BrickHammer

Pirates and buccaneers beware! Too long have you preyed on weak and unprotected merchant ships! Too long have you raided small Caribbean Islands and ports! Too long have you roamed the seven seas without meeting any real resistance! Now you will have to face the justice of the mighty Imperial Armada! This "Armada Port" is an homage to the beloved 90s Imperial Armada pirates subtheme, which only ever got a single fort like structure! While sets like the "Eldorado Fortress" were clearly based on the British Empire, this all new design uses elements of real life Caribbean architecture to pay tribute to the Spanish Armada while also trying to capture the spirit of Caribbean ports like Havana! SUPPORT NOW THE DESIGN PROCESS After my first LEGO IDEAS submission (the "Imperial Island Fort") was turned down I immediately started to plan a redesign of the project. I always start my designs with a very clear vision in my head and for this redesign I had two major goals: 1. I wanted to make the design a lot more colourful and 2. I wanted to add as much depth and verticality as possible within the 3k parts limit of LEGO IDEAS. On top of that, instead of going back to the "old" red coats, who already had their big "Eldorado Fortress", I decided to honour the legacy of the Armada faction which only ever received one bulding: The Armada Sentry! To get a better feeling for the general shape of the island I used a couple of placeholders to determine the relative size and location of the different structures, as can be seen in the picture below: After I was satisfied with the results of the first couple of test renderings, I also made sure that the geography of the whole island was visually appealing from all angles and that there was a good mixture between 90 degree angles and odd angled elements, as can be seen from a bird's eye view: Once, I was happy with the general shape I started to design the different buildings in detail. While the fortification and the smaller houses were quite easy to design, I struggled a lot with the design of the main building. Originally I had planned to include a big arch with a bell, but was unable to find a design that did not look like a church! In the end I decided to move the bell to the right outer wall and go for a more basic roof design, since I really did not want to make the building look like a chapel. You can see a couple of different variations for the roof structure below: I am really happy with how my "Armada Port" turned out! If you like it you can check it out on the LEGO IDEAS website! You can find more pictures on my LEGO IDEAS page and my Instagram page :) If you have any questions please ask! I really appreciate criticism and feedback! SUPPORT NOW 

I was asked this question a couple of times in the last three or four months or so. There are several reasons: 1. As you just said, most of my stuff is currently owned by LEGO for another couple of months or years. 2. Most of my IDEAS projects would not be fit for rebrickable without modifactions because I often use parts in colours that are not available. 3. I build for fun and to relax and sticking to a piece count or even "worse" to the parts that come in a specific set (in case I would like to create an alt-build) and creating and polishing instructions is not really fun to me. It would feel like work. Which is precisely what I tried to get away from in the first place! HOWEVER, there is a rather high chance that this will change in the future. I have started to think about designing projects specifically for rebrickable. If everything works you might see some results in a couple of months :) Oh and I really appreciate the question because it implies that you think that people would actually want to build my designs which is kind of flattering! And thanks a lot for the info about how to hide pictures!

Thank you! I really appreciate that :)

Thank you! So do I! It was really hard to capture the spirit in such a small space and with so little pieces! Yes, I was super sad aswell, when I had to remove the second cannon. Especially because it does not really make a lot of sense that the fort is not able to fire in all directions. Having such a big blind spot would really make the fort weak! I have about 50 more pictures of the building process but I did not want to spam the forum thread! I might post them on my instagram later :) I had started the project about a year ago but then put it on ice because I was not really happy with the results. At one point I just decided to move on to othe designs and have created a couple of them since then. You can see the final result of my first attempt in the picture below. Even though this was far from finished it is clearly visible that the proportions and the over all layout would have looked super weird: I then returned to the project in early May 2022 and finished it in about two weeks. My main hobby is martial arts and for some reason I keep injuring myself which then results in me having more time to build. In a way this project is thus brought to you by my broken rib! However, two weeks are a rather long time for me. Some of my projects were built within two or three days (even some of the ones that made it to 10k). The rendering usually takes a longer than the building! And to your second question: I never build more than one project at a time, but as I wrote before, I sometimes lose confidence in my idea and then move on two something else. And as with this one I ocassionally return to a discarded idea because I feel like there might be still a good idea hidden somewhere between the scraps. In this cases I sometimes also reuse design elements of prior attempts. Thank you for your positive feedback and your questions. I hope I have sufficiently answered them :)

Thank you! I am glad you like the colours!

Hey guys, BrickHammer here, it is really great to hear that you like my design so much! I just read your discussion on how likely it is to win the vote and it is quite interesting that a lot of people think it has a shot at winning! To me this still all feels super surreal. I still can barely believe that my project was chosen so the idea of it winning the whole thing seems super far fetched!. Especially because the minigolf design is also quite stunning! However, I am obviously super thankful for your support and your confidence in the project! I appreciate each vote and each and everyone who shares the project online etc. Thank you!

Thank you so much! I really appreciate the support and the kind feedback :)

Top 4 is good enough for me! :) Let's see if LEGO thinks the same! Speaking of IDEAS: are we allowed to post our own IDEAS projects in this thread or is it only okay if you post the projects of other people? ... if so I should probably also post my two most recent castle projects here...

Wow, great to hear that both of my projects made it into your top 10 list! Thank you so much! Let's hope LEGO thinks the same :)

Alright that sounds great! I think I will just wait a bit and see how the project does on LEGO Ideas. Currently it looks like a lot of people seem to like it! If it does not reach 10k or LEGO does not approve it I can totally see myself creating instructions for it. But just as I wrote previously some of the parts I used do not exist in the right colours :( Yep! I agree 100%. I would love to build with actual bricks but I currently don't own any LEGO bricks that are not already displayed on a shelf. However, once you get used to it building digitially is almost as much fun as the real thing!

Hi guys BrickHammer here, as a part of my ongoing journey to build all the things I would have loved to build as a child, I have just created a Forestmen MOC on LEGO Ideas. I tried to capture all the classic elements of the old Forestmen sets while giving the whole thing a brand new look! I hope you like it! I would really appreciate your feedback (and your support)! If you have any question about the MOC, the design choices or the building process, feel free to ask! https://ideas.lego.com/projects/1dab75ef-a79a-4dbd-ad63-8c9433be0c5c/comments_tab#content_nav_tabs

Looks great! I've just voted for it! Good luck!

Are you 100% sure? If yes, than sorry I was not aware of that! Great to know. Maybe I will keep that in mind and once I have some free time I will create some instructions for my builds. Even though I am not sure if they would be very helpful for people because I often use parts that do not exist in these colours. Perhaps my next MOC will only use bricks in the correct colours and will come with instructions :) I really appreciate that! Especially because creating instructions for this build would probably take a couple of hours since I have never done it before....

Thank you so much for your support! Hey man, great to hear that you want to try and build this yourself. Unfortunately, I think I am not allowed to give out the instructions of this build as long as it is still part of the LEGO Ideas voting process. Sorry :(

Thank you for your support! Yes, that's a good point. I actually thought about doing that but then decided against it. I have created custom flags for my "King's Castle" and my "Forestmen Hideout" but I thought that the makeshift look of the flags would really go well with the Wolfpack identity. So I wanted it to look like someone just took a normal flag and put it on the tower.

Hey guys BrickHammer here, after my Forestmen MOC "Forestmen Outpost" was received with much kindness, I decided to also share my "Wolfpack Castle" with you guys. I was always a bit sad that the Wolfpack never had a proper castle set so I decided to design and build my own "Wolfpack Caslte" and submit it to LEGO Ideas. he "Wolfpack Castle" is located on a small coastal island, surrounded by the sea and is only connected to the main land by a small stone bridge. The island is almost fully covered by barren rock and has almost no vegetation. On top of the rocks there is the main castle, which consists of three sections: the lower gate, which is the castle's first line of defence and secures the pathway that leads up to the upper castle section the main gate, which secures the upper courtyard and displays the Wolfpack's iconic coat of arms the castle's keep, which contains the armoury and serves as the final line of defence in case of an attack. Below the main castle, there is a big cave which opens up to the sea and contains a small pier. The cave and the pier are connected to the castle's keep by a ladder and a small hatch which leads to the upper courtyard. This way, small boats can be used to supply the castle with food during a siege or as a way to escape in the unlikely scenario that the keep is taken by enemy forces. I would really appreciate your feedback (and your support)! If you have any question about the MOC, the design choices or the building process, feel free to ask! https://ideas.lego.com/projects/f23da1e5-312c-4f19-ab89-d0f253d2e6bf

Thank you for your support!

Thank you! I am glad you like it! Yes I am a big fan of the helmet as well! Thank you! I tried to find the sweat spot between modern and classic building techniques. Great to hear that it looks out like I was able to find the right balance. I actually thought about including a BURP as a joke as well but then decided to go for the snot rockwork! Yes that was one of my main goals. Especially because I designed this project for LEGO Ideas and the platform is so often simply used for more or less well done remakes. I tried to capture the spirit of the Wolfpack and imagined what the Wolfpack Tower could have looked like if it was created today. About the dungeon: I agree 100%. I tried different layouts of the basement because (as you said) a dungeon would have been a rather obvious choice. I tried to include both a dungeon and a dock but this left me with just a tiny pier which looked a bit shabby. So in the end I went with the dock layout because I thought the smuggling aspect would be a better fit anyway. You could also argue that the tower would be a great place for a holding cell if there really needs to be one. And yes I added the "wood" parts to make the build a bit more colourful even though it does not really make any sense for the stone bridge (as someone has already pointed out in a comment on LEGO Ideas). Sometimes logic just has to make room for creativity and aesthetics. Thank you for your support!

Thats a super funny coincidence! I just created a Forestmen project on LEGO Ideas and during the design process I was partially inspired by the layout of this particular baseplate! Just as you wrote, you could build something really similar! Here is a picture for reference: You could have a tower or small castle on one side of the baseplate and then connect it to some trees on the other side using a bridge. Ideally one of the old bridge pieces that often came with the Forestmen sets! Good luck!

Thank you so much! Yes, I really tried to capture the feel of the old theme while still using some newer shapes and techniques. Especially the use of a rather old fashioned tree design was very important to me!

Thank you for your support! I am glad you like it!

Thank you so much! Thank you! Glad you like it that much! I haven't heard about "Worldbuilder" yet. Does it work just the same way that LEGO Ideas does?

Hey guys, BrickHammer here, I have recently created another historic themed MOC for Lego Ideas: the "Legoredo Stagecoach". I tried to combine the historic aethetics of Wild West stagecoaches with LEGO's more colourful classic Wild West look. I originally had intended to include 6 minifigs (2 employees and 4 passengers) but LEGO moderates forced me to reduce the number to 4. I hope you like the build and I appreciate both your feedback and your support :) https://ideas.lego.com/projects/e066297b-7595-4064-a4a8-344fb8abc988

Well, the German perception of the "Wild West" is or at least used to be (before popular movies and games like RDR) massively influenced by the works of the German author Karly May.(1842-1912). Up to this day he is still one of Germany's best selling authors. His novels sold over 200 million times. I am not quite sure how well known he is globally. He claimed to have travelled to America several times and all his novels appear to be autobiographical. In reality he made it all up and has never visited America even once. His stories are all rather stereotypical but his fictional native American hero "Winnetou" is still considered the typical native American in Germany up until today. He heavily focused on "typical" native American virtues like bravery and honour. In general the depiction doesn't seem to be that different from the American one though.

Thank you! I am glad you like it! If you want to you can support it by voting for it in the contest :) Good question. I wanted to make "Bob" half naked to underline the fact that he was probably not expecting to go on an adventure and to make him look even less prepared. Somehow this chest piece was the only one available in stud.io... Now that I look at it you are right. Bob has been lifting some weights. I guess he started working out during the lockdown? Yes those cones in trans bright green would be amazing. The fact that LEGO chose this project to be one of the final 15 means that they are not completly opposed to relasing them. So if you want them you can vote for the build and you might be able to get Bob and the cones for free as a gift with purchase :)