WIP The Rowdy Gentleman

[KotZ]

Hey everyone. I'm starting work on a pirate ship (Wow, I haven't built one in forever) and I'm getting back into the swing of things. I'm working in LDD right now to design it.

I'm still deciding on the color scheme, earth blue or black and white, etc.? Should I tile the gundeck? I'm expecting The Rowdy Gentleman to hold 12 guns per side, not including chasers or swivels. I'm thinking she'll have a full gun deck, and then that "half" one (can't remember the correct term). Any suggestions?

[KotZ]

Just an update on the ship. I have finished designing her in LDD, actually a few days after starting the design. I haven't grabbed any screenshots for those yet because I've been busy and having to switch to a new computer has been kicking me in the rear. The ship also is now red and black instead of blue and black, for i have more of the red brcks necessary. Pics soon!

[Captain Blackmoor]

So far so good, but I would make sure to use sloped sides to avoid a shoebox shaped ship. Also keep an eye on the height of the ship compared to its width.

Good luck! And bon appetit with the Irish lamb stew.

[KotZ]

Thanks for the advice!..... Yet I am a little confused on the Irish lamb stew....

[KotZ]

Sorry for the double post, but here are four more pictures. the first three are old, showing the design. the last shows the completed design. She is based off of the Imperial Ship released a few years ago, but mainly because I wanted pre-fab rigging and I had no idea how to build that bow. The rest is more of my design, with inspiration (mainly cannons) taken from other builders.

[Grimmbeard]

Looks good I like how you did the rigging.

Planning on making it in the flesh?

[KotZ]

Thanks! And yes, I am planning on building her. I actually started building today. She's not pretty right now, but she'll get there.

[KotZ]

UPDATE:

I've started building, ordering of hulls and specialty pieces, etc. I only have part of the gundeck together. One side is mostly complete but the other side is lacking vital slopes.

And the book that inspired the ship's name:

[KotZ]

Well, it's been a few weeks and the build is getting along. The ship parts I ordered came in and I immediately went to work with what I could do. All of the ship parts I came in (picture below) were in a lot from ebay, all for $60 USD. I must say, I'm happy with that lot. The far right brown hulls are what I'm using for The Rowdy Gentleman. The others will be towards future ships.

Today, I went to my local LEGO Discovery center and they finally had some decent pieces.I picked up 5 brown chairs, a lot of brown 1x2 logs and 1x4 logs. I also picked up some black slopes, black 1x4 plates, and tan 1x4 plates. To save money, I'm making the ship two hulls sections shorter (college is expensive ) I got rid of the galley, now having where treasure goes and redesigned the brig.

I also am not using brown tiles, but rather the tan plates, because well, saving money and it adds some playability to it (I'm all about playable features that look good).

Comments?

[Matteo1130]

I also rather playability than historic perfection. Having space to move minifig inside is a nice feature, but IMHO this makes the ship a few too high considering its lenght. You may save playability and realism lowering a few the tallness of the gundeck, I guess it wasn't unusual for a ship to have a gundeck a bit lower than a standing person...

Nice work by the way!

Edit. comments are for the actual picture, in case you want to make her longer, like in the LDD, all I may say is "great work"!

Edited May 19, 2013 by Matteo1130

[KotZ]

Thanks, Matteo1130. I'm actually keeping the height as the length is being added on (you can see the bow and the captain's cabin coming together below).

Instead of a galley, I decided to have an area for easy access to treasure, goods, etc.

Here you can see part of the stern, which is 1x4 log bricks and 1x2 log bricks. Not the prettiest, but they somewhat mold together and they'll be covered by the captain's cabin.

The interior of the cabin as well as the exterior has changed. There are now two more gunports, making the ship have a total of 14 cannons, not including the swivel guns I plan on adding.

The interior is now just plain black tiles, instead of alternating white and black 1x1 plates. I know it looks much different from the regular deck, but I like it. The bed is also a little different(and it is still being worked on). I changed the desk slightly.

I do really like how it's coming, even with the changes.

[KotZ]

Here's an update on the ship. The starboard side is much further along (not really much, I need to order more pieces), along with the poopdeck. The height of one mast is almost where I want it and the other needs more bricks. The prow is just a stand in, as are the tan cannons, just for me to see what the ship can look like eventually, and how many black cylinders I need for cannons.

The center part there is going to be four studs long, and I'm thinking of a design to put there.

A swivel cannon, but I think I want to make it more mobile looking.

Most of the mast. Yard arms, and parts to hold the rat lines are yet to be added. What do you guys think of the brown and black alternating?

Unfortunately, the build is going to be halted as I need to order pieces, and I can't exactly bring this ship to college with me.

[Grimmbeard]

Nice work so far. You an incoming freshman?

[KotZ]

Thanks! And yeah, but there are stores around if where I need to get a quick LEGO fix, I can pick up a CMF

[pogie]

Man, Starburst would hit the spot right now.