Captain Dee

Exquisite build! I couldn't care less about LotR - but I bought a bunch of these sets because the architecture and colors are beautiful, and you've taken that humble beginning and transformed it into a fantastic piece of art. This is just magnificent. The decorated roof sections are beautiful, the angled floor and curved wall are nice and the waterfall looks great. It would never make a set - too many pieces for that - but even so, it's what the designers probably would like to build if cost wasn't an issue. Excellent work.

Fantastic jungle and very well-written story. All those trees and bushes and other plants make a beautiful dense scene. You managed to turn the mundane task of filling the water barrels into a tremendous action scene. The stream and little rocky ledge look nice too. Good work. And naturally those redcoats would dispatch any threat from a bunch of rowdy, undisciplined sea dogs.

This is an excellent depiction and is overflowing with activity. The two buildings are really nice and all the different minifig poses are great. The big pile of furniture blocking the street is a nice feature. The top hat/hairpiece is perfect for this build, but my favorite part has to be the skirts of the dress - that's a great way of using those jumper plate pieces to show movement. Excellent work.

It's great to see another relatively obscure occupation coming to light. I'm planning a ropewalk to accompany my shipyard, but yours is the first I've ever seen in Lego form. I think the lush vegetation really steals the spotlight, but I'm guessing you wanted a depiction of a startup since the settlement is still young. The twisted strands look great, and the irregular base is a good way to hint at what would be much bigger/longer in reality. Good work.

Excellent story and photo sequence. The swordplay pics look great, but do they always practice by climbing atop boxes and barrels? Seems a bit impractical... This story just keeps getting better. Keep it up. Approved from Corrington.

I like market squares and this modular approach shows lots of potential. The gradual buildup of the cobblestone is neat and the sail canopy is a good idea. The variety of items being sold is nice, but a few more minifigs would help to fill out the scene. I'm guessing the highest part will be in the center of the square based on the position of the Technic bricks. Good work and keep it up. Approved from Corrington.

The overall design looks good, but that front elevation view is a really flat way of presenting it. The windows look nice but don't show up clearly. Ever think of rendering these designs? It would improve the overall look quite a bit. This does look like it would make a neat little house if actually built.

I had to see this after spotting the iconic phrase in the title. Neat remake of that classic scene - but I have a feeling his name isn't "Alice"... Good job with the symmetric details and that wonderful pose.

Interesting story... and those "filthy redcoats" look like some rough and surly characters... Yes, that roof is lovely. And Gideon's pointer on proper focus for forced-perspective is exactly right, as the bluriness in the foreground of the first pic distracts from the overall effect slightly. But it's still a neat little build.

A wild-dog threat on a new island is an idea I'd toyed with a while back as a way to use some of my, uh, "large" collection of dogs - so you beat me to it, but I'm glad to see someone had the same basic idea. This integrates well with the other build, and the vegetation and animal poses are quite nice. I like the rail fence too. Neat idea for a build and good work.

This is a creative take on the challenge. The tower built up on the rocks looks great and the landscape is nice. Those custom cannons utilize one of my favorite barrel designs, but I agree with the thought that some basic earthworks would help protect them. You've built numerous horse-related builds by now; keep up the storyline. Good work.

Very nice, classic tavern. The whole scene is bustling with activity which really brings these settings to life. The colors are eye-popping and the overall arrangement is pretty good. Some ground texturing would be nice, and some tiles on the little docks would clean up the look a little. But those are fairly minor concerns and I think it turned out well overall. Approved from Corrington.

I sure hope everyone realizes this already. I'll take quality over quantity any day. At the moment there's a visible difference between, say, GoH and BoBS, owing to the big differences in their natures. I'm almost to the point of thinking there's too much activity - there are lots of opportunities to build from challenges, freebuilds, MCRA results etc and I think we'll all make a better BoBS world if we focus on building these things well, and not just building for game doubloons. And to get back on topic, hopefully the work behind the scenes will yield some good results. Patience...

The initial vignette is really nice and reminds me of a similar scene by the good fellow who posted before me. The textures are really nice and the little monument is neat. The backdrop does indeed produce a good cloudy sky effect. The house is small but looks pretty good. Perhaps a more substantial roof would be more fitting but the basic design is nice. At first glance I thought the three-arch opening was just three seperate window pieces, but upon reading the prior comment and noticing the lack of top studs, I'm also wondering just what that is and where it came from. Good work overall.

This is unmistakably one of the good Doctor's creations. It's a very neat and tidy design and the colorscheme looks lovely. The dark red sails alone give her a commanding presence. The custom shrouds and ratlines looks great and the rounded cabin is nice too. You've already received a good bit of constructive input, so I'll shift the focus slightly. Yes, it's possible to create more realistic vessels on the prefab hulls, but introducing curvature in multiple planes to parts that weren't designed for it isn't always necessary. This being a relatively small vessel with a flush cabin, I won't fuss about all the straight lines; it's what the designers of the sets/parts have always had in mind anyway. There's no harm in building off the basic concept. Regarding the guns, Bregir brought up a point that I almost mentioned a while back (before chickening out due to fear of rambling on about something that people might not care about). Broadside weight was the most important metric - the number of guns by itself meant little. The big triple-deckers had much heavier guns and shot weights on average than small single-deckers, so their firepower was much higher than a simple comparison of gun numbers might suggest. I like the idea of broadside weight factoring into the ship classes and licenses for this reason. During the 1700s the British adopted standard weights of 8, 12, 18, 24, 32, and 42 pounds and often dropped the names (demi-cannon, culverin, etc) to avoid confusion. The other nations used similar weights but there were some differences. The arched windows in the stern look good, but the resulting gaps, though distracting, are really hard to work with. I've seen some ways of partially closing them in, but no perfect technique exists that I'm aware of. Too bad Lego doesn't offer a 2-stud-wide smooth-bottom studded-top curved top that would fit, besides just the standard 4-wide arch; this would allow lots of creative uses of continuous rows of those lovely arched windows. Oops, I'm rambling on too much here. Good work.

Nice little scene. The curved wooden defenses and custom cannons are really good and those minifigs are nice as always. I like the grass technique overall and the attempt at wheel ruts is a good idea. The tree could maybe use a few more leaf pieces, and the missing supplies would be good to have. Besides that this is a fine challenge entry. The title has your name written all over it. It reminds me of the passage in the KJV of the Bible that mentions "harpers harping with their harps." Good work.

Excellent depiction of the whale tail, and good job with the rest of the scene too. Those whalers are either really brave or completely mad to be so close in such a small boat - one good whack by that tail and they're all goin' down. But I suppose the threat of death was half of the thrill of whaling. Approved from Corrington.

:look: :look: Interesting story. Well-written, which is more than I can say for my in-and-out-of-character "contribution." You've brought a lot of storyline elements together which makes for some good reading. The naval base plans sound tantalizing. Excellent depiction of the stern of that ship - possibly aided by a certain Creator cabin, perhaps? Yes, it would look better without the visible break, but the technique is very nicely demonstrated all the same. The practice scene looks great too. Cooke's pose with the pistol is perfect and the shot-out bullseye is likewise a perfect use for that round tile. At a glance it does appear Montoya is resting his sword/rapier on a tombstone or monument or something, but thankfully the story makes that part clear. You'll get your chance at a friendly celebratory duel when I post the "results" build I promised. (Of course your characters will win... ) These builds may be small, but they turned out well, and the story is great. Good work.

Lovely little scene, Captain. The building facade with the porch, statues, and wall decorations is nice but the baths and small gardens are what make this so special. It takes so much more effort as a builder to have lowered/depressed sections like that and it looks great. The tiled floor surfaces and the water both look nice. The collection of minifigs is excellent, and I must congratulate you for using two appropriately-dressed women from the Pirates theme (and in proper colors as well!) Good work. Comfy chairs? Soft pillows? :iamded_lol:

Nice plantation. Apart from the sign it isn't obviously wheat but it's obviously a crop (yes, I know it's difficult and takes a lot of parts). The layout is pretty good and I like the little shed. The scarecrow is a natural fit; the farmer should be but he looks a little too modern to me for the setting. The monkey supervisor with the eyeglass (or megaphone?) is hilarious. The expression the designers put on their faces is perfect for something like this. I don't mind the white fence: it too looks kinda modern, but that basic design existed in old times so I can live with it. But surrounding the build with it makes the field look more like a garden plot; it would be a little more convincing as a field if it only went down two sides to form the corner of the field. But these are minor concerns. It seems I'm forgetting something... ah yes, here's a "banana" for the "monkey": Approved from Corrington!

Nice cabin interior. The colors look great and you have a good cast of characters and parts: the recent queen hairpiece and those goblin thingies are two of the better features in my opinion. The sword and knife holder is pretty good too. Good work. Approved from Corrington.

Excellent story and build to match. I'm glad you posted the reference photo, because it shows just how good of a job you did in replicating the design in Lego form. The hull is beautiful, and while the mast may be a bit thick the rigging still looks pretty good overall. The forecastle and custom guns are nice. The water looks great, and the bottle thrown overboard is a neat story feature. I assume the grey slopes are a dorsal fin, and not rocks off the island? Good work, and good to see you active again.

BoBS would include anything from the Age of Sail, with the greatest emphasis from ca. 1500 to about 1830 (coinciding with the real Age of Exploration and going through the Napoleonic Wars, but not including the use of steam power for anything). And I just realized where "Oleon" comes from... Edit: To be clear, you're free to mix and match components from different time periods, like headgear for example. Morions were used in the late medieval thru early exploration, tricornes were mostly 1700s, and bicornes and shakos were mostly 1800s on. The same goes for ships, buildings, etc: carracks and frigates didn't sail during the same times, but you can build any sailing ship that was used during the general time period, and show them together if you want. Hope this helps.

Another fine plantation! That cotton technique is pretty much standard by now, but it looks just as good here as anywhere. I really like the creative use of parts in the fence and horse-cart - neither is new, but they add a little something different to distinguish this from previous cotton plantations. Good work. Approved from Corrington.

These builds are neat and smooth and the story is an excellent continuation of what you'd previously written. The office makes really good use of fairly normal building techniques. I like the white face of the wigged character; he looks perfect for that time, although perhaps not exactly perfect for the position. Good work.