ejred
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one more tweak
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Now now, it's "HMS" not "NCC" or "USS" or whatever I couldn't pass up the nice gold lettering. The other officers wonder why he is reading that book, but no one has yet had the courage to ask him... Thank you--that means just a little bit extra coming from someone that has actually done it! I've always loved sailing ships as a concept, but working this project had made me very eager to take one of the tall ship sailing cruises that are offered here and there. I'd like to, but I seem to perceive some blowback against people uploading big MOCs that LEGO definitely won't approve into Ideas. But I agree that it would be nice to show Lego that sailing ships and Pirates deserve more love. Right now I'm just crossing fingers and toes for Beagle to be approved. But if it fails I am interested in seeing if there is a way to create an Ideas set that would be plausible as a set, advance the Pirate theme and not be considered too overlapping by LEGO. Perhaps if Beagle fails, the best thing would be to retry it with a lower piece count. I think it's a shame the designer didn't actually build the model, and that he used the brick-built sails. It's a beautiful ship, but still probably did not present the best possible case for LEGO to produce it. Thanks! It was a lot of work--though I started from zero in photography knowledge, and for all I know there are much better approaches. What I did was this. First ordered a "photography kit" from Amazon, I think it was $100, includes backdrop (w/ frame) and several floodlights. That created decent lighting conditions, with light from several angles--which was crucial with so many inside spaces and sails. Then I put my camera on a tripod, turned it to "manual", turned off flash, and played with settings. Mostly used "ISO 80" with a bit of a lightening effect (my camera is so bad you can't actually set fstop or aperature, you have to play with different parameters to approximate). It often helped to back way off and then zoom in--this seemed to improve the focus, as well as maximizing the background coverage. Partway through I found my smartphone took quite good pictures in difficult conditions, even though handheld. I still used the regular camera for most pictures, but "hard to get" ones (interiors or from atop rigging or mega closeups of crew) I used the phone, and it was surprisingly effective Finally I just used the Flickr built in tools to do cropping and simple color and brightness balancing OK, I've been experimenting with some alternate prows First I just created more angle at the bottom, while leaving the side-pieces the same: Then I tried rebuilding the side-pieces to make them less of a "right angle" I'm not sure whether that is an improvement, but maybe I'm just used to how it was. I guess I will keep tinkering. (side-note: I can't believe how few round plates LEGO makes in yellow, it's a real limitation) Thoughts/suggestions?
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Thank you for your kind comments! It all runs together in my mind now. I started in August, and tried to spend at least a little time almost every day since then. And if time allowed, many hours. First came about 4-6 weeks of looking at model plans, finalizing the project parameters, design work, trying out building techniques, and acquiring parts (well the first tranche of them) The heavy building phase was September and October. By Halloween I had most of the hull done, although there was still much LEGO work on deck details, interior vignettes, prow and stern, etc. which I did when the rigging got too much for me November I started trying out mast and rigging techniques with mizzenmast and bowsprit. By December I had the standing rigging done and bought sail material. In January I did sails and running rigging, and tiled the sides. During NFL Superbowl I was working on the base, and around the same time I did the boats and anchors. Then I unfastened and retensioned all the rigging strings [prior to that my bowsprit looked like a banana ]. Then I detached the masts and finished any remaining detail work on the interiors It took a few weeks to photograph, since I was learning how to do this with big LEGO projects, and also had to put back in the interiors and reattach the rigging at the proper points. Ready for a break! Ouch Seriously, thank you for the note, I love the ships you do. For myself, both aesthetics and the play dimension (however hypothetical that may be) always pull me toward waterline ships. If that is also easier, well, it's a side-benefit Thank you--I am honored!
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Thanks! One of my goals with the model was definitely that people would enjoy looking at it on the web, and as I thought about what made other people's creations special, it became clear how much of a difference a nice base makes. But I was, honestly, a bit tired of the "fill a rectangle with translucent blue one-stud plates." So I decided to try something different. Not a home run, I think, but hopefully worth points for effort You raise some very good points. Both are, I think, examples of how focusing on one thing can start pulling you off course. Regarding the cabin colors, I was going to use yellow lattice windows. But I really wanted to use the small rounded windows at the back of the galleries, as that is what my plans showed and I thought it would be cool. However those rounded lattices only come in a few colors like gold and black. So I ended up going more toward gold than yellow. But perhaps I should have used yellow window frames with black lattices, or replaced the dark red highlights with yellow. By the time I got to that point, I probably had some tunnel vision. Regarding the prow, it is definitely far from perfect from a model standpoint (though I still think I respond it it emotionally). The plans I was working off of (first picture below) looked a bit different than the replica HMS Surprise (second picture below). Shorter and more blunted off. But still mine is far too blunt. The thing that I got hung up on was trying to model the shaped planks (?) that run from the side of the hull up to the peak of the prow. In the plans I have, they took a quicker turn toward the vertical, with less diagonal than on HMS Surprise. But still I probably should have rethought the whole thing to make it more angled, especially toward the bottom. Here's a bow perspective that made me pretty happy though HMS Enterprize - Bow Very perceptive--it is definitely too high, although I don't think 5-6 bricks worth. Probably 3 studs (tiles) too tall? HMS Surprise can show a lot of flank at sides too. That is part of what made the frigate layout so popular--with one gun deck it was far off the water and could fire in any weather conditions. But yes, it's still too high. The floor of the ship below the berth deck is 5 plates high, to act as a strength layer, as well as the attachment point for the side plates. Then the berth deck is at least a brick too tall, since I had a lot to fit in (furniture, deck supports, tiller, etc.). Maybe I will revisit the base at some point to conceal the height a little more effectively.
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heh heh, I've been trying not to think about that too much. Almost 20,000 pieces. A lot were plates and 2x2 round plates that were $0.05 per, but still it had to be over $1000. So I guess much credit has to go to my benevolent employer and understanding wife!
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Thank you for the very kind comments! At one point in the middle of the rigging work I had left my work light on behind the ship and turned off the room light and the idea was born of doing a backlit shot. But it turned out to be a lot harder to get the shot than I thought. My camera is pretty cruddy, and I spent almost two hours of trying different things before I found something that worked decently. What it was, finally, was a couple of the kids' red "finger lights" in front to give the reddish hue, and then one of my main fluorescent lights BEHIND my white paper backdrop, with some cheesecloth draped over it to diffuse it a bit... Yes I went back and forth about it quite a bit. Actually the "match that lit the powder keg" for the whole project was buying a couple of extra cannons for my son's Brick Bounty (featured above). But then I thought maybe brick built cannons would be better. However I noticed that the scale difference of the LEGO cannons isn't really that bad, at least for the 9-pounders. In the end I decided that maybe it was more in keeping with the "toy-meets-model" idea to use LEGO cannons. Who knows, though, maybe I will revisit it. It would be nice to have carronades, and to properly differentiate the 6 from 9 pounders I do like how the sails hang, but I agree they look plain. I don't know how I missed that tutorial. On my scrap pieces of material I tried to do the lines (as I've seen many beautiful examples here on the site) and I was very dissatisfied with my results. So I played it safe. Maybe I was just getting fatigued toward the end of the project. But perhaps with the tutorial I will be reenergized to try again
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[/url] Hi all, this is my first sailing ship in at least 30 years. But I went all-in. This is also the first adult MOC for which I have bought "my own" bricks, rather than relying on whatever (admittedly copious) odds and ends my sons had lying around at a given moment. Anyway, my creation is a fully-rigged minifig-scale (1:38.4) historical LEGO model of the 6th-rate frigate HMS Enterprize (also spelled as Enterprise), launched in 1774. I know that class is a bit "over-exposed," but the size was right (the end result is 5 feet long bowsprit to boom, just possible for me to lift), the plans were readily available on the web, and it's a lovely ship. My intent with it was to meld model and toy--it has a lot of working features and internal play spaces. In this post I'm basically just going to focus on some of my favorite pictures, rather than bogging down in a lot of text. But if you are interested there is more to see: - I have a ton of pictures on Flickr with info in many of the descriptions: https://www.flickr.com/photos/136587164@N02/collections/72157664502401642/ - I have a MOCPages page with more info: http://www.moc-pages.com/moc.php/426851 Also, I'm happy to answer any questions here. And if there are picture angles or subjects that I neglected, let me know and I will snap them while I still have my photo setup in place. I hope you will like my product, it's been about 8 months of work. Throughout that process, seeing what is being done on the Pirates board here has been a big source of encouragement! HMS Enterprize - Gunports Open (Bow Quarter) HMS Enterprize - Waterline Stern HMS Enterprize - Stern HMS Enterprize - Waterline Bow Closeup HMS Enterprize - Forecastle HMS Enterprize Meets The Brick Bounty HMS Enterprize - Crew HMS Enterprize - Decks Overview HMS Enterprize - Captain's Quarters (removed from hull) HMS Enterprize - Captain's Quarters - Great Cabin Interior HMS Enterprize - Racing Neck and Neck on the Foremast HMS Enterprize - Launching a Cutting-Out Expedition! HMS Enterprize - Well Met, Fellow Traveller! HMS Enterprize - Into the Sunset Thanks for your interest, input and inspiration!
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That was the project that finally made me give in and get an Ideas login The consensus from "Ideas observers" seems to be that it's dead on arrival--I guess because of the piece count (??) Obviously the brick-built sails would have to go, but that would bring it down to like 1300 pieces I think. It seems like with just a bit more compression Lego could make it workable. Hope so anyway...
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I was looking at some ship model plans, which included a diagram for a 9-pounder. I was surprised that the lego cannons didn't seem as out of scale as I expected. The lego barrel is clearly a lot thicker than a real cannon--the real one (outside dimension) would be less than one stud at the muzzle, and not much more than one stud at the thickest part. But the rest didn't look too bad. The barrel would be about 7 studs long--the lego ones are 8 counting the elongated nub at the back for shooting. So definitely in the ballpark. The carriage would be about 4 studs long (so that's correct), and about 3 studs wide. The only thing making the Lego cannons 4-wide is that the wheels tend to be thick, but maybe there are workarounds for that My takeaway was that maybe the criticism of lego cannons as "way too big to be realistic" is overblown. Not that I don't enjoy some of the incredible brick-built ones people have done...
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well it definitely works for you! I agree the "brick damage" dimension is probably overrated. Back in the early '80s when it was "one set for your birthday and one for Christmas" I just about had a personal relationship with each brick, and I've probably never quite gotten over it yes that is a nice trick!
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I concur--I put a bit of rag (cut up athletic sock) on it, and then pull with needlenose pliers. Works every time and no damage
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Very cool ship! I feel conflicted sometimes, when encountering cool MOCs that use techniques that I just don't really want to use. Personally, I don't think I would ever build something that relied on bending a layer of plates or pushing the tolerances of the bricks. Not that I disapprove of someone else doing it, not that I have some purist fetish that forbids me using non-approved connection techniques (in selected cases I do use them). But still I just wouldn't build this--my many years of Lego-ing, mostly as a kid, make it feel wrong. I've internalized some combination of "this is not going to be strong/will keep popping apart and be annoying" and "this will damage my legos" But of course it is a technique that can be used to great effect. Lost of the best "Shiptember" offerings last fall relied on this I noticed. So then I wonder if I'm just being too linear-minded and unadventurous. Still, I can't imagine ever wanting to do it...
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Bricklink has its inconveniences -- i.e. you can spend a lot of time trying to minimize the total cost (incl. shipping) for a collection of various parts. I guess there is software for that, but I haven't tried it. BUT, lack of paypal is not a problem I've experienced. I've done 100s of orders (mostly US sellers, a few from Europe). Every seller I've ever encountered has taken paypal. MAYBE one charged me a fee for it. (Of course I'm sure the payment processing costs are built in like everything else...)
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I've actually never had a Lego Pirates set, but I've always loved ships and was doing my best before they came out with Pirates. I recently came across this picture from my youth, roughly 1982 or 1983 so about age 11... Sailing Ship MOC ca. 1982 by E J
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Ha you're right! I suppose I was channeling that picture subconsciously when I posed the figures, although I hadn't thought of it Thanks! It is nice and roomy. I was planing 5-wide seats, but then was surprised to find that 6-stud fit. I think I will switch back to five though, since the "ribs" I put in prevent the figures from actually sitting on the 6 stud bench properly... I decided to switch the stripes to dark red, and my black rudders came in so I was able to ditch the dark blue one. I'm working on the pinnace now...
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For years I've been wanting to see if I could work out a built hull that could float without gluing. My theory is to build the hull with a large compartment in the base, put a heavy weight in the bottom, and then fill the rest of the compartment with sealed air bags or something like that. But I've never taken the time to try it yet. Has anyone done it? Edit: or, based on the previous post, has anyone sealed the *inside* with a sheet of plastic, rather than the outside as demonstrated in those test pictures?
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Here's my stab at a cutter (18') and launch (23')... Ship's boats 1 Ship's boats 2 Launch Cutter What's the verdict: good, bad or indifferent?
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Ive been surprised at the strength of the consensus that Beagle is not approveable. I suppose it's true, but I feel like lego could jigger with the design to small it up (and drop the silly brick sails) and it could be a very appealing mix of aesthetics, history and science; while complementing, not overlapping, pirates... but I'm biased I suppose...
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That's a great fort--huge! I like the vibe--it says "play, explore and have fun!" rather than "I'm a display model that will fall apart if you breathe on me--don't touch!"
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maybe the title was more interesting than the content
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Rigging Period Model Ships was a $10 ebook purchase that I've found invaluable https://books.google.com/books?id=IAKSAwAAQBAJ (I happen to know that it has been pirated on the web too, but don't recall where, and anyway it's worth paying for...) It's based on late 18th century frigate, so your mileage may vary, but at least it's a good place to start. It shows the jib sheets running through a block and belayed to the forward rails on either side
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WOW. Top notch by any possible criteria one could apply--big, imaginative, well-populated, active, finely crafted...
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For me it's all just one big set. Periodically I may buy a box from Lego, build something from it, take it apart, and dump the pieces into my set!
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Amazing! Do you have any more "behind the scenes" shots or details? I'd love to know more about the engineering (the planning stage, how you broke the modules, how they could be reconfigured, etc.) as well as the experience
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From the thumbnail it looked like "oh a bunch of figs fighting >yawn<", so I wasn't really primed to respond to it. But I have to say it's a very engaging image. The headshot makes it--really creative!