Capt Wolf Posted August 21, 2021 Through the moonlight, two men made their way along an old wagon path. The terrain was uneven, and the low spots off the path were more bog than terra firma. Finally they reached their destination: a small warehouse and dock on the edge of marshy waters that opened out into the bay. “Well, this is it,” said the man of noble bearing dressed in black. “As you can see, no one comes to this part of the island. Here you will have all the privacy you need.” “Yes,” replied the smartly dressed man in cape and broad-brimmed hat, “the location is good.” He walked over to the cobweb-covered freight doors, being careful to step only on firm planking. “And clearly no one has been here in some time,” he remarked slyly. “That is true!” replied the man in black. “I acquired this property a few years ago, before the war. The previous owner discovered it was too out of the way to make a profit from what little shipping came to Tanari. And now, with Oleon dividing Terraversa, I must find a way to generate mercantile traffic to my holdings.” “And I need a market for some goods I procure that would not be accepted in more, shall we say, regulated ports.” The men proceeded around the dock to the far end of the building. “As long as I can collect my ‘import tax’ on any goods offloaded here, I am not concerned about their provenance. What concern is it to me where or how you acquired them?” “Count, I had a suspicion we would hit it off soon after we met in Pamu. You understand … economics.” “Thank you, Commodore,” replied the count. “I, too, had a sense we were of like minds on the subject.” Just then the count took a step back and … “Whah?!” … CRASHED through the rotting boards of the dock, his legs dangling above the water. The commodore immediately swooped in to help him up before the nearby crocodile could take notice. “Let me help you up! Just because you are dipping your toes into the world of piracy, so to speak, does not mean that we should let that croc prep you for a peg leg!” The count scrambled back up to safety and sighed in relief. “Quite right! I shall endeavor to keep both my feet on dry land!” The commodore surveyed the dock. “This is not as bad as it appears. The building is sound. The dock needs some work, but it is nothing that my ship’s carpenter and a few men can’t fix in a day.” The men walked, carefully, back to the other end of the warehouse, the commodore looking things over in the moonlight. “Ships should be able to anchor over there, not far from shore, and cargo brought over in boats. It is the same in many ports, but without the snakes and crocs.” “It sounds as if this suits your purposes,” said the count. “Does my ‘import tax’ still meet with your agreement? And as we discussed earlier, I can provide you with legitimate cargoes to export as well.” The commodore thought things over in his head for moment, making sure he was comfortable with all the elements of their deal. Finally, he nodded and extended his hand. “Count Navarro, we have a deal!” As the two men shook on it, the commodore thought to himself “yes, this will make an excellent 'Dragon’s lair'!” ----------- The full build, in the moonlight: And in the daylight: ------------------ About the build: The night scenes were created with a black background during primary photography and a dark filter in editing, but otherwise normal lighting. I wanted to avoid using any prefab doors or shutters. I was particularly happy with how the shutters turned out, not to mention the submerged croc! The physical inspiration for this build was Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, a bar in New Orleans. And for certain players out there, this build holds a big clue to what you're looking for! All C&C welcome! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blackdeathgr Posted August 21, 2021 Another clean, beautiful build from you! I really love your colour choices (and the accompanying story) !!!!! That crocodile was also a smart build. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kai NRG Posted August 22, 2021 I just love the cobweb on the door, really highlights the shady/abandoned feel. Great choice of colors for the roof too and the mottled dark tan and white walls are spot on! And of course, the submerged croc--brilliant imitation of the full croc! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
evancelt Posted August 22, 2021 56 minutes ago, Kai NRG said: I just love the cobweb on the door, really highlights the shady/abandoned feel. Great choice of colors for the roof too and the mottled dark tan and white walls are spot on! And of course, the submerged croc--brilliant imitation of the full croc! I agree with @Kai NRG! I also really love the shutter design - will likely use that in the future. Great job! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Garmadon Posted August 22, 2021 Love the old abandoned, almost haunted feeling that you've really nailed with the spider's web and that gorgeously colored roof! Great job with the rickety boards and the bit of dark tan landscaping, and that croc is brilliant as well! On another note, where did this month go??? Can't believe that the deadline is upon us already (and I missed it!) Oh well, will just have to build Captain Nordau a full black flag fleet now Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NOD Posted August 22, 2021 The house on the dock looks great at night. It looks scary and mystery. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Khorne Posted August 22, 2021 The real-life colonial influence on the architecture is definitely tangible here. It made me think of old French colonial buildings immediately with that typical roof style. It's a great build that oozes personality and has great color choices. I love the murky blues and greens you used for the roof and like the others have stated, the way you did those shutters is inspiring. I will surely try to remember that design. The crocodile as well is just perfection. A minor "nitpick" perhaps: I didn't really get that the story was set during the night from the pictures. The background is black, but the building itself is somewhat too bright? Perhaps you could've put a dark layer on top of your photo in Photoshop to sell the night setting more. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CapOnBOBS Posted August 23, 2021 The color scheme is brilliant! Great work making half a crocodile! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Capt Wolf Posted August 26, 2021 On 8/21/2021 at 4:48 PM, blackdeathgr said: Another clean, beautiful build from you! I really love your colour choices (and the accompanying story) !!!!! That crocodile was also a smart build. Thank you! An interesting color note about this build: I used 5 different shades of green, but the only regular green piece in the whole thing is the frog. On 8/21/2021 at 7:24 PM, Kai NRG said: I just love the cobweb on the door, really highlights the shady/abandoned feel. Great choice of colors for the roof too and the mottled dark tan and white walls are spot on! And of course, the submerged croc--brilliant imitation of the full croc! Thanks! This build started with the roof, and sat as just that for awhile before I figured out the rest. I was happy with how the sand green - olive green - sand blue all worked together. On 8/21/2021 at 8:22 PM, evancelt said: I agree with @Kai NRG! I also really love the shutter design - will likely use that in the future. Great job! Thanks! Please do use it. FYI, that 1x1 plate in the middle of the shutter is just held by the friction of the grill tiles above and below, but its still snug. On 8/21/2021 at 9:13 PM, Garmadon said: Love the old abandoned, almost haunted feeling that you've really nailed with the spider's web and that gorgeously colored roof! Great job with the rickety boards and the bit of dark tan landscaping, and that croc is brilliant as well! Thanks! At one point I certainly felt like I was building a Halloween MOC of some sort, which was not the specific plan, but the cobweb gives it that feel. That's what led me to make it a night scene. And the rickety boards were inspired by another build somewhere around here that utilized poorly attached bricks to great effect. (Sorry I cant remember who inspired me on that.) On 8/22/2021 at 1:40 AM, NOD said: The house on the dock looks great at night. It looks scary and mystery. Thanks! Since there is some mystery as to who is negotiating, I thought that added to the effect. On 8/22/2021 at 10:59 AM, Khorne said: The real-life colonial influence on the architecture is definitely tangible here. It made me think of old French colonial buildings immediately with that typical roof style. It's a great build that oozes personality and has great color choices. I love the murky blues and greens you used for the roof and like the others have stated, the way you did those shutters is inspiring. I will surely try to remember that design. The crocodile as well is just perfection. A minor "nitpick" perhaps: I didn't really get that the story was set during the night from the pictures. The background is black, but the building itself is somewhat too bright? Perhaps you could've put a dark layer on top of your photo in Photoshop to sell the night setting more. Thanks. French colonial is definitely the inspiration! And I will grant you your nitpick is quite fair. I did darken the scene a bit, but chose not to do more because I started to lose details on the build. On 8/22/2021 at 10:35 PM, CapOnBOBS said: The color scheme is brilliant! Great work making half a crocodile! Thanks! This build really started with the roof color choices, and that continued to lead me to other color choices that fortunately all worked out. As for the croc, I realized after I had already committed to the shallow build that I wanted a croc, but would have had to tear up too much to build it deep enough to use the regular croc piece. When I realized the torso of the croc is just a 2x3 brick, I started playing with 2x3 plates and dark green cheeses and got lucky. ----- And I'm still waiting for someone to take an interest in why this would be a Dragon's lair... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Khorne Posted August 26, 2021 12 hours ago, Capt Wolf said: And I'm still waiting for someone to take an interest in why this would be a Dragon's lair... Will they stash gold inside? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ross Fisher Posted August 26, 2021 A neat, spooky build. I'd love to see an "after" shot with it all really nicely done up. Suspect that this place won't get that treatment, though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Braunsfeld Posted August 29, 2021 A fine atmospheric build! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
