Cousarmy0001

Hey, where did you get those books?

The same can be said about a lot of Lego ships. There was nothing clipper in the Caribbean Clipper, either What gets me about this MOC is that so many of our ships are small ones pretending to be something bigger. This one is exactly what it says it is. The rigging is quite impressive, as are a lot of the smaller details. The planking on the deck is very innovative as well.

I would echo Kurigan with regards to the guns on your spar (top) deck. I only have one MOC that features guns on the spar deck, and those are brick built in order to 1-save space and 2-cut down on the amount of weight that would raise the ship's center of gravity, making it more stable in heavy seas. Because, you know, your ship is totally going to have to worry about that :-) With the full size guns, they're 4 studs wide, which for me isn't that big of a deal, but they're effectively six studs long from the front of the carriage to the end of the nob at the back. That's a lot of space to take up when your deck is only going to be about fourteen studs wide, assuming you're using normal hull pieces. If you brick build them, they can be as short as two studs long (mine are 4 studs), making it MUCH more economical in terms of space. A bit of a history lesson here, if you're interested and don't already know the story, when the American navy built its six heavy frigates, their initial captains gave them masts and guns that were too large. The result was that the ships would yaw heavily from side to side, most often away from the wind. While the masts and rigging made them exceptionally fast, the tendency to lean away from the wind had a very adverse effect on their gunnery- namely, they couldn't use the guns that faced downwind because the ports were so close to sea level that the ship would flood if they were opened. When the USS Constellation fought L'Insurgente in 1799, the former had to give up the "weather gauge" (a ship that had the weather gauge was upwind of her foe, giving her a distinct advantage in most combat situations) because as previously described, when upwind of her opponent, the overgunned Constellation's gun ports were too close to the water. While Constellation handily won that battle, she very easily could have lost, and upon returning to the US, her captain had her battery of 24-pound cannons replaced with 18-pounders, in order to avoid a repeat of the situation.

Excellent job on the budget build! That's awesome that you were able to pull it together for such a smaller fraction than the original sets are going for now. I also have to say, I kinda like the substitutions on the sterncastle better than the parts on the original set. If you're interested in tweaking the thing a little, you might want to think about changing a few of the 2x2 rounds on your masts to have a different color. Historically a lot of ships had portions of the masts painted a different color, that might add a little color and individuality to your ship. Also, definitely love the faction change. She looks much better with the blue flag atop the center mast :-)

Having read through this whole thread tonight, I would very much like to echo the call for a Bluecoat ship, at the very least. Like the rest of you, I was very underwhelmed by the Pirate sets that came out in 2015. I was absolutely stoked when I saw that the Bluecoats were back, and I bought two of the larger outposts as soon as I saw them, primarily for the admiral and admiral's daughter figures, as well as the updated large Bluecoat flags. I was hoping that these would be the precursors to other bigger and better sets, like Lego was releasing sets akin to the Lagoon Lockup or Cannon Cove to get things started, and then coming out with an Imperial Trade Post or Eldorado sized set for them later on, with corresponding plans for the Pirate side. What I had hoped for most, though, was a Bluecoat ship, preferably one that wasn't a rehash of the Imperial Flagship, like the Brick Bounty appears to be a rehash of the Brickbeard's Bounty. Something a bit smaller, perhaps, but still able to hold its own against its Pirate counterpart. A small to mid-sized merchant ship, and/or a civilian harbor would have been very nice as well, because what else are the pirates going to raid, if not those? It seems to me like Lego really half-assed this whole thing, and then used that as evidence to not continue it. I'm at the point where I almost wish they hadn't bothered to bring back the Bluecoats at all. Almost. Because I've still got the new flags, and the Admiral/Admiral's Daughter minifigs to show for it.

If you added a second gun deck, you could certainly keep your current deck and captain's cabin as they are now. Most of my comments were made with the assumption that you were going for a single decked frigate, so by all means disregard the parts of my earlier comment that reference that. I've never built a multi decked ship, so I can't give a great deal of advice on the actual design and construction, but I would encourage you to look into some of the various tumblehome methods shown on this forum. Building a ship with it makes the project much more difficult, but the end result looks MUCH better than a completely rectangular hull does. There are a number of 4th through 2nd rate MOCs out there that you should be able to pull ideas from. Not many people have been bold enough to go for a 1st rate, which would require over 100 guns like you said. The only one of those I'm aware of off hand is Poseidon (http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=68797&st=100), which is an absolutely amazing project, but has been under construction for about as long as a real 1st rate would be, and I would wager has been just as expensive and labor intensive as a real one. Fortunately, you shouldn't need THAT many cannons :-) As a frequent Bricklink user, I caution you if you live in North America, about buying bricks from European sellers. Many European countries- particularly western European ones- have Value Added Taxes that range from 10-20%, which can greatly increase the cost of your order, but aren't generally included in the listed price for each brick. I've never been dissatisfied with any of my European purchases, but the price on the final invoice can come as a shock. If there is a VAT included, it'll usually say so on the seller's page, on the top right of the screen. Again, I apologize if this sounds negative, or if I sound like a know-it-all. I'm hoping to help you avoid a few of the mistakes I've made since I started building MOCs.

I have a terminology nit-pick, sailing frigates generally carried their primary armament on a single deck. If you build a ship with two gun decks, it won't really be a frigate anymore. As for your masts, this index may help you: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=23991 You have a good start here! From what I can see in your pictures, if I were you, I would make my own sails, and balance out the mast lengths so that each of them have three sails. Ships with four sails on each mast did exist, but the top sails were generally much smaller than the ones you have on your center mast. If you gave them all the same number of sails, each of roughly the same size, it will give your ship a much more balanced appearance. This is also personal preference, but if I were you, I would think about raising the existing gun deck by one or two levels, and then tweaking the front bulkhead of your captain's cabin so that it's accessible from the gun deck, with its ceiling close in level to your top deck. Most frigates had a relatively flush top deck, without a sterncastle like there is on your current ship (or as exists on pretty much every Lego sailing ship ever). Your sterncastle itself looks good, and I think will go very nicely with a taller hull that matches your existing color and design schemes. I hope this didn't sound really negative and critical. It probably did, but I don't mean it that way. I think this is a very good beginning, and I hope you continue to tweak your design as you go. Personally, I've completely redone my flagship at least three times now, as I've learned more and more techniques as I've built. If you're anything like me, you'll keep finding more and more ways to make your ship better. I'd also like to echo what others have said regarding the cannons. Always keep your eyes open for good deals on cannons, because they can be hard to come by at times, given the fact that Lego likes to sell their ships with half as many guns as their ships have gunports, and everybody wants to add more guns to the ships they have. Even if you find a good price for more guns than you think you need, it's better to have and not need, than need and not have. You may decide to make another ship some day, after all.

#blackpearlsmatter :-D

Indeed, it is small for a prison, but most of the classic Lego sets (and indeed ALL of the current Pirate sets) are quite small. This is a very nice MOC, with some interesting details. I'd like to see pictures of the interior, if you have them. Be careful, though, as my rediscovering my old Lego sets has led me to the huge hobby that it is for me today :-)

I haven't played Elder Scrolls, so I can't say I used anything from them, unfortunately. I just tried to come up with stuff that looked alchemyish. I put considerable effort into making a mortar and pestle, but was never satisfied with anything I came up with. I was thinking, in the event that I actually build this some day, of having the picture above the fireplace be one of the Elric brothers, though. But yeah, he must be good at it, not just because of the large shop, but also the location, being right across the street from Parliament!

There's no flag, but I assume you mean the black panels on the base. On the actual column in Trafalgar Square, there are four plaques that each depict a scene from Nelson's career- the Battle of Copenhagen, the Battle of the Nile, Trafalgar, and Nelson's death. In the event that I win the next Powerball and get to build this thing (before my wife spends it all), I would be making some kind of sticker to put on each of those, depicting a scene from the redcoat admiral's career. The death one would likely involve him being stabbed in the face by a victorious bluecoat admiral, though

Sorry. It makes me think of this:

Here's the last post for this project, which oddly enough was the first building I designed, after the docks. The top floor is a tailor, who caters to the gentry, making fancy dresses and uniforms for them. I spent a good deal of time working on the room divider, which was probably the hardest part of this building. You'll likely notice this is the only building in the project (excluding Parliament) that doesn't have a fireplace. That is because I didn't think of it until I'd finished, and I didn't want to go back and redo the whole thing. Initially, this building was also only about five or six studs from Parliament would be (later increased), so there really wasn't room to add one. The bottom floor is a law office. The stairs look a bit odd underneath because this building butts up against the tavern, and the chimney from its fireplace essentially makes a wall at the top of the stairs, so nothing beneath the surface can be seen. Enjoy! http://www.eurobrick...howtopic=119281

Here is the building for which I designed the pool table I asked about a few weeks ago. The top floor is a fancy club for the gentry, complete with a library, telescope, fancy clock, well stocked liquor cabinet, and posh furniture. The ground floor is a stable wherein the gentry may keep their horses while attending the club. The stairs to access the club are through the side door on the street. First, though, is the Lord Nelson-esque statue that is in front of this building, facing the harbor. It was rather easy to design, but I think it turned out quite well. http://www.eurobrick...howtopic=119281

Here is the tavern, which was the second building I designed for this harbor. The top floor has rooms for rent if you hit it off well with one of the bar wenches. Above the fireplace is a frame for a painting, which would naturally be of the redcoat king, because everybody is loyal in the redcoat kingdom, right? Next to the fireplace is a storage area for either wood, or more kegs, I haven't decided which. This was probably the second most challenging building in the MOC, on account of the odd corner of the building. I didn't consider the top floor when I put in the door on the ground floor, and a regular corner just didn't look right there- plus, it made the last room there too small to be of use for anything. I think it all turned out pretty well, though. http://www.eurobrick...howtopic=119281

As promised, here is the next part of my LDD harbor for the redcoats, which I started here: http://www.eurobrick...howtopic=119281 This was the 3rd building I designed, the top floor is home to an alchemist's shop, who keeps his horse in the stall below. The bottom floor is a simple counting house.

It makes me think of this: tT0RMmU.jpg

The more I look at these pictures, the more I'm impressed by the details in here. I'm particularly impressed by the furniture, seeing you use pieces for things I never would have thought of, like using the upside down chairs to support the table in the picture with the grandfather clock. I'm curious about the keys on the piano, also. Are they #2412 radiator grilles?

When looking at a picture in Flickr, there's a curved arrow on the bottom right of the window. Click on that, then copy and paste the BBCode to your forum post here, and when you post, it will show the full size picture, like Phred did. You may want to do a post preview, though, because Flickr likes to add stuff to their code that just clutters up your post. If you do a preview, you can trim that stuff out.

This is terrific! Is there any chance I could pressure you for additional shots of (or the plans for) your carriage?

I've always looked at it as, "the more space the gun crews have to work, the faster their rate of fire".

I like how the aft deck of the pirate ship angles upwards. That's very unique! Is the Oleon ship built on the small hull type? Overall, I really like the color schemes for both vessels. Very bright, and not the standard black and white hulls that so many of us use. Do any of these ships have finished interiors?

Copy that :-)

I'm glad it looks like the real thing. The closest I've ever been to the place was a two hour layover at Heathrow in 1997, so I only had pictures on the internet to go off of. It took me at least a week to design, working for probably 4-6 hours a night, so somewhere over 30 hours of actual "work". I really enjoyed it, though. Obviously the parliament building took the most time. I think I spent more time on it than the rest of the MOC combined, not counting the Guy Fawkes bit. I did the dock first, then that, and if I'm honest, the layout of the whole thing was specifically done to accommodate that, because I thought it would be funny. The exterior facade I scrapped and redid at least twice, and the House of Commons (the first interior room I did on the parliament building) was scrapped and restarted at least twice as well. The lessons learned from that one allowed me to get the House of Lords down on the first try, though.

Ok, the good news is that my wife has signed off on me building this monster after I finish my current project for the bluecoats (http://www.eurobrick...=78654&hl=wharf) The bad news is that it will be a very long time before my bank account signs off on it. So, as promised a few weeks ago, clocking in at a whopping 17,758 bricks, my mega project harbor for the redcoats. I was going for a more affluent look for theirs, as the Imperial Flagship (10210) was rather more ornate than the bluecoat Caribbean Clipper, suggesting a greater amount of wealth being possessed by that faction. My bluecoat project is intended as more of a working class area. There is no name yet, and for simplicity's sake, I will only be posting detailed pictures of the parliament building in this thread. The other buildings will have their own threads, due to the large number of pictures involved- unless the moderators have an issue with that. First, an overview of the whole thing. The ship in this picture is not included in the brick count, and the dock is long enough to accommodate a pair of the Imperial Flagships. I had originally intended for the large Lord Nelson type statue to be in front of this building, with a Trafalgar Square type park around it, but I couldn't decide on designs, much less purposes, for the extra two buildings it would have required to be added, so I moved it to its present location. It may move back, though, if I get the muse to design more buildings. Anyhow. Look upon my digital works, ye mighty, and despair! ( Edit: The threads for the other buildings can be found at the following: http://www.eurobrick...howtopic=119866, http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=119868, http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=119867, and http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=119866 ) Closer views of the parliament building exterior: A detail of the clock tower: An overhead view of the House of Lords with the second floor gallery: Main floor of the House of Lords: Pretty sweet, huh? However, someone wishes to give them something to remember remember... Meanwhile, in the hall outside, numerous rather large paintings can be viewed on the House of Lords exterior wall: As well as on the exterior wall of the House of Commons: And speaking of the House of Commons: The Parliament building alone is 9,166 bricks, and was modeled after the Houses of Parliament in London, with a few things borrowed from the Canadian houses in Ottawa. While designing the hall in the center, though, I learned that neither of the London houses looked anything like their current iterations during the time period I was seeking to emulate (1700s time period), and the current houses themselves were built in the mid-1800s. Since the hall and clock were the very last things I did on the entire project, though, I wasn't going to go back and get rid of all of that hard work in order to make something much simpler and less impressive such as the houses as they existed in the 1700s. The front fence, meanwhile, is modeled after the fence in front of Buckingham Palace, since as far as I can tell, there isn't a fence in front of Parliament itself in London.