BrickPerfection

I'm glad you decided to build another ship! As Admiral Croissant said already, checking out similar historic ships will probably be most helpful. Are you planning to build this in minifig illusion scale? If so, then I guess the Galleon of CGH and Bonaparte will be an inspiration, especially the stern construction! Good luck with the build, your MOCs are always a pleasure to look at!

Even though the building techniques are rather conservative - apart from the beautiful window you put in there - this MOC really stands out a harmonic creation with a great atmosphere. I'm not going to go into all of the details, but the overall impression is very good. Maybe you want to put it in your Signature? That would show everyone what a good MOCer you are!

That's a nice set of furniture you have there! Thanks for Sharing. I believe most of the techniques you used have been used already for quite a while, so I don't spot anything "new" in there, but it's still nice to see such a collection.

Pff - what a silly set! Should have registered at anther time...

Welcome to Eurobricks! It's great that you mention your preferences here too! I think there are a lot of Lego fans in Germany, at every age since it's the world's second biggest market for Lego. Most AFOL I here are into town and trains to my knowledge. So many girls today!

As much as I like you bumping my thread, is there any reason you have to say that twice?

That image is really funny! Well, I still guess on ships the height should be most important because that determines how high the decks are (which is important for overall proportions). On a car the width could be more important, but on ships it almost doesn't matter. In fact it allows you using less figures than historically accurate, which saves money if you want to crew an entire ship!

A nice scene and, as has been mentioned already, you did a good job with the mud. I really like how you placed the snake in that clip on the backside of the plant! Thanks for sharing and looking forward to see more MOCs from you!

Welcome to Eurobricks! I hope the PotC theme will lure you into the Pirates forum!

Welcome to Eurobricks! If you want, you can get the pink star by requesting it here. What themes are you into? I'm not sure if girls generally have different preferences, but I'm sure their MOCs are more peaceful!

To be perfectly honest, ZCerberus ship there is still not minifig scale... it's too small, maybe 80% of 1:43 which would be exactly minifig scale. It makes your figures 172cm high. I'm using 1:42 myself because it's more convenient and CGH and Teddy build at approx. 1:40. The trouble is that so far many projects of this size have been started, but - as of now - none has been finished! I found this tool to be very useful for calculations.

A very interesting concept, I think it's unique for Lego Pirates! The pdf makes them much easier to read and when I have the time I might try to read them all! Good luck with your website as well!

I like it! The lowest line of round plates looks a bit weird since it's interrupted and -besides that - not necessary. I'd just loose it. There's also no need for the red line to continue through the stern. But apart from these two nitpicks I think it's fine! Lattice windows would still look good, but I don't see them as necessary now. Onto the headrails: be prepared for your fingers to hurt then! You'll also have to encounter a shortage on yellow 3mm hose I think, I bought quite a lot... and it isn't easy to get them in sufficient amounts. If you have questions on the headrails, just ask.

I'll probably just buy all pieces I need from Bricklink, maybe go for the captain's cabin... I think the parts is the only good thing about PotC, the sets are below average imo and I don't like sets anyway.

I think Aalak said everything important already. I also liked the all yellow look aesthetically - and it's not even historically inaccurate since most ships in the 1750s had just a few black stripes on their hull (which was rather tan in fact), but now that you made your decision I don't want to confuse you too much (maybe I did already?). You should definitely use some colours on the topdeck railing, be it a small stripe or a pattern of 2 colours... like green and white or red and white or red and green.. just do what you like most. The masts come after that, but as long as you don't want a modular deck, I can assure you rigging will be much easier! It's completely up to you though...

So finally someone figured out how Achille's SNOt platforms work The yellow masts are a major imrovement colour-wise and I love that you tiled the deck. The colourscheme of the hull is also way better with the thin red line and the black topdeck railing! For some reason the swivels, the capstan, the lanterns and the steering wheel all look familiar to me... But it really is a stunning improvemt over the last update! Onto the mast stability: I used 4 32 long axles for both Achille and Guerriere (all masts + bowsprit) and I ordered another 17 for building Superbe's masts so that might be the reason why there are few of these left in the European Union. If you still can't get your hands on them, you could try 3mm hose instead - it prevents the masts from breaking, but they bend a little. Also the rigging is usually supposed to hold the masts in place and make them stable, especially the ratlines. When you go for a modular deck, you really have to make sure they are tight! The stays will then have to add enough stability in the other directions. I found it's quite hard to find the right amount of tension on all strings and I'm pretty sure the rigging took me much longer than anything else, well have fun! For stern I'd use lattice windows. There is a new version from MMV, so you can get them for 1,50€ a piece I think. But it's really worth it. Other than that you should give the stern that inverted slope and be creative with small Lego elements. Should be fun. A small nitpick I have on the deck is that the working area (the cutout where the boats are) is too small. There are also too many bars for the capstans. But after these great new picture I'm most certain you are about to build the very first proper redcoat frigate on this forum. Keep it up!

You are absolutely right! Sorry, that was a spelling mistake. Since you're doing it in LDD anyway, would it hurt to increase the size so you could make it wider? Happy building!

Ok, first of all I really like what you have done so far; it's a very promising start! However, there are a few issues. You may be using the input, but you're not using my technique. If you would, your deck would curve in two ways, have a cut out section for the boats and white plates on the bottom: I've taken this photo during the building process in May 2010. It shows a bit of how the deck is built using jumperplates and that the tiles are not just decoration... Anyway I take it you don't have the means to make your ship so complicated. As you want to stick with only 3 (!) midsections I think you have two choices: -rebuild your ship and make it a brig-of-war (2masts), like the Lady Washington (HMS Interceptor from PotC): In that case, you would not need to worry about the deck since these elegant vessels had an "open" gundeck so to speak, i.e. there was no complete deck on top. The crew slept in the Orlop, like on a frigate. As you can see on the picture, the guns were also much lower above the waterline and the stern much smaller and without gallerys and less decoration. -the 2nd option would be to stretch your ship by 2 midsections and make it a proper 3 mast frigate. You'd still need to lower your gunports a bit since they're really high atm, but not by that much while your stern and line would be pretty fine. That is if you want historic accuracy. Of course you can also build a ship that never existed and mixes all different types, but I can't give any advice in that case. When you made a choice, there will still be a few minor issues like the stairs that have too many steps, the colourscheme that is slightly too much yellow IMO and the gunports should be rather 4 instead of 3 bricks apart for historic and aesthetic reasons. But first you should decide and communicate what kind of ship this should become! I wish you successful building! While it's indeed well built, Captain Blackmoor's Sloop is named Alcheste. Achille is my ship.

I must say, I don't like being labeled as a Redcoat, in fact my allegiance very clearly is and has always been with the Bluecoat side. Of course Admiral Croissant is right that the Royalists were in support of Napoleon's enemy, yet I would prefer Achille to be representing the pre-revolutionary France. Hence it would never meet the Vesta or the Fourageux as enemys. Actually they would most likely be build already at that time and on the same side! On the other hand, a MOC with both Achille and Vesta would indeed be a great idea, even more so with brickbuild water! I really have to see her in real life once. We should also try to put both ship next to each other and compare the dimensions. I noticed Vesta is sleeker overall. Captain Green Hair, Bonaparte, Admiral Bejaune: I miss you!

What should that mean? France is France and both the Fourageux and the Vesta are French (=Bluecoat) ships, even if from the Napoleonic period. Somehow your response doesn't seem to make sense to me.

I was afraid someone would ask that question, well I edited the first post accordingly. Historically the Acien Régime in France used a plain white flag as the royal standard on their warships in the 17th and 18th century. This can be found on numerous paintings as well, for example this one from the American war of Independence. In sea combat, surrender would take place by striking the ensign. This could sometimes happen accidentally, in which case the concerned ship had to give message that they were eager to continue fighting. By the way, there are far more bluecoat vessels on this forum than redcoat ones.

Since the forum became incredibly calm this weekend I'll answer a bit earlier than planned: Thanks for pointing that out! It has indeed taking me quite a while to construct masts that are looking at realistic as possible in that size and are also very stable ( a must for taking the topdeck of). I'm quite happy with the result. It really does make me feel most proud that it is you to say that. Actually I still think Vesta has better sails and more detailed rigging, something that was only possible because of your model building experience and that will make your ship stand out for a long time. The modularity has it's good points, but it also means some tradeoffs on the rigging, so I don't see it as a problem your ship is less modular. Music in my ears, thank you so much! Well, i cannot deny that this has been an extraordinary money and time-intensive project, I put in a lot of effort and paid a lot of attention to every detail, so I'm happy you noticed that. Quite obviously Achille will be well-protected; I built a plexiglass showcase to protect her from physical damage as well as dust. Thanks for commenting! I have always found a ship's stern to be most important for it's beauty, so I rebuild that part most often and I'm very happy you like it! I also enjoyed that part of the building process the most. And indeed, there's no better fleet on the web, but there's also no better French fleet anywhere, not even here! Well, my nickname is meant to be a bit self-ironic since I often have not managed to finish the MOCs I spent most time on (mostly large ones) because I rebuilt them again and again, but by now I manage that much better. Let's just say I like continuously improving constructions, but I can put a limit to that. I'm rather playing with perfectionism than trying to achieve it. As a result, Achille isn't really "perfect" (which might actually be boring), but it's as good as I can make a ship of that scale. Yeah, well despite all AFOL complexity, it's still a toy, isn't it? Na, Superbe might still be build. But I'm glad you like her. I am pretty bad at taking pictures, but I really did my best this time. I hope you'll manage to build the frigate you want to and I'm glad you found inspiration in my ship. Of course I will finish Guerrière since it's only sails and some rigging that needs to be done. She'll be shorter than Achille (5 midsections) since I feel two identical ships would be boring. Oh, by the way: Achille could use an Englishman for capturing! As I explained already, complete perfectionism isn't quite my aim, but I prefer MOC quality to quantity. Thank you for referring for the WIP topic, the feedback provided there has much improved Achille and it also explains both her making and techniques. Hehe, I am. Thanks! Thanks! Detail is what very often distinguishes a good MOC from a set nowadays (like no control panels in cockpits ). That is a very pleasant surprise! Of course I have noticed some builders used techniques which I introduced on Achille, most notably the grates made from headlight bricks. As long as they don't pretend to have invented everything themselves, it makes me feel proud they do. The sails have clean edges because I covered them with nail polish to pretend them from frazzling. That was extremely annoying because of the smell, so I appreciate you mentioning it. You do have a point with the sails; I wanted them to be realistic, but at the same time I was slightly worried the tea would leave a pattern, so I put them out rather early. Well, It's not a fundamental flaw, so let's just pretend it's a new ship whose sails are not yet withered. That might change. I notice you're building a frigate too? I'll comment on it when you next update it, it's looking good so far. Thanks, General! When I planned her to get an interior, she had to become modular, otherwise it would have been pointless. I used a few techniques I planned using on my larger Superbe, and I hope I will also transfer some back from Achille! How's your frigate? Hehe, thanks. I hoped finishing an age of sail MOC ship of a very high quality, but initially it wasn't supposed to be Achille. Still, I'm not displeased about how it all developed and I get the impression I have been able to set a new standard. Yeah, thanks for mentioning that point. I can still remember how my fingers hurt from putting those hands in the 3mm hose, but I have planned using that technique for headrails for a really long time, probably since I came out of my little dark age. I'm wondering nobody attempted to copy it so far... maybe it's too tricky - or it hurts too much... So: Captain Green Hair, where are you?

There isn't so much going on on these forums, but we cannot let such a nice MOC disappear slowly towards page 2, can we? Even though it lacks waves, the SNOT water came out nicely. All of the bend trees and the lovely house put at an angle make the scenery look lively as do the minifigures. The stair railing looks nice on a first view, but rather unstable at a second. Maybe the thick apples look a bit misplaced, but really it's not finished yet and looking nice.