[MOC] FNS Black Pearl, Fusion-powered Attack Sub

[Laura Beinbrech]

So, I decided to dust off a project that had been set aside for quite some time, due to how the first version had some major design flaws (IMO) that I just couldn't seem to work out. Well, after going to BrickFair last month, I decided to take another crack at it (in between various RL stuff that has been keeping me constantly busy), and after tinkering around with a few ideas (one of which, even though I initially liked it best, I had to discard due to two of the key parts being discontinued & never publicly released in red), I finally came up with this. I figured that I should post it here, rather than in the Sci-Fi forum, because it's about as much inspired by the Atlantis & Aquazone themes as it is RL Navy stuff, so without further ado:

EDIT:  Last week, after almost 9 years since I first started messing around with this design, I finally finished building this thing in actual bricks!

Behold, the Federal Navy Ship Black Pearl, Black Seas Barracuda-class fusion-powered fast attack submarine for my crazy crossover sci-fi/fantasy LEGO setting. It is the third ship of the Black Seas Barracuda class SSF (Fusion-powered Fast-attack Submarines), the first two being the Black Seas Barracuda and the Jolly Roger (wonder if anyone will get the references), and all ships in the class are named after infamous pirate vessels. This one just happens to have the commander of its namesake vessel for its CO....

The FNS Black Pearl is mostly deployed as part of the Federal Republic of America Navy's Caribbean Squadron, patrolling the mostly lawless waters of the Caribbean League for pirates (conventional & submarine), hunting down notorious sea monsters and giving Neo-Confederate commercial shipping & commerce raiders nightmares.

Armed with four twin-laser cannon turrets (for engaging airborne targets & smaller surface vessels while surfaced & close-by underwater threats when submerged), dual axially-mounted torpedo tubes (each can carry two Mk 56 supercavitating homing torpedoes each), as well as a semi autonomous drone (also serves as a remote active sonar platform) and sometimes Federal Special Operations Command Underwater Demolition Team members, these medium subs pack a mean punch for their size.

As is typical of most submarines, the interior is cramped, but provides adequate living for its crew. The forward-most compartment houses most of the air cylinders as well as an airlock for UDT divers & the remote probe to be deployed or retrieved.

This sub's fusion power plant, in addition to providing electricity for propulsion & equipment, also is used to separate hydrogen & oxygen from water, thus the sub can remain submerged indefinitely, crew provisions being the only limiting factor (although some enterprising crews have been known to deploy their SOCOM UDT teams and/or remote drones to harvest seafood to extend their time below the surface when trying to remain undetected deep in enemy territory)

The relatively minimalist bridge, where the captain & duty helmsman take the sub where it needs to go.

The FNS Black Pearl's brave, but somewhat rowdy crew

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this LDD project. I DO fully intend to build this thing for real (and bring it to at least one Lego show), but unfortunately, my budget is such that I've only got the barest bit of the bottom section done as of yet. This build clocks in at over 860 pieces, most of which are rather small, so you can see how it could be a bit on the expensive side, however, it is getting my top priority for my LEGO budget from now until I have it finished.

EDIT:  I hope you all enjoy seeing the completely final version, and I know it took me long enough to finish this, but I've been going through some serious stuff in RL over the past 4 years that has kind of gotten in the way of many of my more ambitious LEGO projects, and finishing this one has been a huge confidence booster, let me tell you...

Edited January 16, 2021 by Laura Beinbrech

[BrickJagger]

Nice work! I like the interior and the color scheme. I also like the class name.

[Laura Beinbrech]

Nice work! I like the interior and the color scheme. I also like the class name.

Thanks! In case you're wondering, here's a list of subs in the class (I'm thinking about building the Black Seas Barracuda if I can source enough parts for it):

SSF 01 Black Seas Barracuda

SSF 02 Jolly Roger (a.k.a. Captain Hook's ship from Peter Pan)

SSF 03 Black Pearl

SSF 04 Revenge (a.k.a. The Dread Pirate Roberts' ship from Princess Bride)

SSF 05 Renegade Runner

SSF 06 Skull's Eye Schooner

SSF 07 Queen Emeraldis (Space pirate ship from the Leijiverse Anime)

SSF 08 Arcadia (Another Leijiverse space pirate ship commanded by Captain Harlock)

The reason that the Queen Anne's Revenge isn't on the list is due to the fact that Captain Blackbeard, who came through the same portal as Jack & Mr. Gibbs, decided to join the Neo-Confederate Navy and is in command of the notorious Heavy Cruiser (along the lines of the WWII-era German "Pocket Battleships")/commerce raider, CSS Baton Rouge.

Yeah, it's THAT kind of setting, lol.

[Pimbo]

Absolutely fantastic!

I'm happy to see another submarine for the Action/Adventure forum!

Quite a realistic scifi sub, sleek hull, lots of vents. The contrasting colour for all the hatches is a really nice touch. The interior is really cool, the stretcher as bunk bed is simply brilliant! Wish I'd have thought of that in my Neptune Carrier Mk.II which you should check out if you haven't already I suppose.

I'm really looking forward to seeing this built in real bricks, be sure to adjust the lighting for photos because black builds can be a pain to photograph. Curious to the other builds you're planning as well, what will the Confederate colourscheme be like?

All in all, I'm reminded about the 1863 Hunley for some reason

[Laura Beinbrech]

Absolutely fantastic!

I'm happy to see another submarine for the Action/Adventure forum!

Quite a realistic scifi sub, sleek hull, lots of vents. The contrasting colour for all the hatches is a really nice touch. The interior is really cool, the stretcher as bunk bed is simply brilliant! Wish I'd have thought of that in my Neptune Carrier Mk.II which you should check out if you haven't already I suppose.

Thanks for the kind words, coming from you that means a lot! Oh, abd I definitely checked out the Neptune Carrier Mk.II, which is excellent build! However, since the most recent post was a few months ago, I didn't post any comment because I didn't want to necro-post the thread.

All in all, I'm reminded about the 1863 Hunley for some reason

Interesting you should mention that: My next design phase project (although I might actually have most of the bricks needed to build it already) is a Confederate midget sub that is inspired by this blue submarine that Sebeus posted 2 years ago that uses the Lego City cement mixer elements for a large part of the hull. I'll be posting the LDD renders whenever I get that one done.

I'm also working on a pirate submarine that uses at least one (possibly 2) of the brown aircraft hull sections from the Sponge Bob Davy Jones set....

Edited September 6, 2016 by Laura Takayama

[Laura Beinbrech]

Just bumping this to let everyone know that I've finally finished actually building this thing in real life & have edited the first post with the new pics & descriptions! :D

[Murdoch17]

This looks awesome! Really great job, @Laura Beinbrech. I especially love the references / tie-ins to other franchises, such as Cpt. Hook's ship* and the Pirates of the Caribbean universe. (*Yes, I got that reference!)

 

Any new plans for the Neo-confederate navy after all this time? I (and I don't think I'm alone in asking!) would really like to see that pocket battleship, if you have a digital image...

[Laura Beinbrech]

7 minutes ago, Murdoch17 said:

Any new plans for the Neo-confederate navy after all this time? I (and I don't think I'm alone in asking!) would really like to see that pocket battleship, if you have a digital image...

Glad you like it!  And funny you should mention this, but I do have plans on re-visiting the Mobile Bay class of Neo-Confederate battlecruisers in the near-ish future.  The main issue is I basically need to acquire, at minimum, a complete second set of black hull components from the 2011 Black Pearl set (part ids 64645, 64651 & 95277 in black) to make this thing look reasonably proportional.  I did work on re-organizing my LEGO ship bins, including adding a new extra-large storage bin for the bigger ships, so I can get back to work on that project though (I have a partially built old, short version that just doesn't look that great that needs to be tore down & rebuilt using the new hull base, once I acquire the parts I need).

I DO more or less have all the hull parts to build the Federal Republic of America Navy's rough counterpart, the Philadelphia class heavy guided missile cruiser (basically by taking the white versions of the aforementioned parts from two Dolphin Cruiser sets), but I need to work on designing the actual build...

I will see about trying to design both of those in BL Studio, due to the fact that even a significantly shorter version of the CSS Baton Rouge tended to give LDD a fit due to its size...  I also have the rough beginnings of one of the first boats for the Grand Ducal Navy, which will be a guided missile sub (so it will be a bit bigger than this bad boy.... Especially since I finally figured out what I want to use for the Grand Duchy of New York's naval uniforms (the old Aquashark or Aquaraiders II torsos would be perfect, and I have like one or two).