[ENTRY][SMALL] Skull’s Eye Schooner

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

Here it is, the second entry by my daughter Sydney and myself! Steve would take a slightly different career path, so to acknowledge the next step in his journey we had to do a mini build of the Skull’s Eye Schooner (6286). 

 

Sydney did most of the build and I helped with some of the complicated parts like the rope (boy are they finicky in BrickLink Studio). And I gave her some tips like using the hats as Jolly Roger flags. Here are some other views:

Now I wanted to get the creative critics to help with the next part. I used Part Design to apply decals to a variety of pieces. I also did a little brick-stack Steve. I’d like everyone’s opinion on which looks best and if you feel they are the right scale or not. 

A huge thanks to all the participants and hosts of this contest for making it fun and engaging!
Cheers Mateys! 

[Edit]
I used the clear-square block with decals to complete the pirate crew. 10 extra pieces puts the count just below 200. 

And to finish off this entry I placed the figs on the ship and recreated the box art from the original 1993 set! I also adjusted the main sail by applying a decal to a 3x3 tile. This saved a few parts so the grand total (figs included) is approx 190pcs. 

 

Edited August 8 by SevenDeadlyStreamers
Added Photos

[Mister Phes]

3 hours ago, SevenDeadlyStreamers said:

Here it is, the second entry by my daughter Sydney and myself!

You two are doing a fantastic job with the mini builds!

Skull’s Eye Schooner has been incorporated into the Entries Index.

[BardDandelion]

Great attention to the details in recreating them in the miniscale - blue lantern, anchor, rigging, shark. Nicely done. ;)

The one thing I would like to point out is that the ship looks a bit... flat on sides. Have you considered sticking out 0.5 stud on each side? Should be possible to do with usage of jumper plates and when combined 0.5 offset on left and right you would get regular 5 studs in width.

Everything from red Slope, Curved 2 x 1 x 2/3 Inverted up could be part of this wider part.

[Autumn]

You've use a lot of interesting things to achieve this. The black handle for the anchor is simple but genius, and the blue skeleton leg is funny but also clever (although that part doesn't exist in blue in real life).

Not entirely sold on the hats being used as jolly roger flags, they still look like hats to me. I'm also not so sure about the brown fence pieces being used as netting, they seem to take up too much space. I can't think of a better alternative but if this was my build I would leave them out.

As for the micro Steve, I like the round one best as it looks more visually appealing than the square one in my opinion. The other two are less versatile: the tile can only be place between two studs and the slope can't be attached to anything. Also, why did you use the really old version of the 1x2 round brick without the groove and hollow stud?

[YellowFrog]

Very nice build. The fish as a shark is very clever, since the small fish represents a larger fish.

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

8 hours ago, Mister Phes said:

You two are doing a fantastic job with the mini builds!

Skull’s Eye Schooner has been incorporated into the Entries Index.

Thank you @Mister Phes you are doing a phenomenal job keeping this contest updated!

5 hours ago, BardDandelion said:

Great attention to the details in recreating them in the miniscale - blue lantern, anchor, rigging, shark. Nicely done. ;)

The one thing I would like to point out is that the ship looks a bit... flat on sides. Have you considered sticking out 0.5 stud on each side? Should be possible to do with usage of jumper plates and when combined 0.5 offset on left and right you would get regular 5 studs in width.

Everything from red Slope, Curved 2 x 1 x 2/3 Inverted up could be part of this wider part.

Good tip, I’ll see what can be added without increasing the piece count too much. This build is currently 186pcs and I wanted to leave room for microfigs. Since this is a minibuild I wanted to keep it below the 200pcs limit so it would be a [SMALL ENTRY]

3 hours ago, Autumn said:

You've use a lot of interesting things to achieve this. The black handle for the anchor is simple but genius, and the blue skeleton leg is funny but also clever (although that part doesn't exist in blue in real life).

Not entirely sold on the hats being used as jolly roger flags, they still look like hats to me. I'm also not so sure about the brown fence pieces being used as netting, they seem to take up too much space. I can't think of a better alternative but if this was my build I would leave them out.

As for the micro Steve, I like the round one best as it looks more visually appealing than the square one in my opinion. The other two are less versatile: the tile can only be place between two studs and the slope can't be attached to anything. Also, why did you use the really old version of the 1x2 round brick without the groove and hollow stud?

Thanks for the extensive comment. You are right, the skeleton leg is a recolour (same goes for the parrot). We tried some other parts but nothing available in blue looked good.
The hats were my idea and the fences were Sydney’s idea, I agree they look a little off, maybe a plume would make a better flag or the handbag accessory for the netting? We can try some different things. 
The only reason for using the old style round brick was because Steve’s legs got cut off when using the one with the notch. He kinda looked like a floating ghost, lol

15 minutes ago, YellowFrog said:

Very nice build. The fish as a shark is very clever, since the small fish represents a larger fish.

Originally Sydney tried brick building the shark. It was a little boxy and a bit too big. It also added to the piece count so hence the fish!

[YellowFrog]

13 minutes ago, SevenDeadlyStreamers said:

I wanted to leave room for microfigs

I'm not sure if microfigs are required. Take the microscale Star Wars sets, for example. They do fine without. And the beauty of this ship is enough as it is, but it is your choice.

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

5 minutes ago, YellowFrog said:

I'm not sure if microfigs are required. Take the microscale Star Wars sets, for example. They do fine without. And the beauty of this ship is enough as it is, but it is your choice.

Good point, I just want to be able to represent Steve in some way. It is a contest about him after all. Maybe I’ll put a regular size fig next to the build like the Star Wars sets do. 

[YellowFrog]

That could work nicely. It would need a name plate and black stand, though, along with a printed tile with the specifications :)

[Autumn]

21 minutes ago, SevenDeadlyStreamers said:

The only reason for using the old style round brick was because Steve’s legs got cut off when using the one with the notch. He kinda looked like a floating ghost, lol

Whoops! That makes sense! In that case I would just stick with the square brick, it works fine.

[BardDandelion]

@SevenDeadlyStreamers Oh, yeah, the part limit. Not a big fan of them. :P

Anyway, I think it's worth taking a change and trying what I suggested. It shouldn't increase piece count significantly. For sure, you will have to add some parts but also remove few to make place for jumper plates "below the deck".

[YellowFrog]

Looking further, I've realised how much NPU there is. But one thing I don't like is the pirate flag in front of the other sail, it just looks a bit unnatural, like there are two sails on top of each other.

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

6 minutes ago, Autumn said:

Whoops! That makes sense! In that case I would just stick with the square brick, it works fine.

I was leaning toward the square ones, that’s what I did for the Mini Imperial Trading Post. I want to recreate the box art so I’ll need to make all the figs shown (plus the monkey of course)

2 minutes ago, YellowFrog said:

Looking further, I've realised how much NPU there is. But one thing I don't like is the pirate flag in front of the other sail, it just looks a bit unnatural, like there are two sails on top of each other.

Yes, I tried to tweak it a few different times. I tried to brick build around it, but it didn’t look right. I thought there was a skull and crossbones 2x2 tile, but I couldn’t find it in BrickLink Studio. I could always try applying a decal to a larger tile, that could work. Thanks for pointing it out!

[Horation]

Well that's yet another fine microbuild! 

A few notes : I really liked the various ways you make the sails, as they all look quite unique and interesting! I also appreciate the NPU you pulled off for the "shark" (I mean, it is a fish according to biologists...) and the small boat tied at the back of the ship. Also, I'm happy to see a really creative use of bucket handles (I'm sure you can tell I'm a fan of those by now...).

As for the critiques, I like the square Steve best, and please don't use the one made from studs, as he looks, to quote some American politicians, weird. Also, the back of the boat is very tall, especially compared to the original, I'd maybe make it a little less tall, since it's currently more than twice the height of the hull elsewhere, while the original has an about two-to-one ratio in that section.

Then again, this tall boat aesthetic looks quite nice, even if it's less accurate, so there's no need to change it, just a personal preference.

P.S. I like the cannon colour choice, glad to see that my feedback was used!

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

9 hours ago, Horation said:

Well that's yet another fine microbuild! 

A few notes : I really liked the various ways you make the sails, as they all look quite unique and interesting! I also appreciate the NPU you pulled off for the "shark" (I mean, it is a fish according to biologists...) and the small boat tied at the back of the ship. Also, I'm happy to see a really creative use of bucket handles (I'm sure you can tell I'm a fan of those by now...).

As for the critiques, I like the square Steve best, and please don't use the one made from studs, as he looks, to quote some American politicians, weird. Also, the back of the boat is very tall, especially compared to the original, I'd maybe make it a little less tall, since it's currently more than twice the height of the hull elsewhere, while the original has an about two-to-one ratio in that section.

Then again, this tall boat aesthetic looks quite nice, even if it's less accurate, so there's no need to change it, just a personal preference.

P.S. I like the cannon colour choice, glad to see that my feedback was used!

Wonderful, I’m glad you liked it and thanks for the continued feedback! I played around with the Microfigs last night so I will add a couple photos above! 

[Math Wizard]

Ahoy Matey!

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

I’ve been busy for the last week and not had time to look at entries, but I must say this one is quite good, possibly even better than the last one. You did a great job integrating the comments and critism from the last one to mae this one truly excellent!

This build was so good it was real hard to come up with a critique. The only thing I can think of is the front bow of the ship could use a cleaner curve, and come further back the ship. The best way to do this would probably be using a piece that curves in two directions and then SNOTing it in upside down or sideways into that corner. 

Me favorite part o’ the build is all the little details. I particularly like the anchor, hats, cannons, ladders, and shark. And for the micro figs, I thik the one on the round beicks looks the best, mainly because it doesn’t seem to take up as much space as the others. 

Fair Winds Matey!

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

On 8/11/2024 at 3:39 PM, Math Wizard said:

Ahoy Matey!

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

I’ve been busy for the last week and not had time to look at entries, but I must say this one is quite good, possibly even better than the last one. You did a great job integrating the comments and critism from the last one to mae this one truly excellent!

This build was so good it was real hard to come up with a critique. The only thing I can think of is the front bow of the ship could use a cleaner curve, and come further back the ship. The best way to do this would probably be using a piece that curves in two directions and then SNOTing it in upside down or sideways into that corner. 

Me favorite part o’ the build is all the little details. I particularly like the anchor, hats, cannons, ladders, and shark. And for the micro figs, I thik the one on the round beicks looks the best, mainly because it doesn’t seem to take up as much space as the others. 

Fair Winds Matey!

I’m glad to see your comment Captain, I always appreciate the feedback. Using SNOT technique certainly more advanced than traditional building, so I know that’s why my daughter chose the parts she did. However I do agree that would make it look much cleaner, I can even image a way to make the figurehead look more accurate by using a sideways technique. 
Thanks for the tips Matey!

[Brickshipyard]

Definitely my favorite mini build of the whole contest! Good job mate. She be a fine vessel, yar! I happen to own the system scale version of this ship and find it just so indescribably cool. The Skull's Eye never gets the same popularity as the Barracuda, but I think this vessel had a more menacing vibe and came with Steve of course! Your novel pieces uses to make an anchor, ladders, and large flags are real standouts. I really wish Lego would make a whole fleet of vessels with this level of detail. You are on to something... also, good job on the Imperial Trading post with similar techniques. Your daughter has a good eye for detail.

 

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

On 8/16/2024 at 1:51 PM, Brickshipyard said:

Definitely my favorite mini build of the whole contest! Good job mate. She be a fine vessel, yar! I happen to own the system scale version of this ship and find it just so indescribably cool. The Skull's Eye never gets the same popularity as the Barracuda, but I think this vessel had a more menacing vibe and came with Steve of course! Your novel pieces uses to make an anchor, ladders, and large flags are real standouts. I really wish Lego would make a whole fleet of vessels with this level of detail. You are on to something... also, good job on the Imperial Trading post with similar techniques. Your daughter has a good eye for detail.

 

I do love the Barracuda, but this ship is like the sequel that doesn’t get enough credit. I dare say I like it more!

[Captain Braunsfeld]

I think this is an amazing creation.

Congratulations 

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

What a marvel of miniaturized engineering!
The anchor is very original!

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

Thank ye @Captain Braunsfeld for sharing our build!