(W.I.P.) My Epic ~18 sq/foot Pirate Project!

[Raacerx2]

I'm pretty much brand new to MOC. I just made my first tiny one this last week (well, first since I was 12 years old, 28 now). But I'm hooked once again, like full on "line and sinker". So in the typical fashion of the rest of my life, I don't want to piddle around and experiment and go small; I go all the way! To the wall or nothing at all. I like to go big and be different if I can, so, I just finished my first round of many purchases and things are showing up already;

- 18x 32x32 blue base plates (no one would cut me a deal here =( .. )

- 1000x trans dark blue 1x2 tile for the ocean (after much review the last few days, I want to do Trans Light/Dark Blue) This one hurt really really bad, since the cheapest I could find it was $0.15/each after some bartering.

- 50x trans light blue 1x2 tile for the ocean (these are retarded expensive, I wish I could have got more; $0.23/each)

- 50x trans light blue 1x4 tile for the ocean and waterfall/stream (cheap, but hard to find any in America it seems?)

- 100x trans dark/light blue 1x1 slope for the ocean and waterfall/stream (cheap!)

- ~6000x of brown, dark grey, dark bluish grey, and green 1x1, 1x2, bricks, plates, and tiles (haven't ordered anything for the beach)

- epic amount of plants and tree parts

- 15x ship hull pieces for 2 new ships and 2 shipwrecks, plethora of masts

- ~300x posts, spears, etc

- ~2000x random other things I feel I will need

My original plan had much more open water in the hopes of creating some vivid actual multi-level "swells". When I realized the cost of the trans blue pieces, that idea had to be scratched. As it sits right now, I will need about ~5000x of the 1x2 trans dark blue and ~1500x of the light blue, hence why this is a 12+ month project (I can't even find that many right now, let alone the cost). I needed enough of the trans blue to at least border the shores and ships and can fill in as the finances and availability allow.

I've read a lot of writeups and stuff, but for me most of the challenge and fun is jumping in 100% blind and swimming my way out. I don't mind an excess of LEGO one bit either; I will be passing these on and building other stuff in the future.

But...I'd really like to hear other people's advice on taking on a project this large. I'm already deep in pocket and wanted something to start with. I know I'll have a better idea of what I really need as the project progresses; I see a lot of people buying stuff they end up not needing as they progress. I'm ok with this but would like to streamline the process as much as I can so I don't go broke! I've done the math and I know the approx numbers of bricks I need, but I still feel there is a method to the madness that may help me be more efficient.

Plans:

- Planning on a treasure burying in progress with a steep sharp mountain in the upper right hand corner (Northeast). Hoping for 30+ stud high here, very sharp transition from the shore, lots of vegetation, native in the trees, etc. About 1.5 of the 32x32 base plates.

- shipwreck close to the beach but in the water; this is something I am excited about and think it will be a great challenge. Only the blow sticking up out of the water.

- 3 total ships on the water; a very large colonial multi gun ship (worried about space), my Queen Anne's Revenge (rebuilding that into something new after everything else is finished), and then a small pirate schooner.

- Entire left edge will be a rocky cliffs with a fort on top. I was thinking of doing it as abandoned or run down, overgrown, but still inhabited. Sort of a Apocolypse Now / Heart of Darkness theme, of course in Pirate times though! About 6x 32x32 base plates

- epic shipwreck on the rocks; the Thoy shipwreck on the rocks really impressed/inspired me and I want to do something just like that, but perhaps in more pieces and a bit less recognizable.

- Massive vegetation on the left/Western edge. I'll be doing a couple levels with large plates to save on bricks, but I would like to eventually fill it in and add some secret passageways or caves, making the project viewable from all angles.

QUESTIONS:

- How deep should I make the water? The "deeper" it is so to speak, the more flexibility I have with objects such as sharks and the ship "emerging" from the water. But it adds a significant cost considering there are over 18,000 studs on the base level. My current plan was to only have nothing under the water but the base plate to save cost, but thinking I should had one level of plates.

- Will this scenario be too crowded? Hard to tell before I scan them, but from my drafts, it looks like it will be a tad crowded with the 3 ships and the mid water shipwreck. The beach in the upper corner won't take up more then 1.5x of the 32x32 base plate. The rocky shore on the opposite edge takes up 6x 32x32 base plates, 7x with the shipwreck. The other shipwreck is one 32x32. 9.5 of the 32x32 still leaves 8.5 32x32 for the water and the ships, which seems like it is cutting it close. I could move the shipwreck to share a base plate with the Northeast island.

- With the above in mind, would it be weird to do a cross section of a ship at the edge of the water? Like have only half a ship present in the "scene"? Or maybe on the edge, cut cross wise? My work has a machine shop so I can cut the hulls in half if need be. Worried that will spoil the overall feel or kill that entire angle of view, and one edge will already be cut off from view. However, it would give a detailed view inside the ship and might be cool (I've seen some done this way and I'm mixed).

- Am I going over the top with the trans blue pieces of the ocean, rather then doing SNOT with solid colors? I really like the realism of the trans blue and when done right, it seems cool, but...I'm open to advice.

- Anything else?

I'll post up pictures of the design this week. Base plates are a week or two out but everything else showing up this week.

If you made it this far, I really appreciate your patience to read my rambling and excitement.

[moop]

That is epic and daunting. Unfortunately, I have minimal MOC experience so I cam;t really answer any of your questions but wish you luck. I will say that you should be decisive in what you want to make and asking for consensus on something may be expecting too much. Like I said though, good luck and I hope to see progress kept up with this thread.

Edited April 18, 2012 by moop

[Captain Becker]

This is such a massive project that i may not be a great help, but ill try to do my best here.

QUESTIONS:

- How deep should I make the water? The "deeper" it is so to speak, the more flexibility I have with objects such as sharks and the ship "emerging" from the water. But it adds a significant cost considering there are over 18,000 studs on the base level. My current plan was to only have nothing under the water but the base plate to save cost, but thinking I should had one level of plates.

A:Since the MOC is such big, id recommen you to make the water max 2 plates thick. Or just stay on one layer.

- Will this scenario be too crowded? Hard to tell before I scan them, but from my drafts, it looks like it will be a tad crowded with the 3 ships and the mid water shipwreck. The beach in the upper corner won't take up more then 1.5x of the 32x32 base plate. The rocky shore on the opposite edge takes up 6x 32x32 base plates, 7x with the shipwreck. The other shipwreck is one 32x32. 9.5 of the 32x32 still leaves 8.5 32x32 for the water and the ships, which seems like it is cutting it close. I could move the shipwreck to share a base plate with the Northeast island.

A: Again a hard choise, you told that there would be three ships on the water, i think you could reduce the number to two or just make one big ship, and a longoat for landing. Actual minifigs are also how you want to do.

- With the above in mind, would it be weird to do a cross section of a ship at the edge of the water? Like have only half a ship present in the "scene"? Or maybe on the edge, cut cross wise? My work has a machine shop so I can cut the hulls in half if need be. Worried that will spoil the overall feel or kill that entire angle of view, and one edge will already be cut off from view. However, it would give a detailed view inside the ship and might be cool (I've seen some done this way and I'm mixed).

A: Dont cut the actuall Lego pieces! Is say take a look at this thread and try to use this technique, wich i find great for shipwercks. Click here!

- Am I going over the top with the trans blue pieces of the ocean, rather then doing SNOT with solid colors? I really like the realism of the trans blue and when done right, it seems cool, but...I'm open to advice.

A: Well, if you dont have any problems whit money, id say stay whit the orginal plan here. SNOT is also a good choise, but as you sayed, if you want to go realistic, it dosent look right.

- Anything else?

A: I dont say no more efore i see the actual work in progress, as its for me easier to give advices when i see the actual thing coming together.

Hope i had even some help.

Captain Becker

[Raacerx2]

Thanks for the comments so far! Everything helps. I'm aware there isn't going to be any definitive advice to give for something this large and this early, but even just what you guys said helps.

Captain Becker; when I say cutting in half, I wasn't talking about the shipwrecks. That would be travesty!!!!!! The link you provided is one I found on Sunday night; love it, and that is literally what gave me inspiration for the style i am doing, with the bow sticking out a bit more vertical. However, that is why I was also asking about the water. As you can see from the link you provided, the depth of bricks enables it to really come out; however, I can't stand the voids that are created so I'm hoping I can figure out a SNOT solution over the tiles, maybe an outline. For whatever reason, 1x4 Trans Light Blue tiles are pretty cheap in comparison to 1x2, so I am picking up as many of those as I can.

Ideally, I want to have the base plates, one filler level, and then the surface. This would enable me to add further color to the tiles by changing the plates underneath with darker or lighter colors. I haven't seen that done yet and want to try, but it literally adds almost $500 and I don't think I can swing that just for additional layer.

But, I certainly won't be literally cutting anything half for the shipwrecks. What I meant was doing a normal ship standing on the water on the absolute edge of the scene. I had pictured it on the north edge running parallel with the length of the whole scene. From inside the Lego scene, it would be a full ship, but from the outside spectator viewpoint, you'd see the inner workings of the ship. A Cross Section. The only LEGO that would actually need to get cut in half, would be the hull. I wouldn't build it right down the middle, but rather offset so that the masts would be fully intact. I wouldn't even need to cut; I could just MOC half the hull as well. But having half the ship exposed to the outside seems a bit "gimicky", that is my concern. And unfortunately, while money isn't necessarily a problem, it certainly isn't never ending. I'll need to buy things in waves to spread the hurt.

First round of purchases are starting to show up today. Got a tiny order of plants and slopes and some base plates but the big orders should all be here this week, except for some out of the country. Bricklink for the win.

Edited April 18, 2012 by Raacerx2

[Raacerx2]

About half of the first wave of purchases has showed up. Amazed at how organized some of the bricklink sellers are.

Liquid Gold!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bart]

QUESTIONS:

- How deep should I make the water? The "deeper" it is so to speak, the more flexibility I have with objects such as sharks and the ship "emerging" from the water. But it adds a significant cost considering there are over 18,000 studs on the base level. My current plan was to only have nothing under the water but the base plate to save cost, but thinking I should had one level of plates.

I assume you go for an all flat water here? then I would do baseplate-plate-flatpiece. To make a dent if necesary and to make some colour change in the underwaterpart. As you would expect closing up to the shore

- Will this scenario be too crowded? Hard to tell before I scan them, but from my drafts, it looks like it will be a tad crowded with the 3 ships and the mid water shipwreck. The beach in the upper corner won't take up more then 1.5x of the 32x32 base plate. The rocky shore on the opposite edge takes up 6x 32x32 base plates, 7x with the shipwreck. The other shipwreck is one 32x32. 9.5 of the 32x32 still leaves 8.5 32x32 for the water and the ships, which seems like it is cutting it close. I could move the shipwreck to share a base plate with the Northeast island.

Depends on the sizes off all things, but I think its do-able. Try first if its to small leave something out. move the rock wall a few studs to the edge or something. sometimes just a few studs can make a world of a difference.

- With the above in mind, would it be weird to do a cross section of a ship at the edge of the water? Like have only half a ship present in the "scene"? Or maybe on the edge, cut cross wise? My work has a machine shop so I can cut the hulls in half if need be. Worried that will spoil the overall feel or kill that entire angle of view, and one edge will already be cut off from view. However, it would give a detailed view inside the ship and might be cool (I've seen some done this way and I'm mixed).

Half a ship on cut down the centerline looks really interesting to me, but I wouldn't cut hull pieces with that. I would brickbuild the hull pieces. I think this gives a better finish to the 'cut'.

- Am I going over the top with the trans blue pieces of the ocean, rather then doing SNOT with solid colors? I really like the realism of the trans blue and when done right, it seems cool, but...I'm open to advice.

If you really want to do it this way then go for it! its YOUR moc :). I only have slight doubts about the flatness of your sea.

- Anything else?

Not that I can think of, I'll await your progress first :)

Bart

[Frank Brick Wright]

I don't know quite well what are you aiming at but if you are going for a large diorama with a flat sea and a sunken ship perhaps it can be a good idea to take a look at this:

http://mocpages.com/moc.php/246285

Also for the water technique, I think this one works out pretty well and isn't very parts consuming.

[Captain Green Hair]

You have a bold plan, all I can say is good luck!

[Big Cam]

I am very intrigued with this project, and I am loving all those trans-blue tiles.

[Raacerx2]

Thanks!!

I think I am going to make all 3 ships fit, even if it means adding 16 studs to one edge. I am also taking your advice Bart to do baseplate, one plate level, and then ocean.

Frank Brick Wright linked my favorite shipwreck and that is literally the one that made me want to do translucent. I love the coins and the different colors underneath. I want to go a step further and add in some light blue too, and will be doing the 1x1x2/3 slopes as well to get it some depth.

However, I think I will experiment this weekend with rolling swells. This is a bay so to speak, so I don't need them big, but it would be nice to have some depth to it. Perhaps I will just focus on wakes for the ship and waves crashing lightly on the shores.

Now that I have most of my first orders here, its easy to see i need a ton more large bricks for filler, as well as some larger plates for levels. Also going to need a huge amount more plants. I knew I was no where near there, but its a wake up call for sure.

I posted a quick MOC in the MOC forum. Made a little tree as I was organizing. First time trying to make one. Top needs work, but I like the bottom.

The first thing I am actually going to work on is the steep mountain full of vegetation and the treasure bury in progress. Looks like it will take a bit more space then I planned, of course. But I still will make 3 ships fit, even if the largest one is only a 12 gun. At least one, if not two of the ships need to be angled in the water, which basically is why I want to do some texture/level in the bay. I feel it is contradictory to have the ships keeling hard and the water flat.

QUESTION:

- How do you guys organize your pieces? Individually? By type? By color? I overlooked this part.

By color definitely doesn't seem wise as it's incredibly hard to find individual pieces. But, I also don't want 50 different containers. Right now, I've got 15 6 quart showbox containers and will be dividing a few of them apart. Seems efficient enough, but I'm wondering how much time I'll waste. At the same time, part of what I enjoy about LEGO is finding the pieces.

[The Blue Brick]

I love that little island. I can't wait to see your project progress.

[Raacerx2]

Doing a little suspended mini inn/tavern and trying out water techniques. This is directly over the base plate, next going to compare with some colors underneath.

I have to admit, I like the 1x1x2/3 slopes a lot; they make it seem like the water is lapping up against the pylons and stuff.

I'll post the whole thing when it is done but curious what people think about the water. Sorry about the picture quality, messing with some camera stuff.

Edited April 21, 2012 by Raacerx2

[Bart]

That is some good looking tree, if you'd ask me.

The water is blue, I think it is best to judge this when there is more of it. The splashing thing is a good choice though.

Isn't the searching for the right part a big part of building with lego experience ? :D

Bart

[Raacerx2]

That is some good looking tree, if you'd ask me.

The water is blue, I think it is best to judge this when there is more of it. The splashing thing is a good choice though.

Isn't the searching for the right part a big part of building with lego experience ? :D

Bart

Hahaha, it is indeed the best part. It definitely keeps the mind spry as well. But with this size of a project, I need some level of organization.

I've decided on grouping things in small groups of like parts, different colors or vastly different shapes. For instance, wagon wheels are in with other round bricks, but reddish brown 1x4 bricks are separate from reddish brown 1x3 bricks, since those are so close. Its a weird system, I guess I'll just have to memorize it. So far, its been stellar.

I've finally received just about all my orders (of course, have since placed a couple more). I'll need to hold off for awhile as the girlfriend, while enthusiastic about the project, didn't realize how much $$$ I'd be spending hahahaha!

If anyone is curious, I have spent a total of $925 so far, including my Queen Anne's Revenge ship. YIKES!@*&^!*&@%!&^@%

***********

I'm also now back to wanting swells in the bay. I really like how the water design turned out in my "Ex-Captain Bart's Floating Tavern" MOC, and I think it works great for a gentle bay without too much wind. If there was a lot of wind and swell, there would be nutrient upswell in the water, making it much cloudier (hey college marine bio class wins again!), and I want that clear pristine reef look.

I also decided, after advice and research on here, to go BASE PLATE, FILLER PLATE, TOP LEVEL for the water. This will enable me to get that awesome variance of color underneath the translucent tiles. I looked at "Pirate's Remorse" once more for a long time and the touches like the trapped coins really blew my mind. I also really want to do some outlines of sharks under the water too for that EXTRA deep detail.

I think the "swell" will be more like a gentle rise in the water for texture, not more then 1 brick high. This would enable an easy way to get some angle on the keel of the ships and I don't think the jagged steps of the tiles will look bad at all. I don't want things to look overly smooth. Getting really excited, as the main thing holding me back from really starting is time. I hope to have some progress pics tonight or tomorrow, I like to work fast. =)

Edited April 24, 2012 by Raacerx2

[Raacerx2]

Some progress on the project; muddy jungle hillside.

So far, I don't like it much, it is very busy, but I tried something less busy before and it didn't look nearly as detailed as I hoped. We shall see. I am still waiting on my tan colored stuff, so I wasn't able to start the beach yet. There will be a bit of a rise in elevation

[Combee]

Wow, this is very ambitious and from the pictures looks like its gonna be great! I can't wait to see the final build

[Napoleon53]

This is freaking amazing. I've been waiting a long time to see an "open world" pirate MOC, much like Derfel's castle town.

[Raacerx2]

Wow, this is very ambitious and from the pictures looks like its gonna be great! I can't wait to see the final build

This is freaking amazing. I've been waiting a long time to see an "open world" pirate MOC, much like Derfel's castle town.

Thanks guys. Here is some progress. Obviously, as I work on other parts of the scene, this will probably iterate, but I'm happy with what a few nights gave me. The beach is missing from these pictures, it will butt up against the mountain. I need to add more minifigs and animals. I have a sweet croc I am stoked about. I will probably add some more flowers too, and some other pirates battling cannibals.

The beach will still have a treasure bury or digging up in progress, with the natives sneaking up on them.

This is cannibal territory, and a pirate has wondered away from the beach. Unfortunate for him.

The cannibals use treasure to lure their prey.

Jungles are dangerous.

Cross section; you can see I used some filler

Jungle from overhead

[Napoleon53]

I love pirates versus cannibals, so I'm very happy. I can't wait to see you expand and show a whole skirmish.

There was one movie that might give you some ideas for play functions and details: a long time ago I watched the 60's Swiss Family Robinson movie, and they had this big pirate attack scene in the jungle, and they had rigged defenses to drop things down on them, like logs and rocks and barrels and stuff. Haven't seen it in years, but if it was as good as I think, it might give you some ideas for the cannibals ambushing the pirates.

And by the way, your focusing is amazing, like the spear tip coming at the bushwhacked pirate.

[mephistopheles]

I'm pretty much brand new to MOC. I just made my first tiny one this last week (well, first since I was 12 years old, 28 now). But I'm hooked once again, like full on "line and sinker". So in the typical fashion of the rest of my life, I don't want to piddle around and experiment and go small; I go all the way! To the wall or nothing at all.

That's the spirit mate!

Over at the Historic forum I've seen two large MOC that inspired me. I am still in the stocking up phase. My Medieval Village (called Woodward) will be 5 x 10 baseplate (32x32) big. I'll think I will post the thread end of June. Meanwhile I will follow your progress.

Edited April 28, 2012 by mephistopheles

[Trent]

This looks and sounds like an absolutely epic project - I will be bookmarking this thread for sure!

Thanks for posting the price of the project so far...it's really interesting to see that sort of breakdown and what amount / type of bricks spending such an amount of money comes to.

If you don't mind me asking, where did this bag come from - was it a set, or a direct pab purchase from Lego?

Did you have any parts to begin with, or have you purchased everything recently? Have you found any parts more useful than others?

[Raacerx2]

Thanks guys. I already want to redesign the above hillside/mountain, but I need to work on getting everything on there so I can start applying details. I feel the hillside needs a lot more vertical green to go with the brown.

Trent; the bag in the last pic is indeed a PAB; I ordered it a few weeks ago before I found out about Bricklink. I was however surprised to find that a small percentage of stuff is quite a bit cheaper directly from LEGO. Some of the rare parts that haven't made it into my kits lately are still produced. But, the vast majority is far more expensive, and I have to pay tax too. But 1x4 Trans-Light Blue tiles are a lot cheaper on LEGO.com

The majority of what I am using for the finished product are brand new. I do have my own LEGO collection from when I was a child, but some of the colors are faded and such (although AMAZING for being 20 years old). At some point my mom sold/gave away the majority of my LEGO so I lost most of my earth tone colors and was left with primary space oriented stuff. I keep them separate but use the old ones for filler or when a single color or small piece is needed. My old collection was great for supplying me with tons of Pirate minifigs and a lot of small connectors and pieces.

I wish I could spend the weekend working on this more, but real life has taken precedence.

If anyone is curious, I do engineering in the motorsport industry. I'm definitely curious what type of jobs LEGO Lovers have; there definitely seems to be a focus on engineering/science, for obvious reasons.

Edited April 29, 2012 by Raacerx2

[mephistopheles]

If anyone is curious, I do engineering in the motorsport industry. I'm definitely curious what type of jobs LEGO Lovers have; there definitely seems to be a focus on engineering/science, for obvious reasons.

Well, I am the acting manager of our small family business. We are a wholesaler for decorative articles and import our goods from China. No science here as you can see, though I love reading educational books (physics, astronomy, cosmology mainly).

Edited April 29, 2012 by mephistopheles

[Napoleon53]

I've been meaning to PAB some plants; would you say they're one of the things cheaper?

If anyone is curious, I do engineering in the motorsport industry. I'm definitely curious what type of jobs LEGO Lovers have; there definitely seems to be a focus on engineering/science, for obvious reasons.

I'm a maintenance man at my father's apartment complex and an amateur carpenter.

Edited April 29, 2012 by Napoleon53

[Raacerx2]

A quick update: Been very busy with work (finishing up a 750 horsepower race car), so I haven't had much time. I'm also learning very quickly that it is incredibly difficult to gauge what bricks you need until you start building. I knew this would happen, but it has been quite amazing how many orders I've had to make, and how forgetting one color/style of LEGO can delay the whole thing.

I'm STILL waiting on an order from 2 weeks ago, and just made another $250 order last night for primarily slopes and simple bricks.

In the beginning, I was enjoying ordering up nick nacks and little small special things, but I knew that those wouldn't really be needed for quite some time. I've finally started ordering only what I need, and not what I want.

But in the meantime I did get half of one of the shipwrecks started, and I like the way it is turning out. The only issues I'm running into, in general, is that I need to add in more colors into the scene in order to bring out the earth and rocks.

I've been meaning to PAB some plants; would you say they're one of the things cheaper?

I'm a maintenance man at my father's apartment complex and an amateur carpenter.

The official LEGO Pick a Brick is cheaper with some plants, but not others. They are also quite limited on colors. They have the typical Large Leaf that runs about 25-35 cents each on Bricklink, and LEGO sells them direct for 25 cents. But, they are only available in bright green. On the other hand, they have the typical round brick with 3 sharp leaves for 20 cents, which is nearly 3 times the average price I pay on Bricklink.

Very few things are cheaper on there, and for me I have to pay tax as well as quite expensive shipping, so its generally not worth it to get direct from LEGO.