Dukesc

46a My brother recently bought the Viking Boat (#7016) and it was sitting next to a canoe (a red canoe :-D ). As I was looking at it, I was also thinking about the Islander Catamaran (#6256) and how small it was. As I was looking at the way the Viking Boat was made I thought, why not make a huge catamaran out of his Legos. This will also allow his Islanders to play a larger (although still very small) role in our naval war-game. (Sorry about the crease, I don't have an iron here right now.)

On the sails for this ship I started out with an isosceles triangle with a 75 degree angle oposite from the longest side. From this picture the original 75 degree angle is on the lower right portion of each sail. I then made a slight arch from each of the two shorter sides and left the longest side straight for mounting to the support. Each of the three sails share the same basic outline, just in different sizes. I am not at his house this weekend, but I can later show a picture of the sail off the ship flat on the floor if anyone would like.

While I was working on the Xebec and my bro was working on his Frigate my fiance was in the Lego room with us building stuff too. One thing she made was a bell to go on my brothers frigate. (she also made a really cool dice that works *sweet* ) It isn't very noticable but the bell swivels like an actually bell would. It doesn't "ring" though like a real bell because it is plastic. ;-)

Thanks for the compliments everyone. I haven't come up with a name for it either, and am unsure if it is for me or my brother to name. What do you think? Yes, I do very much like the Royal Navy especially the redcoats. Thanks for the link to your ship. I enjoy seeing how other people construct their own ships, especially the same type as mine. You too have a nice vessel! *y* Since this is a Xebec and it was designed around the oars they are going to stay. Thanks for the compliment though. From the beginning I started with using the pieces my bro wasnt using and the same goes for the minifigs. I think they look cool on the ship though. My bro only has 6 of those oars and they are on his Viking ship. The real ships had narrow oar ends, so I think they are there to stay. I wouldn't consider myself to have expertise enough to give advice on how to properly make the sails correct angles. I could only tell them what I have done if they want.

I am not sure what the fabric is called. :S I just went to Wal~Mart and found the thinest stuff that was stiff, and was the right color. It cost less than $4 for a square yard of it. Yes, I did glue the string to the sails. *sweet* That is how my brother and I agreed I should do it, and the glue is remarkably strong. The edges of the sails are glued with Elmer's School Glue so they don't fray, but you can't tell.

On the picture of the Xebec there was a swivel gun facing to the rear. I tried to mimic it and here is the result. Here is a top view of the ship showing the driver's controls. If you look in front of the compass there is a 1x1 clip turned sideways to indicate where the ship is traveling to the driver. This was a feature on real ships of this era. (I got this idea from my bro) This is a close up of the front on the main deck. Due to limited cannons the two larger cannons each use a front and side gun port. You can also see a guy going to the downstairs. Here is a picture of the lower deck revealed. It shows the oar-men and the drummer to keep them in sync. Here are the tight captain

I finally found the time to do some work on me bros ship. I used the string he got me for the rigging and some fabric I picked up at Wal~Mart for the sails. I tried to copy the basic rigging layout from the ship in the book and am quite pleased with the results. *sweet*

I used 5 center sections on this ship. With my brothers legos I could have made it pretty much as long as I wanted, but I felt 5 was proportionate. *sweet*

The only reason I made a Xebec is because that is what my brother asked me to build with his legos. He chose it becasue he thought they looked cool and happened to have a picture of one. After building most of it (I am still not finished) I wanted one of my own, because I like it so much. I will likely build a nice bomb ketch of my own instead, just to diversify our collections. In our gaming with the ships, water coming through the oar holes will not be a concern. It will only give this ship an advantage. I beleive that is part of why my brother wanted this ship. I have some of the rigging done so far, and my brother and I are both very satisfied with it. I am also detailing the lower level to include the very tight captain's quarters. More pictures will be coming soon of the ship and a closeup of the small cannons.

I would just like to ask everyone to not bid on Captain Jack Sparrow, as it could only make me pay that much more for it. *sweet*

Here is an auction going on ebay that I am watching. I think this is a good looking recreation of Captain Jack Sparrow. It is currently going for $4.25 and I may bid on it.

I am not quite finished with it, but yes I will be adding sails and rigging in the near future. :)

25a Hello All, I am temporarily staying with my brother (Phred) to go to school and didnt have any of my own legos here. My brother asked me to build a Xebec for him using primarily star wars sets such as the sand crawler. I used the book he bought me for Christmas that has a nice picture of a Xebec from 1735. The one in the book is 103 ft long whereas the one I made is 78 studs long without including the bowsprit. According to the rules we will be developing to play with the ships using weight sail size and other factors this will be a very fast ship. Also, with 16 oarmen it will make it that much faster and maneuverable. When compared to other lego ships the rigging looks rather large, but according to the picture I think they look just right. Duke