Mr. Townsend
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Everything posted by Mr. Townsend
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Your off to a very impressive start. The colors work well together. I especially like the use of the old brown. I didn't spot any additional photos on your Flickr but I would enjoy seeing more. I look forward to progress on this project. Brick on!
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The ratlines are all individually tied at each end and in between they simply pass thought the larger strings to hold them in place. I didn't use hot glue but I did put a drop of Krazy Glue in the middle of each knot so as I finished the knot up it dried inside and holds each tight. Currently there are about 400 knots throughout the rigging.
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Thank's Admiral! I'm very excited to hear this from you after your rigging on the Vesta. I rather like the spanker how its set but I may test it with a longer yardarm. Thanks for the blog Capt. Stabbin'! I'm extremely happy with how the rigging has come along to this point. And how the input from many talented builders in this forum has improved the rigging and the ship as a whole. Now however, the running rigging is seeming a daunting task.
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Thank you gentlemen. @Sebeus I need to spend some time and have a good photo session but that will have to wait until she is finished. I can't say this next batch is even up to my normal WIP standard, but they were quick. The 2x2 round still needs a decal but I'm quite happy with the stern. Here you can see the futtock shrouds in better detail.
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Thank you Captain Becker. I agree with you that the stern is lacking a little luster but this is simply do to the limitations of LDD. When it is made in brick it will include more decorations. A picture of the stern for you! I do plan on having those walls removable and in the LDD they are connected to the deck by as few studs as possible. I'm hoping to make the walls thinner and connected differently for easier removal still. I'm also hoping to have little walls for the side gallery hopefully with a sliding door. In the second picture in my previous post you can spy a toilet there.
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Nice ships Runamuck! You've definitely kept the feel of classic pirates that we all love. I like them all but my favorite is the Iron Ram. It looks the most like a real LEGO system set and the figurehead is very identifiable with so few bricks.
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The Matterhorn is scheduled for a major overhaul in the near future. Before I start rigging I want to update the Matterhorn with knowledge gained while building this ship and the Godwin-Austin, and the new techniques that have come out, mainly next-gen bow and stern. The ship has been reworked from the "keel" up. She is now a 24 gun frigate based off the Porcupine class warship build 1776. She will feature twenty-four long guns, eight carronades, and twelve swivel gun. The quarterdeck and forecastle are also no longer connected by the gangways. My main goals with this remodel are firstly to increase the overall accuracy of the model and secondly to increase the strength of the weather deck and hull above the prefabs. The deck is still removable, though the main and fore masts are now connected directly to the the keel for stability. This being made possible by the snot design of the the channels which can be easily detached with rigging in place. The gundeck can still be removed in small sections to allow viewing of the hold. LXF http://www.brickshel...ry.cgi?f=527239 Thanks again to the builders who's techniques and advice have been utilized in the Matterhorn; Perfectionist, CGH, Admiral Croissant, Sebeus I, DPW, Frank Brick Wright, and many others. Cheers gentlemen, -W. Townsend
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This is a thread I've followed closely and revisited a few times while the project sat and I must say I'm very excited to see it finished. The pearl looks spectacular and it is definitely my favorite rendition of this ship that I've seen, especially with the base that just compliments it so well. I am curious however. I know your were having accessibility issues with the interior and it forced some rebuild and that regardless the gun deck still features a full interior which is beautiful by the way but, with rigging in place are your still able to access this area and if not for play ability but for viewing? Congratulations on such a great build!
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This looks very slick Legonardo. I especially like the brick build base-plate.
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I agree. I don't like the look of the shroud angled like that and it will be fixed. Sadly when the cross tree moves back the shroud will lose tension and need to be restrung. Thanks Perfectionist. I can't imagine having put this much time into rigging 6 ships at once. I cry when I think about having to do mast #2.
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Rigging is moving and as expected it is slow going but I wanted to share some progress shots. In order to allow a fig to stand on the fighting tops they had to be expanded two studs wider. The anchor cables have been made as well and after having expanded the area to coil them beneath deck the capstan now reels them in. After I took the above pictures and made this post I received an anticipated package in the mail. LifeLites! (I apologize for the low image resolution on these last pictures; IPhone)
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Looking good there Tobiaz. Classic color scheme and the rigging looks very nice. I like the improvements made over the Hispaniola especially as improvement is always the goal of our MOCs. The bow technique is interesting. I've of course seen it in many a round tower but this is the first I've seen of it on a ship and it fits well, making a nice round structure without hinges where many people would end up with something much more blocky. Your capstan also raises your anchor and this is always a nice play feature. I see some improvements that could be made as well. The thing that sticks out to me firstly is the way the anchor comes out of the ship. The cables would actually come through a hawse hole placed at the bow right about above the ship end of the bottom headrail. My second thought is to your mast heads. As your masts step forward the top and lower masts would run parallel to each other for a short bit for the structural integrity of the mast. They would be connected at the fighting top and a few feet above that at the top of the lower mast. In bricks they would run next to each other for about 4 bricks. They would also, on an English frigate be black. All in all your have made a very nice ship and I applaud your effort and look very much forward to your next.
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That's a nice start you've got there Goofie. I like the raked mast, the rounded roof on the cabin, and I'm always a fan of brick built guns. I think you could benefit a large amount from a little bit of study of Perfectionist's Bermuda sloops as I don't think it gets much better then those in minifig illusion scale. I see you have decided to use only the bottom parts of the prefab hull and which is the same in those two sloops but I think Perfectionist's technique makes the transition much more smooth especially in the bow where your vessel seems to be rather blocky. This would also get rid of the inverted slopes that surround your bowsprit which is odd looking. If you would like a closer look at some of the techniques then pictures might allow this LXF can give you some insight. You've also doubled up on your spars per sail. I saw you stated that they slide out which I imagine to be for your studdin' sails but they wouldn't appear as you've made them. The spar extensions would actually be attached at the end of the spar and be stored above the spar by means of metal rings. You can't see this too well in images of the Bermuda sloop model but here you can see it better. Another thing is your vertical curve seems to be a bit much mainly at the bow though this I think is a bit amplified ascetically by your technique there. I also think your cabin roof might look a bit smoother with rounded slopes rather then the stepped look you've used. I apologize if this seems like a large amount of criticisms but this ship seems to have a large amount of potential and with just a little more love and study of some of ships of this forum you could make something rather spectacular. Good luck on your build and I look forward to seeing it in real brick. Cheers, W. T.
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This is very impressive looking. The shape of the hull from the birds eye looks very nice. I'll have to agree with Frank that tile would look better, but I'll admit I'm a stud hater. I very much like the BSB color scheme and enjoy that you'll be keeping to it. She looks cute in the tub and it makes me wonder if a floating final product could be possible. I look forward to updates.
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Thanks Bonaparte! The windows on the stern I'm actually quite happy with though I do agree the stern needs something. I'll look into adding some ornamentation and see how it looks then. Hello Perfectionist, I'm proud to have you following my thread. You are of course correct that I looked into the Medée for some insight and inspiration. Many of the techniques in use here are obviously of your design but I've made no attempt to hide this. This is why your name appears many times throughout this thread. Many techniques are taken from other builders as well and I've tried to give credit where it is due. What I've attempted to do is create a ship using what I consider to be the best techniques available to build the best looking vessel I can. When there is no technique I like, I make my own. The swivels are an example of this and I'm glad you like them. Your ships are the best I've seen and though I'm not particularly trying to build something better I certainly refuse to build something worse, especially not just for the sake of having designed all the techniques myself. I'm going to look into a more ornate stern and I'll center the middle tube on the headrails. As for the rigging I can offer you a peek into what I have planned: I want to keep the same amount of detail in my rigging as to match the rest of this ship and so I will include all the blocks. I've noticed, sometimes when other builders include blocks the spacing isn't always the same and it looks a bit sloppy. To compensate for this I carved soap to act as spacers when I string them together. As I've not done rigging before I had to reevaluate the construction of my channels to allow for the connection I needed. Now they have 1x1 round plates that allow a wire to wrap around holding the bottom block in place. The string I've decided to use is nylon as it wont stretch the way cotton string would. I've dyed all the string using coffee as it was originally pearl white. -W. Townsend
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Oh my Perfectionist! This is no doubt the most beautiful ship in your fleet. There are so many points of interest but my eye immediately goes to the stern. The stern is so tremendously beautiful and so very French. You've really nailed it here. The removable sides are an interesting change. I know you stated it for rigging purposes though I'm sure it must make the entire structure much more sound. Fantastic vessel! You've outdone yourself.
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Thanks Admiral! I've looked into your suggested improvements and changes have been made. The headrails have received some more love and a third vertical hose has been added. I've also decreased the length of the first bowsprit beam though I have not decreased its girth as I didn't like the look of it when I attempted. The topgallant yards will be made thinner but I have to order the bits to do this. The new headrails: Thank you gentlemen As always Frank you insight is appreciated. As I've stated earlier in this post the bowsprit has been shortened which you can see in the new pictures of the headrails. The yards are bent like that simply because I haven't yet bought flex tubes long enough to transverse the whole length of each yard. One of the yards is actually held in place by a 4 length bar. With the purchase and conditioning of some new flex tubes this issue will be fixed entirely. Thanks for your always well written and constructive comments. Thanks Kurigan! I'll see about adding some height to the lowest masts. As I start working on the rigging I'll see about the eyelets on the fighting tops though angled as they are seems to have worked well for Perfectionist. Your capstan design really does look nice and if you can provide more detailed pictures or a parts breakdown I may attempt to add it. However do keep in mind that as the capstan does actually raise the anchor it needs to fit a technic axle in the bottom and have strength enough to withstand the tension created by the gears under the deck. About my terminology I appreciate your corrections and have edited my previous posts in order to sound less ignorant. It'll come together once a decal is added. Thanks everyone for your viewing and support. - W. Townsend
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Hello Ladies and Gents, I've put some work into the Godwin-Austen recently and would like to present you all with the results of my efforts. She is now about 95% compete as far as bricks. Few details remain these being mainly the catheads and color changes primarily on the mast heads. The Godwin-Austen now has masts and each of her 14 guns are tethered to the hull. Also compete are the headrails which took me several attempts and gave me hours of trouble, an excessive number of bricksplosions, and nothing but respect for Perfectionist. I'm very excited for the next major step - Rigging. The Godwin-Austen: The stern got a recolor. She'll have studdin' sails. Each of her guns are now tied down and pinrails are in place. SNOT rudder. -W. Townsend
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Ths is a nice build Kurigan. With a limited number of parts you've built something instantly recognizable. The brick built guns look nice and fit well despite the ship being a bit small to scale. It looks like the main gun slides with the recoil and this is a nice feature. The sails look nice as well. The paper you used gives the illusion of cloth. Brick on! -W. Townsend
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Thanks everyone for your comments. I'm glad you like it Frank. The tumblehome was something I thought about including but in the end I passed on. There were many reasons behind this decision. Firstly I don't like the look of the studs on plate hinges that sit on the deck when it is tiled. Secondly with the walls angled inward I couldn't add the black support beams and steps on the inside of the hull and the cannons would have been pushed farther into the middle of the ship reducing deck space. The third big reason was it would have been to complicated and unstable on what I wanted to be a rather simplistic and sturdy build relative to the complexity of the Matterhorn. (Which is still very much an active WIP) Overall I thought a tumblehome would just take more away from the other details I wanted and diminish from the overall build. The vertical curve is definitely something I overlooked when building this and I appreciate your drawing my attention to it. Its been fixed. WIP Godwin-Austen by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr You can't see it too well in the picture but the back of the Quarter deck is now 1 plate higher then it is at the front. WIP Godwin-Austen by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr One thing I wanted was for the boat to sit parallel to the water though it is now attached to the angled quarter deck. It's now attached by two 11L strings. WIP Godwin-Austen by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr I'm glad you two like it so far. On the model I used as reference the stern windows are just as I've made them. I wanted to replicate this very badly as it is the character of the whole rather simplistic stern. Since this was impossible to duplicate with issued LEGO bricks I filed down a 2x3 window glass to fit. Purist may frown but it looks very nice. When this is finished I'll be sure to take pictures from many camera angles. W. Townsend
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Hello Everyone, I would like to present to you my latest WIP, a fourteen gun brig named the Godwin-Austen. This ship is based off a model of the brig of 1750 HMS Duke of Bedford. The Godwin-Austen features a full interior in the hold and captain's quarters, NextGen stern and bow, 14 brick-built cannon and 4 swivels, working capstan, and working rudder and tiller. I built this in LDD before quickly ordering all the parts and piecing this together in about a week. Now I'm in need of compiling a new wanted list to finish her off and plan to be on rigging early next monthish. Many thanks go out for this ship especially to Perfectionist, DPW, and CRH. Cheers Gentlemen. The Godwin-Austen: Most recent update: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WIP Godwin-Austen by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr WIP Godwin-Austen by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr WIP Godwin-Austen by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr WIP Godwin-Austen by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr WIP Godwin-Austen by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr WIP Godwin-Austen by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr The tiller turns the rudder. WIP Godwin-Austen by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr WIP Godwin-Austen by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr WIP Godwin-Austen by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr Parts of the deck come off to reveal the hold below WIP Godwin-Austen by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr WIP Godwin-Austen by Mr. Townsend, on Flickr This should bring you to the LXF. (once its made public) http://www.brickshel...ry.cgi?f=518563 -W. Townsend
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That piece does look like a good choice to cover that hole and I'll look into purchasing some. The stern I plan on making in white with red accents on it. I think a small blast of red there will accent the ship well. As for the anchors I simply haven't bent the flex tube yet. I really want to pack as much detail into this ship as I possibly can and I'm very proud of the attention I've put into those little details. I'm glad you like how the carronades look as I'm very proud of this design. The swivel is another that I'm especially proud of. My main goal with the swivel was for the barrel to be smaller then the deck guns but larger then rifles, and a Technic pin and bar was the perfect combination. I'll make another thread for it perhaps when I receive my black box wrenches and include a full breakdown. I'll also try to do a breakdown for the carronade when I can. The pinrails are another detail I quite like. Originally I thought of using black lightsaber hilts but they where much to big. The flex tubes where just a perfect fit there and one of my themes for this ship has been abusing flex tubes. I'll also look into the channels. Extending them farther away from the hull may allow me to include the chains below them. As for the color I plan on making the stern contain her color and think it will be very eye catching. I also have something down the pipeline that will satisfy everyone's taste for color. I think the white will just have to be accepted on this one.
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Oh wow Frank! She has really turned out well with sails. The shots in water are a nice touch as well. Mostly I'm happy you have decided to keep her intact and good luck getting her displayed at your local museum. Cheers to you sir! -W. Townsend
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A very nice vessel you've built Bonaparte! Why hide this from us for so long? The rigging is very impressive. I really like the all the blocks in the rigging, they just stand out so much. Another feature I like is the stern. Though the galleries are angled the top wall is not. Surely that is very strong and as strength is an issue I'm having on the Matterhorn's stern I can really appreciate what you've built there. Great job Bonaparte. Your talent really shows! -W. Townsend