Splitting the hulls

[Dreamweb]

First of all I shall give credit where credit is due - this whole procedure was invented by Mr Richie Dulin from Lugnet (we should really invite him to our forum some day, unless he's already here but hides somewhere) and is described here.

I decided to switch Imperial Flagship's (or Renegade Runner's, they're the same) dark gray top part of the hull with the black one from Flying Time Vessel. This is how the hulls looked before the procedure. I used a butter knife and a screwdriver, and followed the steps of Mr. Dulin's tutorial. An example picture of a hull piece after splitting can be seen here. I must say that when you get the feel of it, the procedure isn't that hard, and separating the stern is MUCH easier than separating the bow!

As a result, instead of the original gray over brown Imperial Flagship's (Renegade Runner's) hull and the original black over gray Flying Time Vessel's hull, I have one black over brown hull and one which is completely dark gray.

The step-by-step gallery depicting the procedure can be seen here (when it's public). Big thanks to Mr Dulin for this tutorial! I think it's a great idea, which allows you for even more experimenting while building custom ships.

[gui45]

I do not know all the hull colors, can you tell me if it is possible to make a totally black hull? I ask for both sizes. I wish I could have a large black hull.

[Dreamweb]

Yes, it is, but for narrow hulls only. You will need two sets for that: the Cross Bone Clipper, which has black lower parts of the hull, and the Flying Time Vessel, which has black upper parts of the hull. There are no black wide hulls, unless of course you paint them :-)

[Mister Phes]

It would be good if this thread was turned into a proper tutorial with all the images place sequentially in the first post which descriptions underneath them. We've only got Evil Willy's Sail Making Tutorial so it would be good to have a some more.

[SkaForHire]

i have thought about trying this, it looks like it came out pretty good. I must confess i never read Richie's original post, because i thought he was refering to cutting the hulls down the middle.... (yeah some people do this to widen their ships! However Coko bricks have lego clone hulls already split... if i could just find one coko ship i would be extatic, some nice clone models)

Thanks for posting, it gives me more confidence to try this...

[Dreamweb]

It would be good if this thread was turned into a proper tutorial with all the images place sequentially in the first post which descriptions underneath them.

I was considering doing this, however I decided not to as this is actually not my idea. However your post has made me think about it again and I decided to turn it into a tutorial, I'll do it soon, when I have some more time.

I must confess i never read Richie's original post, because i thought he was refering to cutting the hulls down the middle...

You're confusing two different Lugnet threads Mr. SkaForHire. There was also a thread about cutting hulls in half, but that's still too radical for me...

Now, let's have a look at this: If we assume the same procedure can be applied to wide hulls as well (I haven't tried this, but I don't see why not), these are the colour combinations we can get (top colour given first, then the bottom colour):

WIDE HULLS:

Originally available:

Brown + Brown

Red + Brown

Dark Gray + Red

Other possibilities (using the procedure):

Brown + Red

Dark Gray + Brown

Red + Red

NARROW HULLS:

Originally available:

Dark Gray + Brown

Green + Black

Blue + White

Black + Dark Gray

Other possibilities (using the procedure):

Dark Gray + Black

Dark Gray + White

Dark Gray + Dark Gray

Green + Brown

Green + White

Green + Dark Gray (I'd like to see that one!)

Blue + Brown

Blue + Black

Blue + Dark Gray

Black + Brown

Black + Black

Black + White

So you see this technique allows you for a lot more combinations!

[ghoulrealm]

I finally separated the bow pieces! I had to completely mutilate the two tabs from the top. I used an exacto knive and had to remove the entire tab before the two sections would even budge.

I used the butterknife more for gaining leverage in the seems, as it was useless pertaining to the tabs.

you might want to add a list of available hull midsections as it may be the deciding factor in your modifications.

All I'm aware of is red, brown, and white. That will severely limit possibilities too larger ship designs.

And people, don't forget the Viking longship has wide brown midsections. *y*

[Dreamweb]

Middle sections are important if you want to make bigger ships. The good thing about them is that you can build custom ones using inverted slopes. They are different from the original ones, but still look good in my opinion. So although there are no black or dark gray middle sections, you can make some using inverted slopes.

[SkaForHire]

Middle sections are important if you want to make bigger ships. The good thing about them is that you can build custom ones using inverted slopes. They are different from the original ones, but still look good in my opinion. So although there are no black or dark gray middle sections, you can make some using inverted slopes.

my favorite trick! :) and they are relatively inexpensive to do.... if i remember coorectly you need 16 per midsection.... i bought like 400 for five bucks once.... that is way more midsections for my buck!

[Mister Phes]

400 mid sections Mr SkaForHire? What kind of mid sections were these and where did you score that deal?

[SkaForHire]

400 mid sections Mr SkaForHire? What kind of mid sections were these and where did you score that deal?

i meant 400 inverted slopes... i got them on bricklink... so if it takes 16 (and some other pieces easily obtainable like flat 8 x X ) per normal sized midsection. thats around 22 midsections.... which i will probably never use, but they can be used in ship design other places then the hull so it is all still good.

[Mister Phes]

Ahhhhhhhh... Inverted slopes! I thought 400 was a phenonomally large number for hulll pieces.

Anyway, has anybody here actually tired this hull splitting technique?

[Dreamweb]

Well, it looks like at least Mr. ghoulrealm and I have tried it...

[Tordenskjold]

Saw a moc on brickshelf where he had cut the sections in half to get wider ships. but thats destroying lego i think. this thing look cool. have a black/gray small hull, will try this out :)

[SirScottLego]

Thanks for the brilliant information. I will have to try in the coming weeks. I like the pure black for a "black pearl" type ship, just wish the hulls in black were wider.

[Mister Phes]

Well, it looks like at least Mr. ghoulrealm and I have tried it...

Ahhhh... Were they your pictures at the top of thread? I thought they might have originated from elsewhere because now that I think of it I haven't actually had a look at the Brickshelf folder at the moment. Since I'm in class and I should be paying attention to the bald man babbling up the front I better not look at it right now.

[Evil Willy]

Greetings friends, I may not have been posting...But I've been reading! And this is super, thanks for sharing my good friend Dreamweb.

[Mister Phes]

What has been keeping you busy Evil Willy?

[Evil Willy]

Music, Friends, Family, work, many a things....I'm in a sort of dark age at the moment, my LEGO are all collecting dust in there containers. My ships and stuff though are on display.

[john cleese]

so does this ruin the hull at all, that part wasnt so clear to me?

[ghoulrealm]

so does this ruin the hull at all, that part wasnt so clear to me?

Not really. When I did the bow I had to cut off the internal tabs, but it didn't affect any outward appearance or stability. however I did happen to scratch the upper section just a little around the tabs. It's neglegable, and in a place you don't see normaly *y*

[john cleese]

thanks. I think i might try this in the near future.

[Dreamweb]

Ahhhh... Were they your pictures at the top of thread?

Aye, they were mine.

When I did the bow I had to cut off the internal tabs, but it didn't affect any outward appearance or stability. however I did happen to scratch the upper section just a little around the tabs. It's neglegable, and in a place you don't see normaly

Same with me. I scratched the hull around the tabs and made some of the small slots which are originally there a bit bigger :-) But this place is usually covered by other bricks in the complete ship anyway...

[Captain Blackmoor]

Hmm this is an interesting thing which I'm going to try myself soon.

I was advised by CGH to use wide brown hulls with a black trim on it for my ship here, but they don't exist. Now where is my airbrush?

[Dreamweb]

Well, certainly this method will not work with Brickbeard's Bounty's hull as it has no screwed top parts. However as bow and stern of that ship are made of two parts each, similar effects can be achieved by switching the top parts, which will be possible as soon as Lego makes another ship with the same hull as Brickbeard's Bounty, only in different colour...