Mini Sailing Ships

Here are my two mini-scale sailing ships.

The ship with the black hull strip is a three-masted, twelve-gun barque. The one with the sand coloured hull strip is a two-masted, sixteen-gun brigantine (these names denote the rigging arrangement of the ship).

Of course I hope that you will use these elegant vessels for peaceful commerce and only fire the guns in self-defence, but if you are looking for more drama then you might want to consider the following scenarios:

1. Hoist a skull and crossbones flag on the black ship and let it be a crew of bloodthirsty pirates in pursuit of an innocent cargo vessel. If you are inclined to piracy, I have provided an optional plank for easy disposal of enemies/prisoners/mutineers/faint-hearted crew members etc.
2. Let one ship be a naval frigate with orders to track down the aforementioned bloodthirsty pirates.
3. Hoist a Union Jack on one ship and the French Tricolour on the other and re-enact a Napoleonic War naval skirmish (or buy a bunch of sets and replicate a major Napoleonic naval engagement!)

These are small models. The hull length is less than 20cm and the distance from tip of the bowsprit to the mizzen boom is less than 30cm. Part count is approximately 280 per ship, so the set will be under 600 bricks.

I used a Lego rowing boat as the basis for both hulls. These ships can be presented with or without sails, and with or without the cannons emerging from the gun ports. I have used standard plates for the sails, though specifically manufactured sails would add a lot more realism. Some black thread rigging would also enhance the scale impact of the models. A tuft of cotton wool makes a surprisingly realistic impact splash or billow of cannon smoke (and can be held in place with a short length of cocktail stick inserted into the cannon).

I envision both ships as a set, though I haven’t been able to construct and present them both together due to parts constraints.