Subject:
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Re: Noobie Asks Questions
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.pirates
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Date:
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Sun, 18 Jul 2004 02:37:17 GMT
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Viewed:
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3338 times
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In lugnet.pirates, Andrew Engstrom wrote:
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And while I’m on this train of thought (I hope you piratical dudes don’t get
especially cross with me), what are a few pointers for a beginning boat
builder? I’ve been looking at some of the featured ships in the sidebar for
ideas, but I’m sure there are secrets hidden in those hulls! Thanks much for
any and all replies!
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Hi Andrew,
I think it’s neat that you’re going to be building pirate ships! I’m not
sure if they will be the “flying” type or the ordinary, “water” types, though :)
If you’re building the “flying” type, I wouldn’t bother building hulls out
of bricks unless they’re small - I tried one many years ago, and it was so heavy
and sagged so much I quickly decided to make it an ordinary ship! I would
probably stick with the the pirate hull variety - they’re smaller and more
sturdy.
If, however, you’re going to be building the waterline hull variety, as most
of us do (pretending that they’re floating in water, that is), then a ship built
out of bricks will have more than enough support to look good AND be playable.
When designing ships, I find pictures - LOTS of them - is most helpful.
Everything from library books, to pictures online, to new books from the
bookstore, to old National Geographic shipwreck articles, to computer games
(Pirates of the Caribbean, anyone?), to books from my collection (the Time-Life
series THE SEAFARERS is excellent), have been put into service when I’ve been
building my ships (don’t forget fine art books, either - many marine and
nautical paintings from centuries past are invaluable). When selecting
pictures, try to find large, isometric, three-quarter view pictures - if not,
seperate side and top views are best, with a bow/stern view helpful as well. I
find nearly always that it’s neccessary to have more than one picture source for
my model - the more pictures, the better.
When building a brick-built hull, I usually gather my necessary deck plates
first to outline it’s size. From this I can outline the bottom plates (often
the same as the deck, but not always - the hull will often sweep inwards near
the waterline, especially at the stern). An easy way to do this is assume a
minifig is six feet tall, and then lay the figure out along the plates for your
desired length and breadth of the hull. Afterwards, I build up the sides of
the hull, usually incorporating some tumblehome (inward curve) to the hull as it
rises. Use your pictures as your guide but don’t be too picky - this is LEGO,
not wooden boat models. Don’t forget to BRACE your ship heavily - every gap in
a deck plate, both top plates and bottom plates, with pillers in between - the
decks have to be sturdy, to support your masts. Start small, to gain
experience. Most of all - have fun! If you find you’re gettting frustrated -
build something else. You can always come back to it later. It’s only a hobby,
after all!
I know this is a lot of information, but I find that with my ships - HMS
Kestrel, and more to be announced soon - this is what works for me. Experiment
- other ways may work for you better.
Hope this helps! (Aarr!)
Aaron
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Noobie Asks Questions
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| Hi guys I was inspired by this flying island: (URL) ...to make one of my own. I haven't built it yet due to space constraints, but I do have a few ideas floating around. ;-) Then I got to thinking I might want to try an airship to go along with it. (...) (20 years ago, 14-Jul-04, to lugnet.pirates, FTX)
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