Tag Archives: Sailing

Pirating takes you to all kinds of places

Builder Deus Otiosus gives us a wonderful island scene of LEGO buccaneers. Pirates make off with a chest full of treasure, heading across the beach to their waiting ship just off the island. It’s a pretty usual day for a band of exploring pirates, and these pirates navigate all the dangers with experience. The build itself is something to behold! The trees are well done with some flexibility for that leaning and swaying of palms. I like the sculpting on those ancient statues on the beach hearkening to LEGO minifigs. The whole ancient ruin is so well crafted there’s a sense of history about it. And of course the pirate ship is just amazing with those curving greens and flex-tubing for the rolled up sails. Overall this is a spectacular pirating build with plenty to explore for curious pirates and adventurers.

Pirates!

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An ocean of adventure in four micro modules

If it hasn’t been clear from past articles I’ve written on here, I am a humongous fan of micro LEGO builds. I probably build within an 8×8 stud area more often than not anymore. And I am absolutely gaga for these connected micro scenes by Louis of Nutwood. Depicting some of the classic tropes from high seas adventures, this quartet of vignettes shows the vessel, the fortress, the kraken, and the remote island. Each of the scenes lives in its own black box, reminiscent of those from the succulents LEGO set. But those boxes are then linked via waterfalls, connecting the disparate parts into a whole story. While there is some excellent parts usage throughout, some of my favorites are the cannons on the fortress and the texture-filled tree design.

Land Ho!

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Cresting the wave of a pirate’s life

Beware any ship what flies the crimson flag! This LEGO ship by Ralf Langer sails on the crest of two seas, ever searching for more riches. The ship is beautifully crafted, but make no mistake–this is a pirate ship! Besides, who says pirates can’t have nice things? The ship is loosely inspired by the Golden Hind, the galleon captained by Sir Francis Drake during his circumnavigation of the globe in the late 16th century. The sails are brick built, allowing for greater detail to capture the way they catch the wind. The ship itself sits atop two curved LEGO seas, elements reused from some of Ralf’s past builds. One has a town under threat of cannon fire, while the other has water stained with blood and a town burning from a pirate attack. The captain’s quarters bear remarkable stained glass windows, and that intricate detailing in the ship’s woodwork is exquisite!

The "Death of a Sailsman" - Model view

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LEGO 40487 Ideas Sailboat Adventure will be available as a Gift with Purchase promotion in August [News]

The winning entry of a contest titled Build that holiday into that holiday! held on the LEGO ideas platform in May 2020 has been made into an official set – the LEGO 40487 Ideas Sailboat Adventure. This fan-selected entry will only be available as a Gift with Purchase (GWP) item in August with a purchase of $200 USD.

LEGO VIP members will have the opportunity to get an early opportunity to grab this it’s opened to members from the 1st to the 3rd of August 2021. Non-members will have access to it from the 04th of August till the 29th. The standard terms of availability only while stocks last are in the fine print as usual. LEGO VIP Membership is free and a good idea to sign up in advance before the promotion goes live.

The set is designed by YC_SOLO and made into a LEGO official set with design modifications as with any winning LEGO Ideas set released.

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The Spectre haunts the seven seas

Sometimes a builder has an idea but waits for years for the right LEGO pieces to come out. In this case, Sebeus I was inspired by the Queen Anne’s Revenge set that came out ten years ago and wanted to build a ship with a dark brown hull. It took all of this time but finally, his vision could be built. Behold The Spectre! He tells us that it wasn’t smooth sailing though as the 1×2 jumper plate still hasn’t been molded in dark brown. A point of pride for the builder is this isn’t a very flashy ship. Much of what people prefer to build are extravagant seafaring craft but an understated ship like this was more common back then. His main sources of inspiration were the Lady Washington and the HMS Bounty. This is clearly a labor of love well worth the long wait.

The Spectre

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This sailboat goes with the motion of the ocean

Barthezz Bricks has a repertoire of highly detailed LEGO dioramas combining land and sea. His latest build is no different, focusing on the historical accuracy of the 15th century Mediterranean tartan ship as a part of a larger ongoing project on 1486 Venice. Let’s dive into some of the techniques used in this build.

Venice 1486 - Fishing Sailship (main)

The composition captures the rhythmic movement of ocean waves with varying shades of blue underneath translucent cheese slopes and 1×1 tiles. A net technique is used to render the waves, a subtle addition that goes a long way. The hull of the ship features a clever use of two-stud 1×4 plates for just the right amount of texture. Other details include a ragged flag made of 1×1 clips, debris caught in the currents and above all, the magnificent sail of the fishing boat. I don’t know what kind of bar-clip magic is happening behind that sail, but it’s certainly holding together for this photo! Using triangle road signs, Barthezz Bricks has pieced together a wonderful tessellated surface for the sail. Overall, there’s splendid dynamism in this diorama– the movement of the ocean, the flag, the fishermen pulling up their crab traps. Now I can’t help but think that some movement in the sail would have been nice to see, but that might be a greater challenge for another day…

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Set sail on this stunning Imperial Trading Ship

I can say with certainty that once the sea gets in your blood, you may spend a lifetime yearning to return to it. I often desire to smell the salt air, to hear the roar of the surf and to feel the unique sensation of being onboard a ship that rocks beneath my feet. Like re-learning to ride a bicycle, once you’ve returned you regain your “sea legs” (ability to walk and work in a forever rocking environment) no matter how old and creaky your bones may get and no matter how far you have traversed from the sea. A builder who goes by the name of Sebeus I likely knows what I mean, as evidenced by this small imperial trading ship. The color scheme follows the sloop from the Imperial Trading Post 6277 set from 1992.

Imperial Trading Ship

Stay tuned to his photostream as he tells us this is merely one small craft that will inhabit an entire island town.

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Leave your troubles on the shore and glide above the sea

It’s certainly not summer yet, even in southern California where it’s still cloudy and stormy. Models like Ted Andes’ streamlined sailboat called the Rhapsody make me yearn for the season’s arrival even more. Although at first glance you might think it’s just your average high-end sailboat, Ted has actually built a futuristic vessel that hovers above the water, almost like a hydrofoil with its white fin-like appendages sticking out from the bottom of the hull.

Rhapsody

Close inspection reveals that the hull and sails are constructed almost entirely from assorted Technic panels, allowing the builder to achieve the sweeping curves of the vessel and the cloth-like appearance of the sails. Let’s also not overlook the expertly constructed wooden deck and classic white coloring with blue and red accents. This boat is sure to awe onlookers on any expedition into the bay, whether it’s hovering or not.

Rhapsody

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“Thought is the wind, knowledge the sail, and minifigurekind the vessel.”

Before Star Wars, pirates were among the original rogues. The LEGO community of RogueBricks decided to do a pirate-themed collaborative build for German fan event, Bricking Bavaria 2018. Builder markus19840420 answered the call with this prodigious pirate ship. His ship is dressed to impress, thanks to the curvature of the hull and custom rigging and sails.

See more views of this fantastically detailed sailing ship

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A sailor’s paradise

What better way to relive that perfect holiday than to recreate it in LEGO! Paul Trach has the right idea, building this stunning Dufour 520 Grand Large yacht bobbing on an azure Caribbean sea. The gradients of blue, created by layering trans-blue tiles over suitably selected black and grey plates, evoke the Antiguan paradise perfectly.

Island Time

The yacth is a beauty too, sleek and elegant, and filled with accurate nautical details. Check out its beautifully laid timber deck, splendidly precise sail and rigging, and plate thin hull. All that’s left to do is kick back and enjoy the scene.

Island Time

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We are sailing

Not content with crafting beautifully curved brick-built hulls, Felipe Avalar has clearly spent ages getting the rigging and sails perfect on these two boats — the Amberle and the Eritria. Felipe says the below-decks areas on each vessel are stuffed full of Technic gears keeping all the lines at appropriate levels of tension. Such painstaking attention to detail is the hallmark of the best LEGO scale modelling — and these craft are great examples. I marvel at the skills of builders who create brick versions of real-world vehicles and buildings. Personally, I tend to build made-up fantastical things, because then nobody can tell me they’re not accurate!

Amberle & Eretria

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HMS Enterprise vs. the Continental privateer Oliver Cromwell

I love a good sea battle. This LEGO scene built by E J featuring two excellent sailing ships — the British HMS Enterprise and the American privateer Oliver Cromwell — I can almost feel the whipping wind, smell the salt spray, and hear the creak and strain of wood, the bellowed orders, and the thunder of the broadside.

HMS Enterprize vs. Oliver Cromwell

Both ships are fully rigged with custom sails and rigging, and worth a closer look.

See more of these great LEGO ships

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