Moomin

Hi Bharroth - quite new on here too - great place, it seems! finding lots of old Lego in the loft, combined with reading around the age of sail is also how I got into this! Looking forward to seeing your MOCs. .

Thanks Sebeus I - think it may be useful to have at least rough criteria for historical builds - don't want to get all 'Star Trek' about this, and the info on the master index is already excellent, but have spent a long time researching even to get to this point. About 6 months ago I was totally unfamiliar with the rating system; wouldn't have even understood what a tumblehome was; what constituted a brig; sizes of guns on a frigate etc etc... this sort of discussion may save time for people. Cheers, M. Thanks! this is great! I'm seriously re-working at the moment, and may well adopt your advice: I agree that it seems with lego ships, altering the colour - particularly along the lines - can have dramatic and positive effects - looking at some other builds:-). I've just ordered a lot of flush base plates to deck the ship, re-worked the bow and (slightly) extended the rear cabin towards the bow (hardly noticeable) to create a bit more space there (it was either that or lose it completely, but I like the 'fun' factor of having a Captain's cabin). With the bow re working, the ship now appears somewhat longer, and seriously thinking about a third mast; will always be single decked though, under my plans. Thanks, M.

Thanks for the link! You inspired me, and just watched 'Duty' again - great episode. Looking at all the action and general goings on on board, definitely clear to me that the 'Hotspur' (and the wrecked 'grasshopper' - also referred to as a sloop) is a more substantial ship than the one that I am trying to produce. Interestingly, I note that the 12 pounder guns (like the one that nearly squashed the new steward!) are not actually that big - way, way smaller in scale terms than the regular Lego ones - still wouldn't want one falling on me, mind!;-). On the subject of cannons, I took a couple of (poor quality) photos of 6 and 12 pounder barrels at the armoury museum in Copenhagen a few months ago - will upload at some point - give an idea of relative scale. Kind regards, M.

Ok... So, distilling the advice, is it fair to say then that for historically (semi) accurate builds: 1. The vast majority of small ships - i.e. below frigate size - DID have tumblehomes BUT... 2. Often the tumblehome was very unpronounced, to the point where on a lego MOC it would not be noticeable, so need not be added (unless you wish to, of course!); 3. A ship with more than one flush deck (frigate and above, i suppose) should certainly have a tumblehome I apologise if I'm being overly prescriptive here, but do like to nail things down - may help other builders who are just staring out in the future. I stress that this is for people who want to build models that are historically accurate to some degree - not get in the way of other ship MOCs - many of which are amazingly good. M.

Thanks Sebeus I. To be honest, glad most of you guys feel that it is OK without - or at lest reasonable. I think that to do it properly with my particular vessel, I would need a (pretty much) total rebuild, and at the moment do like the lines of my brig.

Hi! sorry - know this was not to me directly, but yes- loved hornblower! shame they didn't make more... Never read any books, but well into the Patrick O'Brian series - Ionian Mission now - about 1/3rd through. Love them big time. Some find them hard going: huge sections on sociopolitical, marital, scientific matters and other non-naval things. Will def check out The Hornblower novels also - my dad recommended them also, and he was a sailor;-). M.

Hey! Thanks for this - Awesome series, and watched 'em all! I thought the main actor (Ioan Gruffudd) wanted to make more, or even a big Hornblower movie... this was ages ago though, and nothing lately has been said... I guess things like this are so costly to produce. Anyway - Def will take a look at 'Duty' again: I checked some pics of HMS Hotspur on the net and see the tumblehome clearly, but agree with you that this is more like a frigate: it seems to have a quarterdeck and a (small) forecastle: I note that it had 20 guns, would so JUST slip into the 'post ship' bracket, technically;-). I suppose what I am saying here is that the Hotspur is a league above the Parrot - having considered all the advice, I generally agree that I am OK with no tumblehome on a ship of this size. Should anyone read this in the future, It seems to be the case that for anything more than a single-decked, open-decked ship (if that is what you want to build), it would be unrealistic to not add the tumblehome.

Thanks - I have now looked at some more cross sections, and see that tumblehomes, whilst present, were really minimal on smaller vessels. Thanks - this is again useful - I agree with the inference that on a ship with more than a single, open deck no tumblehome would be inaccurate, and look improper (I'm not criticising anyone who may have done this, but just trying to ascertain what was realistic - there are great MOCs of all kinds out there, of course!). Kinda coming to the opinion that often the tumblehome was so slight, it was hard to notice on smaller ships.

Hi. Firstly, sorry if this is in the wrong place... I've been working on my brig-of -war (The Parrot) - http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=90091 - and have considered adding a tumblehome. Was messing around this evening, and to be honest, really not sure if it works with this vessel - sorry, no pics of my efforts. I am trying to make this at least mildly historically accurate - would a fairly large brig/sloop/corvette normally have a tumblehome? I've looked at some pics on the net, and whilst it is clear some 'smaller' vessels clearly did, it is really hard to tell on others - the cherokee and cruizer class brigs, for example. Many thanks.

I like this lots - have you thought about adding a third mast? looks really frigate like - very good attention to detail, particularly on the stern, as others have said already. I am genuinely mesmerised by the things we can do with Lego! With all else in our lives, is so great to sink into this! Really inspiring

Thanks Sebeus I - Will have a look at that link, for sure.

Thanks C-Had18. Did cross my mind that my parrot is on the small side. The vessels working name is 'The Parrot' at present,but may change that later;-)

Thanks Mystus - did like the way the cannons turned out. I wanted to build a cannon (complete with a somewhat realistic carriage) that would be narrow enough to fit the brig. Always had the idea in mind of using small base parts side-on and with the double-studded connector, but tried numerous parts that I already owned and nothing was really working. I stumbled across the triangular base parts on the Lego shop, and decided to take a punt and ordered a batch - happy they worked well. I should have spent more time reviewing the forum topics, as seems this concept has been used before - would have saved me some time! Doh!;-). I Certainly don't take the credit for the original concept. I think these types of cannons look good on a smaller vessel - the regular Lego ones are too big, in my opinion; great for frigates and bigger ships, but think 16 of them would sink my little brig!

Superb stuff - love the details on this, from the macaw flock and right down to the creme de menthe bottle at the admiral/governors table.

That's brilliant - love the tumblehome, and may 'borrow' that technique some day;-). The working capstan looks amazing! Was thinking of installing one into my brig, but mine was to consist of a long technic rod secured vertically and rotated to coil the anchor's rope around! I have some way to go, I think!

Awesome! Love the ape attendant in the monkey shop:-). Never knew there were that many types of coloured parrot - thought just yellow, grey and a red/green/white one.

Hi - a few pictures of the Brig - WIP at this stage - obviously, rigging and sails needed (string on there at the moment is more to hold the masts up than anything!;-). Wow... my Lego is dusty... Any advice much appreciated - first attempt at any biggish model for about 20 years!;-). Areas I'm not so happy with are: 1. the cabin - need more accessories and neatening up. 2. Decking - don't like the black paneling. 3. Needs a capstan 4. area where the anchor runs from needs work. 5. Possibly tumblehome could be added? think this may get a bit messy though, and relatively small ship... It is not a copy of any ship in particular, but I had in mind HMS Speedy, HMS Badger and the Cruiser and Cherokee class brigs when building. Have considered extending slightly and adding a third mast, making some sort of corvette... Have copied a pic of my cannons in - 16 like this and 2 slightly longer (and flatter) for bow chasers. Thought perhaps 6lbs for the broadside guns and 9lbs for the chasers? no expert on this, but kinda fits with what little I've read. Thought I was onto something new with the cannon design, but looking at the cannon page on the master index the other day, I see something pretty similar has been done before! Oh well!;-). All the best, M.

Thanks for the replies, and Happy New Year to all ;-). I will be uploading some more pictures in the next few days - very difficult to make out any detail from the current photo. The cannons are custom built from bits I ordered from the lego shop. Originally I spent a while sourcing the 'regular' lego cannons from ebay, but decided they were too big for a brig: maybe 24lbs+. All the best :-).

Hi - Lego Pirates is definitely my favourite theme, and inspired by the Aubrey/Maturin series (just finishing off 'The Surgeon's Mate' at the moment) and some of the amazing models on here, decided to give building a brig-of-war a go. Had a few bits from my old 'Sea Hawk' and lots more from other sets/pick a brick purchases. Still a work in progress, though a fair way down the line now, I post a pic of 'The Parrot' below. Apologies for the poor quality (taken on my phone). I will post better pics ASAP. Any comments/advice much appreciated. Thanks! --- Original image replaced by this slightly better one - just need to read up on using brickshelf so I can display the rest here ---