SuperSirLink

No thats a good point indeed.... Didn't see that, till you said something... I am guess your talking about this layer: I was trying to have the lower deck high enough for mini figs, but I guess because that deck was partially submerged it makes the whole ship seem taller... The lowest I could drop it is 3 plates. Is is worth going back and reworking it for that? Do you think it would make a difference?

Here's another update... Thanks to Foremast Jack for the help and ideas on the gun ports and covers!

Think I will tweak with them more once I get the rest built as you say. That should give me a better feel of the balance...

I like it! Creative indeed...

I was referring to the flag pieces... they just don't seem right... out of place on the round gun ports... There is a 2x3 plate with holder that looks like it might work... Will play more with that tomorrow. No worries, I appreciate the input. Sometimes it just takes another set of eyes on something! Here is where I am going to leave it for the night... Over all I like it, Bringing the guns closer together will let me hit the 10-11 I was aiming for. Did away with the fixed ladder, looking at those reference shots, it was not present. Not sure if that is true of all ships of that era, but I think it is a better sacrifice then over additional gun ports. Just under 2500 parts so far, I think I am on track with my ~3000 part cap (might go over a bit)...

Yeah, that is definatly on the task list... I don't like how short those look...

Very nice... Slight variation: I have to rework the walls though... with this design, I am only going to get 7 cannons per side...

Duh, why didn't I think of that! Excellent idea... I might experiment and see how if I can't pull off round gun ports after all...

Brilliant! what part are you using to mate them together?

:) Take it that is not the right term... :) I will review it... (so is that part the "waist-deck"?) Yes! that is exactly what I am going for! How about version 3! This I think really captures what I was going for and removes the blocky-ness. Thanks for the suggestion Sebeus! Now hopefully those parts are made in dark red... Now I will move the foremast closer to the bow, but that might require relocating the brig...

I am going to use the mermaid from Brickbeard's ship as the figurehead. Matching that ship to the t would be quite a challenge. The round gun ports would be cool, but I am not aware of a inverted arch (unless they created one recently, I can't keep up with the new elements) My goal for this ship is to keep with a design that would place it in the peak pirate era (late 17th century). I am not going to do a well deck though... But I do want to do an ornate angular stern like that ship. Hopefully once it is done, it will be different than most other ships I have seen posted here and on the brickshelf. Though I would never claim 100% originality (I am sure someone else has thought of these concepts before I). Here is a slightly reworked bow, I redid the grey layer, but kept the overall curve I had. The only thing I don't like about this layout is the black curves that stick into the grey layer... But overall I like it better than the previous version. Now to fix the other side...

I am very loosely basing my design on this: http://www.modelships.de/Unicorn_II/Frigate-Unicorn_II.htm I am aiming (no pun intended) for 11 gun ports on each side of the gun deck... PS: I can't find those flat hinges in LDD...

Here ya go... Im still working on the bow... But I think the foremast has to come forward more, but see what you think...

yeah, I thought about that, but I was trying to do something different and at the same time I was trying to go for something more "ornate"... How about the distance the foremast is from the bow, is it too far back? Looking at the references I am using, it is kinda hard to tell... Does it look any better from this angle?

I haven't finalized the colors yet... thinking of doing the gun deck in the dark red... Here is another update...

Let me play with my model and see what happens. It has been a while since I played with it...

Take a look... see if I am going in the right direction...

The app I used would generate the building instructions but also generated a part list like the current official instructions do.. I plan to do the same thing... Going to build it and generate a part list and building instruction...

No worries... In doing this I am trying to have my design be somewhat original, although I know every technique has pretty much been done already... Just don't want to look like I am copying, so I am challenging my self to be adventurous... :) Edit: Looking at your examples, that does look like a better balance...

Yes, but those same tools also generate a parts list breakdown...

Check Ldraw.org I had a program that could open a model and generate building instructions (been a while since I did it). Not sure if it will import the lxf file format, or if you would have to import into one of the lcad programs first... Edit: ahh just checked, they have a converter tool... http://www.ldraw.org/Downloads-req-viewdownload-cid-6.html

Ok, I will try some single brick width designs... It may not be completely accurate, but I was going to attach the bowspirt to the base of the foremast on the gun deck, instead of the lowest desk of my ship. Got'em :) I wasn't aware of this either... I had to find another lfx file that had the hull pieces in them...

Thanks for the input guys! I will duplicate my lxf file and remove one of the mid sections and see how it looks... I am having trouble judging the length without the upper deck... Forgive me for not know the technical terms, but what part is the prow? Is that the part that holds the figure head and the spirit mast? Here are some more progress I made since this afternoon... Think I am getting close to a point where I will start building before continuing with the LDD design. I am going to attempt to make the gun deck removable in two sections with the bow section fixed like the 10210 set... At my widest part of the hull I am at 20 studs wide. While I am not aiming for strict historical accuracy on this ship (I want to attempt that when I am ready to try and undertake a complete custom hull), I do want it to look accurate to the period. I don't want to end up with a design that is pure fantasy... I am using some frigates from around 1680's for inspiration... Edit: some of the colors are off thanks to LDD's limitations... However the I plan to use that pattern on the deck planking... I also plan to add more to the internals, barrels, furniture, ect... Might even try to create some hammocks... Hopefully these resized correctly...

Ok, I took part of what I was working with in LDD and laid it out in real bricks and 6 looks like it will do very well... I went through a couple of revisions and here is what I have so far in LDD... Would appreciate any thoughts/comments/critique....

For a light frigate (going for a smaller 17th century one) is 6 mid sections going to provide a long enough hull? I have 6 that I have been working with, but I am tossed up if I should purchase a 7th. It is hard to get a sense of scale in LDD...