 guns - thanks to Mr Townsend for the recommendation here - did decide it neatened the look up a bit . Thanks also to Sebeus I and all others who have commented/offered advice on this, and to all the other shipbuilders who have given me much inspiration. I may try to take some better photos, and even make some more modifications, but for now, this is the completed brig. Thanks

Hey! Looking great - do really like these waterline models, and if I were to start the Parrot again, would consider going that way too (will post completed pic of that ship in next week or two - just finishing off the sails having soaked my linen pillow case in tea and PVA glue!;-). It seems that you are going for a much more technically accurate and more detailed ship than I with my project. Been away for months now, and my first look back to see these excellent ships under construction! Very impressed! Have 2 issues with the cannons - I love the designs, but: 1. I note that you are using two different ones - I think the main battery would normally be of just one type, so as to mean that they (an the crews trained to fire them) were interchangeable . 2. Would also say that 18 pounder guns were a little on the heavy side for a brig cut to (what looks to be) a 7 gun broadside. Pretty new to all this, and could be wrong here, but think 12 pounder must be a maximum? My (now 14 gun) brig is nothing like as detailed as yours will be, of course, and slightly smaller, but was going to deem the guns 6 or 9 pounders - incidentally, think I read somewhere that the 12s and long 9s have the best range of any guns on ships of this period. Sorry - I know the above sounds a bit pedantic, but understand you are looking to build a very historically accurate brig. Please do correct me (anyone) if you disagree with my comments. Really would be interested on know more on this. Will be looking forward to the progress on your build. Cheers! Oh Woops! just re-read he comments, and realise that you have addressed my first point already! - Sorry!;-).

I really like this - love smaller vessels, and would love to build a cutter some day too. Would make mine a smuggler;-). Had a look at the Flickr pics, and v interesting hull technique - works well.

Thanks again, Sebeus I. I do think that the three spaces works fine with the cannons, but prob will give the 4 spaces a shot - my two main reasons are that I feel the frontmost broadside shutter looks a little err.. 'clunky' for want of a better description!;-). Secondly, I think it may be a bit on the heavy side carrying 16 guns - I know, at the end of the day, it is lego - so there are limitations - but one concern I had was that this is a pretty small brig - I'm estimating Parrot's gun deck in the low 20m range. Thought maybe 16 guns a bit heavy?? What do you think? One thing - as you mention too - is that these are small guns, so makes it more acceptable for a larger number... Mmm, Gonna have a think. A (potentially) useful by-product of increasing to 4 studs would be that the rigging on the front mast, where it connects with the hull, would then have more space - it would be the same as that with the main mast then... Anyway, the long and the short of it is that I think the 3 studs is fine, for sure, but will experiment with 4 studs, I think - better check my supplies for the bricks! I'm running seriously short now! I know this is a pretty minor build in the grand scheme of things, compared to many of the other ships here, but had no idea where this would take me! Really enjoyed it though, and great support on here. M. Mr Townsend - just been looking at the Godwin - Austin pics on Flickr - That is superb! really liking it. Is there a thread on this forum?

Thanks again for the advice, Mr Townsend - prob will end up doing that with the cannon, as feel it would look better with the equal spacing too, and 14 guns on a brig this size adequate, I think;-). Great advice and picture for modifying the spanker booms - had thought there was something a little strange about those! Hopefully, can get these things dealt with soonish. M.

Thanks for your continued interest in this, Sebeus I. Still work to do here, but the brig is pretty much there now - first attempt, and a few things I may do differently if I build another ship, but pretty happy with this on the whole. Cannons I'm pleased with too! Can't take the credit for the basic concept, but think these work well, particularly as a small cannon on a ship with relatively high gunports. Just out of interest - do you think pulling another pair of cannons off (from the front section) would be a good idea? having put a few men on deck to see how she looks, does still at times seem a bit overcrowded - once the lego figures are on, I realise just how small she is!

Hi - here are a few pics with showing progress on The Parrot. Obviously, sails and rigging still needed, and at some point, may re-work the colouring of the hull and stern to give a more curved appearance - thanks for the tips and advice so far! Apart from the decking, the main change is the re-working of the bow, removing the 2 chasers and the white gun ports - the white of the bow now aligns with the pre-fab hull, and the front guns can still be turned to use as chasers - thanks to Mr Townsend for the advice there! M.

Hi- is a bit over armed in those pics, n have scaled down armament a bit now - def gonna be single decked;-)

Thank you all for taking an interest in this - very helpful advice here, and things I can really work with (and have already, in some cases). My overall aim is to create a fast, maneuverable brig that is to some extent historically accurate. I am not overly obsessed with historical detail, however, and want to keep it a fun, playable model (would have got shot of the rear cabin a long time ago if not!). I have found this forum more than incredibly helpful, both from those that have contributed and from the other MOCs on here. No way this would have got off the ground without you guys. Once again, many thanks! M.

Thanks pcvando - have been doing quite a bit of work on this, and will provide new pics when changes are complete. I do think now that the armament is a little on the heavy side, and discuss this a little more below. The cabin I have actually extended forward by 2 studs, and fitted captain's bed, chequered floor tiling and a couple of other bits - doesnt really change the look from the outside too much though. Thanks! Do like the cannons, and feel they fit the type/size of ship - depending on how many I end up cutting it out for (most likely between 12-16), may 'deem' them 6 or even 9 pounders - certainly no heavier though. I have now (pretty much) fully decked using the smooth brown tiles with a couple of black for variation (actually ran low on pieces) Never knew how expensive decking would be, but you're right - really neatens things up. As mentioned above, also black/white chess-boarded the stern cabin, which I like - a little pretentious on a ship of this size, maybe, but does look good IMHO. thanks for your advice! M.

Hi - this is excellent - love a well researched, well written piece. Based on a trip to Copenhagen's Armoury, the 6 pound cannon typically used in the 1800s was actually quite small - the type I saw was an English gun (presumably) captured by the Danes. Only 5 feet long, maybe. The 12 pounder maybe 6ft, but much more substantial. Interestingly, I note that the 4 pound guns on HMS Sophie (a small 14 gun brig, Jack Aubrey's first command in the Aubrey/Maturin series) were described as being 6 ft long. Maybe the barrels I saw were for field pieces, though how a field piece would have come into Danish possession I don't know... Anyway, what I'm driving at here is that it seems by earliy(ish) 1800s smooth-bore cannon design had come to an apex - lots of conflict forced designers to make 'em as small as possible. I say again, the 'regular' lego cannons are huge!

Hi - naming is actually quite difficult, I found. I wanted to name my brig after a bird of prey: something to convey a fast, small, maneuverable warship using a name that had never been used - I think EVERY British bird of prey has been though, so in the end I decided on the somewhat lighthearted 'Parrot' - as far as I know, never given to any Brit ship of war . Anyway, back to the point - a speedy, maneouverable, elegant sloop/corvette I like 'Papillon' (Butterfly, I think ) though bet it ha been used before! For a more powerful frigate, I think something tougher! Maybe 'Cerberus' the three headed dog guarding the underworld in Greek mythology. On the eagle theme, 'Roc' was a giant mythical bird of prey, though perhaps a bit short... Anyway, lots of names in mythology as potentials. Good Luck!