How to Build Your Own LEGO Ship

Prepare

• 1

  Make a plan before you build. Study types of boats and determine what you would like to build, whether it be a racing catamaran, a motor cruiser or a pirate ship. If you are a LEGO beginner, choose a simple design or plan to keep your model small. If you want a challenge, try to build a replica of a real ship.

• 2

  Determine your limitations. Unless you have a lot of space to display your LEGO boat, you should choose to make a boat less than a foot long and less than a foot tall. Not having enough room to store or display your model can result in accidents that will result in missing pieces.

• 3

  Design your boat. This can be accomplished easily with a pen and graph paper, or with LEGO design software. The software will allow you to virtually build your model and even print instructions before you start.

• 4

  Prepare your workspace. Work in a well-lit area, or bring in a lamp to make sure you have enough light. A towel or a shallow cardboard box (such as a shoebox lid) make excellent working surfaces. Pieces are easily visible on a towel and will not bounce. A cardboard box will keep pieces from getting away from you.

Build Your Model

• 5

  Start with the hull of your ship. The bottom of the hull must be flat, so the boat will be stable, but the front of the boat should project out in a prow, so the boat has a proper shape. With most boat designs, the sides and the rear of the boat can be built as solid, flat walls of bricks. A simple hull design consists of two long narrow hulls for a catamaran. A pirate ship would have a much more complicated hull, growing wider in all dimensions from the bottom of the hull up to the deck. This can be accomplished with several layers of sloping bricks to expand the size of the hull.

• 6

  Assemble the deck onto the hull. This will typically include a cabin, which should be built into the hull so that the floor of the cabin is lower than the deck level. Most boat designs have a cabin in the center of the deck. A catamaran will only have a small cockpit at the rear, with several struts connecting the hulls. A pirate ship would have a small cabin at the front of the ship and a larger cabin at the rear, with a large, open deck plan.

• 7

  Complete the basic model by adding a mast and sails to a sail boat, or a propeller or motor to a motorboat. Masts can most easily be built by using tall LEGO cylinders, common in castle kits, or by using round, 2x2 blocks that form a cylinder, typically used for gas tanks in LEGO models. Remember, you will only be able to build a mast so high and have it continue to be self-supporting. You can use flat pieces of LEGO for sails, or you can cut your own sails from handkerchiefs or pillowcases. Rigging can be made from string or thread. LEGO has several propellers available, but a simple design can also be assembled and attached with several flat strips of LEGO and a single axle for them to attach to.

• 8

  Add your finishing touches before calling the model complete. These would include running lights, a galley in the cabin, a rudder, fire extinguishers and beds. If you built a pirate ship, don't forget the plank.