[MOC] Hippocampus - my new ship with an unusual hull

[Dreamweb]

Hello there.

For quite some time, I've been planning to build a ship which uses one of the Duplo hulls. So when I got the chance to buy the hull from the set 7881 at a really good price, I hesitated no more and finally started to fulfil my plans. The result is here, and it's called the Hippocampus.

By the way, it's also on Instagram so feel free to follow me there, too!

 

I must admit, this hull is a weird thing to work with. It has nice curves and an overall great shape, and the colours are really good. Unfortunately, those curves also mean it's pretty incompatible with the shapes of most standard "System" bricks. Therefore, I had to use a lot of weird angles to pull this one off. Still, not everything fits perfectly, there are some gaps here and there, but overall I am pretty satisfied with the final result.

Nonetheless, it was a real challenge to try to make all of this fit together, and while I am tempted by the vision of using the even bigger Duplo hull which is also available (the set 7880), I don't think I'm ready to live through all this stress again.  Plus, 7880 has a much less realistic hull. So yeah, it's definitely time to give Duplo a rest for now.

Anyway, as hard as it was to use it, I really like the bulky shape of this hull. Combined with standard minifigs, it really gives you an impression of a robust, durable vessel and a worthy adversary in a sea battle. Which is kind of ironic, considering that the techniques used to attach System bricks to Duplo make it rather fragile.

 

The captain's cabin is accessible by removing the roof. In here, you can also see that the ship uses a total of three Duplo bricks. The first and the second one make up the hull, which separates in two. The third one? The captain's mirror.

There are also two hatches in the forecastle section. Below you can see one of them opened. Although some minifigs or cargo can be put in there, it is in fact occupied by the structures holding the bow of the ship together.

And here's the bottom hatch opened. A ladder is visible, leading somewhere to the lower deck. What's on it, however, is up to one's imagination.

And that's pretty much the whole ship. Once again, it was fun to build, but also really, really cumbersome. This Duplo hull really isn't the friendliest piece to work with. And I can't even begin to guess how many times the bow or the stern fell apart during the whole endeavour. But I think it was worth the effort!

That's all, I'm relly interested in your comments about this rather unusual design.

[Marooned Marin]

This is so cool. So many nice details to observe and study, really fantastic job. You captured the Carrack style quite good  

 

 

[Dreamweb]

1 hour ago, Marooned Marin said:

This is so cool. So many nice details to observe and study, really fantastic job. You captured the Carrack style quite good

Thanks for the comment! Yes, it indeed has a similar feel to it. I really like the look of this Duplo hull. It has very realistic colours.

[Feuer Zug]

Wow! Great work turning the Duplo hull into a full sailing ship. The lack of interior is not an issue to me. Your detail work topside is top notch. Kudos.

[PxChris]

This is one of the best integrations of a Duplo hull into a System build I've ever seen! Incredibly well done!

[evancelt]

Nicely done @Dreamweb! Yours is lightyears ahead of my earlier attempt!

I think integrating LEGO system-sized masts and sails helps a lot, and also covering up all of the DUPLO studs to build up the sides of the hull

Will have to give that a try!

 

[NOD]

You have built creative and a good ship.

[Jack Sassy]

It be a fine vessel indeed! Love the cartoon look of it, that DUPLO hull really spices things up.  Astounding job! 

[Professor Thaum]

That's a nice ship, comrade.

A clever use of a prefab hull. And a fair choice of colors.

[Dreamweb]

17 hours ago, Feuer Zug said:

Wow! Great work turning the Duplo hull into a full sailing ship. The lack of interior is not an issue to me. Your detail work topside is top notch. Kudos. 

Thanks! Well, the captain's cabin is fully operational so there is some interior after all. With this hull you have to make a trade-off between play value and structural integrity.

16 hours ago, PxChris said:

This is one of the best integrations of a Duplo hull into a System build I've ever seen! Incredibly well done!

That's nice to read, thanks!

16 hours ago, evancelt said:

Yours is lightyears ahead of my earlier attempt!

I think integrating LEGO system-sized masts and sails helps a lot, and also covering up all of the DUPLO studs to build up the sides of the hull

Will have to give that a try!

I was aware of your ship when building this. Yes I think it's important to cover all the Duplo studs, and then I covered most of the normal studs with tiles and other stuff, so that's like a double cover.

14 hours ago, NOD said:

You have built creative and a good ship.

Thanks, I appreciate the comment!

12 hours ago, Jack Sassy said:

Love the cartoon look of it, that DUPLO hull really spices things up

Yes, I think it looks cartoonish, but in a good way. I'm taking it to an exhibition this weekend so we'll see whether it looks good next to other ships.

7 hours ago, Professor Thaum said:

A clever use of a prefab hull. And a fair choice of colors.

Thanks! Fortunately the hull itself uses pretty standard colours, so it wasn't hard to merge it with System bricks in terms of the overall colour scheme.

Edited April 21, 2022 by Dreamweb

[VaneStream]

 I love this! The use of the Duplo hull gives it such a unique look and shape, it really makes this ship stand out in the best possible way. I love the bulky, impressive feel it has. Great job in doing something that hasn’t been done so often and making it work really well! 

[Mister Phes]

On 4/20/2022 at 6:40 PM, Dreamweb said:

For quite some time, I've been planning to build a ship which uses one of the Duplo hulls.

Do Duplo hulls float?

[Dreamweb]

50 minutes ago, VaneStream said:

The use of the Duplo hull gives it such a unique look and shape

Thanks! The hull does have a unique feel compared to standard hulls. If only it was easier to work with.

 

10 minutes ago, Mister Phes said:

Do Duplo hulls float?

They do, and I intend to test my ship in that regard.  But that won't happen until at least after the weekend, since I'm taking her to an exhibition tomorrow!

[Mister Phes]

13 hours ago, Dreamweb said:

They do, and I intend to test my ship in that regard.  But that won't happen until at least after the weekend, since I'm taking her to an exhibition tomorrow! 

Exhibition? Which exhibition?

[Dreamweb]

The exhibition of Wawlug in Warsaw, which ends today.

Here's the section with Pirates:

 

[Alazon]

I'm a bit late to the party, but just want to chime in and echo what the others have said. Outstanding design combining DUPLO and System bricks, I wouldn't have guessed the DUPLO structure on first glance. I love the bulky hull and think the proportions work extraordinarily well. Keep up the good work!

[Dreamweb]

On 4/27/2022 at 10:32 PM, Alazon said:

I'm a bit late to the party, but just want to chime in and echo what the others have said.

Thanks for that! I generally think that Duplo is vastly underestimated by AFOLs. There are some gems among those pieces too! I have some Duplo bricks myself, and there are a few among them which look like something I could use in the future!

Edited April 29, 2022 by Dreamweb

[Brickander Brickumnus]

Nice! 

I like that the ship is so wide!

Plenty of room for minifigures between opposite cannons!
Much more functional, playing-friendly and realistic.

Edited May 5, 2022 by Brickander Brickumnus

[Dreamweb]

Thanks! Yes, it is very wide. I suppose it is playing-friendly, if you play with it gently - some parts are quite fragile, especially the bow.

[Mister Phes]

On 4/20/2022 at 6:40 PM, Dreamweb said:

For quite some time, I've been planning to build a ship which uses one of the Duplo hulls.

For those who aren't familiar with Duplo Pirate ships - which set does the hull originate from?

[Dreamweb]

On 5/21/2022 at 8:57 AM, Mister Phes said:

For those who aren't familiar with Duplo Pirate ships - which set does the hull originate from?

It's from the set 7881:

Also, there's an even bigger hull in the set 7880, so maybe I'll use it someday too (although I'm slightly discouraged by how hard those hulls are to work with ):

[Mister Phes]

12 hours ago, Dreamweb said:

It's from the set 7881:

Excellent!  That's the one I mentioned in the blog post I wrote about this MOC.

[Dreamweb]

On 5/28/2022 at 7:32 AM, Mister Phes said:

That's the one I mentioned in the blog post I wrote about this MOC.

Cool, thank you sir!

[Marooned Marin]

@Dreamweb You have been frontpaged    andon Classic-Pirates.com

[Dreamweb]

Thanks a lot!

 

EDIT: Arr, that's quite a blog entry you've made there! I especially like the picture of myself with the Duplo set. Excellent job Mr. @Marooned Marin !

Edited August 20, 2022 by Dreamweb