[ENTRY][SMALL] Infant Steve Recruited As Royal Spy

[lotr]

[Mister Phes]

17 minutes ago, lotr said:

The youngest Steve yet!

Do you happen to have larger images anywhere like Flickr, Brickshelf, Bricksafe, etc?

[Math Wizard]

Ahoy Matey!

They call me Captain Crit in 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).

Ye did a great job buildin’ this, though I’d like to have a bit of a story to go along with it. The title says a lot, but it can’t tell everything! The presentation of this is quite good- some nice immersive scenes, which can be hard to take. 

I can only think of a few pieces of criticism for this. The first is the floor. I think it would look far nicer if you covered the floor with tiles to make it a bit smoother, and matching with the rest of the scene. I also think mayhaps ye could add a tad more furniture to the room, and maybe the imperial who is recruiting Steve.

I love the concept of this build, and it was executed well. The inkwell looks great- I never thought about putting a stud underneath to make it look as though it actually has ink in it. And your books actually have pages- something many other builds with stacks of books don’t. 

Welcome to Eurobricks and fair winds Matey!

[Horation]

What a way to start posting on here!

I quite like the whole build, it really looks like something imperial, with all the books and papers expected from the bureaucracy.

But I do have 2 teeny improvements to recommend.

First, add a little bit of prose to explain what is happening, since when people see a nice entry but no text, it's a little disappointing to say the least. Doesn't have to be much, just enough to tell us what he's doing there. 

Second, maybe add an imperial officer or soldier to make it clear who Steve is striking a deal with, since that could add a lot of story-telling value to this entry.

I'll have to agree with Math Wizard here, but I'm understanding if you can't add tiles due to either the parts limitations of 200 parts or any real-life limitations you might have.

Good luck, and enjoy these forums!

[YellowFrog]

Great concept, but a few things to say: the wall needs a little work, it looks very basic and reminds me of Harry Potter sets. The floor would go a long way worth a change in colour, or a little tiling. Also, the stack of tiles aren't quite the right colours to be paper, and don't look much like books, and the map(?) on the table looks a bit out of place. A good start though!

[Horation]

Well, I've seen Lego sets that used such a technique for books. 

 Harry Potter's Hogwarts is based on European castles, so this feels like an appropriate European location.

[YellowFrog]

True, but my suggestion still stands: In my opinion at least, MOC castles generally look better than Lego Harry Potter sets.

[Horation]

Perhaps, but I've seen one too many grey castles, so I personally quite like seeing some variety, plus colonial buildings were generally built with whatever was available locally.

 So it'd be a little more credible if it were tan instead of grey.

Edited August 6, 2024 by Horation
punctuation.

[Math Wizard]

I think the tan walls probably work better than gray- Most pirate sets use a mix of white, tan, and yellow. 

My only qualm with the books is that the top one on the stack has a different colored cover than the back/spine, but I think outside of the piece used for LEGO books, this is a fine solution. In the past I haven't even used a bracket, so my books haven't even had spines and looked decent (in my opinion) 

Here's one of my MOCs that contained a bunch of brickbuilt books, as I don't have any actual ones: https://www.flickr.com/photos/197227990@N07/53635535342/in/dateposted-public/ 

 

[Horation]

That's a great example you've given us! And I have to agree about the colour consistency aspect. I'd say pick one colour and run with it!

[YellowFrog]

Speaking of colours, the yellow chair seems out of place. I know my builds tend to be a bit dull (regarding colours), and this is probably why: I would've switched the chair for brown, or some more earthy/woody colour.

[Horation]

I feel like having some variety can't hurt.

Especially when we remember that builds with more colour variety will pop out more to the voting audience

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

Lovely!

I released I haven’t commented on this build yet. It really did make me smile 

Baby Steve is certainly original and I like how he’s eyeing up that quill and scroll looking to create some havoc. I hope he doesn’t draw all over the walls. 
My only critique is that you didn’t include a story. I realize the pictures speak for themselves, but I’d like to know what is going through Baby Steve’s mind. 

[Horation]

Indeed, the lack of a story is disappointing, in fact @lotr hasn't commented at all since they posted this entry. Where are you? Can you communicate with us? I'd love to hear from the creator of this fine build instead of discussing with the other critics.

[YellowFrog]

The creator has spent less than a week on Eurobricks, he might just be getting used to the interface. Or not know how to use it, or is not a devoted member.

Edited August 6, 2024 by YellowFrog

[Autumn]

All I can say is that this is silly (I haven't decided if it's good silly or bad silly)!

[BardDandelion]

Cool idea for a build, one of the un entries to the contest. I must agree with previous comments in the topic - without the title it would be hard to get the story. Some British officer signing papers and proud parents who brought little Steve to him would be something I would start with. 

Next thing is the building techniques - in such a small build details are crucial, studs on the floor should be covered with tiles, I would also not use different colors in the wall in such a small build. Some playing with the texture (all in tan) should be fine but massive 1x4 log brick looks a bit odd and out of place.

[YellowFrog]

2 hours ago, BardDandelion said:

Some playing with the texture (all in tan) should be fine but massive 1x4 log brick looks a bit odd and out of place.

This is precisely what I was trying to say with my 'the wall needs a little work'. Well said!

[BardDandelion]

@YellowFrog Glad that we agree on that. ;)
Building a wall may seem an easy task, after all we are connecting BRICKS, wall is probably the most obvious thing that we can do with them. But getting it right is not so obvious. Especially if one wants to create something with stone/brick texture. I really don't like approach that is taken by already mentioned HP sets (and by all the other sets). Creating good looking wall with defects demands usage of plenty of little parts (plates, round plats, tiles, ingots). Mixing colors is tricky and may cause very unnatural effect.

[YellowFrog]

What is required for good walls is a lot of different, yet very similar, colours. For example, dark orange, nougat, medium nougat, dark red. These parts can be hard to get, making good walls inaccessible for many.

[BardDandelion]

For sure, mixing 1x1 elements in different colors, early Derfel Cadarn* style, is a way to make a wall but it's not the only way. 

I will use my own example - the wall is in tan only (dark tan is a window frame), breaking the regularity of bricks is done with adding various small parts into the mix. I keep this style for the whole History of Poland, just found it much better for small builds

 

 

*Some tutorials by this legendary builder may be checked here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/45244184@N04/albums/72157627731013869/with/6235132237

[bingowaldorf]

This is so funny, I love the idea!