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Hi all-
Well, here it is, the current phase of my last construction before
departure.
Purely aghast at the horror of a French ironclad, however decrepit and
obsolescent, stalking the South Seas, it's only a matter of time before
our intrepid Royal British/Brikish (if I may borrow the appellation)
Navy sent a *real* warship on foreign station, one that could whip the
French before withdrawing for High Tea. The ship currently under
construction is intended to be such a vessel--the 1894
line-of-battleship HMS _Queen._
_Queen_ is currently complete up to the armoured deck, and in some
places up to the top deck--these decks will be covered with fine
Imperial teak, but make no mistake that this vessel is at its heart 100%
Birmingham steel. Carrying four 14" naval rifles and a bevy of
medium-calibre (8.1" and 6.2") weapons, _Queen_ will be able to dispose
of enemies large or small, European or "Other". Her construction
particulars incorporate the lessons of modern European naval warfare
which, as we all know, confirms our navy's indefatigable superiority.
That rhetoric aside, _Queen_ is both a joy and a disappointment. My
first thought had been to create a heavily contoured vessel, based on a
maximum beam of 48 studs (large grey baseplates); this would allow me to
explore various hull contours and get away from the box-method of
construction:
http://www.msu.edu/user/braunli1/oldhull.jpg
This didn't last too long, because I simply didn't have enough room to
build it properly. Therefore, I switched back to a 32-stud pattern.
The results of an evening's building are here:
http://www.msu.edu/user/braunli1/queen1.jpg
-Stern and after 14"/8.1" turret details--the large turrets are detailed
inside, but the smaller ones are not--an artefact of their odd shape.
http://www.msu.edu/user/braunli1/queen2.jpg
-Another shot of the same, but you can see up into the bow area. By the
way, this ship is designed to separate into four sections with Technic
pegs, so that I don't have to annihilate it when I need to put it in
storage. Ouch!
http://www.msu.edu/user/braunli1/queen3.jpg
-Bow area. The foredeck framework has not been built up yet; I expect
to have anchor chains actually run out of the shaped anchor ports. Note
the beveling to the bow (it exists in the stern as well). "A" turret
(14" HG) is sitting on its half-completed barbette (the barbette will
eventually be bow-top in height); the forward 8.2" turret barbettes have
not yet been started. This 32-stud plate may be truncated to a 16-stud
one, depending on my own construction decisions.
http://www.msu.edu/user/braunli1/queen4.jpg
-Looking back towards the stern. This is the first large ship for which
I have made "real" room provisions underneath the decking--the hull is
for more than holding the deck up. The odd structure in the ship's
centre is six boilers, selectively compressed and raised up above the
waterline. In a real ship, the boiler rooms would be generally below
the waterline and would extend over a much larger area of the ship. As
it is, I am going to leave the reciprocating engines out of this ship
because they too are below the waterline. (And please, no wisecracks
about the plates being blue = water in the ship. ;) Everyone knows the
North Sea is grey!)
Anyways, this is the current phase. The finished ship will have
casemates between the 8.1" MCG turrets (for the 6.2" weapons) and a load
of anti-torpedo-boat weapons on the upper decks, later. The carried
boats will probably hang on davits above the 8.1" turrets, else
nearby--in either case, they'll be somewhere suitably stupid for a
late-nineteenth-century capital ship. Of course, this ship's draught
probably means that it can never visit Port Block, but mayhap I can
build a dredger to fix that.
Thoughts, comments, insults regarding the tile in my kitchen, etc. are
welcome.
best
Lindsay
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In lugnet.pirates, Lindsay Frederick Braun writes:
>
> Hi all-
>
> Well, here it is, the current phase of my last construction before
> departure.
>
> Purely aghast at the horror of a French ironclad, however decrepit and
> obsolescent, stalking the South Seas, it's only a matter of time before
> our intrepid Royal British/Brikish (if I may borrow the appellation)
> Navy sent a *real* warship on foreign station, one that could whip the
> French before withdrawing for High Tea. The ship currently under
> construction is intended to be such a vessel--the 1894
> line-of-battleship HMS _Queen._
No heart of oak. No sails being unfurled to the wind. No piratical crews
overthrowing the oppressive taskmasters that kidnapped and enslaved them.
Gray steel and black smoke. Idunno. (mind you, a great Lego project)
>
> _Queen_ ...
"Arrrr, ye scurvy lot, belay the noise or we'll git caught and filleted like
flounders. Who's got the paint?"
"That be me, Cap'n Belushi."
"Hand me the brush...HANDLE first, ye lubber!"
(much sloshing of paint on the ship and anything else unfortunate to be in
paint drop range)
"That be better. A fine an' proper name."
(Oh dear, the following text appears to be sabotaged!)
> ...is currently complete up to the armoured deck, and in some
> places up to the top deck--these decks will be covered with fine
> Imperial teak, but make no mistake that this vessel is at its heart 100%
> Birmingham steel. Carrying four 14" naval rifles and a bevy of
> medium-calibre (8.1" and 6.2") weapons, _Raging Queen_ will be able to dispose
> of enemies large or small, European or "Other". Her construction
> particulars incorporate the lessons of modern European naval warfare
> which, as we all know, confirms our navy's indefatigable superiority.
>
> That rhetoric aside, _Raging Queen_ is both a joy and a disappointment. My
> first thought had been to create a heavily contoured vessel, based on a
> maximum beam of 48 studs (large grey baseplates); this would allow me to
> explore various hull contours and get away from the box-method of
> construction:
>
> http://www.msu.edu/user/braunli1/oldhull.jpg
>
> This didn't last too long, because I simply didn't have enough room to
> build it properly. Therefore, I switched back to a 32-stud pattern.
> The results of an evening's building are here:
>
> http://www.msu.edu/user/braunli1/queen1.jpg
> -Stern and after 14"/8.1" turret details--the large turrets are detailed
> inside, but the smaller ones are not--an artefact of their odd shape.
>
> http://www.msu.edu/user/braunli1/queen2.jpg
> -Another shot of the same, but you can see up into the bow area. By the
> way, this ship is designed to separate into four sections with Technic
> pegs, so that I don't have to annihilate it when I need to put it in
> storage. Ouch!
>
> http://www.msu.edu/user/braunli1/queen3.jpg
> -Bow area. The foredeck framework has not been built up yet; I expect
> to have anchor chains actually run out of the shaped anchor ports. Note
> the beveling to the bow (it exists in the stern as well). "A" turret
> (14" HG) is sitting on its half-completed barbette (the barbette will
> eventually be bow-top in height); the forward 8.2" turret barbettes have
> not yet been started. This 32-stud plate may be truncated to a 16-stud
> one, depending on my own construction decisions.
>
> http://www.msu.edu/user/braunli1/queen4.jpg
> -Looking back towards the stern. This is the first large ship for which
> I have made "real" room provisions underneath the decking--the hull is
> for more than holding the deck up. The odd structure in the ship's
> centre is six boilers, selectively compressed and raised up above the
> waterline. In a real ship, the boiler rooms would be generally below
> the waterline and would extend over a much larger area of the ship. As
> it is, I am going to leave the reciprocating engines out of this ship
> because they too are below the waterline. (And please, no wisecracks
> about the plates being blue = water in the ship. ;) Everyone knows the
> North Sea is grey!)
The water takes on the color of the sky for the most part.
>
> Anyways, this is the current phase. The finished ship will have
> casemates between the 8.1" MCG turrets (for the 6.2" weapons) and a load
> of anti-torpedo-boat weapons on the upper decks, later. The carried
> boats will probably hang on davits above the 8.1" turrets, else
> nearby--in either case, they'll be somewhere suitably stupid for a
> late-nineteenth-century capital ship. Of course, this ship's draught
> probably means that it can never visit Port Block, but mayhap I can
> build a dredger to fix that.
>
> Thoughts, comments, insults regarding the tile in my kitchen, etc. are
> welcome.
Anticipated me there! I was going to say something about the tile....
:-)
I'm looking forward to the completion of the Queen.
Bruce
>
> best
>
> Lindsay
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On Wed, 26 Jul 2000, Mr L F Braun (<397EA9CC.EE4A6F68@pilot.msu.edu>)
wrote at 09:05:16
>
> Hi all-
>
> Well, here it is, the current phase of my last construction before
> departure.
You have my sympathy. I wouldn't want to leave something like that.
Absolutely amazing, but you really *must* have a go at a more sculptural
shape some time. The large turrets are excellent. I don't think there
are many LEGO ships that would relish coming under fire from them.
--
Tony Priestman
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Tony Priestman wrote:
> On Wed, 26 Jul 2000, Mr L F Braun (<397EA9CC.EE4A6F68@pilot.msu.edu>)
> wrote at 09:05:16
>
> >
> > Hi all-
> >
> > Well, here it is, the current phase of my last construction before
> > departure.
>
> You have my sympathy. I wouldn't want to leave something like that.
Sigh. Now you know why I've contemplated a career change. Significant
Other and toys...two absolutely excellent things I must leave here while I'm
away.
> Absolutely amazing, but you really *must* have a go at a more sculptural
> shape some time. The large turrets are excellent. I don't think there
> are many LEGO ships that would relish coming under fire from them.
I'm sure the ship will look better once it has proper railing. I may also
"toe in" the deck a bit--give it a row of bricks in grey at the edges where
I may mount the railing, keeping the teak inboard. In fact, I like that
idea. Thanks for suggesting it! ;)
As for the turrets, I've fiddled with a more "period-accurate" turret--the
HG mounts on _Queen_ really look much more 1920s/1930s (they bring to mind
the mounts on German 1918 battleships--the late constructions).
best
Lindsay
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