ummester
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Everything posted by ummester
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This does look very nice - the earthy colors suit well. The decking is excellent. I did study your photobucket KURIGAN and do very much like the exterior look of your builds. The vertical bowing in the stern and the illusion of a below deck's space now incorporated into this build looks great, I wonder if a vertical curvature could somehow be included on the bow also? That sucks about your bricklink order - surely the USPS have some avenue of complaint if you suspect the package was light due to their service?
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Wasn't meant to offend - more to note that there is no perfect way to build a boat hull out of LEGO, each technique that I have looked seen that improves one aspects of a build. compromises another. I also do not wish to tie up this thread with that discussion and agree that Captain Hooks creation is coming along well. I really like what has been done with the crows nest.
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This is most excellent - exactly what I was looking for, in fact. I take it the more gesso you add to the mix, the stiffer the sails are?
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Cheers Mr Townsend. When I was planning in LDD, I was also selling old sets to fund the build, so I got to turn the bulk of the project around quickly. It's the largest LEGO project I have ever undertaken and the first boat I have designed - it was actually my first major LDD design. Before this I only modded TLG sets and ordered with far less planning. I'm not exactly sure how to make the sails yet - I would really like some kind of stiff material, similar to the material in the TLG sets, so that the sails can look billowed. Someone suggested treating standard material to me but that may make them too stiff. I really love the look of the sails in your Brig: Pinnacle and would like to design something that looks like that, with a little more stiffness. EDIT - I found this thread http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=87124 This seems to be exactly what I am looking for. I can design sail detail in photoshop, print it onto calico and then stiffen the sails with gesso.
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KURIGAN, Two issues with the ribbon and armature technique are: 1) They limit internal functionality of the below deck's space. 2) The do not allow vertical bowing of the shape. The Revenge looks fantastic as an exterior model, no one can deny that but it lacks any kind of internal playability for the positioning of minifgs or cannons. In my mind this raises the question of why use LEGO? If you want a ship that looks accurate from the exterior and lacks all playability, you might as well use wood or buy a model ship.
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I'm no expert - only really started getting into researching tall ships since deciding to build some in LEGO. I would suggest that this ship is closest to a Carrack. Forecastle is too tall for a Galleon and it doesn't have enough masts. I guess it could be a Caravel - but I'm a bit confused about the difference between a Carrack and a Caravel anyway
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Bottom Hull is angled out like this Ends are angled in like this: I think the hull shape came out pretty good - but it's not perfect. I'm working on a Black Pearl that doesn't use prefab hulls and trying different techniques in LDD to get the shape as close to perfect as possible. Good thing about LDD is you don't start spending the $$$ until you are happy with the design :)
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Here are the crew They are meant to be a ragtag bunch, from all over the place. Some were assembled on character ideas - like the Guybrush Threepwood or boy who wants to be a pirate type, the Imperial defector who stresses about his choice, the one who is having a beard competition with the Captain and the Jamaican cook that carries his own special mix of herbs and spices to lighten the mood on long voyages. I'm open to any back story, character type or name suggestions anyone has for the others.
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Really nice build SWAN DUTCHMAN - I really dig the smoothness of the ships lines and the detail on the display base.
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The dark tan deck is really nice, and I agree that the capstan design is great for the size of the build. If you wanted to get the illusion of a vertical bow on the hull, you could use some bricks with studs on one side and place some tiles, to make the shape look rounded both bow to stern and top to bottom.
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The Blue Frigate looks like it is coming along well SEBEUS - I really like the bow and capstan. Re the cannons - I try to order all similar parts from single stores, for exactly this reason. The worst color I have noticed is reddish brown - it comes in about 4 different shades, even new.
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This hook? There are hinges everywhere for angles - I have hidden them behind other bricks for the most part. The LDD file(s) are a bit of a mess ATM - I don't know whether to try and fix them, or just generate instructions. It's something I'll sort out after I have done the sails and water effects on the base plates.
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Thanks for the comments. Hook, do you mean where the stern hull meats the cabins? Or the railing on the side of the cabins? I'll take some shots from various angles regardless. There is an LDD file, which I updated as a built but I separated the single file into the 3 modular parts - hull, midships and cabins. Now I cant get all 3 section back together in LDD :) Also, there are quite a few attachments that work in the brick model and are needed for strength that are illegal in LDD. Kabel, The exact cost in bricks is difficult to work out, because I completed 2 smaller models and gathered missing parts for selling old sets at the same time (I had to fund it somehow :) ). All up there was around $850 US in orders, though approximately $150 was postage (the postal services from all over the world must have loved me in the last couple of months). I'd say $50 US on parts for the other models, which I will post in the Sci-Fi section eventually, $50 in parts for the sold sets and another $60 to get all the Crow's minifig parts - that leaves almost $500 in bricks for the Crow. The biggest issue with gathering the bricks was that they were not all in any single store and the stores that did stock high percentages (none had everything) were charging substantially more for the bricks - some parts, like small Earth brown plates and tiles, black window frames and copper lattices were in very few stores - but once I started ordering for the chosen color scheme, I had to continue. I should give a shout out to the stores I dealt with on Bricklink - There were very few incorrect parts sent (all stores have remedied these issues quickly) and even less damaged used parts.
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The thing is I looked at some galleon schematics and dimensions as I was designing and took into account that 2.75 studs = 1m, so I'm pretty sure the Crow is reasonably accurate (for an average to small galleon) to minifg scale. The Crow is about 35m long, or 1:35 scale. TLG just builds them too small :) Here is another shot across the bow, which shows the height a bit better. The masts aren't finished yet, which is why bits look tacked on.
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Just a quick shot to show that the brick construction of the Gilded Crow is very well underway. I've lined the crew up at the front, so you can she how large she is. It surprised me - I know I ordered a lot of bricks but I wasn't prepared for how big she would build up to be. It has been quite a long build, with some areas that were more difficult than they looked in LDD. I really like how the color scheme turned out - it does have the look of a Galleon model that I was aiming for. The bow and stern color detail is relatively delicate, it doesn't randomly fall off or anything but you can't move the 5000 part construction by holding them. I'm not sure if I will strengthen or alter these sections in some way. if you notice there are still gaps in the bricks and colors missing here and there - the final parts are on order and I will post more detailed shots of the build, from various angles, once they are attached. Waiting for these parts to arrive, I'll set up some detailed shots of the crew and post them soon.
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NEW LDD Brickset out - 1392
ummester replied to Lyichir's topic in Digital LEGO: Tools, Techniques, and Projects
The way the color works in normal mode is strange now - you have to turn the filter off and then the standard colors appear as little pallets above your bricks. Has anyone worked out how to make this version just display all black bricks, or all dark bluish grey bricks, like the previous version? I don't like working in extended mode because you end up designing in parts that aren't available. -
Yes, the stern looks amazing - really well done. Do you have an estimate brick count and weight?
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I have a variety of figurehead parts en-route AB, so can try some different designs but am sure I will settle with one of the crows. The crew is starting to assemble also - mainly a mish-mash of POTC and Prince of Persia minifigs. Seeing as the Crow is so dark, I wanted the crew to look quite colorful, piratical and ethnically diverse. I have started building but there is far too little fully assembled to photograph yet. Hopefully some more big orders will arrive next week. Out of lack of LEGO boredom, in the interim, I started mucking around with a Black Pearl design. Mrs ummester thinks 2 ships will look nice on display together. The Pearl set seems really expensive now though - anyone have any tips on a good price for it? I'm not too interested in the minifigs but would like all the other parts.
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I think the Pearl in the film is a nice looking ship. I think TLG model is lacking to start with and difficult to improve by building onto. if I was going to build the Pearl out of LEGO, I would only use TLG instructions as a jumping off point and design more in line with stills of the vessel in the film. Your modifications are good and moving in the right direction. The overall curve you have in the top down shot is right - just compressed. The obvious thing that jumps out to me is that it is too short for the height you have now built it. It does need the lower gun deck and open mid ships gun deck to better resemble the film. I would add another middle boat plate piece to get more length aswell as hang the rear cabin over the stern baseplate by around 8 studs- this would give you another 16 studs to play with in the mid ships and more closely resemble this:
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Another option to consider is dark tan (sand yellow) but tile size is limited. Unless you want to spend heaps and stress over part availability, try not to plan for old brown (earth orange).
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Looks nice so far - re the deck tiles question I have just completed a lot of ordering of tiles on Bricklink. Agree that either dark brown or dark bluish grey will work the best - reddish brown and light bluish grey will show up too bright. Dark brown costs more than dark bluish grey, even buying in bulk and only comes in a 1x2 & 1x4 tile. Dark bluish grey has every tile shape you can need. Personally, I think dark brown looks a little better as it more resembles wood but dark bluish grey will be cheaper and more convenient.
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Mucking around with Figurehead designs - I think I am going for something like a crow, ultimately.
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The other model is a shameless boy toy - a FASA inspired mech. I started working on it because I liked the new olive green so much. It's only 500 parts.
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Thanks for the advice ADMIRAL - you've been a gem of information. Do they have shows in South Australia? Mrs ummester recons that when I complete this and another model I'm working on, I should put them in display cases at a show. I've been into LAYGO - when he is not busy, the owner there will get to chatting. He even let me go through his second hand stock once for parts.
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Excellent sails and rigging - I was going to try thin cardboard/stiff paper so that the sails bowed but this could inspire me to use material.