Kai NRG

[ESL - Royal Naval Academy] Part II: Wading Pool

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A wading pool is the perfect place to practice navy techniques and stage mock battles with miniature ships!  Any self respecting Naval Academy needs one.

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I enjoyed working with the colonial style for this build.  Mostly I tried to imitate the great look Capt Wolf achieved for the main campus.  Originally I planed on pyramid shaped roofs for the three towers, but since I don't have many dark red slopes and was working with sideways bricks instead, that proved much too complicated!

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Instead I settled on some castle crenelations, and that way I was able to get some cannon in there! :pir-grin:

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Higher grade clases get down into the water and maneuver the ships so younger cadets can learn!

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Better stand at attention or Captain Argentum will rap you over the head with his sword handle!  (This was back in his glory days.)

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I enjoyed designing these windows especially.  You'll probably see the same basic thing again sometime!

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Micro ships were the reason I jumped at this scene.  I don't think I'd ever built one in dark orange before but the color seemed to work well!

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Those new 1x1 plates with a bar--you know, that thingy up toward the front--took my typical micro ship design up a notch.

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Of course I had to do some bigger ships too.

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And a smaller one... a bit top heavy this...

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Originally I planed to go for a two story building, but small as this is, it pretty well emptied my white bucket!

Here's a shot without the uniformed soldiers (well, except for the guards).

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I don't know why (it doesn't make mathematical sense) but for some reason there wasn't enough space for one last row of trans-light-blue lengthwise (tried forcing it in a couple times and sent whole rows of tiles flying around my room :pir-laugh: ).  So that gave some wiggle room which I used to curve the lines a little - I think it subtly helped the pool look!

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Great to have a build this size for BoBS again!  I really enjoyed building the pool, the windows were fun too, especially the small ones with quarter tiles (they're attached of course! otherwise they would have been quite a pain!).  I did some stuff behind them, like a student walking inside, blackboard and stuff, but sadly it all went to waste in the pictures.  Oh well, at least I know it's there. :pir-laugh:  If you'd like to see a few WIP shots of this build, I did a post on my blog.

Thanks for checking this build out, hope you enjoyed it and be sure to check out @Capt Wolf's additions to the Royal Naval Academy - Part 1, The Main Campus and Part III. The Boathouse.

Oh, and in case you were wondering where I got the bright green uniforms...

 

I got 'em from GIMP. :pir-grin:  Here are some unedited pics.

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Sadly I wasn't able to edit this training picture - too hard to change the uniform colors without changing the water hue!  Well maybe I could have cut each torso out by hand but I'm afraid I was not interested in doing that. :pir_tong2:

Wading%20Pool%20%287%29.jpg

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And that makes two !

Wonderful one too.

A great idea for Eslandola this naval academy.

With 2 awesome builts... no need to day that this is a good start.

Nice peristyle

 

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I really like how you handled this build! Great job using SNOT dark red bricks for the roof, and the loose curve in the trans-blue water tiles is a great effect! :thumbup: 

And of course the microships are wonderful! Love 'em! :wub:

P.S. After the fact, I finally came up with an idea for a better name: Tactical Training Pool. Oh well. :ugh:

1 hour ago, Kwatchi said:

a weird concept. :)

Agreed, but you try coming up with ideas for a naval academy that aren't just all boring buildings! :pir-grin:

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Very cool build! That crest up for the sign is neat.

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Looks fantastic, Kai NRG, your pool and all these micro-ships in it. And towers with guns work better than simple roofs for a military academy.

6 hours ago, Kai NRG said:

I don't know why (it doesn't make mathematical sense) but for some reason there wasn't enough space for one last row of trans-light-blue lengthwise

Maybe it's due to these new base plates, they are too thin and flexible, and have tendency to deform when we put a lot of bricks on them, seems these plates aren't strong enough to support the stress.

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Beautiful build. The first pic is so good, it looks like a high-quality render. The layout is nice and you've mimicked Capt Wolf's architecture quite well while maintaining a distinct appearance, like the end towers and crenelations. And as usual, I like the artistry of the different photos. Good stuff. But I wish you would've shown us the interior!

The microships are neat; I like your use of the "round plate with bar end" piece. Oh, and that precise thingamajig whatchamacallit is a bowsprit. Are you sure they're teaching anything here, or just playing? :purrr:

As for subject matter, I had long toyed with the idea of a "war room" or "war games room" MOC where higher ranking individuals would hone their tactical skills on a large tabletop layout. This pool is a more interesting take on the concept, if perhaps a bit more whimsical.

What happens if a student, like, sinks his enemy? Does he get the booty off the sunken vessel, or, like, just a pair of wet boots? :grin:

GIMP? Cheater. :tongue: (Actually, that's really cool. I was certainly wondering about those lovely green minifigs. They look like standard items.)

5 hours ago, Capt Wolf said:

P.S. After the fact, I finally came up with an idea for a better name: Tactical Training Pool. Oh well. :ugh:

Make that the Hydrological Tactical Training Pool of Ships. (I assume Eslandola is "secured..." harharhar :tongue: :pir-laugh: )

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18 hours ago, Kwatchi said:

That is a nice build, but a weird concept. :)

Thanks!  It was totally Capt Wolf's idea and I was like "Pool!!  I'll build it." :pir_tong2: 

18 hours ago, Professor Thaum said:

And that makes two !

Wonderful one too.

A great idea for Eslandola this naval academy.

With 2 awesome builts... no need to day that this is a good start.

Nice peristyle

Thanks Professor!  The peristyle was my favorite part, I love the way it reflects a little off the water in some shots.

16 hours ago, Capt Wolf said:

I really like how you handled this build! Great job using SNOT dark red bricks for the roof, and the loose curve in the trans-blue water tiles is a great effect! :thumbup: 

And of course the microships are wonderful! Love 'em! :wub:

P.S. After the fact, I finally came up with an idea for a better name: Tactical Training Pool. Oh well. :ugh:

Agreed, but you try coming up with ideas for a naval academy that aren't just all boring buildings! :pir-grin:

Thanks Capt Wolf!  Oh yes, that does sound more military... :pir-laugh:

15 hours ago, KotZ said:

Very cool build! That crest up for the sign is neat.

Thank you!  Those new stud with bar pieces are so handy!

12 hours ago, Bodi said:

Looks fantastic, Kai NRG, your pool and all these micro-ships in it. And towers with guns work better than simple roofs for a military academy.

Maybe it's due to these new base plates, they are too thin and flexible, and have tendency to deform when we put a lot of bricks on them, seems these plates aren't strong enough to support the stress.

Thanks Bodi!  The strange thing is that under the trans-blue pieces is a sideways wall of light blue bricks, and it fits exactly into the rectangle left by the studs around.  So I would have thought I could get the tiles in there snugly, but maybe they're just a touch smaller than a stud wide and over all that space it added up to leave about 3/4s of a stud gap at the lengthwise end.  Or maybe it's something else entirely, the baseplate or something!

10 hours ago, Captain Dee said:

Beautiful build. The first pic is so good, it looks like a high-quality render. The layout is nice and you've mimicked Capt Wolf's architecture quite well while maintaining a distinct appearance, like the end towers and crenelations. And as usual, I like the artistry of the different photos. Good stuff. But I wish you would've shown us the interior!

The microships are neat; I like your use of the "round plate with bar end" piece. Oh, and that precise thingamajig whatchamacallit is a bowsprit. Are you sure they're teaching anything here, or just playing? :purrr:

As for subject matter, I had long toyed with the idea of a "war room" or "war games room" MOC where higher ranking individuals would hone their tactical skills on a large tabletop layout. This pool is a more interesting take on the concept, if perhaps a bit more whimsical.

What happens if a student, like, sinks his enemy? Does he get the booty off the sunken vessel, or, like, just a pair of wet boots? :grin:

GIMP? Cheater. :tongue: (Actually, that's really cool. I was certainly wondering about those lovely green minifigs. They look like standard items.)

Thank you!  Yeah, I wish now I'd gotten some pictures of the interior from the back, since it didn't work through the windows.

Oh yes, I knew it was a bowsprit but I was wondering what to call the LEGO piece. :pir-grin:  And I bet the cadets do play games in the pool when they get a chance. :pir_tong2:

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23 hours ago, Kai NRG said:

I got 'em from GIMP. :pir-grin:  Here are some unedited pics

Ha! I knew that building belonged to OL !!! :tongue:

Beautiful building and indeed funny (in a totally good sense) concept! I love it!

 

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A fascinating concept for a Naval academy and really well executed as well! The clean courtyard and tiling for the pool water make it look so bright and inviting. I almost envy those cadets pushing the models around! The style compliments Capt Wolf's builds well (I do love a good collab!) but at the same time has your own distinctive polish. Great work and well deserving of the 'Royal' status.

 

On 12/18/2019 at 5:40 AM, Kai NRG said:

Oh, and in case you were wondering where I got the bright green uniforms...

Yes, yes I was :pir_laugh2:

That is an idea I would never have thought of... they turned out really well! One day I really must expand my knowledge of GIMP techniques past the basics!

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6 hours ago, W Navarre said:

Excellent attractive build! Those green uniforms are fun to look at, I need to learn how to do that in GIMP, haha. 

Actually the GIMP stuff wasn't hard to do!  I would have liked to turn it a little darker green but that messed things up too much.  Thanks!

4 hours ago, blackdeathgr said:

Ha! I knew that building belonged to OL !!! :tongue:

Beautiful building and indeed funny (in a totally good sense) concept! I love it!

:laugh:  Thanks!

53 minutes ago, Ayrlego said:

A fascinating concept for a Naval academy and really well executed as well! The clean courtyard and tiling for the pool water make it look so bright and inviting. I almost envy those cadets pushing the models around! The style compliments Capt Wolf's builds well (I do love a good collab!) but at the same time has your own distinctive polish. Great work and well deserving of the 'Royal' status.

 

Yes, yes I was :pir_laugh2:

That is an idea I would never have thought of... they turned out really well! One day I really must expand my knowledge of GIMP techniques past the basics!

Thanks Ayrlego!  I love building me a good pool scene for that same "bright and inviting" look!

As I mentioned to W. Navarre, the edit was surprisingly easy.  I used a circle selector to select each torso (and as much of the surrounding bricks as was convenient), turned those selections into one layer, and then played around with the color balance.  Within certain limits, it was easy to change the torso colors without affecting surrounding bricks.  If I had cared to manually cut each torso out precisely I would probably have had an even greater color range to work with, maybe managed to turn them dark green or something, but with the quantity of torso changes I needed for this whole batch of pictures, I didn't care to be so picky. :pir-grin:

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I adore the layout you designed for this :wub_drool:! Although I find it strange to think of grown men in a naval academy in a pool "practicing naval techniques" with small ships, I think that is a genius and wacky addition to the academy and love it! So happy you choose trans-light blue instead of dark. That color never ceases to be eye-candy! Once again, truly a wonderful MOC and excellent detailing, ships, and scenes! :laugh:

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On 12/19/2019 at 12:28 AM, LM71Blackbird said:

A nice addition to the Academy and an interesting concept. I think your architecture and layout make the whole idea work very well though!

Thanks Blackbird!  This is the perfect layout to work with in bricks, since it's very easy to photograph, one shot gets almost all the details!

On 12/20/2019 at 2:09 PM, The Neighborhood Merchant said:

I adore the layout you designed for this :wub_drool:! Although I find it strange to think of grown men in a naval academy in a pool "practicing naval techniques" with small ships, I think that is a genius and wacky addition to the academy and love it! So happy you choose trans-light blue instead of dark. That color never ceases to be eye-candy! Once again, truly a wonderful MOC and excellent detailing, ships, and scenes! :laugh:

Thank you!  It is kind of humorous, now that I think about it. :pir-laugh:  And trans-light-blue is one of my favorite LEGO colors! :wub:

On 12/22/2019 at 6:07 PM, Wellesley said:

This is a fun idea and a great realisation!
 

Thanks Wellesley!

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3 hours ago, Ross Fisher said:

The crennelations, pool and cloister remind me of the baths at Bath, so it works as a design of its era. 

Thanks!  I did look up some shots of Victorian era baths, so I'm glad I was able to capture a bit of that look!

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This is well executed ... The Gimp cheat was quite convincing ... Did you just substitute that blue for green?  

Also the minis on the pool look great.  Realistically it's a good way to teach tactical manuvers without risking ship and crew.  

Would love to see how you did the crossed anchors !

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20 hours ago, Jerry McGlade said:

I love the boat!

Thank you!

9 hours ago, Roadmonkeytj said:

This is well executed ... The Gimp cheat was quite convincing ... Did you just substitute that blue for green?  

Also the minis on the pool look great.  Realistically it's a good way to teach tactical manuvers without risking ship and crew.  

Would love to see how you did the crossed anchors !

Thanks Roadmonkey!  No, I selected those sections and then messed with their color, adjusting just the blues.  That way I didn't have to cut them out precisely - the whites, browns, etc, on the torsos stayed the same.

Crossed anchors:

Crossed%20Anchors%20%28Back%29.jpg

All we need is a shield tile shaped like a barrel. :pir-laugh:

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1 hour ago, Roadmonkeytj said:

Thank you!

For the life of me I couldn't figure it out ... Now seeing it I can't believe it's so simple

:pir-grin:  Beautifully simple... I love those new pieces! 

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Wonderful build! A little weird concept, but "a little weird" here in BoBS is good! :tongue: The architecture of the whole build is very nice, at the same time individual and similar to the other parts of the Academy. Lots of wonderful details too… I should Bricklink some new plants as soon as possible!

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