Franco Clarke

Ingenious little pair, they certainly capture the classic styling at a smaller scale.

Last weekend myself and @berninhr took our latest display to the annual Reading Brick Show. Following from last year's Toulon effort, we decided to harken back to the classic pirate style with an Imperial port and tropical island. Here's an overview from one end. Due to the length of the display it is awkward to get the whole thing into a single shot. This end was dominated by the mighty 64 gunner, returning from last year's display. Behind the ship was located Berninhr's port, containing a mix of custom buildings and altered sets to create a bustling town. From the bow on angle we can see the Redcoats rowing out to board their flagship, whilst smaller vessels ply the waters around the port. One of these was the newly completed Rattlesnake sloop, making its first appearance. Berninhr's primary contribution was the glittering brick-built sea, finally replacing the blue cloth we'd used in our previous displays. To add some more life to the sea, I added this whale off the bow of the sloop. However my main build was this tropical island, with inhabitant village. Taking inspiration from the classic sets, I made use of parts not available back in the 1990's to add greater detail and depth. The centrepiece was this Kahuka statue, based on the new Roger Redbeard figure. However, the main new development for this display was the addition of motorised features, which are best seen in video form. As always this show is great fun, and we intend to take the display to the STEAM show later in the year too. I have more pictures on the Flickr, let me know if you fancy any shots of any particular details.

That's a great little build, the hidden treasure chest feels like such a classic pirate detail too.

This is an impressive frigate, especially for a first time design. Nice to see the Indy being built in real bricks too, as far as I am aware, this hasn't been attempted before. The ship is also quite reminiscent of the Hotspur from later in the show.

Congratulations on being selected, very well deserved. I'm looking forward to adding this one to the fleet.

Echoing previous comments, the weather beaten looking of this build is really commendable, and the tiled roofs blend well into the classic colour palette. I might suggest offsetting the thatching parts so they don't align vertically, would probably look more natural. Are there any interiors?

That's a great interpretation of the parts, quite different from the classic skulls we are used too, yet still undeniably Lego. Have you tried the same motif on a flag?

If this set does turn out to be real, no matter what form it ends up being, it should inject more useful shipbuilding parts into the market, which is always a good thing. Will certainly be interesting to see what Lego does with a presumably large budget to create an age of sail ship.

If you are not already aware of it, I would recommend the Studio virtual Lego program. This is a great tool as it allows you to experiment with lots of different parts without having to buy any. I presume this Boat, Hull Brick 16 x 10 x 3 : Part 64645 | BrickLink is the part you have? This is a good place to start as it can be form the basis of medium-large sized ships, depending on what you're planning to build. This is a relatively small ship using that part, with around 700 parts total. Here [MOC] 64 gun 3rd rate ship of the line. The lobster - Pirate MOCs - Eurobricks Forums is a good example of a large ship using that bow part. Finally the Build-a-frigate tutorial is always a great way to learn ship construction: Build a frigate with Captain Green Hair - Pirate MOCs - Eurobricks Forums. Good luck with your build.

This is the technique I prefer for building ships that are larger than the prefabricated hull parts. Using technique pieces with 1/2 stud offsets (i.e. 6541 and 3700) allows you to widen or narrow the hull in 1/2 stud increments, without loosing too much structural integrity. This has the added bonus of allowing the ship to split into sections if you so desire. This particular example uses the prefabricated upper bow part at the front, but for larger vessels, using hinge part 2429 as per Captain Green Hair's instructions can work. Hope this helps.

Awesome build, I'm not familiar with the original source material, but this is a spot-on recreation. The heavy use of dark brown is not a common choice, but fits will here.

That's a great improvement in such a short space of time too. I like how you've retained the design style, whilst thoroughly upgrading the build throughout. The amount of interior space you've achieved, within a realistic hull is commendable, and there's plenty of room for more detail in there.

Thank you for all the kind replies and that you like the colour balance too. I know very little Spanish either, but as the real ships often quite extravagant names, I thought an overly important title was appropriate here, The Most Holy Delayed Duck being the English translation. Thank you very much!

Great to have two superb depictions of the Constitution so soon after one another. I like how detailed and smooth this version is, I look forward to seeing your Guerriere.

It looks a very nice model, but for the price tag, I'd rather just get more parts for my own builds. That said, it is good to have some new colours and more parts in the ecosystem.

I don't think I have posted this build here yet, my Armada-inspired galleon. The Armada always had great figures and styling, but 6280 certainly didn't feel worthy of the title of flagship. With the release of the white hull parts in the Friends boat, there was at last a good basis for an enlarged Armada ship. Thus I set about building a galleon, using the Armada's unique colourscheme. The unique spectrum of shades used in the original set made the build especially awkward, and it too many iterations, both physical and digital to come up with the final design. Naturally this ended up being the largest and most parts intensive. Taking inspiration from the iconic Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion for shaping and building techniques, El Pato Santisimo Retrasado was finally launched. A few quarter views, showing an overview of the ship. Due to my inability to recreate the blue striping, I dropped the brightly coloured sails of the original, but retained the Royal crest to preserve the linage. In the end, the more muted sails probably help counteract the bolder colours of the hull. Whilst not carrying the most cannons, her high gunwhales and castles should stall any pirates or Drakes attempts at boarding. Now a quick tour, starting at the front. Here is the beak, quite literally, with the figurehead which provided the ship's name. Also shown here are the four forward firing guns, a feature many larger ships would struggle to match. The ship's boat sits in the usual position, with access to the forecastle also visible here. A similar hatch leads to the sterncastle, under the sloping poop deck. Finally right aft there is a balcony, a distinctive feature of this era's ships. This is where the tour ends, as like most of my ships, there's no interior worth seeing. Not visible in the photographs, but this ship was my first to be designed with transport to conventions as a specific design criteria. Hence she can split in two, just forward of the main mast. Unfortunately this had the side effect of making the ship less rigid, so bricks work apart as she flexes, which can be seen in some pictures.

This is a great looking frigate, the details around the beak look exquisite, have you got any closer or lower angle photographs?

Glad you like it, we ran the display again this past weekend in Coventry, and have a couple more photographs from it. A slight variation from the previous iteration, I brought along a Spanish frigate, whilst Berninhr provided a brig to burn. Massed ranks of Bluecoats storm the fort. A wider view of the assault. The last Redcoats cling on in the tower. Gunner's view of the action. Barges haul the Agamemnon out the line of fire. One final shot from the other side. We're planning on taking this to the Swindon show in a couple of weeks, if anyone's in the vicinity.

Got a few more shots showing a few other details, glad that you liked the guillotinemobile. An overview looking North. Sailors hard at working warping HMS Agamemnon out of the line of fire. Smaller vessels burn under revolutionary mortar fire. Bluecoats storm the batteries atop the fort, scaling the walls and climbing up inside. If you want any other specific views, we intend to take this to some shows later in the year, and should be able to take more then.

Looks like she is shaping up nicely, I like the choice of grey decking, very suitable for a vessel crewed with the old guard. Are you planning to add any further colours to the ship, I find small amounts of blue or red can really help bring together a Nelson chequer. Looking forward to see how it continues to grow, however long that takes.

Thank you, I'm pretty sure that lower one is what I was thinking of, the arched windows pair nicely with it.

What a pretty little vessel, crammed with great details. The guns are novel, I like the little stairs/ladders, and the brown thread gives a unique effect compared with the more common black. The black table and 'impressionist' sea frame it nicely. Not sure about the red belaying pins though, perhaps dark brown would be less obtrusive?

That's a great addition to your waterfront, I like the deep balcony and overhanging roof.

Nice little build, reminds me of Broadside's Brig rebuilt in the style of the new fortress.

Whatever the set ends up being, it ought to add more useful pirate parts into circulation which is always good (Brown masts would be greatly appreciated). Not overly impressed by the film, but the ship would make for a beautiful model.