TUTORIAL: Making Sails

[Admiral Starwind]

Well i can tell you exactly how to make the holes for the sails if you like and it will be easier than you think?

well?

well alright i'll tell you, go down to any leather store or anywhere that sells belts and ask them for a belt punch this tool is made for punching through leather and as such the hole punching art of it is basically a blade wrapped in an O so you will get clean concise hole each time and it has several different hole sizes that you can use so you can get just the right fit for your sails and now ladies and gentlemen a link to what it looks like.

http://i2.ebayimg.com/04/i/04/aa/ac/58_2.JPG

[babyjawa]

I just made three sails today, and this technique work pretty well except for the coffee part. Iced tea works a lot better.

I wish that I had some hulls to make some ships though. :-(

[Evil Willy]

Im glad it helped you make your sails, now you need to buy some hulls and show us your ship! I'm confused as to how cofee did not work well...Its simply cofee, it stains, it shouldn't fail. But ice tea sounds like a great idea too.

[legopirate83]

wow great help

thanks willy

george

[Capn Frank]

thanx evil willy,

i'm glad you thought of the glue mix for the edges, the use of coffe seems like a great idea. i'll definetly try that when i make the sails for my frigate im currently building

[ZCerberus]

I actually read the tutorial for the first time here today! It seems we used very similar methods. Well anyhow, since we had some discussion about the sails on my flagship, I thought I would link to the part of that thread where we began talking about the custom sails on that ship.

Arbiter Sails Discussion.

[Capn Frank]

I didn't know where else to put this info so i figured here was a good spot X-D

You know how difficult it is to have string tied onto paper and cloth sails and they may not always look quite right.

I think i may have found an interesting solution to this dilemma.

I was in a Ben Franklin store near the scrapebook section with my wife,

when my eyes accidentally wandered into the arts and crafts with paper section and i saw these babies 8-o

They're called i-lets or eyelets.

To use them you'll need to get an i-let setter. (see pic below)

First you cut a small rough hole in the paper or cloth.

Then what i did was place the i-let on a hard surface (smooth side down) with the i-let through the hole on the sail.

Next, with the i-let setter, push down on the non-smooth side. After that, tap the rough side of i-let with a hammer to secure it onto the paper or cloth better.

It should look something like this:

below is the other side:

These i-lets come in many different colors from white to antique brass.

The size of these i used are 1/4 in.

The website of the i-lets that i bought.

Some official instructions for i-let setting.

Let me know what you think. :)

Phred

[Mister Phes]

I'm wondering out loud to everyone (especially to Bonaparte) whether this thread should be in the root forum of the Great Library since that's where all the other tutorials live?

[Capn Frank]

I'm wondering out loud to everyone (especially to Bonaparte) whether this thread should be in the root forum of the Great Library since that's where all the other tutorials live?

Probably, I knew this thread existed and took a little time to find this thread. It would be easier if it were in the library.

P

[Mister Phes]

Don't forget there is a link to the Tutorial page on Classic-Pirates.com at the top of every webpage in the Pirate Forum. There is also an index thread at the top of the Pirate Discussion and MOC sub-forums which also lists the Tutorials, so if you use either of those it shouldn't be that hard to find any of the tutorials.

[Bonaparte]

I've moved this tutorial to the The Great Library of Honduras and added it to the Indexes - Libraries - Tutorials index on top of the MOC forum (it was still missing).

Thanks Mr. P & P for bringing this to my attention!

[Mister Phes]

You're most welcome indeed sir!

[Capn Frank]

Don't forget there is a link to the Tutorial page on Classic-Pirates.com at the top of every webpage in the Pirate Forum. There is also an index thread at the top of the Pirate Discussion and MOC sub-forums which also lists the Tutorials, so if you use either of those it shouldn't be that hard to find any of the tutorials.

Oh yeah i remember that now :-D

Thanx Mr. Phes.

P

[ZCerberus]

This is a pretty good idea Phred!

I have kinda been making my own Lego ilets though for some time...

If you look in this photo were the sail is attached you will see my solution...

And this is all you see from the front side... where the Front sail is attached with the same method.

I use one of these on the front...

and this guy on the back...

[Capn Frank]

Nice Lego "i-let" Z *y*

Looks pretty good.

It's a little bulky, but it's not easy to not be bulky with lego bricks :-/

I don't have any of those weird technic pieces either |-/

I didn't know those pieces were available in black. May have to look out for them in my next BL orders.

P

[iamded]

I know it's been over a year since this was started, but I must compliment Evil Willy on his brilliant, clear, well thought out instructions! Very good job, Evil Willy! It makes me want to make a nice little ship now, even though I havn't a single pirate set. X-D

~Peace

[Captain Green Hair]

Bit of a late reaction from me too, but this really brought me to ideas! *y* *y*

I've used the similar glue, but applied it onto the entire sail.

This way you can roll the up, so it looks like the wind is in. *sweet*

Thanks Willy!

[Evil Willy]

It's very flattering to see that people care about my tutorial, and that here a year after people are still using it. Thank you eveyone for your kind words.

William

[Millacol88]

Nice tutorial. I dont have any pirate lego but I just might make a sailing ship MOC now that I know how to make some decent sails.

[Stash2Sixx]

Great tips!!!!

I shall have room and most of the brick I need in another two weeks to begin construction on my large sailing vessel. The name is still to be determined.....

I found the scans in the library. This website is better and better everytime I use it. Thanks guys!

Edited May 20, 2008 by stash2sixx

[Duck]

Ahoy!

Upon a recent tidy-up of my room, i came accross my old lego, and feeling all nostalgic and whatnot, i decided to have an attempt at building some custom pirate/soldier ships, with the bits and bobs i had in the (several) large boxes, and maybe even have a play with my lego studios film programme which amazingly still works after all these years...

So far, construction is going well, but i seem to have mislaid most of my sails :(

I've tried looking through the forums for help on this matter, so i appologise if i missed a topic.

So, the basics of the topic is, does anyone have any hints and tips about how to make low-budget yet realisticish sails?

Many thanks! :)

[Mister Phes]

Dear Duck you've certainly come to the right place! Check out our How to make sails Tutorial as that contains a collection of sail making ideas and tips.

[Duck]

Ahah! Knew someone would have made something like this! Just couldnt spot it! :p Thanks! :)

[frogstudio]

This is waht I usually do:

a) Design the sail, either in Photoshop or Illustrator.

b) Print it on Iron-on T-Shirt transfer paper (I use one from Canson)

c) Transefer it to a a nice piece of cloth (I use tan cloth for mi Castle and Viking Ships and White for my Pirate Ships)

d) Cut it

e) Enjoy it... :)

Hope this has been usefull.

[Voodoo Hand]

Great tutorial! I think ill go try it out myself aswell! Specially the glue part! Thanks alot!

I'm out of cloth and don't know where to buy it at all *wacko* but I will use your tutorial for my frigate.

Arrr

Mr Tiber

You can use cloth where they make tents out of, that is sturdy and strong material but flexible enough. I use it to make clothing once in a while for my figures. No, i can not show anything since I aint good enough yet. Yes I will post pictures when I am and perhaps I sell some to anyone who will buy.