Samarth

Breathtaking MOC! I love the colour scheme, especially the dark red.

Thank you so much. Cheers. It did rain the morning we took the pictures, so it's fitting that the sails are like that then!

Yeah you're seriously tempting me to re try this business at sunset, we'll even get the evening sun in the frame then. My 16 year old brother in law was my willing and faithful assistant yesterday, but today I'll have to persuade the wife So far as blog posts go, knock yourself out I may or may not already have a ship cooking. Bigger than this one. And much more piratey.

Thank you for your kind words! The sails probably need a bit of ironing (doable). Maybe even some hemming (beyond my skillz). Here's my response to you from FB, with some additional information: I somewhat managed that with the cutter but it's an extremely risky proposition with a vessel of this size, unfortunately. There's nothing but tetrapods that close, and I can't risk parts (or figs!) accidentally falling off between them. I'll never get them back! Beyond the tetrapods are a lot of rocks where the tide comes and goes. Reaching there is no big deal even with how slippery it is, but not while carrying a delicate ship. There's also quite a few people at the time of day this was shot, and she drew quite a crowd while we were shooting her. I did the cutter at 7 am but the lighting wasn't as nice but it wasn't crowded. Today we went around 10. A bunch of people even came and took pictures with the ship. It took a ton of effort to keep my shots clean. Worrying about someone knocking her into the depths is a fear I could live without! Finding vacant space like this in crowded Mumbai is a challenge. We do have a few beaches but they come with the same problems x10. There may be nooks here and there where I could do an unobstructed shoot, but this place is closest to my house, and there's no city skyline to distract you. It may be possible to get a stool from home and position the ship in a way that looks like it's at sea however. Maybe next time! When I have all my ships built, maybe I'll take the trouble to find a place to stage a small skirmish! Who knows...

Thank you! No interior in the cabin, but she is well armed! She gets 2x mortar launchers in the form of stud shooters and enough room for 16 full size cannons

Mods, please delete the lock screen screenshot, I'm not able to...

Africa: A redcoat bomb ketch It all began in November 2022 when an ad showed up on olx for a bulk lot. Bulk lots are very hard to come by in my country, since hardly anyone can afford lego, much less afford to throw it away! To my amazement it seemed that an entire dolphin cruiser set had been discarded. I showed the photos to another AFOL friend (Dominic David), and he told me to double check because the dolphin cruiser had been as a Chinese knockoff too so maybe the pieces were fake lego. After confirming with the seller that it was genuine lego, I picked it all up for a song. Combined with the gold and pearl gold I'd gotten from another junked lot in 2020, I had what I needed. The build time was around 4-5 months. One man's trash is another man's (pirate) treasure. The design is loosely based upon "La Candelaria" which is sold as a model ship (google it if you're curious). Shaping the stern was truly challenging due to limitations on the parts I had on hand. I still can't say I'm 100% happy with it but considering it's made mainly from parts others have junked, combined with pieces from my own collection, its good enough. All the sails except the spanker are made from the template of sails that come with the Skull's Eye Schooner, so they're all 'official' size. The spanker is essentially an SES topsail cut in half along a curve. The sails are made from canvas sourced locally and is usually used for making bags. The rigging uses yarn, as that's the closest approximation I could find to official lego string. The only piece not from my own collection is the "Africa" printed tile, borrowed from another AFOL. A big thank you to sundry builders who have inspired me with their creations: kwakly boeing_787_8_dreamliner Elephant Knight Sebeus I mocyourbricks And many many more... Head to flickr for the rest: https://www.flickr.com/photos/31679299%40N00/

Thank you so much for your kind words and encouragement! Instead of waiting for TLG, do purchase the instructions from me!

Thank you so much! https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/10076-library-sails/ Probably this.

This is such a cute take. I love it.

Thank you!

To my knowledge there is very little you can do to yellowed bricks. Even if you do the hydrogen peroxide treatment, within a few months the white becomes yellow again, unless you're a psychopath who can completely block out UV light from wherever you keep your lego.

Welcome to the forum Tim! I can personally vouch for his work, it is excellent. I've bought sails for the merchant cutter, the skull's eye schoonet, all from him.

Welcome to the forum Tim!

And we are live!! https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-146013/SamarthMoray/6277-merchants-cutter-remagined/#details

Not that I know of. I'd straight up bought them directly off of FB on trust. He's quite a bit cheaper than okbrickworks, as I recall.

He's there in all the groups, but oddly he hasn't been replying to my tags. Maybe he's not active anymore? Perhaps I should message him.

The sail plan and masts are a direct lift from the official instructions in 6277 and can be made by following the instructions there. Only the hull is custom. No other mods needed! As for replica sails, as you know, there are many options on the aftermarket. I've used Tim Begovic's sails myself. When I get some time I'll make updated masts with new pieces, the main problem is the mast height of the new masts is not the same as the old ones, I'll need to do some real life prototyping to see what works best with the sails. Thank you @PxChris and @Supersick_ for your kind words and encouragement.

Honestly, looking at the great response the old classic pirates poster got on the Facebook group, some nice pictures out of @VaneStream's diorama would work really well as nostalgia fuelled wallpapers...

I am proud to announce that I've completed the instructions and they're awaiting rebrickable approval!

Hahaha classic. It's like the scene in POTC where they load the cannons with forks and spoons. And, nice ship by the way!

You could certainly use a cabbage instead of a cannonball Thank you!

This makes total sense too. While the big mast pieces are pretty durable the thinner ones (like lances etc.) Do tend to bend or break.

That sounds sensible! Thank you!

Ok, I have a question, not just to you but everyone on here... Since I've never tried this. The MOC contains many parts that are no longer in production (particularly the masts), so if I do instructions, should I look to replace those with modern equivalents? I understand that most people who do MOC instructions have to try to make sure that the parts are easy to bricklink. I used the old style masts because I had them already and kept things faithful. And the reverse situation... I may re-do the stern with this piece, which is still relatively new and was not available to me when I made the ship. https://rebrickable.com/parts/67810/brick-curved-2-x-2-x-1-13-with-curved-top-corner/15/