Capt Wolf

I liked this when you first posted the larger landing craft, and i like this one, too. And thanks for posting the bottom view! I approve! Will do.

Congrats to all the winners, and a big thanks to the judges and all the leadership for making this work!

Nice cutter! I really like that first photo with her pushed over by the wind -- it looks very fast. Good crew, too!

Another masterful job! Beautiful lines! I intend to build a schooner at some point, so this gives me something to shoot for. I like the brick-built anchor; I may have to copy that. And thank you for supplying the comparison shot with the IFS; this really helps show its size. I approve!

Stunning! Absolutely beautiful. There's so much going on. I can simply echo others' comments: we need more pictures!

Philip Janszen and Anthony Crol went for a drink after hustling the Lady of Madrice into port. Crol picked up a recent edition of The Kings Port Advertiser left by another patron and thumbed through the pages. “Hey, Pip. Remember that Corry we ran into awhile back?” Janszen took a drink of his ale and responded. “You mean that bloke telling the tale of his escape from an Oleon prison?” “Yeah, that’s the guy,” Crol confirmed. “Why? What about him?” Crol looked over the paper at his friend. “Well, he’s called you out in The Advertiser. I think he’s challenging you to a duel!” “Pftt!” Janszen sprayed his ale a bit. “What!?! Give me that fish rag!” Janszen muttered under his breath as he read the item. “Some kind of spy … wearing female attire … honorable lady. Ah, here we go!” Janszen announced. After reading a bit, he offered his thoughts: “Hmm, I meant her no offense by my comments; they were all in good fun between tavern-goers.” “That’s true, Pip. And he was the one telling the tale in public.” “That he was, Tony! But it strikes me odd that this Hawksbrugh fellow is left to defend her honor without nary a word from her ambassador husband.” “Perhaps this allows the ambassador to stay above the fray,” commented Crol. “It’s probably better that way, I suppose,” replied Janszen. “We don’t want to start a war with the Corries. We’ve nothing against them. They’re fair dealers and good trade partners.” Janszen returned to reading the notice, when he finally reached “… rascally Eslandolan adventurer named Janszen.” Janszen continued reading, then aloud: “… a turncoat from Oleon!?" "How dare he call me a turncoat! I never turned against anything I believe in!” Crol tried to calm his friend. “Now, Pip, you were born in Oleon…” “But I’m no turncoat! I may have been born in Oleon, but I’ve always bled green. Eslandola is the only homeland I’ve ever known. Those blasted Oleon bluecoats turned on my family. I’m as much an Oleonder as … this Hawksbrugh fellow! Hell, with his prison time, he may have spent more time in Oleon than I ever did as a babe!” “Pip, settle down. No one’s calling you an Oleonder.” “But a turncoat?!” Janszen was still upset. “Pip, everyone who knows you knows that you’re no turncoat. You’re as loyal as they come. We’ve both been through enough over the years to know that, and no silly notice in The Advertiser changes that.” Janszen finally started to breathe easier, but was still flushed. “You’re right, Tony. But …” “But what?” asked Crol. “But … Hawksbrugh wants to defend the honor of Lady Herbert. Maybe we should give him the opportunity … in the name of good relations and all.” Janszen paused, then continued: “And if I happen to get to defend my honor at the same time, so much the better!” “Here, here, Pip! Sounds like a fine adventure for a rascal like you!” Sometimes Pip wondered if Tony wasn’t the devil on his shoulder. “When do we make for Port Raleigh?” “We’ve got one more leg on our run this month. After that, I’m sure we can come up with a reason to call on that new Corrie enclave…” “Pip, when all this is over, I’ll bet you a shiny new doubloon that you and this Hawksbrugh fellow wind up downing a few Weelond ales together.” “You may be right, Tony. But first things first. I need to send a letter to Hawksbrugh...”

A true cog! Instantly recognizable as such. I'd love to see some images that displayed the construction technique better. And as stated by others, the fleur de lis on the sail is a great detail. I approve!

Great ship! I love the lines; it has some nice curves, and I think the colors work. And I've always wanted to use those string-with-hand-grip pieces for rigging but never have. It looks like a very functional small merchant ship. I heartily approve!

Very nice! Stables, a fountain; Guy's uncle goes all out. We'll have to use pictures of his plantation in the travel posters. Seriously, I love the fountain!

Nice build and a fun story! But I think this is just the story your sigfig tells Viscount Oxley, and especially Lord Herbert, as I am quite certain that your sigfig is actually hiding under Lady Winifred's dress!

Bounty run - escorted by the King of Mardier: -Lady of Madrice (2WR) - Capt Wolf -Bright Owl (2T) - Sir Stig -Aurei Acerta (2T) - Umbra-Manis

Fantastic build. I love the architecture of the main building. Lots of detail, and great action and posing of minifigs. I especially like the log splitter. And I spy a great new use for those Toy Story toy soldier bases.

Great build, with detail everywhere: the raft itself, the riverbank and its vegetation, the water with the fish. Excellent concept, superbly executed! I'm jealous!

I love the shape of this ship! The sand green for copper roofing is great, and the cluttered deck really make it look like a small trade vessel. Well done!

Thanks! That will be useful! Thanks for the suggestion. When I expand this to a large plantation, I will enhance the road in this fashion.

Thanks to everyone for the kind comments! I'm glad you seem to like it as much as I do. This was a fun build, started two months ago, and I'm amazed at how much I was still changing as late as Friday. And I'm very happy with how working with slopes came out. It did limit some color choices, but it also helps produce a VERY solid model. That was a major decision in the design of this ship. I looked at a lot of ships, and from what I saw, it seemed like most of the Spanish ships I looked at had the gunports following the curvature, but many Dutch and English ships of the 17th century had the gunports on a straight line as I have done. Ultimately I chose the straight line for several reasons: it matched the interior decking of the build, it was consistent with the ship that was the main inspiration for this build (the Batavia), and aesthetically I found the conflict between the straight line of gunports and the curvature of the ship more interesting. But I agree it would be nice to try another one where the gunports follow the curve. There's nothing in the build that would prevent it. I originally tried light-colored sails (cream/beige) and it just looked like it was lacking something. My wife suggested I try the red sails (from the QAR, I think). I was skeptical but tried them, and it really transformed the ship. The figurehead was a carryover from the Batavia inspiration, which had a red lion as its figurehead. It seemed like a great opportunity to try out a Chima minifig in that spot. I agree its not the best, but when I decided to go with the red sails and the retired navy ship backstory, I decided it fit. At one point I had the figurehead holding two crossed swords as well. I just had to quote this again!

Anwok and Jynil awoke to their baby crying. Jynil nursed her child, then prepared him for their trip to the orchard. Anwok and Jynil thought that their child was the only new part of their morning trip. Jynil wrapped him securely and put him on her back. Then they went to pick apples. Then they saw … them. As they looked down upon the beach, they saw three people, but they wore strange clothes. Off in the distance was a large vessel, unlike anything Anwok and Jynil had seen before. They had heard the stories of strangers visiting the island -- everybody had -- but the stories were so old that nobody on the island still alive had ever seen any. But the strangers on the beach fit the stories well. The vessel was a large as in the stories. Their clothing was an odd mix; Anwok presumed the overdressed one in the middle was the leader. They did not appear threatening. Anwok told Jynil to go back and tell the elders about the visitors. Anwok would go down to the beach and present them with a gift of apples. … *** I wanted to play with forced perspective in this build, and also thought it would be fun to take the point of view of the natives rather than the explorers. The scene also serves as a step back from my build for challenge 1B, which is a close-up of the explorers on the beach. An overhead view of the build:

Captain’s Log of Philip Janszen, commanding the sloop Lady of Madrice, 15 Feb 616, somewhere east of Nellisa: After two weeks at sea, land was spotted. Hendrikson was on duty in the crow’s nest when, just before 8 bells, he sighted a shape on the horizon to the east-southeast. Adjusting our course to intercept, we soon determined that it was not a sail, but rather a small island. I conferred with Anthony Crol, my second in command, and we agreed that we must make landfall. We anchored our sloop and I ordered Crol to remain aboard while I commanded an away party of three to investigate the island. We did not know what to expect, and, although we saw no sign of inhabitants from our vantage point, we armed ourselves in case of hostiles. I also took a small pennant, and when we made landfall, I claimed the island for Eslandola and the MCTC. *** The beach didn't turn out how I had hoped, but I'm fairly happy with the technique I used for the surf. I also dabbled in some forced perspective with the anchored ship in the background. Here's an overhead view of the build:

Class 5T Heart of Eslandia | Capt Wolf | Eslandola

This is my third free build of the month, so approvals and critiques are most welcome. Samuel Amwell’s family have been brewers for generations, but Samuel is the first of his family to leave the mainland and move to the islands. In Weelond on the island of An Holli, Samuel has opened the Weelond Brewing Company. The tropical setting is perfect for growing the sugarcane necessary for distilling rum, and the ingredients for his family’s ale are also plentiful. Samuel works diligently to make sure his rum and ale are the best in the islands, and Eslandolan sailors near and far are quickly becoming familiar with WBC beverages.

I'm officially requesting the remaining existing escort for the bounty run, as it looks like we have people interested. I'll post links when we have things firmed up.

Is anyone interested in banding together for a bounty run? It'd be nice to get an escort for that effort as well. See the private MCTC discussion for details.

Thanks to everyone for the kind words on the build! Thanks! The 1x1 plate on the flower was Gedren_Y's idea in another thread, and I had to try it. And the fence was critical to this build; I had to have something more than just cotton plants! I actually have one (just one!) brown plant stem piece, and I agree it would look better than the green. However, I looked on Bricklink, and there are only 13 stems total for sale, at an average price of over $5 per piece. Not gonna happen! I used every dark tan piece I could. Given that a lot of the plates are hidden under the cotton plants, maybe I should have used them on the road instead. I was in a no-win situation based on my available pieces. I would have liked to add more texture in the field, and I agree that the road definitely needs something. Ask and you shall receive. Here are a couple of pictures of the wagon. The sides do angle out. Again, thanks for the comments! I appreciate the feedback. FYI, I'm licensing this as a medium-sized plantation, and my plan is to expand it to a large plantation in the future by adding new segments that are being cleared of wild vegetation and plowed. Anybody have any ideas on how to make a Lego plow?

Cotton plantation on An Holli

Cotton Plantation on An Holli | Capt Wolf | Eslandola