Ship Shape

If you read Minecraft.net a lot, 23 hours a day, seven days a week, including Christmas/your wedding day (like you're supposed to) you've likely noticed that we enjoy our boat builds. We've featured fisher boats, perfect for trying to catch a bite, these Black Sails inspired ships, perfect for your classic pirate, and whatever the heck this awesome boat is supposed to be, perfect for... well, anyone who loves awesome things!

But ace as all these boats are, they might as well be a school of herring when compared with vessels we're featuring today - a fleet of Japanese ships, recreated in meticulous detail!

These ships are the work of Minecraft builder, Yamada-Ken. I first encountered one when I was bobbing through the high seas of Planet Minecraft and found the IJN Battleship Yamato. I was impressed by Yamada-Ken's level of detail, and his smart use of TNT cannons to show the Yamato's might. FIRE!

“Originally, I had an interest in warships and had made efforts to make plastic kits of them,” explains Yamada-Ken to me. “But I found it tiring to paint the kit and so was seeking for another way to enjoy building warships with total flexibility.”

It was Yamada-Ken's search for a more flexible building medium that helped him find our game. “I figured out that Minecraft would be great for building ships since I can start from scratch and I have no limit of which ship I [can] build.”

The restrictions of plastic models gone, Yamada-Ken started considering how to use different aspects of Minecraft to create more detailed ships. “I can use the blocks with the colors I want,” he says. “I could also make interior and fit TNT cannons which cannot be done with plastic kits.”

Click through the slideshow above and you'll see Yamada-Ken's impressive array of naval battleships. But has he ever considered leaving the waters for a different kind of build?

Indeed he has, thanks to interacting with the wider Minecraft community. “Through twitter, I [have] had a chance to be acquainted with those who build huge structures such as castles or traditional shrines in Japan. So I am also interested in building those, although, to me, it looks like it would take much more effort than building warships.”

Not necessarily! For example, the castle I recently built in twenty minutes out of rotten flesh took very little effort. Marsh even said that it looked like I'd “put in no effort at all”. Bah. Everyone's a critic.