USS Defiant, a 36-gun Frigate, circa the War of 1812.
About this creation
Presenting the USS Defiant, a 36-Gun Frigate. Loosely based on the real-life vessels USS Chesapeake, Constellation, and, of course, the famous Constitution. She's armed with 26-cannon (representing 18- or 24-lb Long guns), 2 brick built Long 9-lb cannon as chase guns, and 8 brick built Carronades. In these photos, the Defiant is restocking her supplies in preparation for more commerce raiding against the British during the War of 1812 (you know, that little war everybody forgets about because that little Frenchman was running around Europe with his hand in his jacket at the same time?).
This has been in the works for quite sometime. I originally got the idea to build her last year while I was deployed. Needless to say, that didn't happen, but the idea stayed around. I finally got around to actually starting the project about a month ago, and began by buying the pieces I thought I'd need. The Defiant is built around two LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean Black Pearl sets, along with plenty of LEGOs from my collection. My biggest deficiency was in cannon, and if anybody here lost out on Ebay auctions of LEGO cannons, sorry, it was for a good cause. I was really hoping to have the Defiant finished closer to the anniversary of the USS Constitution/HMS Guerriere duel, but I didn't have the her photo-ready (at least in my opinion) until the last couple days. Eventually I'd like to have another ship built, and have a diorama of the two ships slugging it out, but for the moment, the Defiant will have to do.
EDIT: I can't believe I forgot this, but I would like to thank the following builders/creations for inspiration on this MOC:
Captain Green Hair, and his frigate building tutorial.
Wes Van Del, and his HMS Praetorian
Anders T, and his HMS Lively Class 5th Rater
^----Marines on Parade. The Marine Lieutenant has arranged for the Defiant's Captain to inspect a squad of Marines. Behind him, the Defiant's First Lieutenant and Ship's Master are paying a local merchant for the supplies they are loading.
^---- One of the Defiant's boats, bringing some sensitive cargo aboard. The cargo is under the charge of the Second Lieutenant, and is being guarded by a Marine.
^---- A "businessman" is showing his wares to a few members of the crew. Needless to say, a few crewmen that should be busy are shirking their duties to stare.
^---- The "Businessman" and his wares.
^----Drinking while others work? After (or rather, during) a long day, this sailor found a good way to relax.
^---- Loading a ship is hard work. While the dock does have a crane, it is too small and short to be much help for a ship as large as the Defiant. That means that the majority of the cargo must be carried aboard, under the watchful, if young, eyes of the Defiant's Midshipmen (guys with white rimmed top hats).
^---- The Defiant by herself, and with no crew. When I rigged the sail plan, I tried to duplicate the appearance a Frigate would have as she sailed into battle. The Mainsails would have been furled to keep from catching fire, and the ship would have relied on the smaller upper sails for propulsion and maneuver.
^---- The Captain's cabin. I liked how it was designed on the LEGO Black Pearl, so I copied the idea for the Defiant.
^---- The Defiant's Figurehead. Originally I intended to name the vessel the Spectre, and use only black in the design. I changed the name, and added the gun-deck stripe, but never changed the figurehead.
^----The only photo I took while building the Defiant. I wanted to show the ship's gundeck fully armed with cannon.
As always, I hope you enjoyed looking at this MOC. Please leave a comment, ask as question, or give the Defiant a good rating. Thanks!
Comments
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I made it |
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September 7, 2012 |
Quoting Sebeus I
Very nice, great curve, there are some odd aspects about it though, the distance between gun ports changes here and there, was that on purpose ?
I also think the stern should have more windows, those two alone are a bit few for a ship this size.
Other than that, great job, she looks fantastic.
Thanks for the comment! I was waiting for someone to notice those two things. The guns were initially going to be evenly spaced out, with 4 studs in between each gun. However, between the "curve" and how many guns I wanted to fit on the gun deck, that wasn't practical. Instead, I tried to keep it to a rough standard, but as you can see, in a few places, the guns are very close together.
As for the stern, I'm still not happy with the way it turned out. Part of the problem was by that point I was scrapping the bottom of the tub in terms of black/white tile pieces, and partially I couldn't think of a good way to close the gaps around the windows if I added another one. Trust me though, the Stern/Captain's cabin will be one of the first things changed during the Defiant's next refit.
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I like it |
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September 6, 2012 |
Awesome!!!!! |
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I like it |
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September 6, 2012 |
Very nice, great curve, there are some odd aspects about it though, the distance between gun ports changes here and there, was that on purpose ?
I also think the stern should have more windows, those two alone are a bit few for a ship this size.
Other than that, great job, she looks fantastic. |
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I like it |
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September 3, 2012 |
Excellent job! |
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Very nice! I have the LEGO's Connstellation, and I have to say that I fell in love with that color scheme immediately. It is great to see a frigate from that era in minifigure scale. An interesting historical subject as well. Keep up the good work! |
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