[ENTRY][SMALL] Enchanted Island

[Horation]

 

After Steve left his desert abode

He took a boat, and he flowed

with the waves of the Mediterranean 

and beyond, and then met a Polynesian 

Of the name of Kahuka, and his tribe

Where he worked for a time as scribe

Until he had earned enough to repair

his boat, and leave not a tear.

Book of Steve, p.41 paragraph 3 of 5

 

I was inspired by  @SevenDeadlyStreamers and chose to remake another pirate all-time favourite. I had to create a few stickers ; for the statue and the "minifigs" as well as a few recolours. 

The bridge is made using a really fancy technique I saw online (link : https://www.pinterest.com/pin/6278-enchanted-island-micro--428616089534804619/)

Here it is with the microfigures, you can see Steve is about to meet Kahuka while the Islanders watch, and think of their next move.

 

I'll try to make a better background for it at some point, but I wanted to get some feedback on the build first.

Edited August 9 by Horation
rename

[Math Wizard]

Ahoy Matey!

You know me by now- It’s Captain Crit, back with another criticism sandwhich for polly!

I almost didn’t see this- it got buried under all the posts you commented on! Ye did a great job buildin’ this, always great to see a microscale contribution, as that is my favorite thing to build (despite how little I do it). And another entry with a poem- also fun to see!

My biggest critiques with this are first of all the studs in the river. If you are trying to emulate the original set, the grass has studs and the water is smooth. Perhaps you could also put the stud holding the red boat built into the ground, so the boat would be right on top of the water and not floating. I also think the horns on the statue look far too big. I think just the clip, rotated 90 degrees and holding nothing, would be better at this scale. And one more thing, (since you are the type of person who listens to advice and changes things I am giving you extra) Perhaps you could replace the 1x1 slopes used as roofs with piece 10187 somehow to look like the individual palm leaves. 

Me favorite part o’ the build is the tiny bridge. Excellent use of the bucket handles! It adds a lot of detail to the build. I also like the shoulder armor for the 2 boats- great choices. 

Fair Winds Matey!

[Horation]

Thanks for the feedback! I didn't know how to make the roofs look like palm trees, but your idea sounds great.

As for the statue, I also agree about the point you've made there. 

I'll try to make the boats look less like they're floating, but unfortunately there's no way to make the boats legally hold onto the build and avoid any studs on the water.

[YellowFrog]

Great part usage: minifigure armour works surprisingly well for boats! It is also satisfying how the angled wedge plates line up so well. This build is perplexing me: how did you attach the bucket handles (for the bridge)?

[Horation]

@YellowFrog, I linked the inspiration for the bridge, and if you zoom in and look at the picture of that pinterest post, you can see strings going around the buckets and being tied at each end, which does the trick.

I'm glad to see you like the plate result. I'm currently working on an update, do you see anything to improve?

[YellowFrog]

Perhaps if you built this on a base of some sort: the single layer of plates makes it seem unrealistic, like you couldn't built it in real life. Also, some more variation in terrain, such as in the top right corner, might add another nice element to this build.

[Horation]

I am already working on an update, and the update will have a realistic base.

Well, this is meant to be a scaled version of the original, so I don't want to add an element that didn't exist, any suggestions on your part?

[YellowFrog]

In that case, there's not much I can say. It's already such a great build.

[Horation]

@YellowFrog, I'll add a campfire there and/or make the tree a little bigger, does that sound any better?

If not, what suggestions do you have, if any?

Edited August 6 by Horation
punctuation.

[Math Wizard]

On 8/4/2024 at 9:53 AM, Horation said:

Well, this is meant to be a scaled version of the original

Do you have a set scale planned? I know this usually helps guide me when doing micro models of sets. For example, converting every 8 studs width into 2 studs, or something like that.

[Horation]

Well it's quite obvious from looking at it that it's two 6x6 plates, and since you need two 32x32 baseplates to replicate the original...

However, it's approximate, and I'll scale up/down depending on the element to improve visibility.

[YellowFrog]

On 8/5/2024 at 1:01 AM, Horation said:

@YellowFrog, I'll add a campfire there and/or make the tree a little bigger, does that sound any better?

Sounds good. I look forward to seeing the finished result.

Edited August 6 by YellowFrog

[BardDandelion]

Excellent example of miniscale build!

It's just filled with awesome details and NPUs - canoe and ship made out of shoulder armour to name the most obvious two. Great idea!

Not sure if I even seen such a palm in miniscale build - usually people and sets use just small plant with three leaves, usage of that "superhero jumping" element adds nice curvature to the palm tree trunk.

 

Since you mention that you are working on update version - would be nice to consider making a difference in height between water level and grass aroud it. One plate would be nice but if you managed to make the difference just half a plate it would be even better. Should be doable with some SNOT techniques applied to the base. Imho this would be even more beneficial than removing studs from the water.

[Horation]

You know what, @BardDandelion, since there seems to be a lot of proposals for this MOC. I'll make two versions, and I will let you critics guide my decision.

[BardDandelion]

Hmm... not sure if that was the point of this critic contest. Frankly, never seen such an involvment into suggestions and pointing out lacks or parts for improvement in international AFOLs community. In Poland this happens on daily basis, we just love... helping others develop building skillks. This helps getting better and better with each MOC, especially if suggestions come from people with big bulding experience but it's important to remember that creating a LEGO model is an act of art. Should come from the author, not the commitee. 

[Horation]

I know, I just like to make improvements to encourage discussion, especially since I feel quite inexperienced.

But I always have the final say, and in many cases I was always planning to make the change, so don't worry too much about it.

[BardDandelion]

Ok then. :D

WIP phase is a part of building process. I find it helpfull but share my WIP photos only with people who would complain and nitpick about EVERYTHING. is I know that someone will like everything I make there is no point showing them WIPs, they will congratulate me later, when it's finished and published. :D

Can't wait for your new, improved builds! Good luck with them. ;)

[YellowFrog]

On 8/6/2024 at 10:02 PM, BardDandelion said:

Should come from the author, not the commitee. 

The purpose of the committee is to provide feedback. If the author doesn't want feedback, then why share the MOC?

[BardDandelion]

From my perspective it's often the case that all commentators have some kind of MOC in their mind and it would be impossible to please all of them at once because the version in each head is different.

It's also not good if new builder focused only on following the tips from more experienced builders, loosing the opportunity to work out his own style. 

I'm not against providing feedback, on the contrary, I'm in favor for it. Always try to provide it in any community I'm member of. I just think that feedback shouldn't be used immediately to "improve" or "fix" current build but should be considered and - if found useful - applied in future builds.

[Horation]

I feel like the point of the contest is to encourage feedback from others, which is why I always reply and consider it.

Then again, one must be careful not to overdo it, or else it becomes the critics' build, and no longer is one's own.

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

On 8/2/2024 at 8:33 PM, Horation said:

 

After Steve left his desert abode

He took a boat, and he flowed

with the waves of the Mediterranean 

and beyond, and then met a Polynesian 

Of the name of Kahuka, and his tribe

Where he worked for a time as scribe

Until he had earned enough to repair

his boat, and leave not a tear.

Book of Steve, p.41 paragraph 3 of 5

 

I was inspired by  @SevenDeadlyStreamers and chose to remake another pirate all-time favourite. I had to create a few stickers ; for the statue and the "minifigs" as well as a few recolours. 

The bridge is made using a really fancy technique I saw online (link : https://www.pinterest.com/pin/6278-enchanted-island-micro--428616089534804619/)

Here it is with the microfigures, you can see Steve is about to meet Kahuka while the Islanders watch, and think of their next move.

 

I'll try to make a better background for it at some point, but I wanted to get some feedback on the build first.

Masterfully done my friend! And you used the shoulder armour as the canoe and boat, I love it! Are those bucket handles for the bridge I see? I’ve been smiling the whole time looking at this. I’ll show Sydney when I get home from work. Once again, great job!

[Horation]

Glad to be getting such high praise from the master of micro builds!

Yes, those are bucket handles I'm using, a little behind the scenes point I'll make is that they aren't actually covered by existing ropes in the render, but by custom ones I made in partdesigner. But the real-life version which I've seen and tested does work, though it's a little fiddly to make.

 

[Horation]

New update :

I changed the statue head like @Math Wizard suggested.

I also added a stickered flag on the boat, so as to hide the empty part @YellowFrog complained about, as for the water, there's no way to make it keep this shape with tiles, I really tried to no avail.

I'll add in the microfigs post-feedback.

Edited August 9 by Horation
add-ons

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

1 hour ago, Horation said:

New update :

I changed the statue head like @Math Wizard suggested.

I also added a stickered flag on the boat, so as to hide the empty part @YellowFrog complained about, as for the water, there's no way to make it keep this shape with tiles, I really tried to no avail.

I'll add in the microfigs post-feedback.

That sail looks perfect as a little sticker. I was going to suggest using the Islanders shield but I don’t think it would have looked as good. 

[Horation]

I've seen the result with official parts. However, I don't like it, this feels like the best option.

Edited August 9 by Horation
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