Caribbean Capital

[Tomcat RIO]

ahoy there good mateys and pirates :)

i've been on this forum for a short while and looking at all the great ship designs. Have always wanted to build my own blue coat caribbean clipper since 2000 when i bought a spare brown hull off evilbay (Avast!) But recently i bought a complete clipper, so this left me with a spare 3 piece hull to play with.

I've often been annoyed at the small size of the "good guys" ships compared to pirates, and the new imperial flagship and the nice huge ship designs here have inspired me to make one similar one, for the blue coats.. (wow i should have been here for the red coat vs bluecoat thing..)

anyways i'll try to make this MOC WIP a fairly fun process by making it into a comic, when i have the time to edit photos. Here it begins, a long trip from keel to crow's nest!

- Kevin

i used the dark brown hulls from the troll warship set. As i owned an airbrush and compressor paints for my other hobby (plastic airplane kits), i mixed some shades of brown and sprayed them on the side of the hull pieces, to match the old brown colour of the clipper's hull.

that's all the progress so far.

in the meantime, i've been throwing around designs and ideas.

i'm intending to make this ship modular, with the center hull divided into 2 pieces, and a front and rear.

for the interior, i will be including shipmate bunks and officer cabins. 2 dining areas for the officers and the men. a storage area of cannons and barrels up front. it will include also a stable with 2 horses - a rarity i think on this forum. this is to serve as an invasion ship, so the fieldmarshal will need some horsepower to command from. of course, 2 kitchen galleys inspred by the fine works here, and a rather plain old captain's cabin to top it off at the stern.

firepower wise, i've got plans for a 6 or 7 cannon broadside, depending on how big the cabins get. this will be divided into 2 decks (YES A 2 DECK bluecoat ship!) 2 below and 4 on top.

i have masts to make it a 2 main mast or a 3 main mast. at the moment i have build more,to get a feeling of the ship before deciding.

color scheme will be the common white, black, yellow and blue.

[Captain Becker]

This is looking promising already, Im looking forward to see how this beaty will progress, and you mnay want to check our ship index if you need more inspiration The dark brown huls looks a bit weird over there, but i understand if you dont have more of those old browns.

Oh, and Captain green hair has also made a really nice tutorial "How to build a frigate" So check that out too if you want to

Anyway, good luck for this project (This means a hard times for us redcoats )

Captain Becker

[Matteo1130]

it's a nice project, can't wait to see it finished, take a look to mvelic ships, thy're great for modular/sections style...

be careful to make rounder the sides in case of a two decker or it will look tall and slim... the ship you described would seems "massive" instead :)

[Brig. Brick]

nightmare for the Redcoats , and the scourge for pirates

it's time to put a balance on the seas!!!!

great Bluecoat meeting

good luck in your project

[captain crossbricks]

I cant wait to see it finished and some pictures of our progress. I reaaly should get some of those ship peices.

Captain Crossbricks

[Admiral Ron]

This looks promising. I am kinda a purist, so it hurt my soul a little bit that you painted them But I guess its alright, keep us posted on the progress, and welcome to CP!

[Tomcat RIO]

thanksfor the welcome!

yes i will take alot of guides from the rest of the works

@admiral ron and captn becker - about the brown hulls, i had little choice as the browns were unique on the clipper, the only other hulls i have of the same colour were the original + barracuda's. since this MOC is gonna be a permananet fixture, something had to sacrifice and be painted... apologies of that.

[Captain Becker]

At me painting Legos is not a bad thing, untill its a very unique piece or expensive one. i truly cant wait for more pics so get back to work matey!

Captain Becker

[Captain Green Hair]

You're a master mixer of colours, kudos!

Good luck on her!

[______]

I say that the Bluecoats should stick with the "mighty" carribean clipper and you should give this ship to the Redcoats. Also welcome to the LEGO pirates forum!

[Tomcat RIO]

updates!! my bricks ordered and shopped fom bricklink etc have arrived in succession, and i have some time to start planning and building a little.

soldiers stand guard against the possible theifing red coats and pirates arrrrr...

a caribbean clipper pulls alongside to load and unload new bricks.

sir, these are not the only bricks..

meanwhile, in the tub...

and the admiral has also commissioned 3 new ships and prepare to MOC and brickmodify them soon..

the 'Sea Hawk'

the 'Sea Rose'

and the 'Sea Wolf'

the bluecoats are now upgunning and upgrading the fleet.. these cost me dear, for the price of 2 imperial flagships i got 3 caribbean clippers instead...

[Nightshroud99]

Wow Nice Navy you've got there for the Blue Coats! Can't wait to see what their finished Flagship looks like

[Derfel Cadarn]

You're a master mixer of colours, kudos!

Good luck on her!

Thats what I thought, a very good effort at creating the old brown lego colour.

I look forward to seeing this complete

[Captain Becker]

I wish i only had even one Caribbean Clipper, and now i see three of those

Anyways, good looking small little fleet you have there, i cant wait to see hows the Flagship is progressing. Keep us updated.

Captain Becker

[Tomcat RIO]

progress at the shipyard!!

this ship was so big, i had to build on my table and bed, as on the floor were too many opened bags of lego and bricks. ouch says the feet.

general exterior

bow

some red walls for the redcoats...

the stable, pretty small. 1 will be a commanded horse , the other is for artilery for the marines.

the shipmate's crew cabin and galley is being constructed.

a view of the exterior bands. with limited slopes, i tried to modify using techniques i learnt from the many great shipmasters here on this forum to get a slight curved hull.

the 2nd deck was slowly built up. using archs as bracing for a different feel.

a view of exterior, with 2nd deck

[Tomcat RIO]

a through view of the 2nd deck

bricks!

a quick view of the shipmates cabin. nothing much yet. there are beds under the stairs though.

an removable marines bunk, made of plates and resting on the top tiles of the lower deck

quick view of the exterior. again my lack of slope bricks forces me to try alternating the standard bricks to create a gradient

the officers bunk is behind the marines quarters

moving to the top deck. pretty bare, and mostly plated.

i added a swiveling crane feature to lower the small launches. will incorporate strings on axles. the chain, is just long enough to keep the launches close to the mothership when lowered. we don't want them floating away don;t we? the grilled gate allows access all the way to the bottom. more for lifting the horses up from the stables.

the captain's cabin and poop deck is being built

some changes made to the bow

that's all the updates for this week!

[Admiral Croissant]

this ship was so big, i had to build on my table and bed, as on the floor were too many opened bags of lego and bricks. ouch says the feet.

Arr! The bigger the ship is, the better (certainly a bluecoat ship)!

Somehow I can't see all the images, and the last ones seem to portrait it in a more recent state than the ones before..

Anyway, from what I can see, it's a rather nice ship. I like the use of a stable and a chicken coop.

I don't see those things very often, but it's very realistic.

The other features seem nice as well, but you could try to make the decks more 1 colour instead of using red, black and grey like in the 'marines bunks'.

And I don't get what the propeller is doing there. Is it supposed to be a capstan?

Good luck anyway.

[Tomcat RIO]

Arr! The bigger the ship is, the better (certainly a bluecoat ship)!

Somehow I can't see all the images, and the last ones seem to portrait it in a more recent state than the ones before..

Anyway, from what I can see, it's a rather nice ship. I like the use of a stable and a chicken coop.

I don't see those things very often, but it's very realistic.

The other features seem nice as well, but you could try to make the decks more 1 colour instead of using red, black and grey like in the 'marines bunks'.

And I don't get what the propeller is doing there. Is it supposed to be a capstan?

Good luck anyway.

thanks !!

i have a lack of single colour bricks, most of the parts for the cabin come from my troll warship and some vladek knight kingdom sets.

oh i changed the propellor from blue, to a single brown axle, it is a capstan that will be tied to a string and then to an anchor that slips to starboard. allows me to turn the axle and weigh anchor! and vice versa.

i will try to get more single colour plates though.. as best as i can.. i am using red for the flooring. and browns for the tables and black for the bed frames..

oops, about the later photos being more updated then the older ones. i realised the trend in this forum is different from the hobby kits that i suually go to where users post a work log work in progress WIP thread. where the more completed creation is at the last page. i would try changing the format of the posts if i can..

Edited December 11, 2010 by Tomcat RIO

[lt.Gonville brickhead]

Wow its coming long nicely can't wait to see the finished result

[Tomcat RIO]

Ahoy there! more updates from me ship.. i have replanked the top deck with an all black top deck and a old light grey stern poop deck. much of the main hull features, masts, and working features have been incorporated so i would call this a 66% finsihed wip..

anyway, here be pics, and a warning to the Red Coat Imperial Flagships, ye unfriendly bluecoat nemesis is coming!

here, an overview of the ship. it stands about 60 cm tall, and 70cm long

then let me take you slowly to the new features added.

the mast figurehead at the bow. an entire black dragon was resprayed in yellow, then mounted on jumper tiles. makes for a very fierce looking "she means business" frigate, then some cheery mermaid : )

remember our friend the skiving sailor from a past update? well he's been assigned to the crow's nest job, climibing up and down the masts everyday. but he gets to sleep, carve little whale tooths on the job..

it's a longggg way up

i ran out of planks and bricks to attach the rigging, so left it as is for now.

the grilled bulkhead cover was attached with a grip, to allow a hooked crane to lift it up.

as you can see, the grille is attahced to the deck on 4 corners by a 1 stud, easily removable..

a modified plate tile allows the crane to swing objects over the side of the ship. a working string mechansim is involved as well to lower and raise objects from within the ship's hull.

a second feature of the flagship is the cranes for lowering rafts and launches. the mecahnism and bricks was so tricky and idea-intensive i spent a week rebuilding and modifying the design.

basically, the arch holding the boat is connected to a swivelling 2X2 brick. the launch is also connected via ladders, to the hull of the main ship. the arch also clips onto the ladders.

when the boats are lowered, the ladders swing out, along with the arch. the ladder detaches from the clip, and then the string begins to loosen out.

finally, the launch hits the water, a crewman at this time will probably climb down the ladder, and shift the topboat over the lower one. the chain holds the inner boat, while the string from the axle holds the 2nd.

the brown ships on the right side are designed to carry stores, cannons, and horses for the invasion troops.

moving to the stern poop deck, the steering is added, and the officers are happy to try out.

a raised platform was given to the helm's man, so he doesn't have to stretch his hand high, and he can look over the blue chunk in his way.

a normal stairs was added, connected to the stairs for the captain's cabin. the original idea was a spiral staricase, but it was too short to ever reach the top floor.

below this stairs is the flagged curtains that give access to the cabins below. gives my crew some peace and quiet away from the sunlight.

a new ladder was also made, in place of the normal climbing kind.

and finally, a view of the captain's cabin, officers mess and the interior mods.

the entire grey poop deck rests on sliding tiles.

positionable windows and doors create airy interior

and as you can see one of the officers has had too much to drink, and is dancing on the table

and of course, a little moc piano to lighten any dinner

the exterior rear. shades for the captain's windows.

another feature of the stern is that, the entire officer mess/ captain cabin can be removed, to allow access to the marines and officers bunks below. leaving the studs, tiles and the door entrance assembly alone.

[Claus von Nassau]

That looks pretty good, i like your figure head, perhaps is a bit big, but very original. when i look at the side of the ship, in my opinion the hight of the ship does not compare to the lenght of the schip, but i will leave that to the pro builders n the forum.

good built and keep up the good work,

claus

[Tomcat RIO]

started to fill up the ship and make it a ocean going war vessel. the barrels fit nicely through the hole, and with a slope, slide into place.

load her up with water and food! through the access hatches

live animals on board..

cannon cart is added

man the upper deck guns! cannon balls added too

the lower gun deck leads to the marine's bunks. seperated by a bulkhead and door

the marine's cabin, complete with backsacks lying around, and food drinks and journals on a table. 1 of the sailors has planted breadfruit, a common food plant found in the pacific and caribbean.

the fireplace for the galley stove is also made

moving out of the interior, we go into the exterior. a ship's bell was made from availble parts, chief among them a coconut tree stem

assembled so

paint it chrome silver and hang it up

here an officer rings the bell to sound the watch, shows you the rough indication of size

mini cannons were also made, again thanks to the great tutorials on the forum

a full set of sails was measured out, cut, and painted using water colours, on drawing block paper. i mixed the blue with a bit of white to get approximate shade

amongst the sails include a unique one with the old cannon coat of arms

sails are held into place by cones, or minifg hands on a 3mm diameter clear pipes

a cannon broadside is loaded. but some flags/ porthole covers still missing

another view

a view of the stern, and rudder, and details

string attached to the foresails

a celebration is ongoing in the officer's mess. more pics soon!

and if you have a sharp eye, you might have spotted our friendly Mr Skiving sailor. now he's a fishing! using parts from MFseries 3 fisherman

comments and critiques are welcome. i will be showing the galley, mate's bunk, captain's cabin amongst other things, this weekend. stay tuned!

ps. and a quick question, i can't change the thread title with my user settings, isit permanent right from the start. maybe it is better to put this as a WIP thread, dun wanna mislead people.

[Bart]

I like it, go blue coats!

[Captain Becker]

The ships bell looks amazing Now i jsut have to steal it The ship looks a bit weird if i may say so, the top cabin looks a bit weird over there, and when there is only 6 guns on one boardside, id make it only one decker ship. But over all its pretty nice ship. I do like the interios on the inside on the ship and its modular, also the custom sail(s) and the shield looks good. So good job whit her overall.

Captain Becker

[lt.Gonville brickhead]

The interior is great and fact that its modular makes it even better.

The Reds be runnin now.