189 replies to this topic

[ZCerberus]

I am sure the admins will find this post annoying (love you Big Cam!)

Updating this post to say I will be updating this thread shortly with some new houese for the village at Fort Brighton.  I scrapped/am scrapping most of the old houses in favor of some new ones that are much more... mature in their design.

It was pointed out that the houses I was building (which were annoyingly colored and far too small) would be of a more "European" variety while perhaps I have indicated the fortress was to be in a Caribbean setting.  Anyhow, decided European styling of the houses was more my thing, so I am definately goign with tightly packed European, half-timber style houses and a European fortress.  I guess that isn't too outlandish considering I thought the fortress was a little Torre de Belem anyhow.  

I then though about how "tightly packed" REALLY limited my ability to build interesting roof lines and such since The only detail I could see was on the "front" of the houses.  Sort of like the issue with the modular building line from Lego.  I am trying to balance that by making houses that would be on the end/corner of a block more interesting.  Post of three such houses to come shortly while I am working on three more.  Lots of tan/brown and white/black likely to come.

Though the barrister's office will be surviving the cut, these are definatly getting/already are dismantled in favor of better design.


The Phantom II redesign is on hold as my wife and I are likely moving soon.  Starting a lot of work on a big ship seems foolish until the ship meets its new building space.

[Erdbeereis]

ZCerberus, on 23 May 2011 - 10:17 PM, said:

I am sure the admins will find this post annoying (love you Big Cam!)

Not annoying to me at all!
It's great to see an update to this great project.

[Ratshot]

Annoying? This is one of the most interesting building projects on Classic Pirates.
I always look forward to the updates.

[ZCerberus]

I just meant a text only update that didn't say a whole lot... why not just wait for the actual pics of the new project?

Anyhow- here they are... click the small thumbs for a look at the bigger guys.

House 1






Highlights my EXTREME need for more 1 x 8 reddish brown tiles.  I do like this one a lot though.  It should probably have a line of tan tiles between the roof and the second floor replaced with reddish brown.

House 2






Trying to use all that medium dark flesh from the PoP line.  Too bad they are ALL bricks and no tiles or plates in that color!!  Looks like I am missing some latticed windows in the back of this one.

House 3






Certainly the most complicated build.  Still needs a little work.  1 x 8 reddish brown tiles would again be helpful (as would 1 x 3 which as far as I am aware do not yet exist.  I did some SNOT windows on this, including some that are 3 studs wide which was not easy to accomplish due to the 2.5 plate thickness to 1 stud ratio of the SNOT build.  There are a few things I see in the pictures on this one that I will need to change, but I think it is solid over all.  It is missing a 3L bar on the roof that I should replace.

And a few of them all together

Edited by ZCerberus, 24 May 2011 - 04:39 AM.

[Admiral of the Red]

Wow!!! Great job! Your eye for detail, seen in the cathedral, once again shows itself    I might've used more colors in the walls instead of relying solely on the tile "stones" to break it up, but as always, an inspirational update!
Love the shutters on the second one, btw.

Edited by Admiral of the Red, 24 May 2011 - 04:55 AM.

[Derfel Cadarn]

Now that's more like it! I always want to make colorful houses but I always end up using the tan/white and brown colourscheme as it just looks the most realistic. These houses look great and it's nice to see someone else not afraid to make them larger and cram in lots of details. There is a town here in the UK called Hastings, and that still has some interesting fishing huts. They are tall wooden structures with a winch and door at the top to store nets and other equipment. Some of those might look good and give your port some variety, so maybe you could look them up. Keep up your great work, a town full of those great houses will look awesome!

[Sebeus I]

Oh I remember this, it used to span a cove right ?
I love how it improved. Those houses are very nice as well oh and the docks, wow, this is getting bigger than I expected.

Edited by Sebeus Iniwum, 24 May 2011 - 11:53 AM.

[Gahrian]

Beautiful!

House3 is pure awesome. Love it.

[Phred]

Now these are just freakin awesome!
I really like that the anti-rectangularness of each house and the roofs.  

I personally would like to see some more color in your future buildings, especially any "mansions" and businesses.   The color scheme for these houses is great.  An idea would be to use a similar color scheme with some dark red for your captain's house.    

As Derfel mentioned, fishing huts would also look great too.

I look forward to the future progress of Fort The Town of Brighton.  

[Dread Pirate Wesley]

These are fantastic!  Huge improvement and excellent building techniques.  I really like the detail in each, even if it is more European (nothing wrong with that after all!).  Do you plan to make them openable?  Or are they exterior only models for the village?  Forgive me if youve already answered that question, look forward to seeing more  

Dread Pirate Wesley

[Brig. Brick]

your ability keep us perplexed is proportional to the art you made with the bricks, amazing!

[kabel]

Derfel Cardarn, on 24 May 2011 - 08:18 AM, said:

tan/white and brown colourscheme ... just looks the most realistic.

well, in my hometown, located in Germany's Harz mountains, we actually have quite a huge variety of colors, including a lot of orange and yellow, and somtimes green half timber structures, such as these:

or these:
and altough some of these were added in later years, a lot of them are quite original
However, I really like your new buildings, they look very English indeed

Edited by kabel, 24 May 2011 - 06:05 PM.

[Trent]

Those houses are absolutely fantastic!

[Admiral Croissant]

Great to see a new update again, and I must say these buildings look awesome
The new ones certainly are more MOC-Expert like as the previous ones (although they didn't look bad either).
Anyway, this has to be blogged.

[ZCerberus]

Thanks for the interest guys!

To comment and answer of a few of the questions raised in response to the new houses...

They do lift apart so they can have an interior.  those three houses do NOT have an interior at this point, but if you look back into the archives for my "barrister's office" you will see that one does a full interior and is going to be integrated into these new homes as well.

I like the pic of the town in Germany.  No idea how many of those houses have been repainted since they were originally built- but there certainly are a lot of good colors there!  Besides tan/brown and white/brown or black, I have also noticed quite a few homes that are grey/dark green in color as well.  I expect to use that color combo as well.  There is an entire street of houses in my town that features old victorian and half-timbered homes.  They are far more spread out that the ones in Europe, but a GREAT majority of the homes are tan and brown.  I do think do to the proximity of the houses in my village, more color variation will be needed though.

I do think I need to break-up some of the light bluish gray lower sections to keep them from all looking the same.  A few houses with half-timbered lower sections and some of these fishing huts as mention by Derfel Cardarn and Phred my help as well.  I could also always go with a full 1 x 1 round plate attack like Derfel Cardarn loves as well.  Love your work Derfel, so I hope you don't mind that I shamelessly stealing an idea from you now and again.

Anyhow, thank you all for the comments!

[Captain BeerBeard]

Wow! Can't wait to see the finished product! Derfel Cardarn's artwork has just recently brought me out of my dark age. So glad i'm back after a very long dark age. It was very dark

[Commander Red Hat]

Love the new houses Z, they look very realistic!  
Are there any new shots of the entire port with ships together?

[Derfel Cadarn]

ZCerberus, on 25 May 2011 - 10:09 PM, said:

Thanks for the interest guys!

To comment and answer of a few of the questions raised in response to the new houses...

They do lift apart so they can have an interior.  those three houses do NOT have an interior at this point, but if you look back into the archives for my "barrister's office" you will see that one does a full interior and is going to be integrated into these new homes as well.

I like the pic of the town in Germany.  No idea how many of those houses have been repainted since they were originally built- but there certainly are a lot of good colors there!  Besides tan/brown and white/brown or black, I have also noticed quite a few homes that are grey/dark green in color as well.  I expect to use that color combo as well.  There is an entire street of houses in my town that features old victorian and half-timbered homes.  They are far more spread out that the ones in Europe, but a GREAT majority of the homes are tan and brown.  I do think do to the proximity of the houses in my village, more color variation will be needed though.

I do think I need to break-up some of the light bluish gray lower sections to keep them from all looking the same.  A few houses with half-timbered lower sections and some of these fishing huts as mention by Derfel Cardarn and Phred my help as well.  I could also always go with a full 1 x 1 round plate attack like Derfel Cardarn loves as well.  Love your work Derfel, so I hope you don't mind that I shamelessly stealing an idea from you now and again.

Anyhow, thank you all for the comments!

Thanks, go right ahead and use any ideas you need, your port is coming along really nicely and I look forward to seeing some more progress pics with it all together. Keep up the great work!

[mobricki]

Captain Green Hair, on 26 May 2011 - 08:10 PM, said:

Love the new houses Z, they look very realistic!  
Are there any new shots of the entire port with ships together?

I would like to see a shot like this as well maybe the whole port with the new Phantom. I love your new buildings by the way they look very realistic. My only suggestion is a tavern with some drunken pirates inside it and some more little shops.

[ZCerberus]

mobricki, on 30 May 2011 - 12:56 PM, said:

I would like to see a shot like this as well maybe the whole port with the new Phantom.

Two problems with that plan.

1) The Phantom is being reconstruction again.  I am using the same basic technique as before except I am reshaping the stern and making the spacing between gun ports 7 studs instead of 5.  

2) I am moving at the end of June so though I had partially disected parts of the Phantom, the "intact" portions were packed into boxes.  The good news is this move will offer a MUCH larger Lego space and it will be more a long term move.

I did, however, manage to build a few more village house "bases" before the packing began.  After the move I will probably finish the top portion of those (as much as possible), then do a partial remodel of Fort Brighton and the cathedral before moving back to the Phantom.

Plan for the fortress/cathedral is to fully separate them.  I think it will work well with the idea I have to do some landscaping work on the cathedral area to make both fell more like finished MOCs before I begin integrating the new village pieces.

mobricki, on 30 May 2011 - 12:56 PM, said:

I love your new buildings by the way they look very realistic. My only suggestion is a tavern with some drunken pirates inside it and some more little shops.

One thing at a time!  But I agree-- definatley need some buildings with a purpose!

[ZCerberus]

Update.

1) I am alive.
2) I finally moved!  Further from the Mall of America and therefore the Lego store, but into a MUCH larger building space.
3) I do not have a work bench yet (built a "display" table, but haven't gotten around to a bench yet) so the Phantom III is still on hold.
4) I did, however, get the building "itch" and have made 2 more village houses. (and have "bases" for two more)

They are more boring than the previous ones because they are "middle" of the block type and use more or less the same techniques I have already been using.  I am going to need to switch over to some new techniques for newer builds and I have a few ideas for a few more houses that I will begin working on tonight.  Expect pictures of the two "new" village houses soon.

Edited by ZCerberus, 29 September 2011 - 12:46 PM.

[Hiawatha]

Great to here you are still working on this project   ! I can't wait to see the new pictures  

Edited by Hiawatha, 28 September 2011 - 11:21 PM.

[Cpt. Tristan]

ZCerberus, on 07 February 2009 - 09:23 PM, said:

(Someone asked why there are clone troopers)
Because it is an Imperial fort... duh!!

Ah, but every Star Wars fan knows that the clone army was of the Republic, the Empire basically just gave them a helmet and called them Stormtroopers, but its still different.
Star Wars geekyness!!!
Lol, I'm not a fanatic but I like the movies.


~Cpt. Tristan

[ZCerberus]

More houses.

I took them at night so they are not as nice as the ones I took before with the nice sunlight coming in.  But oh well.

Here are two more.  Like I said, a little dull seeings how they are "middle houses" but I did try a few new techniques on them.  As always, click the thumbs for bigger pics.









And a shot of the new ones with one of the houses from wave 1.




I have a few ideas for a couple of more extravagant models, but these got me back up and going on the work.

Edited by ZCerberus, 29 September 2011 - 04:25 AM.

[Bart]

wow I just looked trough all the 12 pages and just wow.
those latest houses do remind me of the liberty store in london


mabe a nice sort of insperation, London. there are loads of old buildings there. (houses, stores, churches, bridges, castles)

Bart