So, here's the side of the bridge. Kinda cool how you can see a little interior detail through the windows. Also noticeable in this view are the front spotlights, and the dead fish logo. The logo comes from some Island Extreme Stunts® set, and I thought it looked cool. Besides, it fits my color scheme better than other curved slope bricks. If you happened to notice that the identification number of this ship is the same as the official Lego® Sopwith Camel, well, dang.

This one is a bit of a continuation from the last one. You can see the hydro jets, the conning tower, the starboard engine intake, the starboard diving plane, and plenty of greebling and contouring. Now that I've managed to use starboard twice in a sentence, let's define it. It's just a clever way to say "right". If it was a car, you would call it "passenger side", unless you live in one of those countries where they drive on the left, then it would be the "driver side". Back in the Viking days, the concept of the rudder had not been invented. So they used a rudder-like device called a starboard that hung over the side of the ship. You use it to steer by the stars, got it? Since you can't dock on this side without damaging the starboard, the other side got called "port" to remind everyone. An actual mariner told me that the easy way to remember this is to say "Johnny left port". Ergo, starboard is the other one. I'll try not to get them confused here.

Same view, different angle. So let's talk about those hydro jets. A jet airplane engine works by sucking air in to mix with the fuel, and then pushing the exhaust out the back. Well, this just takes water in the front and pushes it out the back. The reason it provides propulsion is the Venturi effect. As a fluid passes through a bottleneck from a wider area to a narrower area without a change in velocity, you get a change in force. Think about wide quiet streams and fast narrow streams. Or the difference between a bucket of water and water from a fire hose. Anyway, the water goes in the front and moves through a series of progressively narrow pipes, to come out the back with some decent pressure. The effect is that you get some extra propulsion. This propulsion can't be primary, because it requires moving through the water. But if you don't have much power available, the hydro jets can add to your speed. Or, recharge the batteries. Or, power the ship's electrical systems. If you are noticing a slight similarity between the hydro jets and the caterpillar drive in the movie/book "The Hunt for Red October", well, dang.

You may be beginning to notice that some of my bricks aren't as brilliant bright white as brand new. I admit, a lot of my Lego bricks are pretty damn old. Some of the white pieces are almost beige! To prevent you from puking in disgust, I kept those bricks out of the model. But I am not made of money, and many of the bricks in the model are in fact used. Fortunately, I can explain this away as realism. I don't know if you've ever been on a boat before, but the ocean is just one giant corrosive. Salt water rusts things like crazy! Cruise ships can afford to have crews of jump-suited paint-and-bondo guys on hand at all times, so you don't see it much on those. But every other boat has at least 14 coats of primer, paint scrapes, and, if you're lucky, a little marine enamel to make it pleasant. If you sit in one place long enough, you can actually watch things corrode. So considering that at least 1/3 of this boat is brand-spanking new, that's a pretty incredible upkeep from the crew.

Let's talk snot. Studs Not On Top. As you can see, not all the studs are on the top in this model. Also, not all the studs are on the side. Anyway, please notice the use of old-school hinges to create an angled shape on the side of the ship. The side plates are anchored with technic pins on the lower deck walls, so coming up with a neat way to keep the angled plates from flapping in the breeze was kinda tough. I finally decided that rubber bands was the way to go. The provide plenty of tension to hold the sides in place, while being easily removable. When we eventually get around to the living quarters, you'll see why quick-removal is an asset. Well, so the rubber bands also have the added benefit of spanning distances, which is critical for the kind of half-space madness that is going on with snot. White rubber bands are kinda hard to find, so excuse the black ones on the aft sections.

Another really close-up view of the bridge windows, showing some interior detail. This picture is more effective at showing off my photographic skills than showing off the model. But hell, you gotta love that snot layering. Plus, this might be a guide when you start trying to build one for yourself, since specific brick sizes and shapes can be copied at this photographic scale. Knock yerself out, I don't care. By the way, if you see any hairs, take some small comfort in the fact that they come from my head.

Here's a close-up of the starboard diving plane. As you can see from it's uniquely dynamic shape, it is designed to direct water flow around it, just like an airplane's wing. By rotating the plane up or down, you can control the angle at which the ship submerges and surfaces. Which is important. This thing should never be put in or under water, but I assure you that the planes are completely adjustable in both directions. While we're here, let's talk lighting. I photograph in my kitchen because I bought really expensive florescent bulbs for the kitchen, and the light is awesome. But for a photo session like this, I brought in some backup. In case you were wondering, you should never mix light sources. The annoying pinkish glow in this shot is from my drawing lamp, which uses true-color incandescent bulbs. Incandescent + florescent = bad light.

I dig the focus on this shot of the aft (back to all ye landlubbers). This is actually the bay window from the crew dining room. As you can see, it is built with an interesting collection of trans dark blue bits. And let me tell you, getting those 6x3x1 windshields to stand upright and be flush was a PAIN. The lights are just for effect, so the diners don't see nothing but black when deep underwater. Way out of focus here is the main engine room.

The conning tower. Which I should probably not call that, since it isn't really one. A conning tower is the sticky-up part of the submarine that serves as an observation deck. The door is through the tower. Well, in that respect, I got it right. Notice, in trans dark blue, the main entrance. Also notice the awesome out-of-focus railing constructed of cropped flex tube, and the conspicuous black rubber bands.

So now you know why we're on top of the refrigerator - to demonstrate the anchor. The anchor can be reeled in, let out, and everything in between. If you're wondering why I didn't use the traditional blue anchor (which can be found in the Gungan Sub set), well, because it doesn't weigh anything. I constructed a reasonably heavy anchor with technic bits and chained it in. It could go down much farther - out of the picture in fact! Again, an interesting mix of florescent ambient light, incandescent key lights, and a halogen spot. On my freshly-wiped refrigerator. Also, this is the only view which shows all 3 propellers.

This is probably called an oblique view by people who know anything about perspective. Anyway, you get to see the torpedoes (!), the front lights, the "windshield", and the diving planes in all their obtrusive glory. Plus, the color is pretty good, and the focus is realistic. Only problem is the spaghetti of wiring behind it, and the recycling center on the right. You may have noticed that this model uses a lot of hinges, even when they aren't used to provide active hinging. Well, that can happen.

A somewhat less oblique view, which serves only one purpose - to spotlight my Lego anal-retentiveness. You may have noticed that the gigantic dome pieces, like this one, have a strange little hole at the base, near the hinge attachment. Well, the pilot would drown with a hole in the windshield! So I used some interesting hinges to cover this rectangular misfeature. Additionally, the technic hole at the apex is covered by a round 1x1. Overall, I worked hard to eliminate any potential water hazards in this model.

What a swell view of the top-front of the ship! The cargo bay doors, the front of the conning tower, a classic-Space relic, and decent lighting. That strange antennae thing at the lower-left is a GPS receiver. I've been on boats before, and that's what they look like. So no complaints. The contouring and venting you see in this shot is purely aesthetic - I have no explanation for any of it, except that it looks neat.

A close-up of the signal board. Not very realistic, I admit. The ships I have seen have tall and dense arrays of interesting lights. But how could I resist a perfect shot of the classic-Space relic? In a perfect world, I would have a big logo to paste across that perfect white space on the tower, but after using the dead fish logo so many times, it just wasn't meant to be.

Another swell view of the entrance door, and the back deck. Not much to say here, except "Gotta love that flex tube", and "Holy crap, I could afford a new car if I didn't spend so much money on white hinges!"

The meat of any vessel - its propulsion system. We have one giant main drive with a 3-blade propeller at the back (featuring some train element greebling). Then there are additional engines on both sides with 2-bladed propellers. Since the ship has no rudder, it uses the port and starboard drives to turn. Switch one off to turn, and switch it to reverse to decrease the turning radius. Hardcore manuevering in this thing is kinda complicated, and requires a lot of patience. Fortunately, most movement is in straight vectors.

Finally, we have a nice view of the ass - whoops, I meant aft - of the ship. The anchor is dragging on the range, the exhaust manifolds are clearly visible, and bits of all 3 propellers are in view. Plus, we get a nice reverse oblique view of the starboard of the ship. Why no views from the port side? Because it is exactly the same as the starboard, except at the anchor chain mechanism (next chapter). Enjoy the nifty complex greebling on the back of the main drive.