kurigan

this method you've devised is amazing, it makes everyone else seem like they're doing things "the wrong way". can you tell me though, how stable is the frame work, can you push a brick into place with out it misshaping or bracing the opposite side? all in all this looks awesome and if i had the supply of bricks, would have had to adopt it my self by now.

I love this ship. She's come a long way and my fondness has grown with her. What i particularly like about Centaur, is she isn't exactly the same as so many others, she got character. It's often over looked in modeling that every ship yard , especially across international borders, did things differently, so ships rarely looked quite alike, despite operating on the same principals. She also some how manages to give the air of an aged, experienced man-of-war, not a brand new ship fresh off the stocks. The comic was also pretty cool and added to that mystique of experience in action. Thanks for sharing her and keep up the good work.

sorry, but i still see nothing but text :(

this is a lovely ship. all around a great job and full of nice details. Keep it up and thanks for sharing her.

"He's behind the tree... ya walked right past him, dummy!" no really, i love this one, so simple yet so well done. particularly like the tree trunk. like how you captured the motion of the solders too. great job!

Perectionest: Firstly I’ll thank you to keep comments like that to your self. Frankly I despise such an attitude and find your sentiment rude and insulting. Perhaps you should check out darth yogi’s thread, “WIP HMS Valentine “ where I already made my “soap box” speech on the subject. I find you‘re off base on all points. This is foremost a “proof of concept” experiment in my own style, there would be little point in utilizing other’s methods where I’m trying to prove the validity of my own, wouldn’t you agree? Never mind my fondness for Vesta and Achlle. I have studied carefully over as many examples of period ships that could, from drafts, to models to photographs of surviving and replica vessels. I have no lack of confidence that the shape of my hull is spot on. This is especially so where the limitations of my brick supply is concerned. Simply put, I am making Snake from what I have available, not what may be necessary. As for head rails, they are honestly a ridiculous notion on a vessel of this size, particularly as it has no head. Something more decorative and period appropriate will be done with the prow to be sure, but head rails, no. The same goes for a sweeping stern gallery. This is simply too small and simple of a vessel for such luxuries. Croissant: As stated before, I’m working with what I have, If I had enough center stud plates to make the half steps you describe, it might smooth the hull out some, but since I do not, I’m fine with her as is As for the stern I take your point but alas I haven’t the pieces I’d like to use to create such an effect, so again she is what she is. I did scrounge up two more inverted roof pieces to bring the over hang out to the edges and it looks better, but still not quite. To anyone else observing, please keep in mind this isn’t a great man-of-war. Snake is a tiny privateer, likely made from a merchant vessel. She wouldn’t have room for great guns, large internal space or even a proper head. A small snow brig of this type would be cramped and would likely toss about like a cork on even a light swell, but she’d be fast and sail close to the wind. She’s not on the high seas to make war, yardarm to yardarm, exchanging broad sides with frigates and ships of the line. She’s a Pirate, sticking close to shipping lanes, blending in with merchant traffic till she luffs up and bears down on her unsuspecting prey, clearing the decks with carronades and small arms fire. I haven’t much progress to show this week, I’m not entirely satisfied with any thing I changed, or added. I haven’t the cones I wanted to make the quarterdeck rail, hence the gray place holders, nor is the gun wall anything but awkward. The prow is still just thrown together, still haven’t decided on a design there. The only thing I really have decided on was to use a windlass on the focsle rather that a capstan amid ship, to save on space. Yes this is a totally regular thing for a vessel of this size and period, that being of the very late 18th to early 19th century. Capstans were typically made of heavy metals and or wood, and were anchored down through the decks, adding a great deal to the vessel’s burden. Use of a wooden windlass like this would save on weight and deck space, good for a privateer that needs to move quickly. As it stands, I either need to decide between a good hull and terrible yards, or breaking down and ordering bricks. If I add to the gun wall as I think needs to be I doubt I’ll have enough materials to assemble the rest of the rigging. For the moment I think I’ll concentrate on finishing up the lower portions of Snake and consider cannibalizing parts from other projects later. Start of Update in Album

What you have pictured there appears to be Indy, a humongous ship. There is not credit to that but from studying a lot of models, it’s my best guess. HMS Indefatigable was originally a 64 gun ship of the line, which later had the upper gun deck torn off and was reclassed a 38. I don’t think that would make a very good model to work from on your tiny vessel. Instead for historical reference I suggest looking up Sir Thomas Cochran’s HMS speedy, or her literary counter part HMS Sophie. On thing of note, however is how little tumble home even a large vessel like that 40 gunner can have. HMS Indefatigable Wiki HMS Speedy Sorry for the terrible pic, all I could find on short notice, I can e-mail better ones if your interested, just no time to post and link what I have saved for my own reference.

First off Kable, not the place for such commentary. Further more, don’t be so rude. Firstly Eurobricks has been trying to encourage LDD as of late, so all of us contributing in that capacity are well within the expectations of our host. Further more, it’s incredibly unfair to expect that everyone who wants to participate here must build with real bricks when the expense must be taken in to consideration. Which isn’t to mention that no one who’s contributed in LDD seems to do so exclusively, even my own designs are just a test bed for ships I hope to build in the future (hope fully near future). One final point on the subject, if you succeed in chasing off all those who work and contribute in LDD you may chase off a lot of helpful, knowledgeable members who can only enrich the community. Now I may have laid into you a little hard here, but honestly this isn’t just for your benefit. I’ve seen this sentiment expressed several time over the past few weeks, and felt something must be said. Yogi, my apologies for using your thread as a soap box, I’ll appreciate your understanding if you can offer it. Now on to your brig. I tend to agree with the good Admiral that your prow is way to huge. You’re on a good track here, but I think a lot of the techniques your using are better for a larger vessel in general. The upper deck seems a bit to narrow, but that might be an illusion created by the height of your gun wall and the tumble home making it, only seem to narrow. Still if you have the bricks it wouldn’t hurt to make her a stud or two wider to each side. While you’re at it some curvature could improve her looks a bit too. on the same lines as what Croissant said, the era from which your vessel comes is important to a lot of the design decisions you’re faced with. In the 18th century or earlier, the hull would have been more curved and wider at the water line. If she were a later craft say 19th or early 20th century, she’d likely seem flatter and be generally more narrow. I like that you’re dong a water line model and using the bricks in different orientations (like the roof tiles along the bottom) is clever. If re-building the hull it out of the question, consider changing her rig to some thing more conducive to her dimensions, like a cutter or schooner. Keep building, keep innovating!

Firstly, thank you, I appreciate the compliment. Now, as for the cabin on your vessel; what I’m getting at is, to yes make the sides of the gallery smaller, or shorter for to aft. Cabins on such ships often extended forward past the last and second to last guns (guns typically numbed for to aft). The gallery portion is only the rear most portion of the entire space and was typically not the sleeping or living area, but more of an office or meeting room. Most of the time the cabin was subdivided by removable walls which could be reconfigured, to say open the space up for a large dinner, or cleared away entirely in anticipation of an action (battle). In Short, make the cabin as large as you like, but for accuracy and ascetics shorten the gallery. 2 studs may not quite suffice, though extending out much farther may prove awkward at best. You’ll just have to experiment with the design. Don’t worry about the terminology too much; it only comes with time and a lot of digging. Besides we all stutter and make mistakes from time to time, I’ve been called out my self on this very board, for obvious blunders such as grossly misrating one of my early LDD frigates. You’ve got the idea though. The upper level of the stern gallery occurs on level with the quarterdeck, with the ships wheel just outside that cabin. The lower portion lines up with the upper gun deck. The deck above the after cabin on the upper portion, which also serves as a roof, is actually a poop deck. Here’s a picture that may help.

Perhaps I can help here: I think you being too literal in the design of your stern gallery. Firstly, the windows on the side are not as big as the windows facing out the back; on most ships they are significantly smaller. To create the illusion, try using only one pane, or a smaller frame. On my ships I usually don’t even use frames, rather I build the windowpanes them selves out of transparent bricks. Also, the gallery doesn’t need to be deep enough to encompass the entirety of the cabin. Do some google searches for, drafts (schematics) of historical ships and, even better, photos of the cabins aboard replica and surviving ships of the period. You’ll see that even Nelson slept with a cannon under his cot. Two decks are ambitious, especially if you’re planning to build on prefab Lego hulls. They start you off quite narrow, and tend to offer strange proportions. The few from this site that have looked really impressive were done so by building out the sides of the ship beyond the Lego hulls. Another note since you mentioned an interest in historical accuracy; on all the two gun deck ships I’ve studied, the stern gallery only came down to the second gun deck. The lower gun deck, running uninterrupted to the stern, where there are usually ports either side of the rudder for stern chasers. Your welcome to look through my gallery, though I haven’t yet used Lego hulls. Some of what I’ve designed, to tackle similar problems may help. Also I have a few of my models on my brick shelf, if you’d like to dissect them. I trust you won’t plagiarize. Hope I’ve been of some help. Here's a list of useful Images to start with. My album My brick shelf

Shes a fine ship, but 58 guns does not a first rate make. At 58, regardless of how many decks they occur on, she's only a fourth rate. Accurate enough for these purposes All in all a three-decker was pretty bold, and you puled off. Good job!

I was Finally able to pull out my Legos and scrounge up enough bricks to give Snake a descent set of masts. There is still a lot of work to do, but this was a big step in the process. More shots in my album

I didn't feel this warranted a new topic, but I did just post some images of an old WIP. HM Brig Scorpion, one of my projects made with bricks scavenged together from all over. She's not the best looking, nor the most accurate model but considering the nature of her components, I think she worked out OK. I never finished her, would still need to add in all the string rigging and paper sails, but I've wanted to redo her more in the style of my LDD designs. In any case, though the design is quite rudimentary, there is some merit here, so I figured I'd share her. Scorpion

Like this?

Sorry about that. I edited the original post, so the links work properly now Yeah, I kind of agree, she'd defiantly work out to be a small awkward vessel. I had tried once before to do a larger ship, a 36 gunner, but the scope was just a bit much to keep track of while changing color to highlight the new construction all the way. This time around I decided to go with a much smaller ship, even though I've already done several 20gun 6th rates. As illustrated with Poly, in the second link, and through out my fleet, the method translates well by just expanding the ships dimensions.

A few months ago I started a tutorial on my method in LDD for building ship, but put it down, having convinced myself there would be no interest. The other night, however, I decided to upload the small portion I did on my flicker account, mostly because it felt like a wasted effort otherwise. If my assumption about interest is wrong, let me know. My link I also started another two decker, the 3rd rate 64 gun HMS Polyphemus. I haven’t had time in a while to get back to her, but I’m quite pleased with the shape and design so far. She’s a lot more shapely that my previous attempt in Leopard and is significantly more spacious in side. Rather than leave her in obscurity, I took a few quick shots and posted them as well. Enjoy and positive feed back is welcomed. Where she appears in my album First shot

What the good Admiral has pictured is what would be called a hermaphrodite, so because it’s something of a cross between a brig and a schooner. What you have pictured is in fact a brigantine, or brig. If it had a gaff (for and aft occurring only to the rear of the mast on a boom) mainsail it would be a snow. If it had both a square and a gaff main sail it would be a snow brig. All that aside, it appears to me that your hull is rather narrow and better suited to be a cutter, perhaps in the Bermuda style. They are often called just sloops but, that’s something of a misleading term. By the 19th century, small ships of this type were quite popular in America and Caribbean for their speed. They weren’t particularly safe, as the often carried far too much sail, but they could run down, or away from, just about anything on the seas at the time. A single mast might also simplify your build. As for the stern post, building it on angle might make it look a little bit better, but if the attempt would ruin the over all effect, leave it be. If you could build the quarter deck to hang out over the rudder more, it might trick the eye and give the appearance of a leaning stern post. No matter whichever way you go, you’re already off to a great start. Your hull design is innovative at the least. I’m anxious to see a final product and I hope you’re inspired to move on to a larger vessel when it’s done.

wow, just... wow. looks excellent, can't wait to see more!

I have to pick an option that wasn't listed as well. To me the "Flesh" color is just another race. Still mini figs, but from another culture in another part of the world. To me, the few Prince of Persia figs I have comprise a crew or Barbary Corsairs. If i can pick up any of the small sets before they blow off the shelves, I'll likely incorporate the POTC figures in much the same way, regardless of character's portrayal in the films. After all, isn't Lego all about imagination, why be bound to the original concept, if you have your own idea?

I’m kind of surprised no one suggested Sparrow and Barbosa’s epic, undead duel in the treasure room, or simply HMS Dauntless/Interceptor for good sets. Just think of all that treasure. I frankly think the second and third movies were tragic mistakes, and any sets made from them would be terrible, but to each his own. It seems the most popular sets are always those with the most/best mini figures. Perhaps, just make a set of all the characters. Even as a limited edition, that would do remarkable well. What it all really comes down to is cost effectiveness though. Legos are kind of expensive to make and often times the sets suffer in quality and scope to make them affordable and/or profitable. So long as TLG avoids including corner cutting, pre-fabricated parts (something like a large one piece water wheel for the three way duel over Jones’ heart), or cheap Chinese plastic, the theme should do well.

I like where you're going with this, but something about still seems awkward. Are you going for a "full hull" or a "water line" model? yYou also have a lot straight lines and sharp angles. consider using plates in different stages to round out your bow. I hope it doesn't come off as arrogant, but perhaps looking over some of my fleet could help you refine your own technique. A piece of advice too; if you want to keep your model valid with the current Lego catalog, you can always brick build cannons, rather than using the universe mode. my photobucket, most of my ships are posted here, in pretty much, order of creation. My link LDD files of some of my vessels I've posted My link

HMHV Snake Redux Last week I was showing my modest fleet of digital and real ships to a friend who recently acquired a mass of assorted bricks and seems to be taking an interest. After comparing my simplistic physical models to my digital designs he all but challenged me to a build off. As a result I decided to tear down my old “Snake” and rebuild her more in the fashion of my digital designs. As I’ve been saying for some time, my supply of bricks in limited and it was quite a task scrounging up what I could and making a lot of the wrong parts work. Though there are some obvious errors and imperfections, I’m quite pleased with the project so far. I’ve only been at about 12 hrs so far, counting parts hunting time. I am happy to say that my hull building technique holds up in live bricks with the addition of only a few pieces, such as the pillars below deck, which I usually omit for the sake of space in the digital environment, where gravity doesn’t matter. She is far from finished and there are many more parts to hunt down. Seen here is the original, “Snake” a tiny 6-gun privateer, which was never quite finished, lacking a mizzen topmast. http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa244/kurigan_the_red/Real%20Models/DSC01656.jpg?t=1290632769 Pictured here is the incomplete new HMHV Snake, now a much larger and closer to accurate 16-gun snow brig, again serving as a privateer. http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa244/kurigan_the_red/Real%20Models/DSC01684.jpg?t=1290632842 The design of the new snake is not unlike Cochran’s HMS Speedy, the real world inspiration for Jack Aubrey’s first command HMS Sophie. HMHV is the British abbreviation at that time for a privateer in the employment of the royal navy (His Majesty’s Hired Vessel)Apologies for the low quality images, better pictures will be taken as the project progresses.

I totally agree,Admiral Croissant. that's one of the concessions i was talking about. the frame was started some time ago and i just didn't account for how high she would get, i also find the stern gallery just doesn't lean out over the rudder enough. There is also far to little space below decks to build in proper ladders. Thanks for the comments and reference photos.

[pid][/pid] After several failed attempts, I’ve managed a small victory, in applying my ship building method to a viable two decker. Another of Jack Aurbrey’s ships, HMS Leopard, she's not my best or most accurate work. I did work from a draft of the historic ship, but the scale I’m working on caused me to make a few concessions in order to move on in the project. All things considered I’m not to dissatisfied with her and plan to design another soon. HMS Leopard, 60 gun 4th rate: http://s199.photobucket.com/albums/aa244/kurigan_the_red/Tall%20Ships/?action=view&current=HMS-Leopard-021.jpg http://s199.photobucket.com/albums/aa244/kurigan_the_red/Tall%20Ships/?action=view&current=HMS-Leopard-021.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/kurigan/Pirates/hms_leopard_50_gun_4th_rate.lxf Hope you all enjoy, there's more to come.

i understand your frustrations in hunting down particular parts in specific quantities on bricklink. http://ebricksonline.com/ is a bit easier to use, though their stock varies. e-bay is also a good source, but often bricks are over priced or sold only in larger lots.