kurigan

Oh, it’s a propaganda machine… Love it! The pearl technic connectors really sell it. The shininess and hints of black look like ink residue.

Ok, playing forum historian once again: Though his approach was decidedly less precise and mathematical, a long time ago Frank Brick Wright took a crack at cb4s style. His final results were still pretty impressive but what is perhaps more important to the community is that he documented his efforts in great detail on his WIP threads. If you are endeavoring to adopt or just mess around with this technique you may find his efforts helpful. http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=74563 http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=81157 While I’m digging up the past here are cb4’s previous works in this style too, why not? http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=50917&st=0 http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=55172&st=25 http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=79732 Apologies if I’m out of line on any particular point.

Brig?! Why is she indexed as a brig? She’s a topsail schooner of the Marblehead variety, Plaid Beard as much said so himself. Someone please change that? Sorry… Ok on to the topic at hand. Sorry to bump this but I missed the boat when she was new. At first glance I like her. There are no real problems, issues or anything incorrect about her, and that’s high praise. What you have is instantly recognizable and very well done. That being said: I honestly feel if you got this far you can go a little further. I see everything you’ve included and why. I love your attention to detail. Be honest though, isn’t she a bit “slab sided” and “bluff in the bows”? I know what you’re thinking: you think I want you to replicate my schooner but no. I’m just saying there are a few tricks you might want to incorporate to give her some more of the shapeliness characteristic of schooners like her. From what you have already it’s a short step to a DPW/Pickle type hull . I did something like it on a previous iteration of Scorpion. *Edit: came to me after the fact, Mr. Townsend's Pinnacle might be a better example. She's so similar in size and scale. http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=94128 * Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not down on her, I DO like Katy and if you’re happy with her, then ignore me and don’t change a thing. I only offer since you expressed an interest in my Ramcat/Nonesuch style and you’re really not far off. All in all, she’s a great build and I thank you for sharing her. P.S. do any of your books corroborate what I’ve theorized over here?

I remember the build. I looked it up and it seems I never commented on it. Perhaps I was still in my “I quit” phase. Anyway, I’m gonna bump it so meet me over there for that. Otherwise thank you J ironically enough because of you and Mr. Townsend I’m severely tempted to turn my next project into a Marblehead. I’m just afraid I’ll look like a “one trick pony” doing nothing but cutters and schooners. Seems it’s time I move on to square rigs.

Bravo!

Captain Dee: You know I really don’t mind your comment. I don’t see it as a hijacking at all, it’s just conversation, something we used to have around here and need a lot more of any more. However, your post seems a bit emotionally charged and you’ve given me so much to respond to in one shot. It’s a bit overwhelming to be honest. I wonder if this is what it’s like to talk to me. Instead of trying to hit on every point, I think I’m going to try this. I got just so far in my reply before I found my brain grid-locked. For the moment I’ll put up what I have and hope it’s enough to make my counter point. Perhaps it will only make me seem like more of a jerk, but there’s little to do but block and guard when you’re already up against the wall. Let’s start with this: I think you misunderstand my intentions. As I said, I’ve no idea how I’m perceived, but this gives me a chance to affect that, hopefully in a positive way. You see it’s not a “nana-a-boo-boo I’m better than you” kind of thing. It’s more of the “if I can do it, then anyone can” sort. I mean to provide a higher yet still achievable ideal, not illustrate a gulf in talent. Stop and think about it for a minute: (this is one of my core philosophies where ALL this is concerned, and a big part of my motivations) they’re Lego after all, no? It’s a system of purposefully standardized and interlocking elements. If one person can make it another can learn to, at the very least, copy it. Heck, it’s no secret that I adopted the style of my larger ships from Henrik Hoexbroe. The inspiration for this style goes back to SlyOwl. So when I say “look what I did, can you do better?” I’m suggesting at the possibility of success, not failure. Like anyone, I want credit for what I’ve achieved, but that doesn’t mean I guard my methods jealously. Go ahead and try this, or any other style on. Take a chance, click some bricks together. To learn his style, to have taken it this far, I literally looked at Henrik’s images and counted studs and created a copy on my desk. From there I saw all kinds of possibilities and began tearing in. I see how I can be perceived as a jerk by what I wrote, but I ask that readers choose to give me the benefit of doubt and assume upon my benevolence. As far as cookie cutter’s go and part of what burns me about all this: there is a plethora of data available on this forum. There are indices, tutorials and active members who’d be thrilled to be asked to help. New creations show casing all different sorts of methods and techniques show up in the MOCs thread all the time, yet we’ve members who’ve only come over for the game, struggling like babes in the woods. They don’t have to “reinvent the wheel”. Now I’m worried that you seem to suggest that I’m being critical of new come’s efforts. I’ve said nothing disparaging, nor would I. If not offering a compliment is insulting, then I’ve got nothing and would do best to leave now. One final thought on all that: the lil’ badge says “ship expert” not “MOC expert”. I’m no Lego master. My ships came a long way because I worked at it, and because of this community. I used to think my old stuff was “the bee’s knees” and was heartbroken when the community didn’t agree. However had I not been told as much, what would have ever inspired me to do better? Since about 2005 I went from this, to this because of this place. One more myth I wish to dispel, and I do hope people read this. If I don’t comment, it doesn’t mean I hate you or disrespect your work. I’m not impressed by historic accuracy alone. My whole thing is scope over scale. Bigger isn’t better. Well done is well done at any size. To me, scale as a measure of merit is elitist. Bricks = money. To go big you need a deep purse. But you don’t need to go big to do something truly great.

Neat! Though I won't lie, she seems a bit "blocky" somehow, her shape in general is pretty spot on. From any angle or profile, she's really looks the part. I even like the color! your application of technique is brilliant at least and sinking her in a brick built sea, as to have a compete below-deck is just plane clever. The way the upper works "float" you could even recycle the hull for other builds. Put a cutter, schooner or even a brig together for later. I wouldn't worry about the print on the Lego sails. If I have one criticism it'd be that she might be under-sailed. Lateen Riggs as such, historically, would often throw up much larger sails on a hull that size. You could use the Lego sails as a template and trace them onto some hearty paper stock; perhaps construction paper. With that you could enlarge or decorate them to your hearts content. Little tip on that: lay your paper sail over a ball, balloon or something with a bolster like that, dampen it (not wet or soak) and allow it to dry. When you peel it away it should hold the shape and look perpetually full of wind. (may take several tries.)

Sorry to be tardy to the party. It seems I was busy shooting my mouth off elsewhere. You really should go check it out. Now it's clear you know what you've got and need no more smoke blown where the sun doesn't shine. You know how I feel about her, I'm sure, any way. I can't help but feel that a little more could have been done to close up some of the gaps, with little extra effort. Perhaps a SNOT deck for instance. I don't know if I like the slopes at the rail. They do bring the bulwark to vertical before they terminate but something about them... I'm so glad you came along with this and even more so that your sharing tips about her construction. I've become something of a fan of luggers myself and am glad to see someone else messing around with them. Though I find the brick built sails clever for harbor gaskets, I wonder if she might make another appearance at some point with clothe/paper or even unfurled brick sails? Only 16 hours, huh? Wow! Any way that's why I'm more of a whist man my self (not really). P.S. It just struck me what ship that is in the last image. Someone in a position of authority tell me what I'd need to do to help license her in the game. It would give me great pleasure to see her "playing old harry" with shipping in the seas around Halos.

Perhaps not quite to this degree. there is quite a bit of spring in her. In fact, putting her back together a bunch of times before I had everything just right may be what caused me to go hours over budget There is allowance in LDD to take advantage of tolerance inherent in the bricks. With great patience, I have made it work in a small way before. If you do try it out I'd be interested to hear how it goes.

Wow, such high praise. I honestly don’t know what to do with it but say, thank you all. I’ve never had any lack of confidence in her, in fact I plan to offer her for display to the local maritime museum for kid/family friendly events if I ever finish her. Coming from someone else thought it’s something entirely different and up-lifting. Captain Dee: I happen to have that handy! Guns For the largest guns, the one’s made from a jet engine, I’ve taken to using a technic tow ball for a cascabel instead of a stud. I do recall. Suppose I ought to thank you for that. Thank you. I honestly have no idea how I’m perceived around here and it’s my tendency to assume the worst. Thanks again for the boost of confidence. Franco Clarke: That sir, is a bold statement and one which touches a nerve as well. You’ve hit on exactly what I’ve been going for all this time. The Lego Expert: There is no one answer and at the risk of preaching or prosing on I’ll tell you this: it takes an investment of one kind or another. Some people can afford to pay for as well as grasp the information from books, but neither has been my strong suit, so I paid for my education in time and investigation. There is no, one great source. I’ve spent a lot of time searching google (comparing sources), touring replicas and historic ships, going to museums, and picking up on whatever I can whenever it comes along. The most fun I’ve had is entertaining nautical fiction, like the Aubrey/Maturin series, Alan Lewrie’s Naval Adventures (perhaps my favorite) and a host of others. (David Donachie most recently and pleased with. Bloody Jack was good fun but I just plane don’t care for Ramage or Kydd). It’s not so much that those books are meant to be educational, though the writers mentioned do their homework to be sure. It’s more that they provide a context in which some questions are answered while others are presented to be looked up later. Then of course actually applying what you’ve learned, like with my models, is invaluable. I’ve got the cute lil’ badge, which I very much appreciate, but I’m not sure I’m really all that much of an expert. More of an ever constant student, eager to share. Cousarmy0001: Well that’s why I’m never very confident calling my stuff "mini-fig-illusion". It's rather difficult to figure scale against mini-figs. The deck, though, is not my idea. I forget who to credit it to, if any one builder is responsible. Thanks though, I’m glad it’s convincing.

No worries. Always happy to help!

The deck is just two 2625 at either end. The bulwarks aren’t even attached to the deck/frame. There is a light saber blade in the stem and the stern is held together by the transom board. Reinforcing plates on a third hidden level create a ledge that keeps the hull from pulling any higher up. Otherwise it’s just 2 X 4s on the inner layer and 2x tiles on the outside. More detail on my photobucket. While I had the camera back out, just for “Ss & Gs” I though it’d show off just a bit. How many Lego ships, let alone string rigs are quite so stable? Despite my earlier complaints about balance at that.

Well despite not being able to acquire reading material as suggested by EJRED, thanks for that, I managed to come up with a solution. I did try and track down/download a copy of that title as well as others but it seems it would require piracy for me, and on a level I’m not even skilled enough to pull off. No matter though. I’ve managed to scrape by as I always have. Serval more hours of clever google searches and I was able to interpret pretty much what I figured on from images. Here is a sketch of how it seems it must work. Trouble with this solution is that hooks of that nature don’t exist in Lego’s catalogue. It looks like I’m going to have to craft something to make this work. If you’re at all curious, Nonesuch, my current grand WIP just revealed, is indeed the subject of this dilemma.

She’s off to a great start! Though I’m no expert on this method, I did at one point have intentions on adopting it. To that effect I ran a few experiments to solve just such problems. One particular concept I was particularly pleased with I took photos of as to reference later. Just for you, I’ll put them up so you can see what I came up and use it to your hearts content should you find it useful. Here! I happen to like the look of the blue better, personally. If it were up to me I’d spend my money on blue port flaps, especially if she for Oleon. I love that you have a concept drawing. A much underrated practice. I think the “hole” you referring to, the one in the middle of the deck under the boat, is the waist. Unless you mean the entry port, that gap in the rail through which one embarks and disembarks the ship. A final suggestion from me would be much the same as ever. Brick-built guns are cheaper and take up less space. Keep at her and thanks for sharing!

There is beauty in simplicity and you hit on that with this one. IMHO though it think she'd look better if you lowered the boom closer to the deck. It'd be OK if it had to tilt up to clear the wheel. All in all shes a fine little vessel. Is that a custom foresail or is it one from Black Pearl?

Here is “Bumblebee”, a Bristol Channel style pilot cutter. She is based on no one vessel in particular but is more of an interpretation of the type from many sources. Some parts of her make up may seem a bit dubious to the trained eye, but such is the limitation of this scale. I started this one with the intent of entering it in BoBS. Though it may sound a touch arrogant (it’s really not) my motivation came from a general disappointment in what I had so far seen in terms of BoBS ship building. I saw few risk taken and little done in the way of trying something new. I thought to foster some more of that by presenting this as something to be one-upped. After all, isn’t the game supposed to be about growing as a builder, not just grabbing at points (or did I miss something?). In the end I find the learning curve of the game far too steep for someone who’s never been a role player. I also went over budget and would still need to apply sails. I had figured on 12 hours total for the whole build, but at 14 had only got this far. It’s not a new concept, I’ve theorized it on other threads before and even had a mock up on my desk for a while. It is the first practical application I’ve done though. Where it stands, I wouldn’t find this technique on such a small scale useful for anything but late period/modern boats. I simply couldn’t get the curvature any tighter as to make the bow any buffer, nor could I reliably twist the sides to mimic tumblehome either. The rigging is a marginal success partially because I cut a lot of corners but also because, had forgone internal support in favor of good sportsmanship for BoBS. My other ships are aided by having dowels in their masts and spars to add stiffness. This one is all Lego aside from the string, so too much tension has the opposite effect. It all has to be just right otherwise it’s prone to collapse. Only the one side is actually photogenic. The starboard side is still just mocked up from cast-offs and knock-offs as I only ever intended to show the larboard side for the game. It’s from one of these evil imitations that she draws her quirky name though. A sticker still stuck to one of the bricks bears the name of a particular transformer. I felt she was telling me her own name since the placement wasn’t conscious or intentional, thus “Bumblebee”. I think it works and besides; its bad luck the change the name of a ship. Tough she’s not quite finished I’ll still issue the challenge to anyone interested in rising to it. If I can do this in 14 hours what can you do?

This is extremely well done. You've captured the action well. What with the shakos and forage caps, it does look a bit more 19th century though.

This build has come a long way from its inception. I don’t even feel like it’s the same vessel any longer. For one she now has a name “Nonesuch”. Also her standing rig is all but complete and most everything has been laid for her running rig. A lot of subtle improvements and changes have been made to accommodate her development and a maze of strings. I’ve also incorporated my 3D printed belaying pins with the same system from Ramcat. (The pins were printed by shapeways and will soon be available in my store for anyone. I need to order one more prototype before I’m sure they are Ok for public sale.) I’m well in to the third year with her and it’s been a labor of love, with emphasis on the labor. Though I’m determined that this one won’t go unfinished, completion may still be months off at this point. I’m just where I left off on Ramcat as well, so both ships are now expecting a suit of sails. Right now I’m terribly busy and won’t likely be able to devote the time necessary to do her justice before the spring. With that in mind, even though I wasn’t going to, I’ve decided to update this old WIP topic, despite the conceptual rift I perceive between then and now. I’ve been "talking a big game” around the forum as of late and I wouldn’t be surprised if some members, especially all these new comes, wonder upon what successes I rest my laurels. Well, here she is. My current “grand work” a Baltimore Clipper, the privateer Nonesuch. Just the one picture for now. For the rest please just go to my photobucket where you can see many more images and get a better feel for her development over time. Feel free to talk her up, ask question or just show your support. I’m happy to discuss just about anything about her. Thanks for looking.

Well you promised a “White Pearl” and certainly delivered. Though I like what I see, it’s a nice take and clever use or the Friends hull, I do wish the pic we finally did get was bigger. The white with black accents gives a ghostly air all her own. Thanks for sharing, do pleas update us if you get that flickr account going.

That's awesome! Can those guys do anything with out destroying something? thanks for sharing this, made my day.

Odd was a bit of a double-entendre in that it’s both mathematically odd (as opposed to even) and that it’s a strange choice. Here’s why: Ships of this time were rated/classified by the guns of their main battery only. Which consisted of only those which point out the side and for which the ship was designed to carry. Despite having a particular number applied to her rating any given ship may have many more guns than listed. That listing will always be an even number though. For instance a 34-38 gun frigate of no particular class would likely carry 24-28 guns on her gun deck of a heavy caliber, say 18 pounders. On the spar deck and additional 10-12 smaller pieces of artillery would fill out her main battery; something like 6-12 pounders most like. Now, in a completely supplementary way, that same ship may sport another 10 or more guns including carronades, chasers and swivels which are not part of her official armament but add to her strength all the same. So it sounds like you’ve laid out a 32 gun fifth rate. A respectable command to be sure like to earn her captain and crew a tidy profit in prize money. I get that doing a mod you’d want Lego cannons on at least the gun deck, but I always suggest brick-built guns at least on the upper deck. Lego cannon are huge, bigger to a mini-fig than any cannon ever shipped in the time period in question, and they can make scaling difficult while taking up a lot of space. Brick-built guns can be more realistic and compact. This way you could fill out the rest of your rating without so many mid sections ( or so many Lego cannon piled on top of one another) as described above. Quirky little piece of information you may find interesting (or not): in any English speaking country a certain tradition from way back when still holds true. As soon as it sets down on a naval deck, rifled or not, any artillery becomes a “gun”. P.S. I’m guilty of having overrated my own ships in the past, so don’t think me too judgmental. I learned from being corrected all the same :P

Wow! For once I don't have to be "that guy". Thanks Cousearmy0001 and CaptianDee! Essentially they've about covered the historic stuff I'd usually chime in with. I do have one nagging curiosity though. 35 is an odd number, I wonder which side gets the extra gun? From a MOCing stand point the best advice I can give is; start small. If your really getting into it, especially from a historic stand point, I can all but guarantee your technique will go through several iterations before you're satisfied with it. You'll also learn a lot more fundamental stuff if you give yourself a smaller scope to focus on. Instead of a SotL or even a frigate, perhaps try something below the rates. Even sloops make great MOCs if they are done well. P.S. yes, support bricklink. Bricklink is great!

It's a good attempt, and you shouldn't feel down if it not entirely successful. What you're embarking on is more than just MOC-ing, its a professional level of photography as well. I like the use of "headlight" bricks for windows. They seem to work best on the mission (white building) in the middle. My advice: The trouble isn't with focus at all. Though a narrower depth of field couldn't hurt, it would be best approached during capture rather than in editing. Before worrying about that you should revisit composition and lighting first. For one your primary subject isn't prominent enough. Try moving him closer to the camera and in to at least the first third division of the frame. (An over-the-shoulder shot wouldn't seem like a bad idea). Also, too many of the same colors appear in both the fore and background for it to be immediately clear that it's not all one field. Try using lighter colors in the background and darker in the foreground. Finally, use more than one light source. More direct light on your primary subject will pull it out towards the viewer while softer/diffused light will help the background blend. Well that's just my two cents from the thousands I blew on college. Hope it helps, have fun.

Well then you and I are on a similar journey at the same time good sir. It will be interesting to see what we come up with. I suggest starting here: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=54245 I've used, to decent effect before, paper, tee-shirt cotton and broad cloth (bed sheets). This time around I'll be trying painter's canvas myself. I'm worried it's too thick and won't translate well but seems worth the adventure for the price. If your courious about my previous experiments here's some links but I think the good admiral's tutorial is honestly the best place to start where cloth is concerned. http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=78187 http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=85771 http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=104211 Now, do not let my enthusiasm stop any one else from contributing. There have been a number of builders with impressive sails her in past and it'd warm my heart to to see them chime in on this worthy topic.

What sort of sails? Classic Lego style, realistic or some where in between? Perhaps a picture of the project in question would be in order? Have you checked out the sail library on the master index?