HMS Surprise by Vincwat - scale 1/69 - Lego

[Vincwat]

Hello everyone,

 

I am a new member. I have recently joined the forum and introduced myself here 👇

 

I am starting a new construction log for a well known ship the HMS Surprise.

 

It took me some reflexion and thinking to settle on that ship. So one might ask how i decided to build her and not another one.  I am passionate by the islands of Polynesia. After a tchat with a colleague about Polynesia, the Bounty and the mutineers' descendants I started reading books about the discovery of these islands. Among them the excellent " The discovery of Tahiti" written by Dolphin's master George Robertson. One thing led to another, i found myself dragged into Patrick O'Brian serie and voilà.

 

The HMS Surprise seems like a perfect choice for a lego construction. It is both an historical and fictional ship allowing for a personnal creation that will fit the restrictions imposed by the famous bricks.

 

I have been through a lot of research online to find information about the ship.

So far, this page has been of great help :

http://www.jotika-ltd.com/Pages/1024768/Research_Surprise_01.htm

 

So was this log by David @Navis Factorem what a magnificient work !

 

 

What is the next step for me ?

 

Well I am gonna start creating a virtual model of the ship using Studio 2.0 a Lego creation software.

It seems to me a mandatory step so that i have a better idea of the parts needed before i order them online through various second hand shops and individuals.

 

Do i need help ?

 

Yes ! So far i am struggling with the ship measurements. So if anyone can give me a better understanding of these numbers :

 

The real Surprise was built as the French L'Unite from August, 1793, to April, 1794, at Le Havre, captured by the Royal Navy on April 20, 1796, and taken into service as the Surprise.  Her specifications (taken from page 225 of Rif Winfield's "British Warships in the Age of Sail. 1793-1817", Chatham Publishing, 2005) were as follows:

 

Length:  126' 0"

Keel:  108' 6 1/8"

Breadth:  31; 8"

Depth:  10' 1/2"

Tons burthen:  578 73/94

 

Once I have a better idea of the ship's dimension i can compare it to the Lego hull parts and figure out the scale.

 

This is as far as I have been so far.

 

Vincwat

Edited January 13 by Vincwat

[Vincwat]

Hello,

 

This is my first construction report.

 

Using the frigate's dimensions found online I have worked out the scale that I am gonna use for the ship.

The ship is about 10m wide and 38,4m long on the gundeck. Using the Lego hull parts as a base, it is the width of the ship that dictates the scale.

I can get it to about 14,4cm for 10m. So it is a scale of 1/69.

Using that scale the 38,4m lenght would be 55,3cm. I am probably gonna be a bit longer than that. But not far off.

 

In the meantime I have been working on a basic hull shape. I have tried different options, many that didn't work, either too complex or too fragile.

 

I have now found something that should work and used other Lego construction as an inspiration.

 

Here is the result using the bow and a first hull section.

 

Let me know what you think.

 

 

[Vincwat]

A quick update. After some trial and error i think that I am now more or less confident with the direction I am taking.

I am starting with the berth deck.

I have been working on the sick bay and the dispensary.

Would the beds have been facing the other direction ?

Edited January 15 by Vincwat

[Sailor1234567890]

Check out Master and Commander, there are at least a few scenes in Surprise's Sick berth. They'd have been laid up in hammocks slung fore 'n aft. I look forward to seeing how she turns out. Not sure there are many (any even) lego builds on the site. I think Lego is one of, if not the greatest toy ever designed. Make sure the good Doctor's coca leaves are well secured against those millers to be onion-sauced.

[Vincwat]

10 hours ago, Sailor1234567890 said:

Check out Master and Commander, there are at least a few scenes in Surprise's Sick berth. They'd have been laid up in hammocks slung fore 'n aft. I look forward to seeing how she turns out. Not sure there are many (any even) lego builds on the site. I think Lego is one of, if not the greatest toy ever designed. Make sure the good Doctor's coca leaves are well secured against those millers to be onion-sauced.

Thank you so much for your reply. I have already changed it.

I am working on the officer's quarters and storage area.

Next will be berth deck access and ceiling.

[Javelin]

I guess your shape is as close as you'll get considering the angle of the sloped bricks. I'd think the hull would be somewhat higher compared to the beam of the ship. 

Here are some pics from an event in Antwerp a few years ago. Perhaps you can gain some inspiration from these. Hadn't really studied them until I saw your topic. Unfortunately they are somewhat blurry.

 

 

 

 

[Ian_Grant]

This is very cool! I am gobsmacked by those lego ships!  Never heard of Lego creation software either; I now plan to have a play with it.

 

I am now following to see what you come up with.

Edited January 18 by Ian_Grant

[Ferrus Manus]

@Ian_Grant I did some Lego models on a cad software a couple years ago, and i thought they were pretty cool. Would you like to see mine? @Vincwat, your Surprise is coming along nicely! 

[Ian_Grant]

There needs to be a new topic "Lego Ships".

[Vincwat]

19 hours ago, Ferrus Manus said:

@Ian_Grant I did some Lego models on a cad software a couple years ago, and i thought they were pretty cool. Would you like to see mine? @Vincwat, your Surprise is coming along nicely! 

I would love to see your models made on CAD. Bring them on please 🙂

 

[Vincwat]

19 hours ago, Javelin said:

I guess your shape is as close as you'll get considering the angle of the sloped bricks. I'd think the hull would be somewhat higher compared to the beam of the ship. 

Here are some pics from an event in Antwerp a few years ago. Perhaps you can gain some inspiration from these. Hadn't really studied them until I saw your topic. Unfortunately they are somewhat blurry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have looked at various models online and even found some plans for a very nice one.

I am using these to help me for the bow and stern and the junction with the Hull. Compared to most models that I have seen I am trying to get a ship with a better hull width and lenght balance.

 

I am also trying to design a more or less faithful berth deck where most models start with the gundeck.

 

[Vincwat]

I am nearly done with the berth deck. Next I must start looking at the gundeck floor and keep building the hull.

 

 

[Ferrus Manus]

A first-century Roman grain ship:

The Hanseatic carrack "Maximilian"

German windjammer:

 

[mtaylor]

On 1/15/2024 at 3:26 PM, Sailor1234567890 said:

Check out Master and Commander, there are at least a few scenes in Surprise's Sick berth. They'd have been laid up in hammocks slung fore 'n aft. I look forward to seeing how she turns out. Not sure there are many (any even) lego builds on the site. I think Lego is one of, if not the greatest toy ever designed. Make sure the good Doctor's coca leaves are well secured against those millers to be onion-sauced.

I think we've had about 2 Lego ship builds but not sure.  Rare creature indeed.

[Ferrus Manus]

Honestly, i think of Lego as a legitimate modeling medium. I didn't know Lego models were even considered legitimate here, that's why i haven't made a build log for one. 

[mtaylor]

7 hours ago, Ferrus Manus said:

Honestly, i think of Lego as a legitimate modeling medium. I didn't know Lego models were even considered legitimate here, that's why i haven't made a build log for one. 

A quick search...  https://modelshipworld.com/search/?&q=lego&quick=1&item=32679&search_and_or=and&search_in=titles&sortby=relevancy   

[hamilton]

My 10-year old loves this! As do I - seems to me that there is a serious challenge in knocking a lego period ship together - will you supply build instructions for those of us who might want to follow in your footsteps? I know that's a tall order so please don't take me seriously (though I am a little bit serious)....Lego released a Titanic recently that apart from being as costly as a high end wooden ship kit also looks very cool - would love to see someone document a build of that....

hamilton

[Vincwat]

On 1/20/2024 at 1:24 AM, hamilton said:

My 10-year old loves this! As do I - seems to me that there is a serious challenge in knocking a lego period ship together - will you supply build instructions for those of us who might want to follow in your footsteps? I know that's a tall order so please don't take me seriously (though I am a little bit serious)....Lego released a Titanic recently that apart from being as costly as a high end wooden ship kit also looks very cool - would love to see someone document a build of that....

hamilton

 

Hello,

Thank you for your message. I am glad to hear that your son loves it. My son loves it too.

 

It is a serious challenge. It is only recently that i started building Legos again, I still have all the parts and instructions of the sets I played with as a child.

But building a ship is something else. And in these last 25 years so many new parts have been created that I have never seen nor manipulated.

 

As per the instructions. One thing at a time . But why not ?

[Vincwat]

Design/construction update.

 

Last week I decided to sort all my Lego pieces in cases with adjustable compartments. That being done, I decided to build a small portion of hull in order to see how much space is needed for the guns.

 

Bear in mind, that this is just a research build. Colors, parts, are not final.

But now I know the space needed for the guns, more importantly their height.

 

 

[Vincwat]

What do you think of this hull concept ?

 

I love it but I am not sure it can work.

[ccoyle]

47 minutes ago, Vincwat said:

I am not sure it can work.

 

Me neither. Legos are not my area of expertise (and my childhood was marred by having a set of knock-off building bricks that were not nearly as functional).

[Ian_Grant]

The tumblehome looks great!  Judging by your bow, they must have a bazillion fancy shapes now.

 

When I was a kid you built your airplanes with rectangular bricks and pretended they were streamlined. The most we had was bevelled bits intended for sloped roofs, and 90 degree bend pieces fitting onto a 2x2 area, no custom colours. I remember watching my kids with specialized kits for the space shuttle, star wars, harry potter, etc and thinking they (Lego) had taken all the imagination out of it.

[Vincwat]

A quick update : I have been working on the gundeck floor, guns and the bow.  I am still not 100% sure about the staircases size.

But it is moving in the right direction. I siometimes find myself limited by the parts availability in certain colors or by the price. Some parts are available in a lot of colors but the price can be 10x higher.

Lego's guns are very nice but too big and since the Surprise was equipped with caronnades I looked for a self made option that is shorter.

 

Here is the result so far :

[hamilton]

I think it looks good so far - curious how you'll approach the stern framing - from my son's collection, I know there are pieces that feature compound arches that might work for this purpose - interesting build to be sure!

hamilton

[Vincwat]

Hello everyone 👋🏼,

 

Work and family have taken most of my time lately so I haven't been able to work much on my replica and post about it.

But in the meantime i have built Legos. That has enabled me to get the grasp of some parts I have never used before.

 

I have change the stairs. They take less space, use less parts and look better.

But the biggest change is the stern. I have looked at other creator's ships and tried to replicate what they have done.

 

Let me know what you think.

 

Pictures are below 👇🏼

[Vincwat]

Hello everyone,

 

Winter is coming in Belgium. It gives me more time to spend on my HMS Surprise.

I have bought the parts I will need to build the hull and I should be able to start in a couple of days.

In the meantime, I have kept on working on the guns. They looked fine, but I realised there was a construction flaw. So I am spending time with real parts to find a design that would suit the ship's scale.

 

Expect more photos soon.

 

Vincent

[Vincwat]

I have worked on the guns for my ship. I have come down to 3 designs that could work. I wanted to get more accurate colors, using images I could find online from the HMS victory. But not all Lego parts are available in all colors.

 

Here is the result :

 

I personnaly prefer the one on the right on the first image (left on the last 2 images).

[Javelin]

Not sure, from the first angle, I'd probably prefer the right one, however in the second shot, the right one is much less bulky than the other two. I know the wheels are equally spaced, but the narrower carriage looks better. 

 

So in the end, I don't know....Definitely not the middle one.

[Vincwat]

Hello everyone,

 

It may look like I am not working on this project. But it is quite the opposite.

I have recently purchased Lego parts in order to start building the ship's hull. But I was not happy with the result.

I am going to pause the build and design for a little while. I need to do more research and I need to learn the right building techniques.

 

I will keep you posted when I can take over this project.

[Vincwat]

If some of you are wondering why I have taken the decision to pause and explore other build methods, here is the reason :
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjFyaucj5Xk