[ENTRY][SMALL] Mini Imperial Trading Post

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

My daughter, Sydney, wanted to join in on the fun, so I will enter her build first! She is 13 and likes to build mini and micro size MOCs. This one should be easily recognizable. It is a mini version of the Imperial Trading Post (set 6277) where the Infamous Steve made his debut!

I helped her choose a few elements, such as the Gryffindor tile to represent the Cutter’s main sail! And here’s another view from a slightly different angle. 

I will relay comments and criticisms to her, so please feel free to let us know what you think!

(edit)

As per request, I’ve made some custom stickers with BrickLink Part Designer. My daughter used BrickLink Studio to build the figs then I turned the images into decals. 

And here is the final result. I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for the suggestion Captain Crit!

July update - I’ve added a few more figs to make it accurate to the original set (with Steve front and centre)

And last but not least, I’ve attempted to replicate the original box artwork!

 

Edited July 2, 2024 by SevenDeadlyStreamers
Updated Images

[Mister Phes]

1 hour ago, SevenDeadlyStreamers said:

My daughter, Sydney, wanted to join in on the fun, so I will enter her build first!

Congrat-ye-lations!  It's also first entry to be submitted in the contest.

You and your daughter make a fantastic team - you've successfully distilled The Imperial Trading Post into a microscopic masterpiece!

[LeChuck-MD]

This is really fun! Building my then Imperial Trading post with my dad at Christmas is one of my favorite memories of being a kid. I love that you and your daughter got to work together on this.

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

9 hours ago, Mister Phes said:

Congrat-ye-lations!  It's also first entry to be submitted in the contest.

You and your daughter make a fantastic team - you've successfully distilled The Imperial Trading Post into a microscopic masterpiece!

Thank ye, and she says thanks too! 
I should also mention the piece count was 156pcs and there were a few re-colours such as the sails for the Cutter. 

52 minutes ago, LeChuck-MD said:

54 minutes ago, LeChuck-MD said:

This is really fun! Building my then Imperial Trading post with my dad at Christmas is one of my favorite memories of being a kid. I love that you and your daughter got to work together on this.

LEGO is one of our family‘s favourite hobbies to do together. Every so often we’ll get a big set to build together. I hope they look back on those memories fondly just like you did with the Trading Post! 

[Yperio_Bricks]

Your daughter did a great job  She captured the trading post well and condensed it to its essence in mini format. I really like the mini cannons and the usage of the shoulder armor for the small boat. The merchant ship looks great and the Gryffindor tile is such a good substitution for the printed sail! And we can even find small details like the barrels and yellow goods that can be lifted with the crane. Well done

[Math Wizard]

Ahoy Mateys!

They call me Captain Crit around these parts and I heard that polly wants a sandwich (they're fed up with crackers apparently) - a criticism sandwich that is!

(For you landlubbers, that’s 3 seas [Cs]- Compliment, Constructive Criticism, and another Compliment).

I think ye did a great job on building this microscale, especially for a 13 year old! I enjoy doing microscale models of sets too and this could easily have been built by me and I’m a *few* years older than 13. 

Me only nitpicks with the build are the gap in the base behind the cannon at the top of the ramp, which may be able to be filled by a sideways tile on some sort of SNOT brick, and the lack of Steve. Since the contest is all about Steve I would've loved to see a wee Steve included.

Some o' me favorite parts of the build include the beautiful renditions of both the ships and the faithfully added crane and cargo. I love all the great uses of parts, from the shoulder armor down to the Gryffindor tile and the assorted clips. 

Fair winds to ye as ye continue in yer LEGO journeys, for I think you’ll go far lassie!

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

1 hour ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

Your daughter did a great job  She captured the trading post well and condensed it to its essence in mini format. I really like the mini cannons and the usage of the shoulder armor for the small boat. The merchant ship looks great and the Gryffindor tile is such a good substitution for the printed sail! And we can even find small details like the barrels and yellow goods that can be lifted with the crane. Well done

I’m so glad you noticed all of those elements. It took quite a while to find the perfect pieces!

1 hour ago, Math Wizard said:

Ahoy Mateys!

They call me Captain Crit around these parts and I heard that polly wants a sandwich (they're fed up with crackers apparently) - a criticism sandwich that is!

(For you landlubbers, that’s 3 seas [Cs]- Compliment, Constructive Criticism, and another Compliment).

I think ye did a great job on building this microscale, especially for a 13 year old! I enjoy doing microscale models of sets too and this could easily have been built by me and I’m a *few* years older than 13. 

Me only nitpicks with the build are the gap in the base behind the cannon at the top of the ramp, which may be able to be filled by a sideways tile on some sort of SNOT brick, and the lack of Steve. Since the contest is all about Steve I would've loved to see a wee Steve included.

Some o' me favorite parts of the build include the beautiful renditions of both the ships and the faithfully added crane and cargo. I love all the great uses of parts, from the shoulder armor down to the Gryffindor tile and the assorted clips. 

Fair winds to ye as ye continue in yer LEGO journeys, for I think you’ll go far lassie!

Thank you for the compliments and criticism. My daughter wanted to include the minifigs, but I convinced her to leave them out (my fault). And the top of the ramp did feel a little lacking to me as well. I’ll give her this feedback and maybe she can try an upside-down building technique at the ramp and see what we can do about Steve!

[Mister Phes]

21 hours ago, SevenDeadlyStreamers said:

I should also mention the piece count was 156pcs and there were a few re-colours such as the sails for the Cutter. 

The recolours worked well!

Also, congratulations on submitting an entry early - it qualifies for the Featured Threesome!

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

4 hours ago, Mister Phes said:

The recolours worked well!

Also, congratulations on submitting an entry early - it qualifies for the Featured Threesome!

Very cool! I have a couple new images to add so keep an eye out for them!

[Math Wizard]

9 minutes ago, SevenDeadlyStreamers said:

Very cool! I have a couple new images to add so keep an eye out for them!

Those wee pirate and imperials be lookin' real good matey! Not at all what I had in mind, but works great! I was thinking of simple stacks of plates but you went above and beyond!

[Garmadon]

What a fun micro!  The cannons, crane and ships are all fabulous and instantly recognizable, and the flags and grill plate as a sail are some sweet parts uses as well!   I find those custom decals hilarious too, such larks!   It's hard to critique such a nice micro, but if you would like to modify it I would suggest just flipping the headlight bricks backwards on the various buildings - on the backside they have lovely square indents instead of the circular ones in front and would look more in keeping with that excellent window you've got up on the second story 

Just spotted that functioning bridge just like in the original too!  Very nice work, congratulations to your girl! 

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

On 6/16/2024 at 11:51 AM, Math Wizard said:

Those wee pirate and imperials be lookin' real good matey! Not at all what I had in mind, but works great! I was thinking of simple stacks of plates but you went above and beyond!

Glad you approve, and thanks again for the suggestion!

On 6/18/2024 at 12:51 PM, Garmadon said:

What a fun micro!  The cannons, crane and ships are all fabulous and instantly recognizable, and the flags and grill plate as a sail are some sweet parts uses as well!   I find those custom decals hilarious too, such larks!   It's hard to critique such a nice micro, but if you would like to modify it I would suggest just flipping the headlight bricks backwards on the various buildings - on the backside they have lovely square indents instead of the circular ones in front and would look more in keeping with that excellent window you've got up on the second story 

Just spotted that functioning bridge just like in the original too!  Very nice work, congratulations to your girl! 

Thank you, I will let Sydney know and maybe it’ll encourage her to work on another entry. The headlight bricks probably would look better the other way, and I tried to include some red but nothing looked quite right. Thanks again for the critique and comments!

On 6/16/2024 at 7:11 AM, Mister Phes said:

The recolours worked well!

Also, congratulations on submitting an entry early - it qualifies for the Featured Threesome!

I will certainly keep and eye out for it on social media, thank you!

[Garmadon]

3 hours ago, SevenDeadlyStreamers said:

Thank you, I will let Sydney know and maybe it’ll encourage her to work on another entry.

Aye, would love to see that!  I'll keep an eye out for it!  

[MyFirstMOC-Hun]

I'm looking at this entry and I'm wondering how I would have done it differently, but I have to say I don't think so. It's all very well thought out. I would probably have built it to the proportions of the minifig statue (90398 in studio). A huge congratulations to your little girl, very creative, very clever! 😉👍🏴‍☠️

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

10 hours ago, MyFirstMOC-Hun said:

I'm looking at this entry and I'm wondering how I would have done it differently, but I have to say I don't think so. It's all very well thought out. I would probably have built it to the proportions of the minifig statue (90398 in studio). A huge congratulations to your little girl, very creative, very clever! 😉👍🏴‍☠️

Thank ye! I will tell her that while she continues working on another entry. It’s just the encouragement she needs! With these micro scale builds, it can be easy to go over the 200pcs limit. I tried to help her find a balance of detail and piece count. 

[BrynnOfCastlegate]

This is brilliant! I love the inverted shoulder armour for the boat hull. I am looking forward to Sydney's next entry. 

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

On 6/21/2024 at 8:49 PM, BrynnOfCastlegate said:

This is brilliant! I love the inverted shoulder armour for the boat hull. I am looking forward to Sydney's next entry. 

Thank you, she’s exploring Steve’s later years, you could probably guess the set 🏴‍☠️

[Horation]

On 6/14/2024 at 10:19 PM, SevenDeadlyStreamers said:

My daughter, Sydney, wanted to join in on the fun, so I will enter her build first! She is 13 and likes to build mini and micro size MOCs. This one should be easily recognizable. It is a mini version of the Imperial Trading Post (set 6277) where the Infamous Steve made his debut! 

This is a really good build, literally everything is chosen carefully : I was going to criticise the use of square and round headlight holes as inconsistent, but no, that's intentional and is meant to represent the large, squarish (rectangular) holes through which the figures can walk. Also, the stickers are brilliant (will you share them?) and add some well needed charm.

However, I must critique something : the cannons barrels should be dark grey, like the real build.

But this is otherwise entirely perfect, and is my current favourite build!

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

13 hours ago, Horation said:

This is a really good build, literally everything is chosen carefully : I was going to criticise the use of square and round headlight holes as inconsistent, but no, that's intentional and is meant to represent the large, squarish (rectangular) holes through which the figures can walk. Also, the stickers are brilliant (will you share them?) and add some well needed charm.

However, I must critique something : the cannons barrels should be dark grey, like the real build.

But this is otherwise entirely perfect, and is my current favourite build!

Very good and thank you for the critique! My daughter has been working on another mini-build and it has cannons as well so I will let her know!
As for the stickers, I simply make an instruction page in BrickLink Stud.io then export as a PNG with transparent background. BrickLink also has a parts creator, so you import the PNG and stick it on a brick. 

[Horation]

36 minutes ago, SevenDeadlyStreamers said:

Very good and thank you for the critique! My daughter has been working on another mini-build and it has cannons as well so I will let her know!
As for the stickers, I simply make an instruction page in BrickLink Stud.io then export as a PNG with transparent background. BrickLink also has a parts creator, so you import the PNG and stick it on a brick. 

Good to know, glad to know the cannon issue will be fixed. If I can suggest something for any future, it would be a prison cell of sorts using a grill piece to represent the cell door. Good to know for the file.

[Math Wizard]

Ahoy again!

I'll soon be leaving these waters for a long voyage and thought I'd circle back around to check on the progress/updates of some earlier builds. This is looking real good after all the altercations, but one things still bothering me- that gap behind front left cannon. Would it be possible to use a 1x2 bracket with a tile on it to fill that space? 

Fair Winds as the contest continues- I see you're almost the first to 25- just 5 comments to go! 

[Captain Pirate Man]

This is AMAZING!! I have the original set, and LOVE it!! This is the perfect homage to it, I don't think I would change a single thing. My only critique is on the story side, but the build itself is fantastic. 

[Mazin]

Nicely done! I'm not a fun or miniature sets, but can't deny the skill, especially for such a young person. Guns are probably my favorite pieces. And those those tiny soldiers look amazing... tho, i wouldn't include them within that set. They loook nice as sepearate bricks, but as a miniature set it looked better without them. "Less is more", if you know what i mean. However they are a nice addition, an option someone could are or leave them out. 

Still, i don't see any story in here. It only waits to be told ;) Or maybe there's a lot of action, comedy and drama already happening, but we can't tell because of it's small scale? But it is a nice setting. And most importantly, it's a lovely homage to the original tho, and it would be a nice additions to many collector's showing rooms, especially if it would stand next to it's bigger brother or an art from the original box.

[BrynnOfCastlegate]

The minifigure prints would probably look good as a display next to the set. They do look a bit out of place in the model since we don't expect to see minifigures in a micro build. Or, you could even include a display with a limited edition collectible Classic Steve minifigure with the set. 

[Yperio_Bricks]

50 minutes ago, BrynnOfCastlegate said:

Or, you could even include a display with a limited edition collectible Classic Steve minifigure with the set. 

That's a nice idea! I'd love to see Steve on a display stand Like they do with the USC sets or other collectibles.