ZCerberus

My current thought is to add some battle damage to the cathedral section-- I have some really dirty white bricks, but not too many that have the "yellowing" effect. I also have a bunch of those textured white bricks with the groves vertical on one side and horizontal on the other-- that is also an option- we'll see-- the roof on the cathedral will be dark red like the roof on the tower section so that may help with all the white... Because it is an Imperial fort... duh!! Thank you lord admiral captain king- the Leviathan is DOA but you can see several old versions of Fort Brighton if you look back through time!

So I have been browsing here a fair amount lately and I have really liked all the new contributions we have been seeing... I finally got a around to revisiting an old classic- I realized there were things about the old Fort Brighton that I didn't like. I disliked the bright red roofs, the black docks, the ugly yellow cranes and the fact that there was NOTHING really in between the two fortress sections.... I mean really, what was it protecting? To this end I decided to rebuild both sections of Fort Brighton with the ability to add a port/harbor like buildings in between with some nice streets and docks and the like to turn the fortress into part of a bigger experience. This also means I can build much smaller MOCs that can be integrated into the harbor over time and they won't take months to complete. So with that in mind, here is the rebuild of the East fortress. The idea here is that there was a cathedral in town that the citizens made a famous Alamo-esque last stand against the pirate horde. Once the Imperial forces discovered the town, they made the cathedral part of a larger fortress with an impressive firing platform and light and command tower in front. It is clearly still a WIP but comments are always welcome. Some things I have already integrated- Stained glass windows on the back of the cathedral section, a light brick in the light tower and in keeping with the old Fort Brighton, removable roofs and layers. Some pics...

Very nice indeed! is the Port going to have a fort as well? I will look forward to seeing more progress!

Only at TRU my man- and then they are prices $1 higher then retail- get the cannon battles at Target instead and save a dollar. Luckily for my I can get them at the Lego Imagination Center in Bloomington where everything is priced at retail!

Thanks for the mention Kurt, though you certainly have made some nice improvements on the design. I especially love how you used the "throw away" plug the top of the bell. I like how truly different and functional this ship is from all the other ships on the forum. I wonder how you would do with a brickbuilt hull... it seems as if this ship is getting a little too big for the rather limited 16 stud lay out Lego provided. I also really like the shot of the ships lined up on the table. I like the little schooners almost more than some of the larger ships for some reason. It is good to have a few American ship builders here on Eurobricks showing their stuff. Green Hair is a good choice for a project as he is definitely a great builder. Phred and Teddy have also been doing some really nice work lately as well. I am not sure how well they know any particular CAD program though. What kind of CAD program were you thinking of?

Awesome-- man I need to hit one of those events some day! I like that boat and yours as well. I might try a fancier long boat sometime- I think the biggest issue is the boat might not be wide enough to support a larger one. I think if I could change only one thing about the Phantom I would make it about 4 studs wider! Your boat works well. I like that you turned it into a full blown cutter with a collapsible mast. It is almost like a special captain's yacht

Ohh-- a new technique! do share!

I like it at this point- I think dark red, white and reddish brown go together quite well. I liked the dark red stripes on the first version though- they might not be hyper realistic- but I thought they looked good! I would also recommend you go with the no face version of the figure head. Good luck and keep on MOCing!

Link to Brickshelf is here. I tried to upload some x 800 pictures in there so they would load more quickly, but it didn't seem to work. I may try again tomorrow. If you have long boats to share, by all means do so! There are no cannonades on the ship right now-- I looked into making some using the Lego trash can as the barrel, but It just didn't work as I had hoped. That is a good idea for a future build though!

Isn't finding a place for these things the worst!

They are pretty good- I added some support to try to keep them stable... both the lower mast and the front mast pass threw the main deck so they are fairly stable, then I added some supports on the main deck to hold them. Agreed. Another of my ships, the Arbiter II does have a bell, I will probably use a similar design to that on this ship. I am using MOC anchors-- maybe they are still too small, but they are not the Lego ones. Be sure to see the latest pictures because I replaced the rope holding the anchors on in the last revision. I actually just added a capstan in the last revision in the rear. It is hard to see and I don't have one with the handles in it. It the capstan extends to the lower and the main deck and actually does raise and lower the anchors. I should take a picture of it with the handles in it. Look for it in the bottom right corner of this photo Again, did you see the last revision? They are significantly more sleek as compared to the ones in the construction pics. I am not sure I could make them any smaller if I wanted to. I do think the masts are a bit short in the middle section where the topsails are, but I don't have any specific plans to make them taller. the spars on the other hand appear to me to be about right considering the height of the masts. check out this photo here to see the sleeker masts and MOC anchors. This is largely due to the space constraints. The capstan is where I would otherwise have placed the ships wheel. I actually collected several of the lego flags that look like they could be good signal flags- no immediate plans to integrate them however. I always thought the Marines looked okay! But I am replacing the soldiers at Fort Brighton with the new red coats, so perhaps the soldiers there can make their way to the ship. I was going to simply use plates or tiles, but they blended in too much with the hull. Maybe if I used tiles in another color it would work better. Well there are two Lego rowboats up there but they are small for a ship of this size. I have considered making my own longboats but the space on that section of the deck is fairly limited. We'll see if I can do something about that in a later revision.

Likes on the new version: the color scheme is a nice improvement in the mid section. the bow castle and the railings up front by the new figure head are excellent. I like the new sail configuration as it is more realistic, especially with the long topsails. I think the sails on the mizzen mast are a great improvement. Suggestions: I think the red decking is okay, it is certainly better than black- but I can see where rown decking would look even better. Though I think the sail configuration is an improvement, they look fairly lifeless in your photos. I would consider doing something to make them look like there is wind in them. I usually do this by using a different "cut" in the sail to simulate wind, though it also works to add a piece to the mast to push the sails out. Take a look here at the lowest sail on the main mast. You will see a hinged piece attached to the mast that pushes the lowest sail out to look like wind is in it. (picture is quite large)

I have considered it-- but I think I like the white bodies with the decals a little better than the red bodies honestly. Plus I think the "new" soldiers are all going to find a home at Fort Brighton East or Fort Brighton West soon.

Very nice work! I like the color scheme, though very similar to the ol' brickbeard's bounty, the gangways, and the use of a working rudder. It also looks like you have some nicely done custom figures for your ship! It is always good to have unique characters for your crew. Also nice, the way you have attached the bottom of the lower sails, the lanterns and the swivel guns on the upper deck. The Captain seems a little cramped in his cabin, but I guess that is the price you pay for being a pirate and needing a small, fast vessel! (small in comparison to say a ship of the line that is!) Viva L'indomptable! 900th post on this, the first day of January 2009! coincidence?

sails still paper rigging not done- first photo is not as high quality as the links. The pics are big so be warned!

Nice work- I think the gangway is a good idea- I would also suggest trying to add some rigging to get up another level on the main mast if at all possible. did Lego make a short black triangular rigging piece? that might work if it exists!

I will when I can-- the ship is receiving a bit of an overhaul all of a sudden. New features- Rown decking, capstan in rear and sleeker (Phred inspired) masts.

The ratlines are just tied with a standard knot but when doing so what I noticed was the string would either come out on either the bottom or the top of the knot so I coordinated it to match. The first knot I tied under the horizontal string- the next knot I tied over the horizontal string and so on and so forth- it looks much better than my first attempt... The other thing to be cautious of is not tying them tight enough- that is where a different type of not may come in handy- self tightening knots would be very handy!

I have considered this- the "channel" on the front I had a desire to move back- but because the ship is three parts it was difficult to move it back further and maintain the ability to separate the sections when moving it. Same goes for the mid section- though I have considered widening it a few more studs! They are not quite on center as you will notice- they do start behind the masts- I guess it is just one of those things to think about for the next ship!

I was wondering if it has anything to do with the lack of string. The Brickbeard Bounty uses chain where the classic ships use nylon string-- there really isn't a good way to attach the anchor without any string- so they may have passed on it for that reason

Yes it does! I think I have learned alot from doing it though. I think on older ship MOCs the rigging was just there for looks- but on the Phantom it is all actually VERY functional. The rigging keeps the masts and bowsprit from tipping forward or backwards- the yard arms straight vertically (because they have a tendancy to sag at the ends from their heft) and horizontally (on a ship propelled by wind it would be used to prevent the yardarms from being ripped from the masts when there is wind in the sails, on the Lego varient it mostly just keeps them from twisting left or right). Then there is also "running rigging" which allows the sails to be raised and lowered. The Phantom is only short of using running rigging-- I can raise and lower the edges of the sail- but I did that mostly simiulate the look of wind being in them- and not so much to acutally allow the sails to be dropped or lifted depending on the wind conditions-- though this would obviously be VERY important on a real ship. I thought of various ways to do that- but it would take some serious time and I am not sure if the pay off would be worth it! The other thing I did on the Phantom is used "thin technic liftarms" so that I can tighten (or loosen) any string on the ship without having to untie it. It isn't realistic - but it sure is handy-- though I have used a LOT of liftarms in varying lengths. I would say tying the knots on the ratlines was the most time consuming- but it looks better when they are tied off on evey vertical string then when I initially just tried to tie them off on the ends- it did take me quite a bit to figure out how to best do it! Phred- did you read up on the rigging and or have info on it from the blue prints? I think most of the stuff on the Phantom will be placed where it is based on functionality and not necessarily what would be historically accurate to do.

ALL the sails on the mizzen mast are made from canvas. Though they both need to be trimmed a little bit

I will cut all the sails from canvas when I am pleased with the shape. The paper ones are merely to get the size and shape right before I start cutting. The sails on the mizzen mast are canvas right now- but I do not have enough to make all the sails from canvas as it is. I will also likely dye the sails tan to match my other ships. I think I am going to trim the sails a bit- especially the ones on the mizzen mast- I still think the sails are a bit too big but I will make the final determination on that when I put the lower sails on the fore and main mast. Yeah- I looked at lots of sail plans- including the Soleil Royal, Victory and Constitution. The Soleil Royale and Victory are usually depicted with 3 sails on the fore and main while the constitution has a four sail plan per mast. I guess with the way I built the ship the three sail plan appeared to work the best.

Couple more sails-- Not sure If I like the size- they are paper now (well some are) but will move to canvas when I am pleased with the shape-- if ever- They may need to be smaller. Still missing the lower sails on the main and fore mast and some rigging on those yardarms. Also, quick shot of Brickbeard testing his steely resolve!

Well I do have the new Brickbeards Bounty- It wouldn't fit up on that shelf- but I will be sure to take a snap shot of the two next to each other! Indeed- with Pirates making a comeback maybe the theme will be the highlight of some upcoming convensions While I was away I was still building some- but mostly in other themes- I guess I got a little burned out there for a while- but time to get back to the Pirates and update some old MOCs. Thanks Phred- I was in a hurry this morning and I don't have any photo editing software on my PC right now- I hope to get a few more pics eventually!