Rufus

The Pub at the End of the World

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So you thought the world was round? Sorry to disappoint you, but it ain't. It's flat. Nearly perfectly flat, allowing for inconsistency in the heights of Westin tables; and surprisingly rectangular. At the Southwest corner, in a raging torrent, the sea cascades over the edge in a deafening tumult ... and here, weary travelers of the seas of Kingstud - pirates, soldiers and merchants alike - seek respite from their journeys and admire the stunning view from the Pub at the End of the World.

The idea for this MOC sprang from the drunken imaginations of several of the Eurobricks Brickworld 2011 contingency when faced with the conundrum of combining Pirates with the BW theme 'the end of the world'. There's a lot to be said for literal thinking. Pandy and I originally intended to do a static waterfall overhanging the table edge, but the BW 2012 mantra 'Lights, Sounds, and Motion' inspired the craziest of crazy ideas: a moving waterfall. We (finally) present to you the end result.

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The Tudor building sits on a rocky outcrop which funnels the turbulent seas as they plummet into nothingness. An idyllic paradise island flanks the falls on the Northern side; three orca whales play in the current.

All of these pictures were taken at the scene without the help of a tripod; the triangular piece of paper is the MOC card identifying the build and unfortunately incongruous when we're trying to showcase the model! :blush:

The Pub

Let's start with a look at the pub.

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The building has a small 'L'-shaped footprint; the ground floor is built from stone represented by Sand Blue 1x2 bricks with stone grey and tan highlights, with a large bay window looking out over the seas. The upper floors are wooden-framed, using Derfel Cadarn's technique for the corners, flanking the tall chimney which continues the Sand Blue theme to its summit.

The roof invites special mention.

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We decided to try what is (we think) an innovative technique, using plates mounted via hinges onto a brick frame and covered with tan tiles, which are deliberately attached weakly to give a 'higgledy-piggledy' look. The gable gave us quite a headache: to achieve a neat angle between the gable and main roof, black tiles mounted using Pythagorus (3-4-5) triangles smooth the edge, and necessitate a slight oddity in the angle of the main roof: the rear is steeper than the front.

This is more obvious from the left side:

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The rear of the building is vertically straight, compared to the front which overhangs in steps. It looks a little lopsided; we experimented with moving the side window positions but this seemed to produce the best result.

Note the Redcoats marching up the winding path from the makeshift pier to a well-needed drink! This is a good angle to note IMHOTEP, making a cameo appearance as he glares over the bay. The little handle visible in the flat Southern wall allows access to a panel for changing batteries; this intrigued the kids at Brickworld so much that I wish we'd included a monster that popped out when the panel opened. :hmpf:

Back around the right side, there's a little outhouse for the patrons to perform their ablutions:

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Someone's been caught in the act! You can also see here how the pub is mounted on the base, also using Pythagorean angles. The base itself has a large recess underneath for lighting cables.

The rear of the pub is open to allow a good look at the interior:

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The ground floor features a tiled area between the front door and the stairs, replete with cooking spit; the main parlour has a wooden floor and the usual crowd of drunken revellers in front of a large fireplace. Behind them is a small band of musicians around the piano which unfortunately you can't see well in these pics.

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A decapitated deer guards the stairwell...

... but doesn't prevent interlopers from taking turns in the Hot Seat:

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Here a diminutive Eurobricks VIP takes a swivel in the chair. And drinks all the booze. *shakes fist*

We soon got rid of him. :hmpf: Now we can have a closer look at the master bedroom:

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A washstand and writing desk flank the fireplace; a patterned rug decorates the wooden floor in front of the comfortable four-poster bed. You've already seen the Comfy Chair (not the Comfy Chair! *oh2* ); behind it are a treasure chest and a hatstand; on the landing is a little bookcase which should have a hairbrush on top (but it's fallen on the floor).

I don't know what the Great God IMHOTEP is doing here, but he looks angry (as usual). Perhaps it is the Islander sitting in his mouth.

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If you were stupid enough to walk into IMHOTEP's mouth, you'd discover a little secret:

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A treasure cave! :look: We had to include FABULAND somewhere! :laugh: The stalagmites help to prevent small thieving children from helping themselves to priceless FABULAND figures, but they have to be removeable as the switches for the Pub's lights are located in the cave ceiling.

From left to right: Cameron Crocodile, Pandora Panda, Rufus Rabbit, Sheldon Sheepdog (hiding behind the stalagmite), and CopMike. Not pictured is Ricky Raccoon: he's too priceless to leave in reach of little thieving hands. :hmpf_bad:

And don't forget the FABULAND frog! :wub:

The Waterfall

Now let's have a look at the centerpiece of our little corner of the world.

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In this long view, we can see how the rocks overhang the edge of the table and flank the waterfall, an get a little glimpse of how it works. The large dark bley overhand contains a secret door, behind which is an XL motor. This connects via a slight down-gear to a number of long axles connected end-to-end. Large 40T gears support trains of about 100 Tecnhic treads; every other thread is clipped to a white 1x6 plate onto which trans-clear detail is attached.

The plates don't clutch onto the Technic treads particularly well. A lot of thumb-pressure is needed, and even then they threatened to pop off occasionally. We even brought with us a tube of superglue, but fortunately it wasn't needed. :blush:

Here's a full-frontal of the waterfall, caught here in motion:

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It's a simple mechanism, but surprisingly effective. Perhaps even more surprising is that the waterfall ran for over 12 hours a day for three days on a single set of six AA batteries. :look: And, apart from an accident caused by someone pulling the entire display towards the table and making the tracks snag on the table edge, there were very few instances of plates falling off the tracks. :thumbup:

We did have to strengthen the connecting axles during the show, as the weight of the tracks caused the longer axles to bow slightly: you can see the strengthened mechanism through the tracks in the picture below.

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Above the waterfall is a static construction of trans-clear slopes and plates to show turbulence in the water, and an unfortunate rower caught in the current. :distressed:

Atop the centre island, a brave fisherman attempts to turn desperately leaping fish into dinner:

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The island itself is a necessary support for the long axles turning the tracks; as are the two smaller static technic beams covered with trans plates between tracks 1 & 2 and 4 & 5.

At the northern edge of the waterfall is a little paradise island...

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... where scantily-clad ladies enjoy cool drinks in the beautiful lagoon, and three generations of primates keep them company. :grin:

The Pub at Night

It wouldn't be a Brickworld MOC without lights. :drool:

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At 10pm on the Saturday of Brickworld, the main lights in the ballroom are shut off, allowing the MOCs to light the room.

Most of the Pub lighting is achieved using Lifelites. The ground floor is lit with white LEDs in the fireplace, at two tables, and via the big fire under the spit roast; in addition, there's a lamp by the front door.

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The bedroom has a 'chandelier' of white LEDs suspended from the ceiling. We originally tried using a Power Functions brick, but it wasn't powerful enough to light the room sufficiently (and the yellow light looked a little odd).

A number of coloured LEDs add character to the cave:

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A single red LED at the rear lights the back of the cave and provides the glow through IMHOTEP's mouth. His eyes are white LEDs behind trans-red round plates.

We cheated with the waterfall. :blush:

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It's backlit with a blacklight (which looked great in the flesh but doesn't photograph well) and two small LED spots hidden behind the overhanging rocks. Neither LEGO or its derivatives I'm afraid! :blush:

And finally...

We're British, which means we're modest.

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But not that modest! :grin:

We hope you enjoyed our little tour of the Pub at the End of the World. We were rather proud of this MOC - the largest we've ever made, larger even than IMHOTEP's original habitat - and the efforts required to shift it from the UK to Chicago and back! The pub itself lives on, but sadly its rocky base and the waterfall are no more. :cry_sad:

Please let us know what you think! :classic:

Pandora & Rufus

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More and larger pictures on flickr.

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Unreal. :pir-wub: I absolutely love the idea, and the execution is just gorgeous. The pub itself is very attractive, but I can't help but get distracted by all the little details that you've stuffed into what would be just rock landscape. The sharks, IMHOTEP's cave, the spring, and by far the waterfall are all what really draw my eye. I'm hardly surprised you guys won best small building, after looking at this fantastic MOC. :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

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Very impressive. So much details, and so much funny details... No wonder you got the opportunity to demonstrate your modesty :pir-sweet:

I'm just wondering how the fisherman got to that little rock.

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Fantastic!

I loved seeing this in person and it's great to hear you explain everything.

The blog is scheduled out a few days but you know this is going up there! :thumbup:

[bloggedcp][/bloggedcp]

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The blog is scheduled out a few days but you know this is going up there! :thumbup:

Darn you BC, you are just too quick!

Pandora & Rufus: This whole project is so amazing. This little icon is not even enough, but :wub:

It was so fun to see it at BW and all the details are just great. Super job on getting so many pictures to show us all everything here, I could use a lesson on how to photo mocs so people will appreciate them.

Can't wait to see what you'll have in store for us next year! :grin:

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The end of the world :pir_laugh2:

It's a fantastic build, I love that waterfall but the building itself is pretty amazing as well, great job :thumbup:

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This was my favorite moc at Brickworld! :thumbup: I feel lucky to have seen it in person. Who am I kidding? The whole pirate display was my favorite but this really stuck out from the whole scene.

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I need to know, how you build that waterfall.

Did you do it sideways, or did you lay it down on a table, or what?

because its so amazing, and even so you did do an exellent job, by explaining how you did make it turn,

then i would still like to see some pictures, of the mechanisme itself.

That light in the waterfall at the second to alst picture, was truly amazing,

I haven't seen something like it before.

The rest of the moc, is really amazing aswell.

You did really deserve that prize.

Great job keep it up

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Fantastic work! Amazing build, Pandora & Rufus! Its just so totally awesome I can't get over it :grin_wub:

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I saw this in album on Flickr from Brickworld 2012 and I really liked it; seeing it now with all details I think it is fantastic :thumbup:

Pandora and Rufus made a really great work :pir-grin:

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Brickworld.. BRICKWORLD! Why do I have to live on the other site of this goddamn big puddle? I miss all the brilliant stuff. I'll just leave my dropped jaw here as a token of respect. And now I'm going to build me a boat big enough to visit that wonderful pub...

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Thanks everyone for the lovely comments! :pir-sweet:

I need to know, how you build that waterfall.

Did you do it sideways, or did you lay it down on a table, or what?

because its so amazing, and even so you did do an exellent job, by explaining how you did make it turn,

then i would still like to see some pictures, of the mechanisme itself.

Each tread was build separately and fed over the gears. Here are some WIP shots before the MOC made its journey across the Altantic:

Static, and with one of the treads removed:

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And in motion, with the motor and gears revealed behind the rock door:

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Hope that helps!

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This is awesome, I could tell it was British by the fact it was called the pub. I should get me sen down to this pub someday. :pir-tongue:

Well done on winning the best small building prize, you definitely deserved it!

:jollyroger:

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This is such a great MOC! :wub: I really love the waterfall technique you used. The pub is really great too, especially with all the Fabuland figures underneath. :thumbup: Definitely deserves the award. :sweet:

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Thanks everyone for the lovely comments! :pir-sweet:

Each tread was build separately and fed over the gears. Here are some WIP shots before the MOC made its journey across the Altantic:

Static, and with one of the treads removed:

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And in motion, with the motor and gears revealed behind the rock door:

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Hope that helps!

This helps alot, thanks, and its amazing that it could last 3 days 12 hours at day, at a single pack of six aa battaries

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That is such an awesome pub! I want to go there now. :pir_laugh2:

There are some wonderful photos showcasing most of the details. I can only imagine how much more impressive this looked in person, especially when lit.

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This build is amazing. It's one of those which has many elements to it - and had you built an MOC with one of those elements, we'd be impressed...but to have several in one...it's just great.

I love the waterfall more than anything, and I now absolutely want to steal the idea! Incredible.

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Wow, this is just awsome! I really love it :pir-wub::pir-cry_happy:

And of course the fabuland figs have to be there and fit well.

I especially like the view in the dark with all the lights and as was said before the waterfall construction.

-Aredhel

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This really is an impressive build and definitely worthy of receiving that massive red brick. :sweet: I didn't realise it fit in with the BW 2012 theme so well. :blush: I like the colour scheme of the pub itself, but especially all the attention to detail on the inside. The surroundings are also extremely well done. You got enough praise for the waterfall already, so let me just say that the landscaping around the pub is great. I like that you resurrected IMHOTEP for the occasion and of course you had to include Fabu somewhere. :grin:

Not pictured is Ricky Raccoon: he's too priceless to leave in reach of little thieving hands. :hmpf_bad:

I really am. :tongue:

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Now I really am upset that I missed BW. I was in Chicago but had previous commitments ...ugh!

This is truly impressive. While I like the theme and waterfall, I absolutely love the details of the building on the inside and out - even something as simple as the color of bricks used on the first floor (a perfect transition from nature/rock to man's obviously created habitat expressed through the popping colors of the second floor). Nicely done. I will be sure to plan future commitments around such events to avoid missing creations like this.

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Perfect! I am sorry I was unable to attend BW now (or at least more sorry than before)

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I really wish I could have seen this in real life. It must have been absolutely awesome! Pictures will never do that waterfall justice... :cry_sad:. And the building itself, along with the overhanging rocks, and that paradise island, it's all just gorgeous :wub:

If I were to pick one of my favourite little details in this (because I can't list them all!), it would be the contour on the partially submerge whale. That is just brilliant. Oh, and also, the deer head! Splendid that is (no, I couldn't pick just one :tongue:)

And congratulations on winning best small building, I haven't seen the competition, but I'm sure it was well deserved! :sweet:

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