In 1592 the Japanese Shogun, having united his own country, turned his attention toward the lands beyond his borders, initiating a war with Korea. The Japanese fleet consisted mostly of oar powered fortresses called bune, which were not armed with cannons but relied upon grappling and boarding. The greatest of these bune was the Shogun's flagship, the Nihon Maru. The Nihon Maru was a massive ship, a literal floating castle. Despite its size and intimidating presence, the Koreans had a mighty weapon in their arsenal: the turtle ship. As turtle ships were nearly impossible to board, and were equipped with cannons, the mighty Nihon Maru was holed in the battle of Angolp'o and was forced to sit out the rest of the failed Japanese invasion of Korea.
About this creation
This project was meant to be the capstone of my first year on MOC pages. It is a few weeks late for my first MOCaversary, but I was busy last month moving to a new state and starting a new job.
As the culmination of the last year's worth of projects, this MOC incorporates a technique either developed or refined in all of my major creations of the last year.
The roof on the Nihon Maru is a refinement of the method employed in Ishii Castle. Also borrowed from that creation is a scaled down version of the cherry blossom tree, many of the internal set pieces and the samurai warriors/weapons.
The lower hull of the Maru is based on the technique used originally in the Blimp Bomber, refined and integrated with an horizontal hull in the USS Anchorage, and used again in Steam Punk Civil War. The rudder incorporates design features from the wings on Nyeba
A very important, but difficult to see, design feature is the use of horizontal hull elements. This is a technique that I started using in the HMS Nereid, but which has been present in all of my ships since including: USS Nightingale, USS Anchorage, and now all three of the ship in the present MOC.
The curved upper hull is based on the work I did in Circus Maximus using staggered overlapping plates to hide gaps on a curved surface. This arose partly because of my work on Fort Washburn, when I realized the difficulties associated with angled sections and the gaps that they would create. From Washburn I also developed some of the overlapping deck panel designs used on the upper deck of the Maru. With the Maru I added an additional layer to give texture to what would have otherwise been a pretty dull looking exterior. The change in slope in the rear was also a tricky feat of engineering that I am proud of.
And there you go, the interior of the mighty palace ship. The fore tower contains the Shogun's suite on the top two levels and the command room on the bottom floor. The aft tower is for entertaining and has servant quarters and a dining hall. The lowest deck is for storage and crew bunks, the second deck is for ship operations, and the third deck is the barracks.
The turtle ship uses a technique which is the culmination of my work on organic articulation: beginning with Smaug and continuing with Nyeba the dragon, and Tortuga. Also, the dragon head at the bow was also based on Zemlya.
I tried my best to get the Korean cannons to look like dragons. In the end I think it was ok, but I could probably be improved upon.
From Cozamalotl I took the thatched roof technique and used it for the reed bottom of the kobaya which is attempting to flank the turtle ship.
And there you go, every creation I've made since I started using MOC pages (basically all of my LDD ones) have all come together in one big MOC. In the end the total parts count makes this my third largest creation, but it exceeds all of the prior ones in terms of complexity and the sheer diversity parts that required integration. I hope that you like it! Feel free to rate, comment, and use any of the design elements here in (with proper citation and links of course).
Acknowledgments:
Background
Other photos:
Korean Turtle Ship
Battle of Angolp'o
Japanese Ship Design
Bricks Used: 19743
Building instructions
Download building instructions (LEGO Digital Designer)
Comments
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May 18, 2013 |
That is incredible! When I first saw this, I was nearly rendered speechless! Everything is picture-accurate , I love the dragon's head, those cannons are perfect, and that was such a clever "thatched hull" technique you came up with! I'd really like to see this in a museum. |
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March 31, 2013 |
I saw that ship on history channel, looks pretty accurate. Really nice build....(you do call the animated ones builds too right?) |
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February 28, 2013 |
Maybe a history museum could sponsor you to buy the bricks and build it to display at the museum... |
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I made it |
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February 11, 2013 |
Quoting Sean Krake
Awesome build! I love all three vessels. I wonder how you can keep focused for so long on these 20k+ piece megabuilds. I've got five or six models getting to be that size, and I can't focus of any of them long enough to do significant work. any way, awesome build, hope to see something new soon!
It certainly isn't easy, and with most of them I reach a point where it takes an act of sheer will to finish them up once all the major technical hurdles are cleared and it is just a matter of finishing up the details. It helps that I usually start with a complete idea in mind and that LDD has a copy and paste feature :D. I've been taking a slight break lately in that I've been releasing smaller builds and spending a lot of my time on other things related to my work and family. Soon though I should be back to the lego grind stone because I have about 6 unfinished LDD projects floating around.
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February 11, 2013 |
Awesome build! I love all three vessels. I wonder how you can keep focused for so long on these 20k+ piece megabuilds. I've got five or six models getting to be that size, and I can't focus of any of them long enough to do significant work. any way, awesome build, hope to see something new soon! |
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December 24, 2012 |
Quoting Tirrell Brown
outsanding on both ships..would you mind if I attempted to build the Nihon irl?
Sure, just as long as you cite my design and link my post. I think that you will run into problems with the color availability of bricks, but as long as you can make some creative substitutions it should work out ok. |
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December 24, 2012 |
outsanding on both ships..would you mind if I attempted to build the Nihon irl? |
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December 15, 2012 |
Wow, thanks! I've never been blogged about before. I'm glad that you have enjoyed my little obscure bit of historical story telling through legos. |
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December 12, 2012 |
Wow. Awesome turtle ship. |
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November 30, 2012 |
I am in awe of your wonderful creation here! This is truly a masterpiece, even if it is "only" virtual. I am also grateful for the history lesson, as I did not know of any of these vessels. Excellently done! |
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November 20, 2012 |
Quoting David Roberts
An incredible display of skill with LDD, both in terms of technical complexity and the size of the build. The Japanese ship must have been very difficult to use at sea. You've captured this perfectly with the big, vertical sides, which you've cleverly got the curves into. The palace on top is a lovely piece of Japanese style Lego. The dome of the Korean ship is amazing, I didn't realise that Lego (especially LDD) could be used to make something this shape. I like the dragon figurehead and cannons too. Great building skills!
Thank you, I appreciate your insightful comment. The dome was tricky, but the more I work with the technique the more I want to try it out in other applications to achieve difficult shapes, like a tall ship from the age of sail. I'd love to get your feedback on those projects as they develop. |
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November 20, 2012 |
Quoting StoveTop Creator
I absolutely love this! What an accomplishment for you! I read alot on history of technology/science and I lived in Japan for 5 years and was forced to take classes in Japanese Culture at school. But, I have never heard of/read about these ships! Thanks for the history lesson! Congrats on a magnificent creation! :)
Thanks, I've always loved obscure bits of history and I started following Japanese history after playing the first Shogun: Total War game and reading the large historical compendium that came with it. That is cool that you lived in Japan, I'll be going there over the holiday for my brother's wedding. I'll be on the look out for architectural inspiration. If you have any recommendations for things to see let me know.
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November 19, 2012 |
An incredible display of skill with LDD, both in terms of technical complexity and the size of the build. The Japanese ship must have been very difficult to use at sea. You've captured this perfectly with the big, vertical sides, which you've cleverly got the curves into. The palace on top is a lovely piece of Japanese style Lego. The dome of the Korean ship is amazing, I didn't realise that Lego (especially LDD) could be used to make something this shape. I like the dragon figurehead and cannons too. Great building skills! |
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I like it |
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October 28, 2012 |
:-O Very well done! Fantastic details on all three vessels. I too like the turtle ship, that is a very unusual design :-) |
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October 8, 2012 |
absolutely magnificent! |
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September 29, 2012 |
*Jaw Hits The Floor*.I would love to have that Turtle Ship in real lego,because I love them(Turtle Ships I mean). |
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September 20, 2012 |
Excellent builds! Always liked those floating fortresses, didn't think I'd ever see one built, but you did it wonderfully! |
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I see. Yeah, that's certainly how LDD shall be used :) On the other hand, my personal collection has never become particulary large. Most of my realized LDD creations needs quite expensive Bricklink orders as I buy most of the parts, sometimes also from the U.S :) |
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September 8, 2012 |
Quoting Dave Benson
You told me about this project a couple of months ago, but man this is bigger than I thought it would be! Why not save up money and realize some of your projects...it´s totally worth watching your own LDD creations on the shelf at home :)
I will, but at the moment I'm saving up money for a house. Once I get the house (and hopefully a room with a lockable door to put my legos in) I can start accumulating bricks again and build thing with real bricks. That process may start next year. Hopefully my second MOCaverary will be in real bricks. In the mean time I plan to hone my technique and get lots of good LDD ideas. I'll probably keep building in LDD even if I do have my bricks back just to plan things and to build things I don't have parts for yet. |
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September 8, 2012 |
You told me about this project a couple of months ago, but man this is bigger than I thought it would be! Why not save up money and realize some of your projects...it´s totally worth watching your own LDD creations on the shelf at home :) |
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I like it |
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September 8, 2012 |
O.o Epic! |
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Chris Melby September 7, 2012 |
Pretty intense design here! Very impressive shape and style! Z |
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September 7, 2012 |
Fascinating! |
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September 7, 2012 |
Quoting Senator Chinchilla .
Epic scale, and the castle certainly looks good. The turtle ship is also amazing, though it could use a 'neck'. Something I've always wanted to see, and now here it is! =)
Funny you would say that, I had originally built it with more of a 'neck' but my wife told me she didn't like it and that it would look more like the original without one. *shrug* everybody has a preference I guess. |
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September 7, 2012 |
Impressive! |
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September 7, 2012 |
These ships are simply amazing! The colors and shapes work together nicely! |
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September 7, 2012 |
Wow, the only thing that could make this better was if ti were real. As far as LDD goes though, this is ace. |
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September 7, 2012 |
Epic scale, and the castle certainly looks good. The turtle ship is also amazing, though it could use a 'neck'. Something I've always wanted to see, and now here it is! =) |
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I like it |
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September 7, 2012 |
I absolutely love this! What an accomplishment for you! I read alot on history of technology/science and I lived in Japan for 5 years and was forced to take classes in Japanese Culture at school. But, I have never heard of/read about these ships! Thanks for the history lesson! Congrats on a magnificent creation! :) |
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I like it |
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September 7, 2012 |
Awesome! |
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September 7, 2012 |
Astounding work! Fantastic choice of topics. Great combo of history and Lego. I have often looked at the turtle boat and thought how it might be captured in Lego, but I never had the resolve to try it. Yours is excellent! I would love to see that shell in actual brick. Attack! |
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