Legeaux

Gunboats are always useful, and could often take down a much larger and more heavily armed opponent, given the right conditions. There's a lot to said for being able to maneuver when others are becalmed, and a single cannon is plenty when your opponent is unable to bring his broadside to bear. I hope you post some pics of the gunboat's latest incarnation. Have you considered removing the deck? I realise it gives you a lot more space, but going without a deck would enable you to mount the cannon lower down and give a more realistic look. The beam might be an issue, but use of inverted slopes (or even SNOT work), can gain some extra width for you. As for building up your pirates collection, I've built up mine almost entirely from eBay. I think only about eight of my 60 odd pirate sets were bought new. (Mostly the rereleases). Generally, I'm too cheap for Bricklink. But with eBay... apply two rules: (1) be patient and (2) keep in mind that not all listers know what they're selling (down to misspelling 'Pirates'). I've never spent more then 30cents per piece on a pirates set on ebay (and that's Australian cents, and including shipping), and most of them were a lot less (less than 20 cpp on average). (I still don't own a Skulls Eye Schooner, though).

There's some very nice brick sculpting there, Admiral. I must say I don't like the proportions of the gunport lids though, they seem a bit too tall - but I guess a 1x1 gunport lid, with hinge would be difficult to achieve. (I guess halving the number of gunports and doubling the width of them would destroy the scale... have you considered unhinged gunports? (permanently closed... or perhaps permanently open, like the Lego Constitution?)

Nice work, Admiral! It makes me wish Lego produced an inverted 2x2x2 cone - imagine a cone with a stud (rather than rod) sized opening at the narrow end. I like the cannon... but would be loath to use the prefab gun carriage on other than prefab cannon - although there are reasonable brick build carriages for the prefab cannon, I guess. Any thought of building a slide, rather than a wheeled carriage for the carronade?

I display for a while, and sometimes make minor improvements. Mostly though, I find I need to take some parts from a finished vessel... usually gun port lids and cannon to begin with, then some of the crew, then some spars, perhaps some ratlines, then more of the crew, then topmasts, maybe some tall bricks or lattice windows (which removal of which generally leaves the hull less than sound). Eventually, there's a stripped hulk left on the shelf, at which time I start a new vessel using the remaining components... and in building the new vessel I find I need to strip some parts from older vessels... usually gun port lids and cannon to begin with, then some of the crew, then some spars... and so on... and so on.

As others have said, that cannon is very nice. I've always used 2x2 'L' plates for gun carriages, but the 3x2 wedge is the perfect choice.

The Tresfroid is a cutter operating in the waters around Port Brique, a much more modern design than many of my other vessels. Built on a one centre section narrow hull (from the Sealion), the Tresfroid's hull is widened using inverted slopes to achieve sufficient hull width. The hull is built with conventional studs up bricks, although the gallery (such as it is!) is angled. The Tresfroid is much closer to scale than most of my vessels, and the cutter rig, with its raked mast is fairly close to early nineteenth century practice. Sails are, as is my usual practice, parchment paper, although the size is pushing what can be made from an A4 sheet. I'm quite happy with the result, although I think the mainmast/topmast join is far from ideal, and there are a few details which will no doubt be enhanced over time. More pics: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/rdulin/tallships/tre01.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/rdulin/tallships/tre02.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/rdulin/tallships/tre03.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/rdulin/tallships/tre04.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/rdulin/tallships/tre05.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/rdulin/tallships/tre06.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/rdulin/tallships/tre07.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/rdulin/tallships/tre08.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/rdulin/tallships/tre00.jpg (Edited to tidy image links - I couldn't get preview thumbnails working!)

Well, I said I was going to try the rag hats. So here they are: They are hard work. My fingers are sore (not because I cut them, just from gripping and cutting). About half an hour a hat. The big hats are much nicer to work with, because they're easier to hold. Oh, if you want the more dramatic version of getting the hats for the minifigs, here it is ;): Oh, and thanks for the warm welcome everyone. I've got a few things inb the slipway to post about soon.

Yes, the tumblehome is a bit extreme. I guess the hull pieces were designed for the 4+ line, which doesn't include tall slopes. I'm contemplating a partial rebuild of the hull using 2x2x2 slopes rather than two rows of 2x2x1's... with careful placement of gun port lids, it mightn't look too bad.

50d The Bloviator is the new Bomb Ketch of the French Squadron based in Port Brique in the South Pacifique. Bomb ketches are not generally described as �graceful� or �elegant�, but this black hulled mortar vessel is a particularly ugly example. Her broad hull, though, is a perfect home to the twin mortars. Built on the Durmstrang galleon hull, the Bloviator was a challenge to make. I�d originally thought that the principle problem with the Durmstrang hull was it�s short length, but I think the real problem is it�s squareness. I experimented with various solutions to lengthen the hull, but found nothing satisfactory. I ended up stretching it a little with the overhanging stern gallery, and some SNOT slopes at the bow... but even so it is just too square. Historically, bomb ketches where often converted from ship rigged (three masted) vessels, with the foremast removed, and the forward hull reinforced to withstand the force of the mortar(s). To partly make up for the loss of sail area due to the missing foremast, the mainmast was extended upward, and due to the sheer length and the need to keep forward rigging simple, the forestay was often a chain. I�ve tried to capture the somewhat ungainly rig of the bomb ketch in the Bloviator, in part, I guess, to distract the viewer from the ungainliness of the hull.

I think the captain hat makes a good 19th century admiral hat, have you seen how aweful those things are? lol. good work, but i don't think i am as skilled with a knife, did you have to glue them onto the minifigs? No, but I did use a bit of blutac. The hats stay on the figs, if you don't move the figs. If I find the blutac unsatisfactory, rather than gluing the hats on, I'd be tempted to carve a bit more of the inside of the hat away, and glue a 1x1 round (or possibly part of a 1x1 round) inside.

Possibly, but it gets very sunny on the quarterdeck in the Carribean, no? Actually, my bigger concern is the 'chimneys' that these hats seem to have!

I broke the figures apart at the hips (twisted the legs sideways) - this also seperates the head from the torso, then clamped the head in a vice and hacksawed the head in half. Easy so far. Then, carefully (more or less) with a craft knife, I cut and prised the remnants of the head away from the hat. I put a few scratches on the hats in the process. The maxifigs are very securely assembled - the heads secured to the hips inside the torso, and the heads are open topped with the headgear secured inside and out to the heads. It took me about ten minutes work with the knife for each hat, though I think I could do better or quicker (or possibly both) now. I only had one minor cut in the process. The rag hats will probably be a little more difficult, being smaller, and I think more delicate, but I intend to have a go at them on the weekend and will report back.

They *often* had fore and main the same height, not always. As to whether she looks more British or French.... well, so many British frigates started out as French frigates, it's hard to say. ;-) It wouldn't be too far from the truth to day that the French built the nicest frigates, then overgunned them and undercrewed them, and then they were captured by the British who downgunned them and added a properly trained crew. Why do you particularly want a frigate? A 20 gun sloop-of-war (or a 20 gun corvette, if you prefer), is not a bad command.

Ahoy, I posted this on LUGNET, but thought I should share it here as well. I'm a fan of 7075, Captain Redbeard's ship, and have found uses for most of the odd pieces therein. I finally decided to do something with the figures.... It's quite a task to seperate the hats from the heads (and a dangerous one - I had to wash my blood off the hats afterward... those craft knives are sharp!). But I think worthwhile.

I favour light grey decks, to represent holystoned timber. White would be a reasonable approximation too. Tan might represent decks spread with sand, and sand red might be good for that 'post battle' effect, too ;-) Modern timber decked vessels will typically be varnished in some way, giving a tan colour.

Indeed it's not a French frigate. My comment was not meant to be exclusive, just indicating that the mainmast was not always the tallest, with French frigates being an example. Mainmasts were typically taller than foremasts, but not always, and not always by very much. As with many elements of vessel design, there are not always hard and fast rules, nor always clear answers.

Not quite. Fore and main masts of the same height were fairly characteristic of French frigates in the late 18th/early 19th centuries. Not all were the same, but enough were for it to be noted, and a common way to identify French frigates at a distance. Captured French frigates would typically be rerigged by the British, and the result of that was generally to make the main taller than the fore. Cheers Richie Dulin

Ahoy, The 'clipper is, I think, cheaper, because it's far more common. Go for the 'clipper if you want a basis for building MOC vessels. The 'Flagship is nicer looking, though, and much more 'realistic' in terms of its rig than the 'clipper (if such things matter to you). Your nauticalmileage may vary. Cheers Richie Dulin

1) What is the name of your Fleet(s)? I generally refer to the whole collection as