ejred
-
Posts
58 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Gallery
Everything posted by ejred
-
They caught me unawares, so I didn't really have time to think what to say. I'm surprised I sounded as coherent as I did, 5 minutes mental prep would have done wonders :)
-
Beyond the Brick did a nice video on Enterprize at BrickCon, which people might be interested in
-
Here are the modifications to make the Oliver Cromwell into a fireship. The year is 1780 and the Spanish are raiding the British base at Gibraltar. Luckily HMS Enterprize is on patrol and ready to respond. Now that the ship is alight, the Spanish crew is trying to get off, but heavy seas are making it difficult. Spanish Fireship Spanish Fireship Spanish Fireship Spanish Fireship vs. HMS Enterprize I designed the center section of the deck to be removable so I could put in the flame sections. There are several light bricks inside, which is nice but hard to tell in the pictures... This is what I think I will display at BrickCon 2016 in Seattle at the end of the month I hope you like it!
-
Thanks for the inputs! I agree, Treasure Island would be a really nice way for LEGO to do a more-or-less standard Pirate wave that has some freshness to it. One ship, one fort, maybe one tavern, several smaller sets (Ben Gunn's cave, digging for treasure, landing party or whatever) Harder to make it work for Ideas, which is a "one and done," and also is not supposed to overlap too much with things LEGO already does. I think you would definitely need a shore location or two, or else no chance it would click. Plus you potentially need a lot of minifigs (*minimum* 6 I guess?). Starts getting big. Still, I'll try throwing some stuff together and see what is possible...
-
I wanted to see if I could spark any discussion about what is the best approach to getting a LEGO Ideas set that is somehow aligned with the Pirates theme all the way into production? When I say Pirates-aligned, I'm mostly thinking of a set including a sailing ship. One could certainly do something connected with Pirates that doesn't have a ship--a 17th/18th century port city tavern, for example. But I would probably find that less interesting that something with a ship. Do other people agree? I'm assuming that actually doing a "Pirates" set or "Pirates of the Caribbean" is a bad bet. Even if it got support, LEGO would say 'overlap' and that will be the end. Clearly if one can find a theme that hooks onto some cultural touchpoint that would be really helpful in getting to the necessary milestones. I thought the Beagle set was brilliant. Clearly it connected with a lot of people. One key question is why LEGO did not approve it. Did they shy away from the (ridiculous IMO) controversies related to Creationism? Was it an issue with the execution of the set, having brick-built sails and too many pieces? Any thoughts? Some ideas for other approaches that occurred to me: Darwin retry with a sub-1000 piece set Explorers (Magellan or Cook most likely?) - pro: fairly well known, exciting, non-militaristic; con: backlash against European imperialism, still a history theme with limited reach Fictional Navy (Hornblower, Aubrey/Maturin, etc.) - pro: dedicated audiences, the Master & Commander movie; con: small audience, too militaristic? Boston Tea Party - pro: patriotic, interesting and very famous; con: totally US centric idea Moby Dick - pro: famous literature many people assigned to read; con: old book many people forced to read, hard to incorporate awesome whale as part of a "play set"? Treasure Island - pro: fairly well known, had (old) Disney movie; con: huge overlap with generic pirates theme Chinese exploration fleet of Zheng He - pro: amazing history, multicultural; con: pretty obscure, Chinese ship styles not to everyone's taste? Americas' Cup (maybe from some historic period/race) - pro: fairly well known, sporting angle; con: new ships are kind of odd, theme too modern and "yachty" for pirate fit? Clipper Ship (tea races, Cutty Sark, etc.) - pro: non-militaristic, evocative; con: obscure, hard to work into Lego ship style, no real "story" attached What do people think? Could it actually happen? Are there other suggestions for themes I didn't think of that would have broad interest and also appeal to LEGO? Even once you have a theme with broad appeal to both users and LEGO, then still it comes down to a tremendous amount of execution, presentation and promotion. Most, if not all, of these themes have been tried before with lackluster submissions. But choosing the right theme seems the place to start.
-
I have not seen Providence plans, but here are some for Mediator I was using: And for the "1768 Virginia Sloop": At a glance, it seems like maybe the curve is right, but the whole hull should be 2-4 studs wider...?
-
That might be more accurate, but I say, if you've got the curves, flaunt 'em
-
It's just like coaching t-ball: if you throw the ball exactly where their glove is, they catch it... at least most of the time But seriously, that is mind-blowing!
-
Thanks! Yes, my personal LEGO interest and motivation takes me in the direction of realistic historical stuff (ships most of all). Probably betrays a lack of imagination :) Speaking of historical events, one of the most well documented events in the record of HMS Enterprize was an attack by Spanish fireships off Gibraltar in 1780. Enterprize was on watch, spotted the ships coming in, raised the alarm, and dispatched her crew to board and steer one of them away. I worked up a small mod of the Oliver Cromwell to show that incident. Hopefully I will be able to post pictures next week
-
HMS Enterprize seemed lonely, so I decided to construct a little playmate, the privateer Oliver Cromwell from Boston: Enterprize spent most of the US Revolutionary War patrolling the coasts and hunting for privateers, so this seemed like a good foil. The design I came up with is based on the model plans for "HMS Mediator" (a 1740s British coastal patrol cutter) which are widely available on the web, with an assist from the book Armed Virginia Sloop of 1768. I was also visually inspired by the USS Providence, of which there is a replica ship (currently in need of major repairs, sadly). It's a 10-gun topsail-cutter rigged ship, roughly in the style of a Bermuda cutter. A very simple and straightforward ship, although with beautiful rakish lines.There were a number of Continental 10-gun privateer cutters to choose from historically, and I thought Oliver Cromwell had the most interesting name. From tip-to-tip the Oliver Cromwell is 37 inches long, 27 inches high and 13 inches wide. But a whole lot of that is bowsprit. As you can see it is vastly smaller than Enterprise (probably about 1/7 the tonnage and broadside weight). But it does pack on a lot of sail for its size! I hope you like it. Click for full album on Flickr
-
Hi all, I finally had a chance to take a pretty picture of the modifications to the prow. Also I hoisted the red ensign
-
Yes, it is an amazing ship, got to give props But, strictly for myself, I'm probably still not ready to jump on the "bend the bricks" bandwagon yet. I too wonder how strong it is--people seem to say this is not a problem And, as you allude, it is a pretty narrow hull form (maybe 150 long and 25 wide??). He does have a little rounding on the back, so if you extended that idea to both front and back, then maybe you could get it more like a pirate hull profile. Gunports might be another issue
-
Sorry if this MOC has already been discussed on the board, but I thought it seemed relevant to this conversation (it is not mine, just in case there's any confusion!) There are a couple more WIP photos and the finished product in the builders' photostream: https://www.flickr.c...th/27632235052/
-
Maybe "women of X" is too on the nose, but really the concept doesn't bother me. Why? Because, while you are right that a set overtly titled "men of X" would elicit pushback, if some set of explorers or scientists just had 5 guys, most people probably wouldn't think too much about it. In other words, I don't see we are at equivalency yet. Most LEGO sets, like most other cultural properties, HAVE women now, but still often in ratios of 1 in 4 or 1 in 5. So I don't begrudge some boosterism for women or traditionally disadvantaged minorities. Society is moving in the right direction, so hopefully in a few more generations it will no longer be an issue...
-
Really like the width, i think this is something many ships struggle with It seems to me that "at scale" a frigate would have had 6L (or maybe 5L) between gunports?
-
Not much more to say really-just a personal pet peeve. LDD is neat, but when used to make designs that can't really be built then it doesn't seem like LEGO anymore to me, might as well use Photoshop. But if that's your thing, then go for it-- I'll restrain myself from commenting. And at least I did put a smiley! I wish I could look from all angles :D
-
I've wanted to try it sometime, but haven't yet. (Edit: well, i was doing brick built sails on my pre-teen lego boats in the early 1980s, but they were not super sophisticated) I've shared similar fears expressed by others that it wouldn't be sturdy without "cheats" of some kind. I very much wonder about those cool models you posted. Standing rigging might help the masts bear up, but then that sort of feels like an odd pairing with brick sails? On the other hand, i guess stays would be necessary anyway for brick built fore and aft sails... Finally I must admit to being annoyed when people make pretty brick sails in LDD that are just floating in space :)
-
ok, I'll bite. Here's a cannon which I intend to be something smallish, like a four-pounder. Some of these pieces are a bit pricey, perhaps similar effects could be accomplished more cheaply. But anyway, hope you like 1x 32530, Technic Pin Connecter Plate, Black 2x 62462, Technic Pin Connecter Round 2L, Black (and/or 75535 - I used one of these for the front part of the barrel) 1x 6628, Technic Pin with Towball, Black 1x 6558, Technic Pin with Friction Ridges, 3L, Black 2x 4600, Plate Modified 2x2 with Wheels Holder, Black 4x 85861, Plate Round 1x1 with Open Stud, Black 1x 3021, Plate 2x3, Reddish Brown 2x 85984, Slope 30 1x2x2/3, Reddish Brown Four pounder cannon Four pounder cannon Four pounder cannon
-
Yeah, I realized early on that I would have to do custom-made sails. Even most of the smaller ones are bigger than any sails TLG has ever produced. I spent a lot of time browsing in the fabric store, and ended up buying "budget blackout fabric." I was really pleased with it. The texture is very nice and matte, but it has a large synthetic component. This gives it a little stiffness, so the the drape is pretty good, not too limp. It's easy to cut and resists unraveling--I expected to have to bind up the ends but there was no need. Also it's durable and easy to clean. I used my kids' washable markers to draw the outlines, cut with regular fabric scissors, and then cleaned off the marks with a damp cloth.
-
Couldn't resist wasting time photoshopping some vignettes of the ship. I hope you like them. HMS Enterprize - At Sea HMS Enterprize - Cracking On HMS Enterprize - A Brisk Action HMS Enterprize - Home Port HMS Enterprize - Fire as they Bear! HMS Enterprize - To Death or Glory! HMS Enterprize - Taking in a Reef
-
A naturalist´s Voyage Round the World. HMS Beagle LEGO model, vignett
ejred replied to lpglego's topic in Pirate MOCs
Your project made me sign up for Ideas--hope it gets approved! The favorite MOC I ever built as a child was HMS Beagle (inspired by a television series on BBC/PBS). Of course there were far fewer kinds of pieces to work with back then... Nice to see Beagle appear here in real bricks! -
Thank you! I was thinking about putting it on Lego Ideas, but two things stopped me. First, when I look at the Ideas discussion thread here on Eurobricks, it seems many people complain about "people posting Ideas that are great MOCs but could never be a set." And second, it seems Ideas projects need a lot of "marketing" and my social media presence is anemic. On the other hand, it is tempting just to show Lego there is support for something like "UCS Pirates"
-
Great tutorial--some very interesting ideas!! With mine, for the lower mast I used 2x2 rounds (or the 2x2x2-2/3 octagonal bricks) with axles My concern was the weak connection points between axles. I bracketed these gaps with 2x2 bricks with pin and axle-hole, and then connected the pins with technic liftarms (you can see part of this at the top of the picture below). It is a bit clunky looking, but not too bad, and got the job done. But your string method is quite ingenious, and would probably have ended up looking nicer. For the upper masts, which support a lot less weight, I used the round technic pin connectors, friction pins, and pushed 4L bars through the pins, crossing their gaps, for added rigidity. Hose probably would have been better. One thing--if you are stepping the masts, then any given length of mast isn't quite so long. The stepped portions are doubled, so quite strong. For these I mostly used 2x4 technic plates with the holes, as can also be seen in the picture. EDIT: One other thing--I know this isn't a rigging tutorial, but rigging can help make up for a certain amount of flex in the masts, just as in real life. The masts of Enterprize are very secure and strong once the stays, shrouds and backstays are attached. You can easily lift and move the ship without any problems. Probably even "swoop" it, if I wasn't afraid of dumping it off its base. But with just some of the stays unsecured, it looks like this: Thanks for sharing!
-
Thank you! I'm pleased how the colors came out--along the way I was thinking maybe I should have done a tan deck instead of reddish-brown, but in the end I was quite happy with brown. It is lucky that yellow-black is a good-looking and historically accurate color scheme, since so many parts are available at reasonable prices. Brown, Black, White and Yellow is basically the palette I think, otherwise it will be too expensive and difficult to get what you need. Even then the lack of round-corner yellow plates and yellow window lattices caused issues. I've been looking at the US "Great White Fleet" from the late nineteenth century and they have this color they call "buff" which seems to be a fairly saturated pink/tan type color. Mauve maybe you'd call it. Anyway, there really isn't any LEGO color like it, and many of the closest ones are available in only a handful of pieces, and those are very rare/expensive. Tan could sort-of work, but even then some of the pieces you need are rare, and if you use tan for the superstructure, then it's not clear what the deck color would be. It makes 18th century British sailing ships look easy! Much appreciated--in trying to make something appealing to people online it seems there is a lot of pressure to reduce the build to one perfect photo, but I didn't really find that possible. So I appreciate those willing to spend a little time browsing Yes, there are some awesome ships out there. The Yamato is great, and there are two USS Missouris and HMS Hood that I've really liked, and there's a builder Jim McDonough who does all kinds of large naval ships, but especially WW2 Japanese ships. Some great aircraft carriers like USS Truman and USS Intrepid. Liners like Titanic and Queen Mary. The Titanic broken in half and sinking someone did recently was jaw-dropping. In the Age of Sail there have been I think at least a couple of Victorys, including the very nice one the BrightBricks people did. But unfortunately still we don't have enough big minifig-scale sailing ships I think. Hopefully we can correct that I definitely did not aspire to working at that size level--I don't need the hastles involved in moving, transporting or photographing something 15 feet long, 5 is plenty! Some of the ships I aspire to do from more modern eras would be close to 10 feet, and it just seems like too much of a logistical nightmare, even leaving aside the serious issue of cost.
-
A big part of LEGO is the tactile experience. That's a big part of what makes it better than minecraft (or LDD). But that's also what makes it better than knock offs. They are simply not as pleasing to manipulate. If competitors could ever get the same quality cheaper it would be a new game, but in 30 years they haven't done it. Similarly they have pieces that look cool but when you use them you often quickly find out why LEGO never made a piece like that...