Horry

deeplinking one of those pics would be great as this is really a funny and well made ship for Evil Stevie's Pirate Game. It might catch you some more deserved attention.

Welcome to Eurobricks! I think you'll find it quite enjoyable here

I think that this is a problem of practicability. I think we all can see that this project lacks some technical and historical accuracy but what can one do when doing a MOC of that sheer size? He's well aware of the "problems" of his ship

Brickdoctor - 1 point Oky - 1 point Pandora - 1 point I wish I could hand out more points - there are some great entries.

Ha! I just stumbled across this a few minutes ago when doin' some scouting It is a very colourful and imaginative MOC and I really like all the small details that are there. It captures a good Lego flair, well done!

This is going to be stunning. Your love to accuracy and detail is a feast fo the eyes.

If I understand you both correctly the proposed method could be used to calculate reasonable results for the game. So I'd like to bring this project back on track and get some more work done. I still need some feedback for the boarding rules and we still need a fourth player if I remember correctly. Phred, would you be willing to make an adjusted excel sheet that gives the "weight" of a MOC after inserting the dimensions? I would gather information on dimensions of all kinds of historic vessels and their respective weights so that there would be a pool of data. The formula used for the MOC-weight could choose the weight of the historic ship that would be the most accurate match for the MOC.

A very happy birthday to you!

This are great creations! I often fail to manage building such tiny things toasters - shopping in your stores might help me to learn how to do it better. Does your staff take gems instead of dollar notes?

PART II Different internal structures and functions Most ships classified as sloops-of-war share many common features regarding the main hull. Like most European ships of that era they are built around a keel. The keel runs from the stern to the bow and acts as the “spine” of the ship. From there, the frame is constructed, forming the “rips” of the ship. The planks are then placed upon the frame and make up the outer hull. Vessels of that size usually have only one lower deck above the bilge. On bigger ships like brigs there might be one or multiple steerages, especially in the stern and the bow sections. Keel layout von HMSCentaur auf Flickr Many ships of the time have their lower deck painted white in order to be able to identify leaks in the gun-powder hold and to be able to make the most of the little light there is down below. The lower deck is mostly fully walk through and often has gun ports that are opened when the ship is made ready for combat. When the decks are cleared, the walls that compartmentalize the captain’s quarters and/or the officers’ quarters are normally removed in order to gain access to the guns that are stored in those compartments. Some ships that are equipped for transporting many goods have a larger well deck. This is the part of the lower deck that is uncovered It is the main loading access of the ship and can be covered with blankets or cover panels. The masts go all the way through the ship and are placed on the keel. Brigs are very manoeuvrable and fast when sailing with broad reach or running with the wind. However, as they are relatively heavy for their sailing area they have poor sailing qualities when being close hauled or tacking. They were very popular among pirates due to their good armament and big cargo holds. Schooners are versatile ships that make great coast runners. Due to their slim draught they were often used for coastal and patrols and made good troop carriers for rivers. Needing not much crew to be handled, they can be equipped with a multitude of different riggings making them an ideal small multi-purpose vessel. Their sleek hull makes them a relatively weak target as a broadside from 18 pounders can easily go all the way through a schooner. The best option when attacking a bigger opponent with a schooner would be to use the good sailing qualities in order to stay at the stern of the enemy, shooting broadsides at the rudder and the weak aft compartments. Ketches are very stable constructions. They are often quite beamy in comparison to other sloops-of-war. This makes them slower but more stable ships that can take some hits and maintain some speed in very stormy conditions. This is also a soft spot as the stress of the undulations is absorbed by the bigger frame-parts, therefore requiring a new caulking more often. Schooner Diagram von HMSCentaur auf Flickr Many Ketches would have a specialised lower deck with a big cargo hold, transport-areas and only a small steerage for the crew. As they required a very small crew, all the space could be reserved for those special tasks. Bomb ketches for example would have no real lower deck but a reinforced structure so the mortars would not damage the planking. Most ketches did not have more than four gun ports as their waterline would be relatively high, making gun ports dangerous during stormy conditions. Thus, most of their cannons would be placed on the weather deck. Bomb Ketch diagram von HMSCentaur auf Flickr For further information on the structure of ships, you can have a look at my tutorial on frigates.

Now, I don't have any complete sets anymore but I think this contest is an awful lot of fun so I decided to give it a try anyway to get the entries going So I present my (fun)entry: "Sunken Sabre Island" When the Bluecoats heard about the climate change, they said it was Redcoat-jabber - little did they know that the water would rise by more than 10 bricks! Now there are blue corals guarding Sabre Island, not Bluecoats. No 1 von HMSCentaur auf Flickr No 2 von HMSCentaur auf Flickr No 3 von HMSCentaur auf Flickr

Hey folks! For some time now I have been readin' threads about modular cinemas called "theatre" - while those MOCs are awesome and I really enjoyed them I always hoped to see a real theatre-MOC around here - and while I know that there are some really beautiful theater-MOCs in the internet, I decided to give my own theatre a try. This one would be a really small theatre in Berlin in a small house that has been modified to suit the needs of perfoming. It is how I imagine the house to be that my small theatre company would own in a bright future It is still a WIP and as it is my first modular house MOC I would really appreciate your comments, criticism and suggestions - I am waitin' for a bricklink-order to arrive and until then I would like to try out some ideas! Front WIP von HMSCentaur auf Flickr I am still waiting for my street-bricks to arrive. The stairs to the entrance are also still in the proccess of being build. Front 2 WIP von HMSCentaur auf Flickr The whole builing is still missing three doors - my only doors left are those old-old-old-school things with a yellow 4x5x2 studs frame. Back WIP von HMSCentaur auf Flickr As usually, the back of the theatre is in worse shape than the front. There is an extension with the stairs for the first floor. A loading ramp will be added to the stage entry, soon. Inner 1 WIP von HMSCentaur auf Flickr The ground storey has a SNOT-floor and holds a small foyer, a toilet for the audience and the stage. The stage can be accessed through the back door. There are no furniture and no stage equipment, yet. Inner 2 WIP von HMSCentaur auf Flickr inner 3 WIP von HMSCentaur auf Flickr inner 4 WIP von HMSCentaur auf Flickr The first floor features a bureau, the general equipment, the make-up-room, and small bathroom. Inner 5 WIP von HMSCentaur auf Flickr This is the general equipment. It will grow and get more crowded.

Well, not entirely correct. A sloop would be any ship smaller than a post-frigate and could therefore carry any number of cannons under 20. Swivel guns would also not be classified as cannons and therefore not add to the rating. Some ships of a size large than a brig or a schooner would sometimes only carry swivel guns and still be officially "unarmed" - but you are essentially right: they are excellent weapons of choice in terms of self-defense.

first of all, welcome to EB! I have to say that I like both of them. But since you are going for realism I'd suggest using the one using the round tubes with knobs (part 71076) - they display a much better barrel / calibre ratio and the diameter of the barrel would be much more realistic. Additionally, while the one utilizing technic-parts does have a nice style and the holding-part resembles a better trunnion than the ball bearing of the first swivel gun, the trunnion could not possibly be at the ficture of the bulwark as the elongated lever would make the recoil to swing around uncontrollably, endaering equipment and crew. However, you might find some nice advice on MOC-guns and cannons in the great pirate section index - there is a whole part about cannons! Oh and while I'm for sure no moderator, I fear that your pictures are too big. The board rules allow only 800x600 as stated here - the post also includes a tutorial as how to resize them correctly - it sure helped me when I got here, just a little advice!

yeah, I know what you mean - I think it's the nose, looks a bit too cobbled together with the rest and a wee bit too long. But otherwise I'm really impressed with this whole line - I don't care too much for the military theme but the designs are decent and in a nicely scaled size! I don't know much about Oxford - is the quality okay?

I think Lego cannons are always a tad more expensive then other stuff - but I'd suggest bricklink for most of your needs. There's also a great index on MOC-cannons around here that could give you advice on how to make your own and less expensive cannons! For the suggestions I'd say you best look into this thread about ideas on forts - there are already good examples and you might find what you're lookin' for.

Three Huzzas for Rufus, all hail to him!

Tutorial - Small ships-of-war This tutorial is complete PART I General information, different locations There is a lot of possible confusion coming to you when you decide to build a “smaller” sailing ship – smaller meaning that the MOC would be smaller than a frigate. The most common types of sailing ships that could be used as ships of war in the 18th and 19th century were brigs, sloops, schooners and ketches. While this tutorial will focus on describing those types of ships there will be given additional information on ships like brigantines and snows. The first thing we have to understand is that there is a big difference between a normal brig, schooner and ketch and their official names as ships of war. In the rating system of the Royal Navy that was used between 1782 and 1876 every ship was called a “sloop-of-war” that was not a “rated vessel” (meaning that it would be lighter armed than a post-ship frigate with 20 to 24 guns). Technically that meant that schooners, brigs, cutters and bomb-ketches that would be used in the Royal Navy as combat-ships were called sloops-of-war. Those ships would not be used in official fleet deployments and manoeuvres. A ship of the size of a sloop-of-war did simply not carry enough weapons to fight a ship-of-the-line or even a frigate. The heavier calibres on such ships would make it impossible for a sloop-of-war to come into weapons range before being blown to pieces by a broadside. Sloops-of-War therefore performed support and supply duties, delivered dispatches, patrolled coasts and escorted convoys. Apart from the official rating system that would use different armaments for distinguishing, the differences between those ships can be seen mostly on their number and sizes of masts and their rigging. Brig von HMSCentaur auf Flickr A brig is usually classified as a ship with two masts. The mainmast is the higher one and carries a for-‘n-aft gaff rig sail being called spanker. The mainmast also carries square-rigged sails, traditionally three to four sails (the royals came into use on brigs during the early 19th century) – the average length for a brig would be between 25 and 55 meters and their average beam could vary between 7 and 12 meters. Some brigs feature one or multiple raked masts. Raked masts help the ship staying into the wind and therefore pointing. Schooner von HMSCentaur auf Flickr A schooner is a type of vessel that has been in use since the early 18th century. It features at least two masts while the fore mast may only be as high as all the following masts or smaller. A schooner will feature fore-‘n-aft sails on all masts, featuring the main mast always behind a fore mast. Schooners were developed mainly in Northern America and were often used for commercial runs until the American Revolutionary War. This explains why there are so many different designs – some schooners can feature up to four masts and their hull size varies accordingly. However, the most common type that can be found until today and that was also used during our popular Napoleonic Wars is the two-mast schooner. But keep in mind that there are schooners out there that have no bowsprits, feature staysails or may have no headsails. Many schooners (but not all!) feature multiple raked masts. The taller a schooner gets, however, the less practical raking the masts becomes. It tends to move the centre of the ship and makes them less stable during difficult and stormy weather conditions. The two things that define a schooner in the end are still fore-‘n-aft sails that are rigged on masts that feature a smaller or equally tall fore mast. Ketch von HMSCentaur auf Flickr A ketch is a sailing vessel hat features exactly two masts that are normally rigged with fore-‘n-aft sails and can feature topsails and multiple jibs as well. The main mast is always the one nearer to the bow and is taller than the mizzen mast. The ketch is not to be confused with a yawl. Yawls have their mizzen mast positioned much nearer to the stern outside the waterline. The mizzen mast of a ketch is usually much taller than the mizzen mast of a yawl (being mostly around 50 % of the size of the main mast of the yawl). Ketches are stable and well suited for rough seas and their rigging can be handled by very small crews. Ketches of the 18th and 19th centuries were often used for special duties such as fresh water transportation, medical transport, arctic exploration and most prominently as bomb ketches, featuring between one and three mortars that could be used for harbour and shore bombardment while staying out of the range of shore batteries. Their relatively short waterline would make them a weak opponent in a short-range fight, though, because they could only carry few conventional cannons.

Thank you both very much! I'ts rather hard actually to capture TLG-style sometimes - this time it apparantly went well

Hey folks, To celebrate the theme month, I made some Sea-related MOCs! I remember that when I was a kid the only thing that bothered me about Aquanauts was the concept of staying under water all the time - their base and submarines just did not add up as a very comfortable way of living. So I made a quick shore base that is supposed to represent a place where the hydrolator crystals can be purified (in order to be able to stay under water longer) and small repairs and training can be done. The second one is a small surveillance submarine that's supposed to watch out for Aquasharks. It has a big sonar, a gripper arm for self-defense and a crawler-track for slow but silent movement. The third MOC is a small deep sea submarine with an Aquanaut specially equipped for the higher pressures. This ugly little thing is supposed to do heavy duty in ocean abysses and has a pressure hatch for crystals instead of the usual box. I tried to stay within the design of the Aquanauts line but I'm afraid I've lost some pieces over the years - anyway, hope you enjoy! Comments and criticism appreciated! Front von HMSCentaur auf Flickr Back von HMSCentaur auf Flickr Hydrolator crystal purification unit von HMSCentaur auf Flickr Surveillance crawler von HMSCentaur auf Flickr Stabilization von HMSCentaur auf Flickr Deepest Sea Searcher von HMSCentaur auf Flickr Deep Spea von HMSCentaur auf Flickr Pressure Hatch von HMSCentaur auf Flickr Action shot 1 von HMSCentaur auf Flickr

Got my first title - a little sooner than I expected, though : New and Fresh Pirate News Scout! Well, the title gives it kind of away - I am a new and fresh pirate news scout! And it was most probably given to me be one of the shipyard crew, praise be thee!

I have to agree, good mix to be on EB, you'll feel comfortable here Welcome!

I'd like to second that! I'm workin' in theatre business and find this to be a very thoughtful point. While I'm not a native speaker ov English, I'd like to contribute to this area as well if needed.

initially I thought that adding a magnet with a crystal box might have been more TLG-ish - and then I remembered that this is not an actual set - and that is really a shame! The whole MOC is a small thing of beauty!

Oh yes, I actually get to congratulate someone during their birthday! Happy birthday, Bonaparte! Three Huzzas for you!