WIP: Caravela Redonda (last update 4/1/14)

[kabel]

My other ships felt kinda lonly so I decided to build a new one. This time it's going to be a caravel redonda that is going to accompany my carrackon its exploration voyages.

The ship itself is based on a late 15th century design in which redonda meant a square rigged three masted caravel, in contrast to the smaller lateen rigged two masted caravelles. So basically the source is Columbus's Pinta, but of course I took put in some colors of my own choice to break the "brown wall syndrome"

so this is what she is based on:

and this is what I have come up with so far. Constructive criticism welcome:

[Sebeus I]

Great progress so far, I see some kind of vertical bars/enforcers on the reference picture at the midsection, perhaps you can integrate those in your design?

As well as the curved side bars although those will be more difficult to add.

Keep up the good work,

oh and if there won't be any interior you could try to close the holes in the prefab hulls in a more elegant manner

(bow / stern).

[LegoPanda]

I like it, the collors om the side look great

[kabel]

thanks guys,

@sebeus: yeah filling the holes is something I could do. As for the crossbeams, i do have an idea but not the neccesary bricks, so I'll just leave at this. The things that really bothers me but for which I havn't found any good solution yet is the guard rail on the poop deck. Everything I have tried out so far looks kinda dumb. So what you see now is the least dumb version ...

[kabel]

progress is slow but steady:

feel free to comment, even though it might be the 362nd ship construction that follows the CGH method. At least you could tell me why you think it so boring that it doesn't deserve any comments ...

[Admiral Croissant]

Perhaps you'd get more comments if there were some really new things added instead of copying stuff to the other side (except for the beam at the back of course).

No offense, I don't mean to criticize your build as it's very nice. I really like the colourscheme and shape.

Are you also going to give it those six large beams you can see on the sides on your image?

I don't know if I've seen that before on a ship with CGH's technique being used but it might look nice.

It's quite a characteristic feature I believe.

Good luck!

[Covi]

I believe this is a very nice build and it looks very promising.

But my feeling tells me there's something wrong with its dimensions.

I think it should have 10 studs more length in the middle area.

[kabel]

hey guys thanks a lot for the feedback

@ac: well I know there wasn't that much new here, but I didn't want to bump this thread without anything in my hands, so sorry for that. I'll try to work in your suggestions!

@covi: the dimension are actually alright. Late 15th century caravels had a length size ratio of more or less 1:3. So I guess 46x16 studs does the job. I've actually used the same ratio for my carrack and I think it looks alright. I also tested three midsections, but that didn't seem right anymore. After all this is the minifig illusions scale ... anyway, I'm going to shorten the poop deck, maybe that does something to strech things a bit

Edited December 5, 2013 by kabel

[kabel]

alright, so this time I really took in some of the suggestions, shortened the poop deck by three, change the place where I'm groing to attach the shrouds (what's the name in English?) and added the sideway beams. So do you guys think this looks better?

[Sebeus I]

Oh yes I like that, the broadside looks a lot more interesting now .

Maybe you can add the anchor hole in the bow, perhaps a simple brown technic brick will do .

[Admiral Croissant]

Looking good! Keep it up!

On the image it has six beams on the side. I don't know if they always had six, but it looks nice anyway.

[Legonardo]

the verticle beams are for sure a nice touch, though maybe make them all evenly spaced out?

looks pretty good so far

[Captain Golden Hook]

Nice Work!

[Horatio]

Excellent work! She is coming along nicely, though you may want to taper off the poop a bit more- she looks a bit wide back there. Also, do you plan on using different gauges of block on the fore- and mizzen masts?

[SkaForHire]

Because you said you wanted feedback...

Isn't that mast too far back? I think that original image may be wrong too. I am looking for other examples right now to see, it just "feels" wrong.

Also, I like the vertical black bars, I don't think they have to be evenly spaced. They make the ship look less pixelated in the close-up shots, which is how this type of build often looks in close-ups (I don't really like the building style, but that is probably preference). I like the tan deck, it is a good offsetting color and so far looks very slick. The aft is nice, but I am not sure that it connects right in the interior. It seems that that space would be boarded over, or there would be a clear way down into the hold from there. All in all, I am looking forward to your final product.

[kabel]

Ha, thanks Ska! Actually, I wasn't really bagging for feedback, but was trying to use thread as an example. But now that you've commented on it, I guess I will have to take new wip pics and show the progress I've made.

As for the main mast, it's slightly (one or two studs) off the center, just the way it was depicted in the image I use for reference. But, maybe I should move it more towards the center again. However, this is more or less based on Columbus' Pinta, and there is a ton of different reference pics for it all depicting it differently.

Too bad you don't like the CGH building style, personally I think it's the best that's out there to be used on the prefab hulls. Brick hulls are too pixly for my taste.

Anyway, this ship is actually designed for my current GoH layout but I've just started a shooner of the 18th century ready to sail my pirate era minifigs back into the pirates world again.

New Wip pics tomorrow.

[kabel]

I said new wip pics, so here they are:

so the poop deck is done except for the gap at the stern and the bow castle needs more planking. Other than that I'd say time to start the rigging

[LegoPanda]

she looks nice, i like the hull

[Sebeus I]

Looking good,

Maybe an Idea, you could switch some of those clip plates in the middle by horizontal clip plates so you attach a bucket, like here.

Hystorically acurate? probably not but I think it looks pretty good that way .

Keep it up, I'm planning to start on my new ship soon.

[kabel]

Thanks mates,

The other clip sounds like a great idea, I'll try that!

In how far would you say it's not historically accurate? Maybe the colors on the sides are not and maybe she's a tad to chubby in general, but I was more or less trying to follow what some people think the Pinta might have looked like, at least shape wise.

Check this out for reference:

BTW, my pirate era ship is also starting to take shape, maybe I should start a second wip thread

[Admiral Blockbeard]

I think Sebeus is saying the bucket wasn't historically accurate not your ship. ;)

And what a beautiful ship it is too. I am always amazed at how long these creations can take, spanning months and even years. Must feel very good to have it getting close to finished.

My only humble suggestion is to maybe replace the black tiles on the side with clips and brown light sabre pieces?

AB

[kabel]

Oh thanks, now I get it! Sorry Seb for misunderstanding you.

Replacing the black with brown tiles sounds like a great idea as I actually need the black tiles on my other ship. I only have two or three brown clips left over though.

[Admiral Blockbeard]

...Replacing the black with brown tiles sounds like a great idea as I actually need the black tiles on my other ship. I only have two or three brown clips left over though.

I would just use the black clips you have on the deck (the ones you might be swapping for the horizontals) to hold the brown bars. Again however just a humble suggestion, its looking great!

AB