In addition to being one of the longest-serving wooden ships in the history of the Royal Navy (lasting a full six decades before she was accidentally burned while laid up), HMS Sovereign of the Seas (later Sovereign and then Royal Sovereign [and thereby being the namesake of all the Royal Sovereigns that followed]) was really a revolutionary vessel, and the first true first-rate the British ever built. Based (perhaps more in spirit than anything else) on the equally-famous Revenge of 1577, Sovereign of the Seas can either be viewed as an extremely late, very large galleon, or a very early ship of the line - she had attributes of both, and actually preceded the line-ship classification we are so familiar with (she was first commissioned as a 'royal ship,' only earning first rate status when the system codified in the decades that followed). She was also a contemporary of the Swedish Vasa, as well as the French galleon Couronne (the latter serving as the basis of Pirates of the Caribbean's Silent Mary), and vaguely resembles both. 

During her life time, Sovereign of the Seas was rebuilt extensively several times. Most of these rebuilds involved the shedding of her famed decorative gilding bit by bit (though she was still adorned enough during the Anglo-Dutch wars to be infamously condemned as 'den Gulden Duvel' by her continental foes), but they also allowed her to become the first large ship to fly royals above her top-gallants - an innovation not really common for another century. One of these reconstructions was so thorough, in fact, that it involved gutting her internal decking and re-laying her gunports to a flatter alignment. This same renovation removed so much of her upper weight that later commanders claimed that she handled more like a frigate than a ship her size.

The digital model took approximately 35 hours to design over the course of 4 days. My version of the Sovereign of the Seas portrays her as-built in 1637, in all her top-heavy glory. I know that the proportions aren't *quite* accurate to the photos, but most of the models out there seem to reflect later incarnations of the boat where she wasn't so bloated with ornate sculpture (and that's no fun). She has all 90 guns, can split cleanly into 4 pieces, has fully-furnished captain's and admiral's cabins, is about 4 feet long, and runs in at a staggering 12,000 pieces (and change). The paint scheme is not prototypical, but is rather a homage to the Lego pirate ship (photos below), which I believe, ironically enough, is actually based on the Sovereign.

Proto/Inspiration:

 

Model:

 

Edited October 5, 20204 yr by SteamSewnEmpire

Wow, just applause! The Golden Devil!

Oh my gosh! This is phenomenal and needs to be frontpaged if you render it. I would live to see you get a title like 'makes big gold ships.' no complaints, except that it is more likely SotS had brown sides, except the bits you coloured yellow, which were yellow-gold. No need to change it though, it is perfect. 

Edited March 5, 20213 yr by Count Vroskri

7 hours ago, SteamSewnEmpire said:

In addition to being one of the longest-serving wooden ships in the history of the Royal Navy (lasting a full six decades before she was accidentally burned while laid up), HMS Sovereign of the Seas (later Sovereign and then Royal Sovereign [and thereby being the namesake of all the Royal Sovereigns that followed]) was really a revolutionary vessel, and the first true first-rate the British ever built. Based (perhaps more in spirit than anything else) on the equally-famous Revenge of 1577, Sovereign of the Seas can either be viewed as an extremely late, very large galleon, or a very early ship of the line - she had attributes of both, and actually preceded the line-ship classification we are so familiar with (she was first commissioned as a 'royal ship,' only earning first rate status when the system codified in the decades that followed). She was also a contemporary of the Swedish Vasa, as well as the French galleon Couronne (the latter serving as the basis of Pirates of the Caribbean's Silent Mary), and vaguely resembles both. 

During her life time, Sovereign of the Seas was rebuilt extensively several times. Most of these rebuilds involved the shedding of her famed decorative gilding bit by bit (though she was still adorned enough during the Anglo-Dutch wars to be infamously condemned as 'den Gulden Duvel' by her continental foes), but they also allowed her to become the first large ship to fly royals above her top-gallants - an innovation not really common for another century. One of these reconstructions was so thorough, in fact, that it involved gutting her internal decking and re-laying her gunports to a flatter alignment. This same renovation removed so much of her upper weight that later commanders claimed that she handled more like a frigate than a ship her size.

The digital model took approximately 35 hours to design over the course of 4 days. My version of the Sovereign of the Seas portrays her as-built in 1637, in all her top-heavy glory. I know that the proportions aren't *quite* accurate to the photos, but most of the models out there seem to reflect later incarnations of the boat where she wasn't so bloated with ornate sculpture (and that's no fun). She has all 90 guns, can split cleanly into 4 pieces, has fully-furnished captain's and admiral's cabins, is about 4 feet long, and runs in at a staggering 12,000 pieces (and change). The paint scheme is not prototypical, but is rather a homage to the Lego pirate ship (photos below), which I believe, ironically enough, is actually based on the Sovereign.

Proto/Inspiration:

This last picture is actually the Prince Royal, not Sovereign of the Seas. 

25 minutes ago, Count Vroskri said:

This last picture is actually the Prince Royal, not Sovereign of the Seas. 

I had wondered that. I grabbed a whole bunch of the screenshots in my build folder last night right before sleeping, looked kind of blearily at that one for a moment, and dropped it in. Oh well.

Edited October 5, 20204 yr by SteamSewnEmpire

26 minutes ago, SteamSewnEmpire said:

I had wondered that. I grabbed a whole bunch of the screenshots in my build folder last night right before sleeping, looked kind of blearily at that one for a moment, and dropped it in. Oh well.

Don't worry, they both were built by the same guy, Phineas Pett. Very similar ships, so it's an easy mistake to make.

A few renders (I downloaded stud.io specifically for this, since Bluerender causes my GTX 2080 Super to self destruct for some reason. No chances of a change on my part from LDD, though. I cannot stand stud.io). There's no piping on the beak because the bends didn't transfer, and I wasn't going to learn the process just for some screenshots :P.

I have one more picture in the oven. Will post when it finishes.

Out of curiosity, you always see paintings where the yards for the topsail (middle sail) on the main and foremasts are really low (you can see it in that painting of Prince Royal). 

Was the entire yard/sail hoisted up the mast during this era?

Edited October 5, 20204 yr by SteamSewnEmpire

Redid the stern - cleaned it up, and added the side lanterns.

 

It is a pity that LEGO will not make such a detailed ship.

12 hours ago, SteamSewnEmpire said:

Out of curiosity, you always see paintings where the yards for the topsail (middle sail) on the main and foremasts are really low (you can see it in that painting of Prince Royal). 

Was the entire yard/sail hoisted up the mast during this era?

Yes, sometimes entire masts were hoisted up, but only the top part. 

 

12 hours ago, SteamSewnEmpire said:

A few renders (I downloaded stud.io specifically for this, since Bluerender causes my GTX 2080 Super to self destruct for some reason. No chances of a change on my part from LDD, though. I cannot stand stud.io). There's no piping on the beak because the bends didn't transfer, and I wasn't going to learn the process just for some screenshots :P.

I have one more picture in the oven. Will post when it finishes.

Phenomenal! When you render them all I'd replace thd pics at the top with these. It'll look better. I really wonder why you have so few comments. 

Wow! This _ is _ AMAZING!! I'm a big sucker for huge ships with ridiculously over the top decorations so when I saw this I fell in love with it immediately! What's even more bloody impressive though is "took approximately 35 hours to design over the course of 4 days"! I cannot fathom how something as big and intricate as this could be achieved in such a short space of time! Absolutely crazy! It took me hundreds of hours over the span of about a year and a half to digitally design about 85% of my ship-of-the-line (which is only about 9000 pieces) and then hundreds more hours to design the remaining 15% with actual physical pieces! So bravo! Any plans to build this beauty in the real world? Will probably have to sell a kidney or two though I imagine haha 

Despite all this show of power, my favourite is the teddy bear on the leading edge of figurehead

39 minutes ago, Black Pearl said:

Wow! This _ is _ AMAZING!! I'm a big sucker for huge ships with ridiculously over the top decorations so when I saw this I fell in love with it immediately! What's even more bloody impressive though is "took approximately 35 hours to design over the course of 4 days"! I cannot fathom how something as big and intricate as this could be achieved in such a short space of time! Absolutely crazy! It took me hundreds of hours over the span of about a year and a half to digitally design about 85% of my ship-of-the-line (which is only about 9000 pieces) and then hundreds more hours to design the remaining 15% with actual physical pieces! So bravo! Any plans to build this beauty in the real world? Will probably have to sell a kidney or two though I imagine haha 

Not any time soon. She'd probably cost 2-3 grand to construct, and I just don't have that kind of scratch. Maybe one day. 

44 minutes ago, Count Vroskri said:

Yes, sometimes entire masts were hoisted up, but only the top part. 

 

Phenomenal! When you render them all I'd replace thd pics at the top with these. It'll look better. I really wonder why you have so few comments. 

I don't think it's specific to me. Rather, I think it's due to the fact that the pirates forum has its own MOCs subforum. A lot of what we do here flies sort of under the radar, while places like trains and historica have their mocs front and center.

Not angry - and not making a complaint. Just think a lot of people's work in pirates gets missed (not snubbed, just not seen). Like, I didn't even know there was a moc sub forum for the first 6 months I was here...

Edited October 6, 20204 yr by SteamSewnEmpire

Looks very cool.
the front looks great with all those details and .. a teddybear 
but the rear looks really great, all those details too, very impressive.
I think the color scheme, with the gold stuff, and stuff helps too.

4 hours ago, neonic said:

Looks very cool.
the front looks great with all those details and .. a teddybear 
but the rear looks really great, all those details too, very impressive.
I think the color scheme, with the gold stuff, and stuff helps too.

Thanks. I've always liked the classic pirates theme with a lot of yellow.

Ok... this is just absolutely brilliant!!!

Can you do a close up render of this spot? And from this angle?

Edited October 14, 20204 yr by Brickander Brickumnus

Wow, incredible size and design, how did you create the front end of the hull, I can't tell what element you used for the curve. 

On 10/12/2020 at 7:30 PM, Brickander Brickumnus said:

Ok... this is just absolutely brilliant!!!

Can you do a close up render of this spot? And from this angle?

Second this question, I am really interested in seeing what big part you used for this :)

-

A really wonderfull ship you made! It's been long since someone made me astonished with a sailing ship, so congratz!

The only downside (for a MOC'er like me) is that many parts have never been produced by LEGO in those colours.

But you really should be proud of the result! I can't guess how many hours you spent on it, but they are well spent!

You are a very good builder too, you are very suited to Studio, and this ship is no exception! 

Edited March 5, 20213 yr by Count Vroskri

5 hours ago, Maxim I said:

Second this question, I am really interested in seeing what big part you used for this :)

-

A really wonderfull ship you made! It's been long since someone made me astonished with a sailing ship, so congratz!

The only downside (for a MOC'er like me) is that many parts have never been produced by LEGO in those colours.

But you really should be proud of the result! I can't guess how many hours you spent on it, but they are well spent!

It's the bottom part of the flying saucers... uh... 30201.

And I think it took like... 35 hours, maybe?

As for the colors, the vast majority of them do exist (I have no idea as to the quantities available, though). Before I built the model, I checked every yellow detail part against Bricklink to make sure that they were out there. The only exception is the horse on the bow, as I recall. 

Edited November 6, 20204 yr by SteamSewnEmpire

6 hours ago, SteamSewnEmpire said:

It's the bottom part of the flying saucers... uh... 30201.

This part?

https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=30201#T=C

3 hours ago, Brickander Brickumnus said:

This part?

https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=30201#T=C

Yep.

22 hours ago, SteamSewnEmpire said:

It's the bottom part of the flying saucers... uh... 30201.

And I think it took like... 35 hours, maybe?

As for the colors, the vast majority of them do exist (I have no idea as to the quantities available, though). Before I built the model, I checked every yellow detail part against Bricklink to make sure that they were out there. The only exception is the horse on the bow, as I recall. 

Thanks!

ow my bad, thought it was pearl gold haha instead of yellow haha :p well, then even more kudo’s for you! :D

Wow, how have I missed this thread until now? @SteamSewnEmpire, I knew you were one of the top digital train builders, but I never knew all that talent and attention to detail extended to ships as well. This is excellent!