BrickPerfection

Thanks a lot for your kind words! Unfortunately the Imperial Soldiers torsos are not available in BDP Series 5, so I cannot simply re-run Minerva. The reason appears to be that the Eldorado Fortress is being retired early, reportedly by the end of 2024. Apparently it didn't sell too well - I could get myself one for A$100 off at the main Sydney Lego Store and even with that 30% discount they didn't sell out. My own theory is that accelerating the retirement of the Eldorado Fortress also gutted Minerva's chances, as BDP Series 4 production / shipping is in mid-2025; i.e. after Eldorado is now set to retire. I might be wrong, but this explanation makes the most sense to me given what we know. Alternatively the piece count was too large - unfortunately I can't really get it down because of proportions: the width is determined by the cannons fitting with closed gunports, and the length follows from there with a 3.5-3.8 ratio (any less and she would look fat!). Keep in mind that BDP has a rule of keeping the average finalist part count at 2500; that alone can sink a 4000pcs design. I might revise Minerva for a future series if I can make her work with the then-available torsos; but for now I need a break. I'll go with a few new designs into BDP Series 5 instead of pouring everything that I have into a single high difficulty, high-risk (& high-reward) design like Minerva. I won't give up on BDP so easily; many of the successful designers have been unsuccessful in ideas for years previously! The main reasons we are getting so many castle sets in BDP are: 1) Popularity: - There's lots of interest from fans; i.e. medieval sets always sell out (so far) which is a major incentive - There are many fan designers building medieval MOCs, and there's also a huge backlog in failed medieval ideas submissions coming to BDP 3) No standalone castle theme - Probably because it's mostly adults buying castle sets, the kids seem to have much less interest unfortunately 2) Minifigures: - There are many great torsos and utensils available from Lion Knight's castle and now even more with the Medieval Town Square - The torso selection for themes other than castle and town is pretty 'meh' to put it mildly and stickers on torsos are not allowed - Reviewers care a great deal about Minifigures that are included in a BDP set (just read / watch them) ->hence you cannot really make a Minifigure-scale set with the 'wrong' torsos and expect it to sell well Should I re-run Minerva in a future BDP Series, I'll advertise it here on the forum! Still, I would appreciate if you could give my new designs for BDP Series 5 a look. They may not be on the same level as Minerva, but they won't disappoint for sure!

I built a new frame from my instructions and posted a picture on my instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/C3UJA2OpDdi/

Thanks! I hope it helps with a few last-minute votes... we haven't had an Imperial Ship since 2009 and probably never a realistic-looking ship that has play functions and fits Minifigures. My old fleet is still in the same old basement in Germany. I'm in Australia now, so have no access. I posted some pictures of how they're stored here.

Thanks for making a poll for this! The Minifigures and details are certainly fantastic, I can think of many MOC ideas making use of them! There's also some very neat storytelling relating the town to the castle! The set itself excites me a lot less though; it looks too simple in terms of how it is built - more like a set designed for kids. On the other hand, the colours are rather realistic historically, but they sure aren't pretty! Even if historical accuracy had been a goal, more beautiful colour combinations could have been chosen! I am really not fond of the olive green, bright red and light blueish grey. Also, why have a stone castle tower inside of a village? As many others have pointed out, there's also a distinct lack of animals, not even a single cow! The 10193 Medieval Market Village had 2 cows, and those are really expensive on pick-a-brick! Overall, I voted 7/10 because I really like the Minifigures and small details.

Your design came out very faithful to the signal tower in your picture! Nice use of those curved liftarms for the supports!

Well, BDP cannot have two Pirate MOCs selected as finalists! We already have a pirate island from series 2. Time for a ship! There hasn't been an imperial ship since the 2009 Imperial Flagship!

Hi all, Minerva is a new MOC, designed purposely to fix any issues / criticism that I could gather from my effort for series 3, Concordia. I posted more here: I did not intend for Concordia to be in Series 4 also; the design was not withdrawn from Series 4 when I asked :( Because some people commented about preferring one or the other, I made a render comparison: I think Minerva clearly wins the comparison. In any case, please vote for Minerva as she is much more buildable - more like a set - and has overall much better chances! Thanks!

Nice to see that you also built it with real bricks! Looks really good! I am just wondering about the accessibility of the seats from the top, might be ok actually with taking out the balconies section.

Gosh, that's really impressive, mixing realistic looks and motorisation like that! I just thought you were building ships, but I guess it's a tribute to what you do for work? Well done!

Thanks, NOD! The barrels actually increase stability because the 2x2 round bricks bend too easily on a 32L axle. Gosh, I miss my MOC Expert Tag - it was overwritten with the Ship Expert Tag more than 10 years ago, probably by accident as you have both! Thanks so much! It's very sweet to hear that you had a look at my fleet from 2013! Achille is older still, from 2010. I consider the first version rather unrefined, but I understand that the more modern rigging (USS Constitution era) and red hull had an appeal. I had major 'dark ages' from 2007-2009 and a much longer one from mid-2013 until early 2022. I would actually like to build something else than sailing frigates at some point (though they are beautiful!), however my mission is not finished yet, and I now consider it my mission to make one into a set! I didn't intent for both ships to be in Series 4, but I was struggling greatly to get Minerva finished in time because I redesigned almost everything on her at least once; the technic frame is actually in it's fifth iteration. So not knowing whether I could get her ready, I submitted the unfinished Minerva and the unchanged Concordia from Series 3 during the submission window. When I did finish Minerva and knew I could re-submit her, I asked for Concordia to be withdrawn, but the BDP Design Team just didn't do it - the reply I got was that she had already been approved for crowd validation. I'll do a direct comparison video with both Concordia and Minerva on the weekend. Apart from better functions and accessibility, Minerva is just a far more refined design and she comes together much more like a Lego set does - in sub-sections that pretty much fall into place. In contrast, Concordia has quite a few rough edges that are more or less inherent to the design; I also have some concerns about the rigging exerting too much force on the hull. On top of this, Concordia's hull eats too many parts, so there's not enough left for sails; her capstan also doesn't come with a string (loose strings are not in the palette). So overall, Concordia is rather unfinished as-is, making her much less likely to get past the review stage. In contrast, Minerva has been built from the get-go to comply with a fairly conservative interpretation of design standards, is far more parts-efficient in how the hull is constructed, especially the sides, and has a build flow that is much more Lego-like if you will (interior colours are white, tan and grey, nothing weird!). On top of that, every part of the interior is easily accessible to fingers, which is a massive plus over most MOC designs and even some sets. Finally, I paid far greater attention to interior details - the captains chair is a novel design, as are the small stairs and galley - and to the crew composition - every character has a designated role, there's enough weapons in storage for the crew and some (4 or 5, depending how you count) crew members have female faces for role-play.

Minerva is a fast frigate whose sole purpose is to keep the Oceans safe from those Pirates, and dare I may say a ship that has been sorely missing in the LEGO World. She comes with 12 Minifigures and one small cat to keep the food supplies safe from rats. Please Vote Now () at BrickLink.com if you would like for her to be produced as part of the BrickLink Designer Program: https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-4/1451/Imperial-Frigate-Minerva Minerva is a highly efficient design, which is to say that it does a lot with its 4000 pieces. Although the design is ambitious, I have paid close attention to making it as buildable as possible. What I can definitely guarantee is that you’ll come across plenty of interesting techniques as well as those sweet moments where sections come together and fit just perfectly - just have a look at Minerva’s stern. Minerva has several features that make her highly playable and friendly to Minifigures, as demonstrated in this video: Please Vote (): https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-4/1451/Imperial-Frigate-Minerva Thanks a lot!

Thanks! Wonderful! Thank you!

Concordia has now been built with real bricks and many improvements were made! Please vote and leave a comment: https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-3/1167/Imperial-Frigate-Concordia

Thanks! It would be great if you could perhaps also state that it's for the BrickLink Designer Program?

A 20-gun frigate assigned to hunting those pirates! Also carries a treasure chest, for those who dare... Or perhaps the appearance of a ship like this has forced the pirates into hiding? This is an extremely ambitious design with a smoothly curving hull built on a sturdy technic frame and a detailed, Minifigure-friendly, interior. I have built many sailing ships in LEGO before, and this is my best work so far, including all the techniques and features that I always wanted to include. Vote now if you want this design to be officially produced by LEGO as part of the BrickLink Designer Program: https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-3/1167/Imperial-Frigate-Concordia The 16 brick-built cannons on the gun deck can individually slide back and forth and all the gun ports can be closed when the cannons are in the back position. The capstan is also attached to a string reel and can be made working. Further details below deck include the galley, storage compartment and captain's cabin. Most of the top deck can be removed to access the gun deck. Minifigures can stand below deck and all gaps in the hull are filled. I also made a video to show the building experience, including the entirely brick-built & smoothly curving hull: More pictures can be found on the BrickLink submission page: https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-3/1167/Imperial-Frigate-Concordia VOTE NOW