TomSkippy

Was out of town on work trip. @kurigan I ended up trying hinges. I’ll post pictures later (hopefully soon) to get a critique. I’m increasingly excited about the build. Might be my best to date. I don’t hate the electrical tape idea. I will likely try it sometime in the future. I think you could get a really nice white stripe on black/dark brown 1800s look with it.

@Roadmonkeytj electrical tape! Hadn’t thought of that. @Bregir Man, I know the struggle! I like those examples. @Wellesley I’m talking about the older 12 wide hulls. I have some of the new ones... they’re good, but have a couple of issues (for me personally): 1) they’re 16 studs wide. I prefer working at 8-14, Fits my time/money budget better. 2) the upper bow piece is 3 studs tall, which is a little too tall for the gunstripe. It’s also a solid piece which means no cannon on the bow curve. I may just have to settle for the wall. I rarely notice it on other ships. I just need to trust that the gun, strip, beakhead, headrails, anchors, and rigging, will help. @Roadmonkeytj electrical tape! Hadn’t thought of that. @Bregir Man, I know the struggle! I like those examples. @Wellesley I’m talking about the older 12 wide hulls. I have some of the new ones... they’re good, but have a couple of issues (for me personally): 1) they’re 16 studs wide. I prefer working at 8-14, Fits my time/money budget better. 2) the upper bow piece is 3 studs tall, which is a little too tall for the gunstripe. It’s also a solid piece which means no cannon on the bow curve. Bodi and Legostone have some wonderful builds. Hoping this build can stand near theirs! I may just have to settle for the wall. I rarely notice it on other ships. I just need to trust that the gun, strip, beakhead, headrails, anchors, and rigging, will help.

Interesting. I love the stripe. Still seems to have the “looks like a curved wall” problem. But that is another option.

A question for you guys. I'm working on one of many brig-sized ships (12-14 stud beam). I'm struggling with the bow. I can only really find 3 options: Hinge based: Built on top of a Lego bow: See Wellesley a few posts up Brick built: I've tried each one. Hinge based looks okay, but the forward curve isn't great. It looks like a round wall (even with 3x1x1 curved slopes at the bottom). Is there any way around this? Any way to cover it up? Building on top of a Lego bow piece is ok, but the ship looks too tall and bulky for how I've designed her. Shortening it doesn't help since it messes with the overall curve of the ship. Brick built looks too jagged. I realize shipbuilding with Lego is a compromise. But there has to be a better option. One of my primary goals is to preserve the gun stripe. Are there any other good ways of doing this? I'm seriously considering painting the stripe on a Lego bow piece (that way it can sit lower on the ship)… is this heresy? I started this project thinking I could make an iconic Lego ship design. Maybe even one that becomes a standard for this sized vessel for mocs. Does recoloring Lego automatically exclude the ship from ever being that? Will it distract from some other new ideas/techniques incorporated in this build?

@Wellesley I prefer 1 or 5 What about having a little more space between the gun ports? Say only 6 per side?

Thanks, he’s just a head on snot piece!

Johnny didn't like answering the door. Customs officials, foreign envoys, and investigators kept asking difficult questions that Johnny never knew the answers to. Sea Rats weren't much better, certain shadowy figures would send ruffians by to make sure Johnny didn't ruin anything in the house. Today was different. Just a cheerful delivery boy. Apparently Johnny had purchased warehouses and docks for his huge fleet. Johnny didn't know he had a fleet, surely they couldn't be referring to his little raft from Prio... Johnny knew it wasn't his job to ask questions. Here's a fun little build to increase my ship level. I'll wait to register it, I may build a small/medium plantation and use this as the residence for it. We'll see. C&C welcome.

This emoji doesn’t quite convey the level of shock I’m feeling reading that your sides aren’t attached. Especially given she’s called “Ironsides”

@Wellesley TLC does stand for The Lego Company. MocYourBricks is a youtube seen here I’ve seen a couple of those ships, but not all, I need to up my search function game! @Bregir For the Ironsides, are you using hinge bricks for the tumblehome? Great suggestions!

I’m considering building several brig/class 4 ships in different styles. This is to help me think differently in my builds. So far, the styles I can think of are: TLC, Capt Green Hair, MocYourBricks, and my own. What are some other styles that I could consider trying?

Write-ups were a highlight, I could barely read them given I couldn’t stand the suspense and wanted to see the results. Sigh, Johnny’s ships didn’t win, but hopefully they fair better on the open seas. Glad the Golden got some gunnery practice in. I probably shouldn’t have mocked Poseidon in an earlier thread

@Bregir Why must you disrespect the rest of us at the race with a hull like that? My sailors about to leave me for it.

@Bodi Thanks! For attaching the plates I used the old 1x2 hinge bricks with 1x4 and 1x2 bracket plates. There’s not a ton of tilt from the hinge bricks, but just enough. Some of the side plates only have 1x1 contact with the brackets. I agree, the sails aren’t up to the standard set by the hull. They need more ironing, the Fore sails need a different approach to rigging, and the red doesn’t look great. I’ll keep improving!

Great write-ups! I shouldn’t be this excited about a randomizer and building blocks... Way to go. Also, good showing for Johnny (placed 1,2,3 so far )

Fresh pictures are up! Thanks for your patience!

Thanks everyone! The sails/rigging came in today, I’ll get pics up late tonight!

Thanks everyone! As soon as I saw the challenge, I envisioned Johnny accidentally winning. Great chance to add to his story. I had tons of fun building this. @Capt Wolf I wish it was controlled focal depth, I use my phone... I added a zoom blur on the images ! Have to say making the explosion was maddening! It kept coming apart when I was trying to move/photo it. Side note: I’ll probably license the grandstand as a cultural for Arlinsport.

Forgot to add Mr Ed The Spirit of Sir Edward! Here's my Class 3 And here's my Cat A.

Here is my Class 3 entry for the PA Cup. Golden Rat - Class 3 Brig R M G C $ H 3 4 3 2 0 3 The Golden Rat is less of a "real"-style ship, but instead what I call Nouveau-Lego... a build that blends classic Lego design with an AFOL flourish (without the complexity of a Modular or UCS). This is similar to TLC Winter Village. I started off with the Imperial Guard's Flagship. IMO the IGF is a top 7 Lego ship Obviously she needed to be "piratized". I changed the palate. Then I incorporated some newer Lego design elements (rails, doors, bow). The stern is a mini-version of MOCYOURBRICKS excellent La Grenouille. The headrails are my own concoction. The rat theme ties it all together. A new TLC pirate ship would obviously be less complex (and taller) on the stern and involve more play features. Still I'm pleased. The Jib Sail was interesting. I planned on cutting up an actual Gaff Sail from the Red Beard Runner (heresy I know, but that might be why I'm a Sea Rat). The Bricklink store sent a substitute rather than an original. I was not happy since I was under the impression it was real when I purchased it, but it might be better that a legit sail wasn't destroyed by this MOC. The Bow piece was painted with Rustoleum Navy Blue, which isn't bad, but clearly not Lego Dark Blue, I'll try something else next time. The windows/rats are painted with Vallejo Oro... a nice color, it looks good, but sadly not Lego Pearl Gold (it's shinier in person). Captain's Quarters, a little shabby, but pretty cozy for a rat! Finally a profile shot @Capt Wolf C&C welcome! NOTE: Sorry for the ugly pictures, these are places holders... my sails and rigging was delayed at the Post Office (supposed to arrive last Friday, still not here ). I'll update the pictures as soon as it's in.

"What a great day for sailing," thought Johnny as he looked toward the Prio Harbor BOOM!!! "The next shot won't miss! Prepare to surrender your contraband to the Port Authorities!" Johnny didn't know about contraband, but he did know when it was time to abandon ship. Unfortunately, so did his crew... The second shot didn't miss. A sense of weightlessness, a splash, and an altogether different roar...

She looks great! Different aesthetic than usual, Would look at home on a TLC Pirate movie. I always understood class size to have a little leeway, a little overlap between class sizes within reason... Basically don’t make an ugly, low-piece count vessel and try to class her high to save on build time/pieces/cost etc... I’d say class 1 or 2, your call... (but if you glance higher in the thread you can see I may be a little too generous with class size )

Beautiful... Simple... Wonderful color choices: is that bright light yellow with tan masonry and dark tan roof?

Wait, Oleon has won a bunch in a row? Must be the gods, cuz I always thought you guys were more about fashion than seamanship!! Edit: @Wellesley I’m planning on borrowing your hull design for a future build... it’s fantastic

Thanks! Any suggestions for the hull? Usually I disassemble builds after a week or two, but this may be the second build that I leave assembled (she looks even better in person), if I do, I'd want her as perfect as can be, I'm adding the dolphin striker and a small hatch behind the mainsail. @Ross Fisher high praise! thanks!!!

Haven’t thought much about it, but here are three quick ideas: Brick built with snot (use different slopes to change the angle: http://inspiredbrick.blogspot.com/2012/10/brick-built-boat-hull-technique.html?m=1 A combination of curved 6x1 inverted slopes and 6x2 inverted wedges. shrinking the size and using the 10x12x1 bow. The clipper has a more modern bow shape, you’d be copying TLC’s take on it. You might want to do this anyway... she’s SUPER thin, even with a 12 stud beam the length would still be at least 80 studs (which is pretty huge) PS we’re talking about this HMS Warrior right?