Mr. Townsend
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Spear Fishing in the Mitgardian Clan Lands (MCB II)
Mr. Townsend replied to soccerkid6's topic in Guilds of Historica
This is very cool. Snow is a hard build and you did an excellent job. The fish under the water is a cool detail too. My only gripe is that the stud end of the water isn't covered by your base. -
That's really coming along nicely. I like the use of the DPW long boat. I tried to build one for my brig but I couldn't shrink it down enough to fit. The stern looks nice as well. Its a bit simple but I see you figured out what I couldn't, how Perfectionist put a tile between the windows. One thing I don't like on the stern is the lantern. I'm not overly fond of it on DPWs ship of the line but it certainly fits better there then here. It's just big, blunt, and offers no variation between it and your stern. Another thing I notice is the way you left accesibility to your gun deck. You went the same way I did for my hold but for the gun deck, and I can tell you from experience it's hard to utilize that small space to play with or move objects. This is of course a difficult thing to do, maintaining access/modularity while keeping the build stable. The way I tried to solve this problem on the new version of the Matterhorn was to make the deck connected to the masts permanent and the in between bits come completely off. This way I won't have a flimsy weather deck and I can still access everything. Maybe you could just expand the openings all the way to the wall of the deck to avoid a massive overhaul while increasing playability. That being said your making a great ship and I applaud your effort. Brick on Swan Dutchman -W.T.
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Workin with the sewing machine was definitely difficult at first. This was due mainly to having to run each line multiple times trying to keep them straight and ontop of each other. You can spot a few areas where I did that poorly. I've gotten a fair amount more skilled since those first three to the point where I won't be using those two top royals. Thank you Captain Braundfeld. The cannon design is from Dread Pirate Wesely whom I'm a big fan of. I've put a lot of thought into trying to improve them and I just can't do it. I don't think I'm going to get tired of this ship any time soon though. I'm very excited to put it on display. I'm glad your liking it so far and very glad your back from your long sebatical. I did use a cutting wheel on the sails and have since learned to use a straight edge as well. I have certainly used your cannons here. They look great on the Matterhorn and I of course had to use them again. Brick build guns fit so much better to scale then the Lego ones, not to mention the extra space you get on deck. Thanks DPW!
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Thank you gentlemen for the comments. I'm still a bit intimidated by the remainder of the rigging so I've decided to make sails first. It took me about and hour to figure out how to thread my sewing machine and then spent the rest of the day learning how to sew. I'm pretty happy with the result. I think the spanker turned out the best. To get the lines the propper thickness I had to go over each two or three times. The pen will disappear completely with water.
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You've made some nice progress here. I like the use of Cb4's hull technique coupled the standard CGH tublehome. I see that the sides will detach to allow access to the gundeck but I'm curious how you will maintain access to the hold especially after rigging. Will the entire ship lift off the hull at the gundeck? I do think that it looks a little odd having smooth sides with the studded hull. I think tiling that would really look spectacular. Though if I had my way LEGOs would be double faced tiles held together by magic and every surface would be smooth. Great job so far!
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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