Fires-storm Posted July 27, 2010 Well, for those of you who read my other topic, I decommissioned the Charger yesterday However, as I was putting the pieces away, I was suddenly struck with inspiration, and the result was a beauty of a schooner I have dubbed the Phoenix. She is a two-masted schooner currently armed with 16 heavy cannon, and her sister ship is in the works, that may be able to hold as many as 40 guns. So without further ado, here are the pics! First a shot of the port side, what a profile she has Now for a bow shot: And the stern: And some pics of my first ever custom rig job for rat lines, I'm pretty pleased! A close shot of the stern: And finally one of the figurehead. Sorry its a bit blurry, my hand was shaking with joy Well, in summary this is one of my favorite things I've ever built, and I dearly hope you enjoy her even half as much as I do! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tycho McKorley Posted July 27, 2010 You have a well-built and beautifully sculpted ship here. I only have two recommendations for it: 1.) How about some more minifigs to populate it? MOCs are great, but minifigs bring them to life. 2.) Tiles might be nice to smooth out a few of the rough places. Otherwise, excellent work. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vynsane Posted July 27, 2010 It's hard to tell how good it looks amidst the clutter of the background - I would suggest getting some large pieces of posterboard - white, or maybe blue (maybe some light blue for sky, dark blue for water!) and isolate the model from the background. That way the exposure settings of your camera will be more focused on the model than everything around it, resulting in not only a less cluttered pic of the model, but a more well-exposed one. Additionally, finding the most shaded area of your front porch might reduce the amount of harsh sunlit/shadowed areas. Reflected natural light (off of anything, a wall, the floor, what-have-you) is the best. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fires-storm Posted July 27, 2010 You have a well-built and beautifully sculpted ship here. I only have two recommendations for it: 1.) How about some more minifigs to populate it? MOCs are great, but minifigs bring them to life. 2.) Tiles might be nice to smooth out a few of the rough places. Otherwise, excellent work. Thanks for the compliment, it means a a lot coming from such an excellent builder! I have ordered more minifigs for her, and as for tiles I'm strongly considering it, not just for smoothness, but so I can easily dust the dratted thing! @vynsane: Thanks for the tips, the main reasons I didn't use a background are A: The only thing i have big enough to cover the stuff in back would be an old poster board I've got with an important project I did on it, and B: I'm really tired of looking at white in my photos for some reason! But thanks for the tips, I'll try to implement some of them on her sister ship mayhap. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kurigan Posted July 27, 2010 I agree, she looks like a fine vessel, but the pics are hard to see. What I like to do (as a pro videographer) is to get a sheet of fabric, like a bed sheet. Tape it to a wall or pin it to a stack of boxes and lay the other end on the ground so that there is no crease along the transition. In video/photography it's called a "psych". This is the only link I found referring to the device, it's a bit off topic but you can see what I'm talking about http://www.ehow.com/video_5538085_make-green-screen-studio.html The lack of a crease or any visible transition creates false depth. It makes the room seems to go forever. You put the subject, in this case Phoenix, several inches away from the vertical portion so that it doesn't cast a shadow or collapse the "Psych" and take your photos. If you light the back drop evenly enough you can even use a photo editor like Photo Shop (or any number of free ones on the internet) to replace the color of the backdrop with scenery, essentially doing "Green Screen" like the guys in the video are describing. Good Luck with it, hope I helped. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Admiral Croissant Posted July 27, 2010 It's great that you have already ordered some minifigs, but the decks can still use some stuff on it like grates, capstans, barrels or buckets with swords. For the rest it's a very nice ship, I like the sails and the brown masts a lot and the rigging is nice as well. And finally, personally I don't really like the white bricks on it. I think red, blue or yellow will look better. Good job anyway, and good luck on further adjustments Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Capt. Stabbin Posted July 27, 2010 Nice job, Fires-storm! Your ship looks light and fast, with just enough guns to get the job done. Great rig job too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fires-storm Posted July 28, 2010 (edited) Thanks much to all the comments, I didn't really set her up fully how I intended for the main reason that I'm saving my money for a huge display my group is putting together next Brickworld, and also that I don't really have enough bricks laying around to do the job yet. Also, thanks for the tips on the photography, however I do not even have a camera that is worth bothering to take that much trouble on, because as soon as I put it in a shaded area the flash activates and utterly ruins the shot anyway, and there is no way to disable it I will however be trying to put up better quality pics as soon as I can get a camera worth all the effort, and actually have the space and time to do it, as setting up a film studio around a 3 year old your watching solo isn't what I'd call smart time management Also @Admiral Croissant: I tried other colors, but to me the white just screamed the right feel for my American ships. All the others I tried just made them look to much like somebody else's in my opinion. I don't know, maybe it's just another of my silly preferences. Edited July 28, 2010 by Fires-storm Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Becker Posted July 28, 2010 Well, shes still a beaty even at she is a but smaller and the masts got only 2, you can be proud of her still. And remeber this: Dont worry, be happy PS: If you can, i would like to see how this looks next to bounty Captain Becker Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BrickClick Posted July 28, 2010 (edited) Lovely ship And you built it so fast! I agree that it could do with some tiles and more figs but other than that, Great work! Edited July 28, 2010 by BrickClick Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fires-storm Posted July 29, 2010 Thanks to both of you for the kind comments! And Becker, I don't have a complete bounty any more, but my old two masted schooner, the Dauntless, is her same size and height, so if you want I could get some comparison shots with her once I get a new camera My old one died right after taking these pics Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
