ZCerberus

Ohh the ship even gets referred to by name in the abstract like people should know what you are talking about, now that is a step in the right direction for the Arbiter II (thanks for saying it is 'impressive')! Anyhow as for the penguin, I think making smaller ships to some degree might actually be harder than the giants we've been seeing lately! The hull shape and constuction are very nice and I think there are some decent details here, even in such a compressed space! I also love the name given the overall look of the MOC. I would agree that the cannons are probably too big for the MOC and some sails would be nice, but I think it has potential!

I was going to say that is how Lego ® constructed them, but now I see that they only did it this way on the Imperial Trading post, which I never even owned, so maybe I just came to the same build version as they did inadvertently since this method was not used on the ships at all. Ahh yes. Well I debated having it come up higher, but then it would block the name plate, plus I figured the Captain already has both sides with windows that he can look out. Neither is ideal, but of the two I choose to block the windows Ultimately, I can explain my choice with the words of Jack Aubrey from Mast and Commander "There! [boney], I have you!... Do you not know that in the service, one must always choose the lesser of two weevils?"

1) Yes. the compass came on with the series that included the SES and the Imperial Flagship, and as far as I know it continued on the ships after that. That would mean you could also fin it on the Renegade Runner, Armada Flagship, and Redbeard Runner. I bet you can also find it on a few Belville sets from the same era. There was also a more modern looking compass (the rotating compass disc inside has a fleur de lis pictured on it) used in the first Aquaraiders line, but it doesn't look quite the same! 2) Yes, it is either a fabuland or Belville bucket. I think they were actually in the Belville sets, not Fabuland, but they could have been in both! Anyhow. that is the piece you are thinking of almost for sure!

Muhahahahahahah!!! Challenge Extended ;-) (I guess this guy is supposed to be winking...)

Not to me! I have this head! It is a KK2 head. I believe I got it in 'Battle at the Pass' which is loaded with weapons. There are a few other KK2 sets that have this head, like 'Kings Siege Tower' and 'Castle of Morcia'. It was also a Viking head on the 'Vikings with Heavy Artillery Wagon!'

So when I made Fort Brighton (no link?) I did a walking tour of the harbor. I don't really feel that is necessary for this ship because it is much smaller than the Fort. I do think maybe I could point out some details since they can sometimes be drown in the wholeness of the ship... can't see the trees because of the forest type of deal. I will post thumbs with links to the larger images when I can, and I shall try to give credit where due if I borrowed the ideas from others! I will also reference enhancements from the prior version of the Arbiter II, so if you haven't seen the in progress thread, check that one out too!! I will try to post the thumbs of the old and new were appropriate next to one another. The first thing I have discovered is that I work much better when I first design in MLCAD. I think maybe that is because I need not hunt for pieces, I can make it look good without giving up on finding a piece! So the first thing I like is the MLCAD design. Second thing I like are the sails. For the original version I had done some thinking on how to construct the midsection, but after that I just built on the fly. The results were mixed. The other constraint was that I was out of sail material, so I just reused some sails from another vessel. After I had time to rethink them, I came up with a sail plan that was much better, made from a stiff canvas that really works well for LEGO

exo moved in. Can't you tell by his new avatar?

Well though it does have some nice parts, I would much prefer the Renegade Runner myself!

Thank you Mister Cole. I await the photos of your vessel! Make sure you also check out the completed ship thread by clicking this link: http://eurobricks.hosting.ipsyn.com/eurofo...ndpost&p=136782

The back appears to be at an angle, but without a hinge, is it just somewhat attached between the two plates in order to stay where it is? That is how it looks to me! This ship is definitely cool, and I love the lines on it, but I am going to withhold calling it the most gorgeous ever until it is complete! Maybe we can say "This ship is POTENTIALLY the most gorgeous Lego® ship I've ever seen!!!!"

I often times post the most in my own thread, and I often times even have pictures! You need to learn a few things to get better responses. Here is a list of things I have learned about the forum... 1) people respond best to pictures. 2) people won't talk about a MOC that isn't there. 3) if you post in other people's MOC projects, they are more likely to post in yours. 4) works in progress get better responses than finished projects

The pics are a little grainy, but you sure seem to have a knack for shaping hulls! I love the color scheme (as you may have guessed) and the way you are managing with so few Pirate pieces! I actually like the idea of striped sails, even if not historically accurate. I think we get bogged down a little too much by that sometime here! Well keep posting!

The sail attachment is somewhat complicated at some sections. I did it that way so if you move the little Technic lift arm, it tightens of loosens the string to loosen or tighten the sails. I am not sure I could have got the sails to stay as they are in between the masts without that technique! I also redid the sails on the 'Sienna' which uses a more complex rigging system, but the same idea. I increased the size of the yardarm and made canvas sails for her. I didn't post the pictures in that thread because my little niece got a hold of the ship and flipped all the gun ports and oar covers and one of the cannons down. I didn't notice until I was looking at the photos. Anyhow, you can see the upgraded Sienna by clicking the below thumbnail. You will notice the technique is the same, but there 4 ropes per yardarm to keep it positioned in the right place! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Thumb 14 is the Admiral of my Fleet, recently knighted, Sir Buress. The photo in case you are curious... It is the same guy as the one in my avatar!

front sail? The one in the picture is in the back...

Heehee. Yeah. Oh well. I wonder why this guy has been getting more attention than the Arbiter II...

Its for... errr... ummm... Well the ship needed some vitamin D and phosphoric acid and... well... I am not sure what it is, at the time, it must have looked cool.

Exactly. Like I said, I am pretty sure Brighton would get crushed from an attach by sea, and I don't think the fortress section has enough guns, or enough firing angles to defend the place! We'll see how it goes!

Nope, that's the one!

1) Rum is not a good cleaner 2) You can not travel down a sail with a dagger stuck into it 3) eye patches do indeed increase night vision skills 4) the cannon ball appeared more deadly than the splinters. I think this experiment was not conducted right though.

Umm... the second sentence doesn't make much sense, but I would say the Arbiter II is now complete while the Venganza could use some more work sometime in the future. In case you missed it, Phes is referencing an expansion of Fort Brighton, which was my first MOC featured on the forums here.

The original Arbiter (Venganza) was probably constructed around 1998 or 1999. They were old when I dusted them off for pictures. I guess when my parents moved two years ago, my interests were re-sparked. I moved all the Lego(s) up to the attic, and in doing so, I say the harbor which has become Fort Brighton, and I thought how pointless and boring all the buildings were, so I started rebuilding, and that is when I found this site. After I re-did the harbor, the ships were a logical extension. And now I already have an itch to get some improvements on the Fort Brighton completed. I would say my general Lego® building skills and especially my ship building skills have upgraded a bit since the Venganza's predecessors creation!

It was a LEGO® bottle of champaigne of course!

Yes... evolution... The ship started out as a an imperial flagship. Then it grew to a combo of two imperial flagships. Then I stretched the hulls with black slopes. Then the Armada line came out, and I found some white hulls through auctions etc. I switched the hulls over to white because they were the same size and matched the ship. So it is long and narrow because that is how it evolved. If I had to start from scratch, it would look more like the Arbiter II and less like it does now.

No disagreement here. I didn't really do much to the ship other than change the sails. It is definately too narrow for its length! But it is on the bottom of my list for updates!

No idea! It is the same material used on the Arbiter II. The stuff dyes pretty easily, but I had the material for the sails for the Venganza just folded up and waiting inside a bag... I guess the next time I see the ship, I might be able to answer that question!