Update in post 14!

Ahoy there!

I have recently begun work on my first large(ish) ship! I have largely completed the midsection, and the front isnt looking too bad either.

To start with, i created a short animation movie around the construction of the ship, here it is:

if you would like to rate and comment!

And now, the pictures.

So.

Please leave whatever feedback is necessary, although i would like some help with the following:

1) The length of the ship. As you can see, i have one more midsection to go and the stern, although i cant help but think that with the height of the ship, it would be in far better proportion if i added an extra few midsection pieces and extended the work i have done on the current midsection. what are peoples opinions on how long the ship should realistically be to match its height? I'm also tempted to add a third mast if it does get extrended.

2) Obviously the crew need a way between decks, and as of now, the top deck is flat. Where would folks recommend putting stairs or a ladder down to the lower decks?

3) I have done my best to make the front of the ship as round as possible, although obviously a figurehead and other decoration is needed, would people recommend going for a grand or simple front to the ship?

4) I currently have no plans for the Captains Cabin and the rear of the ship. The "in" colour seems to be yellow on most ships, but i'm tempted to stick with brown and black to stick with the rest of the ship.

5) I have a red row of cannon-flaps and a blue row, purely because of running out of red ones. When i have enough, would people suggest an all red theme or does the red and blue work?

Right, there are my thoughts! Feedback would be much appreciated!

Edited August 7, 200915 yr by Duck

I love that little film its funny!

so far your ship looking good, but add more color to the front

1) The length of the ship. As you can see, i have one more midsection to go and the stern, although i cant help but think that with the height of the ship, it would be in far better proportion if i added an extra few midsection pieces and extended the work i have done on the current midsection. what are peoples opinions on how long the ship should realistically be to match its height? I'm also tempted to add a third mast if it does get extrended.

2) Obviously the crew need a way between decks, and as of now, the top deck is flat. Where would folks recommend putting stairs or a ladder down to the lower decks?

3) I have done my best to make the front of the ship as round as possible, although obviously a figurehead and other decoration is needed, would people recommend going for a grand or simple front to the ship?

4) I currently have no plans for the Captains Cabin and the rear of the ship. The "in" colour seems to be yellow on most ships, but i'm tempted to stick with brown and black to stick with the rest of the ship.

5) I have a red row of cannon-flaps and a blue row, purely because of running out of red ones. When i have enough, would people suggest an all red theme or does the red and blue work?

Your films are some of the best I've ever seen. The comandeering one had some great action and this short one had some nice humor.

Right now I am also building a large ship and I am encountering many of the same problems.

1) If you are going for a more cartoony look than you are fine with the current mid sections. Just make sure that the cabin is higher and extended backward with some arches. If you want a more realistic look then buy 2 or 3 more mid sections.

2) I recommend putting the stairs in the very front of the ship because your front doesn't have cannons in the way. If you tried to put them in the middle they might get in the way of the cannons and if you put them in the back all the sailors would have to enter the captains cabin to get below deck and I don't think that would fly to well with the captain.

3) The front looks very round and nice but it definatley needs some more detail.

4) Stick with the black and brown for the cabin but you need to add more black to rest of the ship especially the front if there is going to be a fair amount of black used on the cabin.

5) I think the red and blue cannon flaps are great together and add a nice royal touch but if you really want to stress that the ship belongs to the redcoats use all red.

Edited July 7, 200915 yr by Paul cantu

Many thanks for the feedback guys, i'm really pleased people seem to have enjoyed my films! Nice to know the effort is worth it!

I'll probably be placing another bricklink order soon so i guess i'll pick up another couple of hull pieces while i'm there and have a toy around to find an appropriate length. I'll also be ordering the relevent bricks to finish the front and back ends of the ship, so please keep the suggestions rolling in folks!

And the front of the ship is probably indeed a good idea for where to place the access to the lower decks, as its a little bare anyway at the moment!

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions

Edited July 5, 200915 yr by Duck

This ship is coming along great! I may even steal borrow some of your techniques for my new up-and-coming ship, the HMS Conquest (remember; imitation is flattery ). The bow looks really good, however I do recommend that you add something under the bowspit, It will provide you with some decoration space.

Edited July 5, 200915 yr by Admiral M

If I may, red and blue works well. So in this movie, will the bluecoats also have a giant ship o' war? And will there also be pirates in this one?

The new movie will involve the new ship, and those characters being onboard it, and will also involve bluecoats and pirates in a twisting tale of deciet, trickery, sailing, swashbuckling, cannon firing, prison escapes and attempting to communicate with an islander - all with a similar sense of humour of things generally going very wrong very quickly! Also in the meantime while i'm finishing the ship, i'm working on another short film set in a port with the same soldiers

Admiral, i would be honoured if you did borrow the techniques used, especially as this is my first ship i'm supposed to be the one stealing ideas . I will indeed have a play around underneath the bowspit, i just need to have a ponder what first

Thanks for the feedback!

Edited July 5, 200915 yr by Duck

Can't wait to see the movie, duck!

Here's the "underneath the bowspit" of the HMS Victory:

Here

It is EXTREMELY big, it took me 15 secs to load, so don't click unless you have a fast processor.

Good to see we're not talking anything too complicated with the bowspit Hehe, well i'll have a play about with the bricks i have and then order the relevent coloured bricks of bricklink. Cheers for the inspiration photo!

Edited July 5, 200915 yr by Duck

Well, it doesn't have to be THAT decorated, most people do something like this:

See more pics here.

PS: It's called a prow

Edited July 5, 200915 yr by Admiral M

Well, i've had a play around with the bricks i have and have come up with a few ideas for the prow, including the use of angled 2 x 1 plates linked together which i have seen used numerous times on other ships. The question now is, what colour to go for. I have been using black bricks in planning because i have the most bricks in that colour, but these do not show up well on photos so i cant even upload an image, and therefore they'd look rubbish on a film also. Obviously i dont want anything thats going to look silly with the colour scheme so can anyone suggest a good colour for the prow decoration?

Also, for the captains cabin, i was considering using 1 x 1 transpartent blocks for windows to give a panneled window effect. Does anyone know if this tehnique has been used in the past?

It's looking great! The stern looks fantastic, as well as the sides. From what it looks like now, this ship is going to look awesome. Oh, and that short you made is very funny ~LW 8~

Buggar! LOL!

After a break where i was too busy to continue work, and the arrival of more bricks from bricklink and resuming work on the ship, i can now reveal my near-complete pictures of the ship. All that (probably) requires work now is the prow, a change of cabin door and sails. I will admit that it might have changed ever so slightly since these pictures, as mere moments afterwards it was in pieces on the floor having been erm... shipwrecked (I.e. Fell off the shelf ) but it has now been rebuilt and is pretty much as it is in these pictures!

So, here goes:

More pics can be found at http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/142743

I'll post some better quality pics when its complete!

Feedback is as ever appreciated!

Edited August 7, 200915 yr by Duck

I like the way the Cabin door is fitted in! The stern is strange but nice. Reminds me of Church!

A 48 gunned ship to sink the so called "Bluecoat Navy"...

Nicely done! That two-decker will be a scourge of the bluecoats!

Wow, that's a nice big ship!

Wow I really like the way you built the cabin. it is completely unique and i love it. All the brown looks really great.

This is a very nice ship. I hope my first looks this good.

-Super

This ship looks quite good already! I've spotted a very interesting thing: the unique windows! I think they look very good.

Your ship also has some interesting shapes.

I think this project will turn out fantastic! Keep it up!

1) The length of the ship. As you can see, i have one more midsection to go and the stern, although i cant help but think that with the height of the ship, it would be in far better proportion if i added an extra few midsection pieces and extended the work i have done on the current midsection. what are peoples opinions on how long the ship should realistically be to match its height? I'm also tempted to add a third mast if it does get extrended.

2) Obviously the crew need a way between decks, and as of now, the top deck is flat. Where would folks recommend putting stairs or a ladder down to the lower decks?

3) I have done my best to make the front of the ship as round as possible, although obviously a figurehead and other decoration is needed, would people recommend going for a grand or simple front to the ship?

4) I currently have no plans for the Captains Cabin and the rear of the ship. The "in" colour seems to be yellow on most ships, but i'm tempted to stick with brown and black to stick with the rest of the ship.

5) I have a red row of cannon-flaps and a blue row, purely because of running out of red ones. When i have enough, would people suggest an all red theme or does the red and blue work?

1. it seems like a good idea to extend the length, because of its great height. You should also do a two story tall captains cabin on the stern.

2. It doesnt nececarily matter where you put the ladder, as long as it would not be in the physical way of anything, so it would be best to put stairs/a ladder towreds the middle

3. The grander the better!

4. You ought to use a bit of red and or blue along with the brown and black, but maybe just for the windows or something, brown and black are rather dull, and i'm sure you would not want to make a ship already so magnificent dull.

5. which ever you would think go best. though in my opinion, blue goes best with brown and black (as well as yellow)

now that ive answered your questions, would you please answer the ones i have about my wip: the hms regal empress

EDIT: woups! gues i didnt see the update. I like it better when updates are added to the original post...

Edited August 8, 200915 yr by the_green_avenger

Nicely done! That two-decker will be a scourge of the bluecoats!

Soon there will be another one in the waters.... it's big....

Thanks for all the positive feedback guys! Its really appreciated. Glad people like the cabin, it was a design which i'd had in my head for a while and i was pleased with the outcome!

I should be recieiving my (hopefully) final bricklink order for this ship this week, so once that arrived i'll be heading down to hobby craft to get some material for sails and then i'll hopefully be posting more detailed and higher quality pics! And then, filming can commense!

Nice ship have any dynamite aboard? :pir-skull:

About the video:If two bluecoats can take a warship that big,how many ships does not so great Britain need?