The 24 hour Frigate

[kurigan]

Sorry to bring this up after you already committed to string but you should put the masts back the way they were. Three sections is more realistic and IMHO looks better. The lowest section (the main) should be taller though and the upper two (top and topgallant respectively) should get progressively shorter as well as thinner. Also the shrouds should run to the top of the mast, rather than the edges of the fighting top. You could use the same brick and just put a set of them under the platform at the top the mast if you didn’t want to try and wrap the shrouds around the mast.

The way you have it, the head rails wouldn’t really work. If you don’t know, or for that matter anyone reading, the horn shaped rails at the front of the ship are called “head rails”. Because the structure of a ship looks like an animal with a spine, ribs and even a tail the bow is also called the head. Those rails are actually the common seaman’s toilet seat. The way you have them running up to the bow sprit wouldn’t likely be very strong and may snap off as I’m sure your Legos in that configuration are prone to. Where they should terminate is at the top of the prow, just behind the figure head.

Lastly, that #8 gun is just so distracting. I see why it is the way it is, the gray upper portion of the prefab being what it is. I just wish it didn’t have to be.

OK so there it is, just remember, you asked for it .

It is an amusing project and I’m intrigued to see how well it goes.

So far, pretty good!

[Legostone]

Update: hour 13:

Trying out ratlines after adding a bit more rigging, it is so much easier than I had expected, why haven't I tried this before?

So, no more talking, pictures!

Sorry to bring this up after you already committed to string but you should put the masts back the way they were. Three sections is more realistic and IMHO looks better. The lowest section (the main) should be taller though and the upper two (top and topgallant respectively) should get progressively shorter as well as thinner. Also the shrouds should run to the top of the mast, rather than the edges of the fighting top. You could use the same brick and just put a set of them under the platform at the top the mast if you didn’t want to try and wrap the shrouds around the mast.

The way you have it, the head rails wouldn’t really work. If you don’t know, or for that matter anyone reading, the horn shaped rails at the front of the ship are called “head rails”. Because the structure of a ship looks like an animal with a spine, ribs and even a tail the bow is also called the head. Those rails are actually the common seaman’s toilet seat. The way you have them running up to the bow sprit wouldn’t likely be very strong and may snap off as I’m sure your Legos in that configuration are prone to. Where they should terminate is at the top of the prow, just behind the figure head.

Lastly, that #8 gun is just so distracting. I see why it is the way it is, the gray upper portion of the prefab being what it is. I just wish it didn’t have to be.

OK so there it is, just remember, you asked for it .

It is an amusing project and I’m intrigued to see how well it goes.

So far, pretty good!

The reason I changed it to be this way was because it felt a little odd with the third mast (a non-custom mast) being one straight section. But now it is sadly far to late (considering that these masts are reinforced from the inside it already was to late after the deck was placed on sadly). I think I'll leave the shrouds as they are for this ship as it is already to late now and I'm a bit limited on time, but I'll for sure consider this on my next ship!

The head rails - I'm not to happy with them either, so I'll redo them (after the ratlines though!) later! Thanks for that suggestion!

I wish I would have the skulls eye schooners hull pieces so I could have hullparts in completely red to make this part easier - I don't like the dark grey part at all, but can't avoid it with the current hull. If only a new stern section would exist in red (and I could get here that quickly:P)

Btw, quick edit: I'm really thankful for these kind of comments - even if I don't use all suggestions for this ship, I still try to use them on the next ship I build. I find these comments better than comments like "Great ship" (not that I have anything against that) as they show that the person commenting thought about what could be improved. Thanks for reading!

Edited May 16, 2016 by Legostone

[Cousarmy0001]

Probably also too late now that you've started the rigging, but I think if you raised the center of your gun and spar decks by one plate, that might help alleviate the curve issue, and if you just stacked them on top of what's already there, you wouldn't have to rip out the entire deck. Believe me, I know how frustrating it can be to do that. I recently redid my flagship (again. I think this is my fourth revision) and I got really frustrated in reworking it all. To make matters worse, I had my research wrong, and put the larger gap between the main and the mizzen, rather than between the fore and the main. It's not a huge difference, the space between the fore and main is 11 studs, compared to 14 between the main and mizzen, so it's not glaring. I know that it's there, though, so every time I look at the ship, that's the first thing I see.

To redo it now, I would have to rip the ship apart all the way down to the orlop, because of how I put in the holds. So I'm just going to have to leave it. I don't wish that process on anybody.

Everything that I'm saying is just suggestions, of course, and please feel free to ignore. I've never tried to get a ship like this done in the space of one day, and I don't think I'll ever be bold enough try for realistic rigging like you're doing at all, much less in the space of a few hours. The prospect is just too daunting for me.

All in all, it's a very good design, and the ship looks quite nice. The rigging, I think, is going to be the primary draw of this ship. Even incomplete as it is now, that is the first thing that I notice about the latest pictures. In all honesty, if I had seen it complete with rigging before I saw pictures of the hull alone, I would not have noticed the curve.

[Legostone]

Update: hour 14:

More ratlines:P I'm a bit further than halfway done, the entire starboard side is mostly done, I'm continuing on the port side now. Here is a quick update picture:

Probably also too late now that you've started the rigging, but I think if you raised the center of your gun and spar decks by one plate, that might help alleviate the curve issue, and if you just stacked them on top of what's already there, you wouldn't have to rip out the entire deck. Believe me, I know how frustrating it can be to do that. I recently redid my flagship (again. I think this is my fourth revision) and I got really frustrated in reworking it all. To make matters worse, I had my research wrong, and put the larger gap between the main and the mizzen, rather than between the fore and the main. It's not a huge difference, the space between the fore and main is 11 studs, compared to 14 between the main and mizzen, so it's not glaring. I know that it's there, though, so every time I look at the ship, that's the first thing I see.

To redo it now, I would have to rip the ship apart all the way down to the orlop, because of how I put in the holds. So I'm just going to have to leave it. I don't wish that process on anybody.

Everything that I'm saying is just suggestions, of course, and please feel free to ignore. I've never tried to get a ship like this done in the space of one day, and I don't think I'll ever be bold enough try for realistic rigging like you're doing at all, much less in the space of a few hours. The prospect is just too daunting for me.

All in all, it's a very good design, and the ship looks quite nice. The rigging, I think, is going to be the primary draw of this ship. Even incomplete as it is now, that is the first thing that I notice about the latest pictures. In all honesty, if I had seen it complete with rigging before I saw pictures of the hull alone, I would not have noticed the curve.

I guess the gunports will stay as they are now, I'll do that different on the next ship. Your idea would likely not work as the sides are connected in a rather weird way (as I said, its a combination of CGHs and Sebeus technique with my own additions) which gives me a lot of space on the central deck but makes it more difficult to just raise a part of the ship as everything is connected with everything - which doesn't mean its the most stable hull:P

I'm glad I didn't get that wrong, good luck working around that problem;)

As I said, I'm always glad of criticising comments;) I think I'm getting quicker and quicker on the rigging, on the Pride of Elysabethtown (linked in the first post) I spent 5 hours on the rigging, on this one I'm 3 hours into the rigging and its already much more elaborate than on the PoE. I guess we can see what others think about the hull once I'm done with the rigging:P

[Legostone]

Update: hour 15:

(break for food)

Finished the ratlines! So much better than the rigging on my other ships!

Sorry for the quality, phone camera and bad lighting due to it being night;)

I'll take another break and hope to see some comments telling me if I should do sails next or redo the head rails next. Also: what parts of the rigging am I missing besides some to further connect the spars to the masts? I would be glad about some quick paint mockups on the picture or similar ;)

[Cousarmy0001]

Your idea would likely not work as the sides are connected in a rather weird way (as I said, its a combination of CGHs and Sebeus technique with my own additions) which gives me a lot of space on the central deck but makes it more difficult to just raise a part of the ship as everything is connected with everything - which doesn't mean its the most stable hull:P

I hear you on that. I also used the CGH method, and for the first three iterations, the sides were extremely unstable. One of the good things that came out of the revision that I mentioned is that the sides of my hull are much more solid than before, and much easier to reinstall if/when they come off. I wish I could tell you exactly what I did differently, but I honestly don't know myself. Kurigan came up with this modification to the CGH/Sebeus method, though, that I intend to use the next time I build a ship that has tumblehome. I imagine it's much more sturdy, due to the multiple attach points.

Edited May 16, 2016 by Cousarmy0001

[Captain Braunsfeld]

... and now for the sails? ...

[Legostone]

... and now for the sails? ...

Yes! Once I find time tomorrow and finish redo the headrails;)

Today was no progress because I was in Hamburg visiting the Lego store and looking at some real ships:P

I hear you on that. I also used the CGH method, and for the first three iterations, the sides were extremely unstable. One of the good things that came out of the revision that I mentioned is that the sides of my hull are much more solid than before, and much easier to reinstall if/when they come off. I wish I could tell you exactly what I did differently, but I honestly don't know myself. Kurigan came up with this modification to the CGH/Sebeus method, though, that I intend to use the next time I build a ship that has tumblehome. I imagine it's much more sturdy, due to the multiple attach points.

wow, I wish I would've seen that technique before, I think I know what I might use on my next bigger ship with a tumblehome:D It'll likely be a while until then though:P

[KotZ]

This is really interesting. I must say I'm in love with your concept of the hull using only bow and stern pieces.

Cousarmy, thanks for linking Kurigan's technique. For your modifications, did you take the hinge pieces CGH used on the bottom and add them to the top as well?

[kurigan]

More pics here as well as some other junk.

http://s62.photobucket.com/user/Dave_Stasny/library/My%20Original%20Lego%20Creations/junk?sort=3&page=1

Be warned though; this isn't a tested system. I concreted it years ago when I though I'd build a frigate with it, but never actually applied it. Instead I adopted my current technique.

[Cousarmy0001]

wow, I wish I would've seen that technique before, I think I know what I might use on my next bigger ship with a tumblehome:D It'll likely be a while until then though:P

I said the exact same thing when Kurigan posted it. He did so right after I finished putting my ship back together, too late to do me any good.

For my rebuild, I used 4275/4276 hinge plates as in the CGH method, but also several 92280/60478 combinations as well. In the case of the latter, the 92280s were usually buried beneath the deck, or the clasp part was flush with the deck. Previously, I had only used the 92280/60478 combinations due to parts availability, and as I said, my sides were quite unstable. Since the redesign, though, I haven't noticed a difference between the stability of each combination. As a result, I don't think that's what improved stability. I did block in the flag holders at the top of the gunports. I had a problem with them breaking off when I went to open the ports, and then the hull side would break when I was trying to reattach the holder. The only other major changes I made was installing tile "planking" on the gun deck, and connecting the frames at the top, like so:

Connecting the frames at the top made those more stable, as they had a tendency to fall in pretty much any direction at any time. After connecting the frames, they are now collectively solid as a rock. Using tiles for that also allowed me to make my spar deck removable, something I'd wanted to do ever since I first saw Achille. Again, though, I really don't know that any of that contributed to the side stability.

I apologize if this has taken away from the build everybody's actually here to see. I'm up to redoing the sails for my flagship, once those are installed, I'll be posting it in a new thread for everybody to see, and we'll be able to stop tying up this thread. I'll be sure to take some pictures of the hinge work for you guys to check out. In the off chance that I ever touch that ship again (pretty much guaranteed to never happen), I'll be modifying it to use Kurigan's top connection method.

[Legostone]

Finished Build

Update: Its done! I still have about 6 hours, but due to other stuff going on I'll leave it at the current status until I have time again - which I won't for the next 2 1/2 weeks. But no more talking, here are the pictures!

Sailing towards me

the broadside

a picture of the Sterncastle

with closed gunports (well, the side with the closed gunports (fun fact: there are still guns behind these, but it would be way to much effort to push them out too:P

An overview without the fake water. The technique I used for the hull isn't to well visible sadly.

A quick picture with the rest of my fleet. Sorry for the terrible editing, I just wanted to get a picture with all my ships ;)

[BrickPerfection]

I didn't know you could build a good-looking MOC frigate in just 18 hours, including custom rigging. Congrats on that! I really like the fact that you're building a fleet too :)

[wout1988]

Well done. Great to see how you managed to build something like this in just 18 hours.

[ShiningOne]

That's incredible! Those lines must take forever.

Edited June 23, 2016 by ShiningOne

[Legostone]

I didn't know you could build a good-looking MOC frigate in just 18 hours, including custom rigging. Congrats on that! I really like the fact that you're building a fleet too :)

Thanks! I would feel bad for my ships if there wouldn't be some others to keep company ;)

Well done. Great to see how you managed to build something like this in just 18 hours.

Thanks!

That's incredible! Those lines must take forever.

Thanks! Well, you can see in the timeline how much time I spent on the rigging - about 4 hours, surprisingly little. I think that was well invested time;)

[BrickCurve]

Looks great, especially considering how quickly it was built.