Garmadon Posted July 15, 2017 The Secret of the 8 Provinces - Prelude The Secret of the 8 Provinces - 1st Chapter The Secret of the 8 Provinces - 2nd Chapter The Secret of the 8 Provinces - 3rd Chapter The Secret of the 8 Provinces - 4th Chapter The Secret of the 8 Provinces - 5th Chapter The Secret of the 8 Provinces - 6th Chapter The Secret of the 8 Provinces - 7th Chapter The Secret of the 8 Provinces - 8th Chapter The Secret of the 8 Provinces - 9th Chapter The Secret of the 8 Provinces - 10th Chapter (that would be this!) (Picture by Captain Braunsfeld... obviously. ) Captain Cookie continued: And so, you see, the Red Fandango set sail with Old Captain Argentum's Sparkle and a fine crew of misfits for the cove where he thought he'd find the shipwreck and treasure of the 8 Provinces. And no, he didn't happen to meet any Oleanders on his voyage, much to the old Captain's chagrin when he heard it. All was calm and tranquil in the underwater cove. The fish, sharks, and other underwater beasties did their usual... things. The luscious coral vegetation moved back and forth with the slight current. Suddenly, the Red Fandango swam into the scene. He looked around admiringly at the seascape that stretched out before him. ("That was his Corrie instinct, you see," Captain Cookie remarked aside.) Then he looked serious. Down to business. ("I may as well mention at once that the Red Fandango had become an absolute master at holding his breath. I hear that he only had to go up for a breather once during this whole procedure. I believe I've heard that he was taught the art by a monkey.") The Red Fandango sat down and pulled out his map (the last, most specific one), which he had had enclosed in glass for the expedition. He looked up excitedly - this was the place! ("That's when he lost a breath in his happiness and had to go up again, you know.") Then he glanced around. There was nothing there! Captain Cookie made a long pause. "And?" Lady de Summer finally put in. "Well, actually there was something there. A cannonball sat in the center of the ocean floor, one last remnant of the devastating battle which took place there. The Red Fandango glanced around. History could have been very different." Captain Cookie made another pause, and ate a bit of the cookie he held in his hand. "But he didn't see it. I hope you didn't get your hopes up. History stayed the same (except it hadn't happened yet, of course)." "So that was the right place?" Lady de Summer asked. "What had happened to the wreck and the treasure?" Captain Cookie looked up. "No, he replied, it wasn't the right place. A monkey had just placed the cannonball in a conspicuous place there about two minutes before. But as I said, after all it didn't matter, because the Red Fandango didn't see it anyways." "And what happened to him?" Lady de Summer put in. "Well, there isn't much left to tell," Captain Cookie remarked. "We left him standing there astonished. But he was a quick thinker, and soon concluded that he must be in the wrong place. And thankfully for him, he was a quick swimmer too. "Swim away!!!" And that was how the Red Fandango finished his first attempt to find the wreck of the 8 Provinces. Once again the sharks and fishes were left in sole possession of the scene, and the corals and florae were left to themselves in peace. But that was not the end... To be continued. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My section of this story collab with Kai and Captain Braunsfeld (to move along Captain B's awesome storyline - he's taking a vacation for a few days ). I had been wanting to do a underwater All-LEGO scene for a while though and had had some ideas, and so I put them all to use here - and I really like how they turned out! The curved background filled with studs seemed like the easiest way to go for an all-scene without an unlimited amount of pieces (and time!), and I also tried out my water technique here with all sorts of pastel colors underneath the trans-clear instead of just the usual blues. Altogether I think I'd have to say it is of the the most fun and one of my favorites builds I've done yet! One last shot at a slightly higher angle (In case that wasn't already enough of them ): Thanks for viewing, C&C are certainly welcome! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Elostirion Posted July 15, 2017 ABSOLUTELY PHAENOMENAL! It really seems as if there was water and everything is floating/swimming in there! WOW! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kai NRG Posted July 15, 2017 Epic job man, one of my favorites of your builds! So colorful - I love the vegetation and all the animals and the floor is brilliant! Great work on the posing and story too. I really like the map in the glass case. And the background with the lighter blue at the top is like Elostirion says - phenomenal! I stand by my opinion that the trans-clear bricks give something of the feel of the glass wall of an aquarium, but for all that, this is one of the best underwater scenes I've ever seen! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bodi Posted July 16, 2017 Nice aqua-scene! And it's not under water, unbelievable! Nice job Garmadon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Braunsfeld Posted July 16, 2017 Thanks a lot for this extraordinary underwater scene. This has turned out to be another great collaboration. I would never have imagined so many colours and so much action - and it is great how the water gets brighter towards the surface. Pity for the Red Fandango though. He was so close to finding ... something. So many questions still to answer in this storyline ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jacob Nion Posted July 16, 2017 All those cliff hangers! And Game of Thrones is ahead too. I'm going to die by heart attack. Your task on that underwater look is magnificent. It's definitely a bold move to cover the ground with transclear plates. But it works so well, that I'm glad you dared to try it. It adds something enchanted to the atmosphere. Also the background and the wonderful effect the light source in the middle has. Amazing work! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ayrlego Posted July 17, 2017 I love the colours in this build and the way you have covered them in trans clear plates is a really effective method of muting them slightly but not detracting from the brightness (if that even makes sense!). The background is also fantastic. Some many 1x1 round plates that I didn't even notice you'd used at first. Fantastic job overall - an underwater scene that will be extremely difficult for anyone to match! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Slegengr Posted July 18, 2017 This is one of the most stupendous underwater scenes I have ever seen built in LEGO form, Garmadon! The coral and animals are fantastic, but the background is by far the best part! The appearance from the color shift in the water background is just phenomenal! I must agree with others that the trans-invisible bricks are a bit too regular and show too much, but I do not have a better suggestion, so I will just continue to enjoy the beautiful view! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Capt Wolf Posted July 18, 2017 Fantastic underwater scene! The use of color and the translucent plates, as others haven mentioned, is stunning. If I ever do an underwater scene, I will be referring back to this build for tips and inspiration! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Garmadon Posted July 18, 2017 Thanks all, really glad you all like it! On 7/15/2017 at 3:34 PM, Elostirion said: ABSOLUTELY PHAENOMENAL! It really seems as if there was water and everything is floating/swimming in there! WOW! Thanks Elos! I find those vines especially great for showing underwater currents and suchlike - and for holding fish and other things in place! Really glad the underwater feel comes across so well! On 7/15/2017 at 4:10 PM, Kai NRG said: Epic job man, one of my favorites of your builds! So colorful - I love the vegetation and all the animals and the floor is brilliant! Great work on the posing and story too. I really like the map in the glass case. And the background with the lighter blue at the top is like Elostirion says - phenomenal! I stand by my opinion that the trans-clear bricks give something of the feel of the glass wall of an aquarium, but for all that, this is one of the best underwater scenes I've ever seen! Thanks a lot Kai, it'd definitely rank pretty high up there among my personal favorites too! Certainly a nice step-up from my previous one, both in parts I had available and in techniques, though I did steal a bunch of the plant designs from that earlier one here... Happy to see that someone noticed the story too! On 7/15/2017 at 8:53 PM, Bodi said: Nice aqua-scene! And it's not under water, unbelievable! Nice job Garmadon. Thanks mate! On 7/16/2017 at 3:03 AM, Captain Braunsfeld said: Thanks a lot for this extraordinary underwater scene. This has turned out to be another great collaboration. I would never have imagined so many colours and so much action - and it is great how the water gets brighter towards the surface. Pity for the Red Fandango though. He was so close to finding ... something. So many questions still to answer in this storyline ... Thanks for the kind comment, Captain B, and thanks for getting me to do this now in the first place! Collabs are definitely great fun, hope we can do more in the future! A great deal of excellent underwater pictures capture the light flowing in from the surface - which I've always found one of the most awesome things about underwater shots - so I really wanted to try the same thing out here in a build! Glad you like it! So he was! Too bad... On 7/16/2017 at 4:12 AM, Jacob Nion said: All those cliff hangers! And Game of Thrones is ahead too. I'm going to die by heart attack. Your task on that underwater look is magnificent. It's definitely a bold move to cover the ground with transclear plates. But it works so well, that I'm glad you dared to try it. It adds something enchanted to the atmosphere. Also the background and the wonderful effect the light source in the middle has. Amazing work! Just don't actually do it! Thanks very much, Jacob, it was definitely a bit of an stretch out into unknown territory with those transclear plates, but it always has worked so well for water for me that I knew I'd have to give it a try here! Thanks again, glad you've enjoyed it! 22 hours ago, Ayrlego said: I love the colours in this build and the way you have covered them in trans clear plates is a really effective method of muting them slightly but not detracting from the brightness (if that even makes sense!). The background is also fantastic. So many 1x1 round plates that I didn't even notice you'd used at first. Fantastic job overall - an underwater scene that will be extremely difficult for anyone to match! I think it does - maybe... Thanks Ayrlego, it was a lot of fun to pull out all those neat, rarer, pastel colors and use them all in a build together like this! The 1x1 round plate technique is so common for water that I'm somewhat surprised no one seems to have used it like this before - but it definitely does take quite a lot of them for a background like this! I think I used every one in my possession except a few ones that had strayed off here or there Thank you! I was actually originally hoping to build something like this as a base to stick this build (what ended up getting built for it) on top of for Category D of the last challenge (the Garveyians in their devices would have been in the underwater part, cutting a hole in the ship's hull) - that didn't work out, obviously, but it may be a good thing as after that water there's no way I'd have had enough trans-blue rounds left! 2 hours ago, Slegengr said: This is one of the most stupendous underwater scenes I have ever seen built in LEGO form, Garmadon! The coral and animals are fantastic, but the background is by far the best part! The appearance from the color shift in the water background is just phenomenal! I must agree with others that the trans-invisible bricks are a bit too regular and show too much, but I do not have a better suggestion, so I will just continue to enjoy the beautiful view! Thanks a lot, Slegengr! It was quite some fun! Yes, I'd have to agree - I think maybe larger trans-clear panels, like this or something of the kind, might help with all those studs, though there would still be a few even with those. As it happens I have none of those pieces, though... 2 hours ago, Capt Wolf said: Fantastic underwater scene! The use of color and the translucent plates, as others haven mentioned, is stunning. If I ever do an underwater scene, I will be referring back to this build for tips and inspiration! Thanks Capt Wolf! It's always great to be able to inspire others - and I'd love to set off a bunch of underwater scenes with this one! We really haven't seen too many of those, though, and it'd be great to have more underwater builds in BoBS! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ArchitectureFan Posted July 18, 2017 Amazing underwater scene - very colourful! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Dee Posted July 18, 2017 Fantastic creation. It looks wonderful. The colors and build techniques are very nice, and this will be an excellent underwater build for future reference. The central portion of the water in particular looks perfect. One tip: you might want to check your tags on Flickr - specifically the second one. Excellent work. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ayrlego Posted July 18, 2017 Congrats on getting blogged on TBB! Well deserved! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Maxim I Posted July 19, 2017 Absolutely wonderfull! Great job with all the colours and fauna and flora! Your tactifull use of trans pieces to cover everything makes it so real-life-likey :) Congratz! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
