Raacerx2

A quick update: Been very busy with work (finishing up a 750 horsepower race car), so I haven't had much time. I'm also learning very quickly that it is incredibly difficult to gauge what bricks you need until you start building. I knew this would happen, but it has been quite amazing how many orders I've had to make, and how forgetting one color/style of LEGO can delay the whole thing. I'm STILL waiting on an order from 2 weeks ago, and just made another $250 order last night for primarily slopes and simple bricks. In the beginning, I was enjoying ordering up nick nacks and little small special things, but I knew that those wouldn't really be needed for quite some time. I've finally started ordering only what I need, and not what I want. But in the meantime I did get half of one of the shipwrecks started, and I like the way it is turning out. The only issues I'm running into, in general, is that I need to add in more colors into the scene in order to bring out the earth and rocks. The official LEGO Pick a Brick is cheaper with some plants, but not others. They are also quite limited on colors. They have the typical Large Leaf that runs about 25-35 cents each on Bricklink, and LEGO sells them direct for 25 cents. But, they are only available in bright green. On the other hand, they have the typical round brick with 3 sharp leaves for 20 cents, which is nearly 3 times the average price I pay on Bricklink. Very few things are cheaper on there, and for me I have to pay tax as well as quite expensive shipping, so its generally not worth it to get direct from LEGO.

Very nice. I especially like the lamp; I haven't seen that done before with the bottom round tile. Great details and a good theme.

Thanks guys. I already want to redesign the above hillside/mountain, but I need to work on getting everything on there so I can start applying details. I feel the hillside needs a lot more vertical green to go with the brown. Trent; the bag in the last pic is indeed a PAB; I ordered it a few weeks ago before I found out about Bricklink. I was however surprised to find that a small percentage of stuff is quite a bit cheaper directly from LEGO. Some of the rare parts that haven't made it into my kits lately are still produced. But, the vast majority is far more expensive, and I have to pay tax too. But 1x4 Trans-Light Blue tiles are a lot cheaper on LEGO.com The majority of what I am using for the finished product are brand new. I do have my own LEGO collection from when I was a child, but some of the colors are faded and such (although AMAZING for being 20 years old). At some point my mom sold/gave away the majority of my LEGO so I lost most of my earth tone colors and was left with primary space oriented stuff. I keep them separate but use the old ones for filler or when a single color or small piece is needed. My old collection was great for supplying me with tons of Pirate minifigs and a lot of small connectors and pieces. I wish I could spend the weekend working on this more, but real life has taken precedence. If anyone is curious, I do engineering in the motorsport industry. I'm definitely curious what type of jobs LEGO Lovers have; there definitely seems to be a focus on engineering/science, for obvious reasons.

Thanks guys. Here is some progress. Obviously, as I work on other parts of the scene, this will probably iterate, but I'm happy with what a few nights gave me. The beach is missing from these pictures, it will butt up against the mountain. I need to add more minifigs and animals. I have a sweet croc I am stoked about. I will probably add some more flowers too, and some other pirates battling cannibals. The beach will still have a treasure bury or digging up in progress, with the natives sneaking up on them. This is cannibal territory, and a pirate has wondered away from the beach. Unfortunate for him. The cannibals use treasure to lure their prey. Jungles are dangerous. Cross section; you can see I used some filler Jungle from overhead

<raises glass> congrats

Some progress on the project; muddy jungle hillside. So far, I don't like it much, it is very busy, but I tried something less busy before and it didn't look nearly as detailed as I hoped. We shall see. I am still waiting on my tan colored stuff, so I wasn't able to start the beach yet. There will be a bit of a rise in elevation

Interior is very impressive; I especially enjoyed the use of the Technic unions for the still too.

Fantastic!!!! I really like this one. I will say I'm not a big fan of the MOC birds in general (not yours specifically), but the seagull made with the shoulder tassels looks great! Best one I've ever seen. Forgive me, but I will be stealing that one for my big Pirate scene. Is there an interior to the lighthouse? Happen to have any more closeup shots of other parts of the MOC? Also, what did you make the light enclosure out of? I can't tell.

Hahaha, it is indeed the best part. It definitely keeps the mind spry as well. But with this size of a project, I need some level of organization. I've decided on grouping things in small groups of like parts, different colors or vastly different shapes. For instance, wagon wheels are in with other round bricks, but reddish brown 1x4 bricks are separate from reddish brown 1x3 bricks, since those are so close. Its a weird system, I guess I'll just have to memorize it. So far, its been stellar. I've finally received just about all my orders (of course, have since placed a couple more). I'll need to hold off for awhile as the girlfriend, while enthusiastic about the project, didn't realize how much $$$ I'd be spending hahahaha! If anyone is curious, I have spent a total of $925 so far, including my Queen Anne's Revenge ship. YIKES!@*&^!*&@%!&^@% *********** I'm also now back to wanting swells in the bay. I really like how the water design turned out in my "Ex-Captain Bart's Floating Tavern" MOC, and I think it works great for a gentle bay without too much wind. If there was a lot of wind and swell, there would be nutrient upswell in the water, making it much cloudier (hey college marine bio class wins again!), and I want that clear pristine reef look. I also decided, after advice and research on here, to go BASE PLATE, FILLER PLATE, TOP LEVEL for the water. This will enable me to get that awesome variance of color underneath the translucent tiles. I looked at "Pirate's Remorse" once more for a long time and the touches like the trapped coins really blew my mind. I also really want to do some outlines of sharks under the water too for that EXTRA deep detail. I think the "swell" will be more like a gentle rise in the water for texture, not more then 1 brick high. This would enable an easy way to get some angle on the keel of the ships and I don't think the jagged steps of the tiles will look bad at all. I don't want things to look overly smooth. Getting really excited, as the main thing holding me back from really starting is time. I hope to have some progress pics tonight or tomorrow, I like to work fast. =)

Thanks Gents! I'm having a great time! Look for more! I agree Captain Blackmoor; the little MOC started just as an experiment in water and then grew from that so I hadn't really prepared for the overall size. I wanted it to look rickety, like it is about to fall over, but it didn't come out 100% like I wanted. I think I will beef up 3 of the poles, and then leave one very dilapidated. I had even thought about leaving it one plate short and intentionally making the building "sink" to that side a bit. I kind of like that idea, adding one plate in the opposite corner. =D Thanks Cam; I'm happy with the way it turned out, although I sort of haphazardly put them in. I sort of like the "random" look, but I also like the look of the consistent zigzag (like in "Pirate's Remorse"). However, now that I've started to play with techniques, I'm back to thinking about doing some rolling swells in the bay for my big project!

[pid][/pid]212A An MOC I made to practice a few techniques, mainly the water. I like it. "The Pirates of Scurvy Cove thought it would be an easy in/out job; grab the Ruby of Sintali and off they would go. Captain Bart didn't even have a boat to sail after them, and the bar was a "Leave Your Weapon at the Door" kind of place. They thought that would mean an easy smash and grab and no resistance, but it turns out, they weren't the only ones not following the rules. Now with a murder on their hands, they high tail it out of there to rush back to their hideout. Will Captain Bart sail the seas once more to avenge his fallen patron?" One of the pirates leaps into the boat as another casts off the line The modified dingy was stolen from an Imperial trading post and then modified This is going to take some clean up... (since changed blood to be under body) Bart's Tavern had seen better days, but the rum was cheap and you could always fine a palm leave to hide under. Bart accepted payment in palm fronds as well as gold or tales from the sea. Who knows what lies beneath, but Captain Bart's reputation of anger is enough to take the risk of leaping While it isn't normal for someone to be stabbed with a spear on an average day at Bart's Tavern, a fellow patron looks on quizzically as the robbery unfolds. As long as his rum isn't spilled, or Bart is distracted enough to sneak a little, the patron doesn't mind if someone gets stabbed The patron looks on, Bart yells obscenities (I hope someone notices the pole under the bar counter for folks feet to rest) The unnecessary carnage Critique is always welcome (encouraged!). This is my 3rd MOC in the last couple weeks. I wanted to do more of a roof, but I like the dilapidated look and the pieces of wood floating in the water, etc. Also, the entire thing can be turned upside down. Only the oar will fall out of the chest.

Doing a little suspended mini inn/tavern and trying out water techniques. This is directly over the base plate, next going to compare with some colors underneath. I have to admit, I like the 1x1x2/3 slopes a lot; they make it seem like the water is lapping up against the pylons and stuff. I'll post the whole thing when it is done but curious what people think about the water. Sorry about the picture quality, messing with some camera stuff.

Looking great! My ships dwarf in comparison!

Thanks Cam. Its a super cheap 50mm EF lens (I have a cheap Canon Rebel T1i). They are $100 and plastic. But its got an incredible 1.8 aperture so yeah the depth of field with up close stuff is stellar. I'm surprised the pics actually came out cause they were taken late at night with really warm CFL light and the lens has no electronic stabilization. I'm just new into photography too. I need to start photoshopping them and evening them out.

Thanks!! I think I am going to make all 3 ships fit, even if it means adding 16 studs to one edge. I am also taking your advice Bart to do baseplate, one plate level, and then ocean. Frank Brick Wright linked my favorite shipwreck and that is literally the one that made me want to do translucent. I love the coins and the different colors underneath. I want to go a step further and add in some light blue too, and will be doing the 1x1x2/3 slopes as well to get it some depth. However, I think I will experiment this weekend with rolling swells. This is a bay so to speak, so I don't need them big, but it would be nice to have some depth to it. Perhaps I will just focus on wakes for the ship and waves crashing lightly on the shores. Now that I have most of my first orders here, its easy to see i need a ton more large bricks for filler, as well as some larger plates for levels. Also going to need a huge amount more plants. I knew I was no where near there, but its a wake up call for sure. I posted a quick MOC in the MOC forum. Made a little tree as I was organizing. First time trying to make one. Top needs work, but I like the bottom. The first thing I am actually going to work on is the steep mountain full of vegetation and the treasure bury in progress. Looks like it will take a bit more space then I planned, of course. But I still will make 3 ships fit, even if the largest one is only a 12 gun. At least one, if not two of the ships need to be angled in the water, which basically is why I want to do some texture/level in the bay. I feel it is contradictory to have the ships keeling hard and the water flat. QUESTION: - How do you guys organize your pieces? Individually? By type? By color? I overlooked this part. By color definitely doesn't seem wise as it's incredibly hard to find individual pieces. But, I also don't want 50 different containers. Right now, I've got 15 6 quart showbox containers and will be dividing a few of them apart. Seems efficient enough, but I'm wondering how much time I'll waste. At the same time, part of what I enjoy about LEGO is finding the pieces.