[MOC] Arrival in the New World, Central America 1500s

[A_Goodman]

Arrival in the New World, Central America 1500s

Exceptional water technique from Faebricks

Arrival in the New World, Central America 1500s by Nicholas Goodman, on Flickr

Arrival in the New World, Central America 1500s by Nicholas Goodman, on Flickr

Arrival in the New World, Central America 1500s by Nicholas Goodman, on Flickr

Arrival in the New World, Central America 1500s by Nicholas Goodman, on Flickr

[Yperio_Bricks]

Wonderful  The boat, the water, the landing party! All the guys are looking in the wrong direction haha. What is left of the native warrior? Are there trees or is that some kind of hidden artificial structure?

Could you please give a brief overview about your photo setup? Do you use a lightbox?

[CDKiii]

I'm really impressed by your scene.

well done!!!

 

[Joellie YT]

those palm trees look spectacular! amazing work, it's so detailed and impressive! love the figures too

[Feuer Zug]

Stunning scene. The details are gorgeous on the landing site. From the waves to the trees, it's all there.

[A_Goodman]

21 hours ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

What is left of the native warrior?

Thank you so much! And sadly that was my attempt to create the hint of a dark and foreboding jungle but the execution was not as good as the idea hahah. Also my set up is fairly simple I use large white pieces of paper, essentially poster paper for a school project, and I tape them to the wall and let them curve down onto a desk which is what allows it not to have the corners in the background, and then I use some Amazon LEDs to put as much light on it as I can. And finally I photoshop out the background for the bigger builds. 

12 hours ago, CDKiii said:

well done!!!

I so greatly Appreciate it!

10 hours ago, Joellie YT said:

amazing work

Thank you so very much!

6 hours ago, Feuer Zug said:

Stunning scene.

Thank you!

[Yperio_Bricks]

14 hours ago, A_Goodman said:

Thank you so much! And sadly that was my attempt to create the hint of a dark and foreboding jungle but the execution was not as good as the idea hahah. Also my set up is fairly simple I use large white pieces of paper, essentially poster paper for a school project, and I tape them to the wall and let them curve down onto a desk which is what allows it not to have the corners in the background, and then I use some Amazon LEDs to put as much light on it as I can. And finally I photoshop out the background for the bigger builds.

Thanks for your answer! Much appreciated  I guess i need much more light. And i also need a larger (paper board) background. I already bought the largest colored paper board sheet in a local store but it is way too small  Maybe i can take 4 of them and remove the edges in PS.

[A_Goodman]

3 hours ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

Maybe i can take 4 of them and remove the edges in PS.

Of course! And absolutely as much light as you possibly can and also I use a diffuser so that it takes the sharpness away and as much reflection off of the lego as possible.  Also I do use multiple pieces of paper where even for this build there was a crease down the middle, sometimes in photoshop you can do a quick ‘content aware delete’ and it takes care of it very well.

[Capt Wolf]

Great scene! The trees and the boat are the highlights for me, but you've done a great job of creating a dense jungle backdrop. 

Where are the muskets from? Did you detail them or is somebody selling them that way?

18 hours ago, A_Goodman said:

my set up is fairly simple I use large white pieces of paper, essentially poster paper for a school project, and I tape them to the wall and let them curve down onto a desk which is what allows it not to have the corners in the background

That's exactly what I have for my setup.

3 hours ago, Yperio_Bricks said:

i also need a larger (paper board) background. I already bought the largest colored paper board sheet in a local store but it is way too small 

Instead of individual sheets, get a paper roll. (Think like wrapping paper, but plain white for crafts and such.) You don't want something stiff like a board, because then you can't get the curve from background to base.

[elfprince13]

Those palm trees have really pleasingly dense crowns!

[Yperio_Bricks]

1 hour ago, Capt Wolf said:

Instead of individual sheets, get a paper roll. (Think like wrapping paper, but plain white for crafts and such.) You don't want something stiff like a board, because then you can't get the curve from background to base.

I always keep my eyes open but i never found a paper roll yet. I guess i'll just try and substitute with single sheets for now. They are around 70x50cm of size and quite flexible. On saturday we'll go to the hardware store and see if they have enything useful. Certainly I'll get some more lights there. Little by little, the bird builds its nest 

[NOD]

A very beautiful landscape, a well-built large rowing boat and many interesting details can be seen. I like the different faces of Spanish soldiers and sailors. The painting of the muskets looks great. The grain of the wood is clearly visible.

[A_Goodman]

On 6/8/2023 at 6:51 AM, Capt Wolf said:

Where are the muskets from? Did you detail them or is somebody selling them that way?

Thank you so very much! Those Muskets are a Brickmania product, they really do look good and I would highly recommend them. Im curious where you found your roll of paper, it sounds like a much better system than my multiple sheet of paper one.

 

On 6/8/2023 at 8:02 AM, elfprince13 said:

Those palm trees have really pleasingly dense crowns!

Thank you so much!

20 hours ago, NOD said:

A very beautiful landscape

I so greatly appreciate it!

[Capt Wolf]

1 hour ago, A_Goodman said:

Those Muskets are a Brickmania product, they really do look good and I would highly recommend them.

Thanks! It's been awhile since I looked at Brickmania; I'll have to go back and check out the newer stuff.

1 hour ago, A_Goodman said:

Im curious where you found your roll of paper, it sounds like a much better system than my multiple sheet of paper one.

I think I got it at a Michael's art/craft store. It's something like 30-36 inches wide and several (12+) feet long. I roll it out when I need it and roll it back up when I'm finished. If it gets wrinkled or torn, I just roll more of it out until the damaged part isn't part of the picture.

[A_Goodman]

7 hours ago, Capt Wolf said:

check out the newer stuff

I will definitely have to go take a look at michaels I appreciate you letting me know about your system. Also Brickmania always seems to be sold out of the muskets, what I would do is go to the archives and from there you can find the page for them and you can sign up to be notified when they are restocked, they sell out within 1-2 days of restocking so you've got to be really quick.

[Mister Phes]

On 6/7/2023 at 5:56 AM, A_Goodman said:

Exceptional water technique from Faebricks

Ok, let's get a blog post happening for this one even though the last one hasn't been published yet.

So what's happening here?

The mighty Imperial Armada has arrived on the shores of the New World and now they're up to to good?

Is this scene based on any actual historic events? Or merely inspired?

 

[A_Goodman]

On 6/10/2023 at 5:06 AM, Mister Phes said:

Ok, let's get a blog post happening for this one even though the last one hasn't been published yet.

Hahaha I have been looking forward to seeing the Disneyland one. This was just a build I had wanted to do for a long time. Growing up I had always had to imagine this type of scene with a blue baseplate for ocean and a few tan plates for a beach. As someone with a massive interest in the Spanish Colonization of the Americas I figured once building the environment some Conquistadors were perfect to fill it out, despite it not representing any single event. 

[Mister Phes]

17 minutes ago, A_Goodman said:

As someone with a massive interest in the Spanish Colonization of the Americas I figured once building the environment some Conquistadors

Ok, so the conquistadors show up first... but who are these people with the horse and map?  Are they on a treasure hunting expedition?

[A_Goodman]

2 minutes ago, Mister Phes said:

but who are these people with the horse and map?

Hahah so that is Miguel, Tulio, and Altivo from Dreamwork's Road to El Dorado. The environment was too perfect not to include them as that movie was the one from my childhood that really kickstarted my love for the Age of Sail, Pirates, and the Caribbean. 

[Mister Phes]

5 minutes ago, A_Goodman said:

Hahah so that is Miguel, Tulio, and Altivo from Dreamwork's Road to El Dorado.

I haven't seen that in years!  It's been so long I've forgotten it completely - better put it on my viewing list.

Also,. this mottling effect on the curiasses caught my eye.

Did you create this yourself or buy pre-made customs?

 

 

[A_Goodman]

42 minutes ago, Mister Phes said:

I haven't seen that in years!

It is certainly worth a revisit! And actually those Cuirasses are official LEGO parts they came with a Knights Kingdom II figure that was released a number of years ago. I like them quite a lot, I feel like they work well for some grungy conquistadors setting out into the jungles of the new world.

[Mister Phes]

24 minutes ago, A_Goodman said:

And actually those Cuirasses are official LEGO parts they came with a Knights Kingdom II figure that was released a number of years ago. I like them quite a lot, I feel like they work well for some grungy conquistadors setting out into the jungles of the new world.

They work particularly well in this scene...

Ok, last question and I'll stop bugging you with my curiosity...

Are there any Work In Progress shots for this build?

[A_Goodman]

42 minutes ago, Mister Phes said:

Are there any Work In Progress shots for this build?

Oh not a bug at all! And sadly I don't have any WIP shots, I never think to take them during my build process.

[Horation]

I quite like the conquistadors' gritty look, and the faces, weapons and jungle atmosphere add to this, the sand looks realistic and the boat looks really good (it strikes a good balance between SNOT and sit-ability). I must ask, are you planning a small galleon for these conquistadors?

I like to add recommendations, but this is a nitpick : you use olive green on the beach, then green in the middle, then olive green on the inside, it creates a weird look (but I understand part limitations are a factor), is there a way to create a gradient of leaf colours? 

Edited July 29, 2023 by Horation
Added CC

[A_Goodman]

On 7/29/2023 at 12:13 AM, Horation said:

I must ask, are you planning a small galleon for these conquistadors?

Thank you so very much and I actually started one a number of years ago, as you can see by the photos I did not get very far and I realized the approach I had chosen was not going to work long term so I had to scrap it. I hope to one day soon start again and hopefully complete it.

La Mariquita Bow in Progress by Nicholas Goodman, on Flickr

WIP Spanish Galleon by Nicholas Goodman, on Flickr

And actually I totally agree with you about the olive green tree sticking out within the 'jungle' area. Initially I was just going to use those green/bright green plant pieces but it was a little to empty and by the time I needed to fill the gap, the trees I have with dark green leaves were a bit too large for the space and I didn't want to completely restructure the jungle as it was super delicate and time consuming, but I already have an idea for another MOC similar to this one where hopefully I would be able to try out a few new design styles for a dark and dense jungle I have thought up since I finished this one.