Ships & Stuff

2. My Tall Ships I built ships for a brief period of months in 1990 following the appearance of Lego's #6285 Black Seas Baracuda (see right). This was not only a good looking little ship, but the hull came in sections [bow, 3 mid and stern] which immediately lent to the notion of stringing more mid-sections together to make longer ships. As usual, the rest is history: From September to November 1990 I obsessed about ships - searching the local library for books of historic galleons, frigates, merchant ships, warships, etc. The results of those exciting months are shown below. I visited the local fabric store and bought sailcloth so I could make my own "authentic" sails.


The U.S.S. Constitution was built in Boston in 1798 and served well in the War of 1812.	"Old Ironsides" had 30 24- pound cannon which helped her defeat the Guerriere and Java. My model has but 26.	The three longboats and the sail configuration are among my favorite features of this historic warship.


The Sovereign of the Seas was built for Charles I of England in 1637 for £65,586, a huge sum in those days, but...	It was the largest ship in the world at 172' long and with a beam of 46'. Her 100 cannon rendered her unbeatable...	Until a lighted candle started her afire in 1696. My model sports just 44 cannon, but is pretty formidible nontheless!

3. Viking Longboat Well, it took almost 16 years, but Lego Group finally got me again - introducing a group of sets in late 2005 featuring Norseman fighting dragons. While the concept was pretty hokie to me (at age 63), the Vikings were a very important influence in Northern Europe for several centuries, particularly from about 793 to 1050, and the smallish Viking longboat in set #7018 [see right] was intriguing.

The Vikings from Norway and Denmark played a large role as invaders, but were also traders and settlers, founding York in England and Dublin in Ireland. They founded the strong Kingdom of Normandie in Northern France, becoming powerful enough to conquer England in 1066 under King William. Vikings from Sweden founded Kiev in Russia.

Their ships were flat bottomed and thus able to sail far up many rivers, extending their influence far beyond the coastlines. Decorations were as intricate and delicate as the Norsemen were fierce. The last two pictures below are illustrative of a typical Viking longboat.


Vikings at sea	A Lego hull section (both bow and stern)	A typical Viking longboat	Intricate cravings on the stern


....	... ..	.....	....


My first attempt at shipbuilding was a 32-gun ship I called a frigate.	The frigate doubled the number of mid- sections to six...	and was a wonderful vessel upon which to whet my appetite!


My longboat utilizes 5 mid-hull sections	It has 22 oars for propulsion in addition to the sail	The stern has both the rudder and the anchor


The longboat is currently manned by 26 Vikings	A small boat is available	Drink and hot food are available for the long trips