Darnok

Nice one! The collection of bits miraculously morphing into a functioning musket is my favourite! All in all a solid build. The front of the factory is a bit barren in my opinion. The "inside" section might look even better with some more seperation of room, meaning some walls and seperate rooms. Maybe an office for the administrative side of things and a storage room for the finished muskets? My initial thought when only seeing the title was "cool, he is advancing the weapon production on Argentia!", with the cannon factory there. Set up something similar at home I say! Cascadia will provide the woods for even better musket barrels, and of course fuel the fires of the melting ovens. If you build something similar on a bigger base, with the expansions mentioned above, the whole thing could easily become a large factory for Mesabi Landing. Your men would not like to get their megablock kicked by Mordo though.

Thank you. Especially that thread is an excellent example of what you are able to do in builds and writing. Keep that stuff coming!

On a more positive note: I really like the ship. Are there more pictures, and if yes: where?

Please do not take the following the wrong way, it is in no way meant offensive. Try to read it with the strong message of "you can do so much better". Having said that: meh. You say it yourself... ... and I would support your conclusion. The build itself seems to be some grey plates (raised on rocks, okay) with rails on it? I do not want to come across as an megablock, but: Apart from the underwhelming MOC I also find the story around it lacking. That is not the Mesabi style I know and love. You have this gem... ... and do nothing with it! Why not? Again, I am sorry if this comes across as overly harsh. @Mesabi: I respect you as a person and a builder, and I know you can do way better than this. I think I am just disappointed that you did not.

Willkommen, und viel Spaß hier!

This is something I have thought about some days ago. I agree that residences should play a bigger role in a settlement. Of course a settlement is not only about people living there, but currently each residence is as important as all other kinds of properties. I wonder where all those artisans, factory workers and people in commerce live - three of each per residence? And that does not even take into account people working in arts&culture, education or on plantations. On the other hand I do not think that residences should provide a lot of income. The current numbers are fine in my opinion. The simplest solution would be to raise the number of residences needed per settlement level. Maybe double it? Another idea could be to make the mayors pay depend on the numbers of residences - after all the citizens pay the taxes.

The next one will be bigger, I promise!

Named after a bird following the ship since shortly after it was put into service, the "Cranky Parrot" is a small vessel built for trade. Despite its unarguably grumpy character, the parrot has always brought luck to its namesake, which is currently sailing to Mesabi Landing. Soon to be under the command of the WTC, the "Cranky Parrot" might need all the luck it can get. Multiple elements can be removed: The anchor chain can be released.... ... and also be re-attached. ========================================================================================================= This will be my free class 2. I used a cog as a reference. The "blocky" design with this one is intentional, I will work with hinges and smoother hulls with other ships. @Mesabi: This will soon be nominally under WTC control. We have discussed this, just give the orders.

The scientists are done like this on purpose, it is supposed to be tongue-in-cheek. The children on the other hand... it was this or "small pirates". I really wanted to go with the school trip idea, and the City parts still looked better. Not the best compromise, agreed.

A large education facility, the Academy for the Science of Sugar ensures that the sugar industry on Celestia is the most advanced in the Brick Seas.

"Calm down kids, calm down" ... Mrs. Hoover had a bit of trouble with her class today. The children could not be blamed though, for they were excited to see the Academy for the Science of Sugar - science and sugar, what more could a Corlander child ask for?The class had been invited for a tour of the academy, since its purpose was not only to research all things related to sugar - sources, refinement, uses - but also to inspire the youth to a future in the academic field. Mrs. Hoover and her class waited in front of the gates, being greated by two friendly Corrington guards. First an overview over the whole facility: the main building had two wings, on the area around it were a couple of fields with different plants. On the left side of the main building there also was a small greenhouse, and on the backside there was a stack of bee hives. The tour began in the main building. The first stop was the library, where one of the scientists was working on a book about "exciting news in the fields of sugarcane research". The bookshelves were already crammed full with books about every possible aspect of sugar, and a table in the rear of the library was covered with maps of the best regions for certain plants. The next stop was in the laboratory, were another scientist explained his work. "Greetings, young ones. What we have here is our experimental laborator. We examine different plants and their content of sugar. In the storage spaces behind me you can see some: a grass called stevia, and two different types of sugarcane. On the table in front of me I have some sample of fully grown stevia plants, sent to us by a farmer on the island of Argentia. He is interested in whether this type of plant is one to be rumoured to be extremely sweet. In the jar on the other side of the table you can see some sap from agave plants from that same island. The question remains which is the sweeter one of both. I hope we will find out soon!" One of the pupils was curious: "And what is it in that red cup?" "That is my coffee, kiddo." Leaving the main building through the back door, the group came to the bee hives. "Do not be scared, they do not harm anybody as long as they are not provoked. Note how the different hives are marked in different colours. We keep these bees to study the honey they produce. Honey is a great sweetener, so of course we are interested in its properties!" The greenhouse had been set up to study certain orchids, some of which had very sweet nectar. They needed special care, even in the already warm climate of Celestia. Moving past two small fields - the farmer from Argentia had provided seeds, so here some young agave and stevia plants were being grown for future studies - the class came to some small fields of sugarcane. But was it? A third scientist - even if she looked more like a farmer - explained: "There are different types of sugarcane plants, and we try to find out which type grows best in what places. Here we have one field with a variant being grown on Lacryma, and right next to it another type from Tiberia. As you can see, the sugarcane from Tiberia grows smaller, and we have found out it also produces less sugar." "You may wonder why we do not just plant the other type of sugarcane everywhere. Well, it is not as easy. Tiberia is not the best environment for sugarcane. But we are working on the problem. If you turn around, you can see a field of beet. This might be the future of sugar for the Mainland. We have found this type of beet growing well almost everywhere, and it has small amounts of sugar in it. By selective breeding we hope to increase its sugar levels, thus providing a source of sugar that grows in the Mainland. THis way we would not have to transport it all over the Brickseas, greatly reducing prices back there. There is some way to go, but the first results are promising!" As they leave, the children where even more excited than before. Sugar rules! ==================================================================================================================== A large education property for Jameston. I tried to cover as many areas of "sugar studies" as possible in that timeframe. A study hall, a laboratory, experimental fields - which you will find at any faculty of agricultural sciences - and combine it with the things I already know about the BotBS world. The decision to use the sugarcane build from @Simon_S was due to me having the parts needed - that it was on Tiberia and provided a nice IC reason for shorter plants was just the proverbial ising on the cake. I would have liked to include some more details about bees and sugar beet, but the level of knowledge in that time period was not advanced enough. Fun fact: sugarbeet was a thing only from 1801 onwards, prior to that it was either honey, fruits or sugar from sugarcane as sweetener. @Ayrlego: I will license the property (large education for Jameston) in a minute, you promised mucho monies. In this case 460DB if I am not mistaken. And some inside joke at the end:

To get this right: posting a freebuild in this thread is pointless? If yes: why not just close it?

Look for your forum name in the current November Account Summary. Each month a new one is released, to be found in the corresponding forum thread.

A mining prospect build near Mesabi Landing: The tavern "Blue Dragon", licensed as a medium artisan by the settlement:

@Mesabi I like the colour choices, that black/orange mix works. Another massive vessel it seems - apparently the WTC is looking to rule the Brick Seas!

A nice warehouse. I actually really like the roof! It would maybe look better if the "upper half" was done the same way as the lower one - i.e. with the inward round slope - but the way it is still looks good to me. The irregular wood is done very well, as are the rocks. And I love the working crane. The one thing I do not like is the yellow - in my opinion it looks odd. Maybe green or red would look better. That is just personal taste of course. Overall a lovely addition to Charlatan Bay. With all the barrels and crates inside business must be going good these days!

I think that is just the hair piece, the rest of the minifig does not match. But maybe @Garmadon wanted to show him in a different outfit?

"Microbuild" ... I doubt you really understand the meaning of that word. Absolutely fantastic. Great architectorial details, a believable structure - it looks just like its story describes it, while not looking random at all - and an overall excellent composition. The troops on the main place and the ship on the river give fine scale references, underlining just how huge this thing is. The idea to present it with this star-shaped halo is genius. May I ask what the piece count would be without it?

I know and understand all of that. Constraints can be changed though, especially if it is only for a small amount of time and for a special occasion. None of what you say adresses what I have suggested, so I do not know what you are on about here.

A question/suggestion to the Powers That Be: could the license cap be raised for the month of December? I think most of us have more time to build around Christmas, so the three available licenses feel like not enough to me. Raising the cap would encourage more activity over the holidays, as well as overall growth over all factions. You would also have more freedom in licensing "Christmas builds" alongside more regular MOCs.

A fountain, licensed as small art & culture by the settlement. A Thanksgiving celebration, licensed as small art & culture by the settlement.

Ah, I had not considered the different size restrictions for "art and culture" - small it is then, agreed. I consider Thanksgiving more of a seasonal thing than a fixed date, so I would not worry about "being late".

I can not take credit for the sandwiches: they come from the last Valentines Day Seasonal set. Similar for the turkey: that one is from the (still current) Thanksgiving Seasonal set. I just like both and added them, they do fit perfectly.

At this time of the year there are traditional festivities around the end of harvest season all over the Old World. Some of these traditions have made it to Terra Nova, and the people of Elizabethville celebrate Thanksgiving with friends old and new: John Smith was one of the first settlers on Lacryma, and soon fell in love with a woman from one of the local tribes. Living with them, now called John Freewalker, he learned their language (and his wife learned his), so now they often act as translators for newly arrived settlers. Here they share parenting advice with the Otis family. It seems both sides have helpful tips for the other: Chief Longhorn has been given the honour of cutting the turkey. He keeps wondering why such a perfectly fine bird should be ruined with gravy, but one of the soldiers from Ford di Legno is eagerly waiting for both: Behind them, a Corrington Marine on (excellently timed!) shore leave helps himself to a mug of beer, while Marcus Cole is already a step further: At the same time, Susan Cole is introducing a member of a different local tribe to the concept of bread and sandwiches. The tribesman is curious: Joe Black, owner of the Bittersweet Mug is less successful in convincing Chief Bright Star of the benefits of chocolate or other sweets: No convincing on any side was needed for the fresh fish some tribesmen from the coast brought with them - to be grilled over the fire, with one spectator maybe just lucky it is not him on the stick: The fish is delicious! There are crates and tables with food all over the place, verybody has brought something familiar to them to share with all. There are many opportunities to try new things, so while Marie of the Coles has a corn cob for the first time in her life, a young tribesboy is a little bit sceptic about a thing called "apple": The best view of the festivities has without doubt Momo, who decided the tree was a great place for explorations: One person was late though... [I have forgotten this one minifig for the shoot, and only noticed once the lightbox and everything was stored away already...] Mrs. Townsend had hoped to impress everybody with her canned specialities, but she had missed the fun. Oh well, another day then! ================================================================================================== Happy Thanksgiving to verybody celebrating it! May your free days be relaxing, and your time with friends and family a good one. This build is nothing spectacular, I simply wanted to show a Thanksgiving scene, and tried to replicate as many persons from Elizabethville as possible. Not all of them are 100% fits, but most of them look close enough. @SilentWolf: This is a medium sized "art&culture" property in my opinion. Could you please license it for the settlement of Lacryma? To everybody else: maybe you find some time for a Thanksgiving build of your own? Maybe in Eliabethville, maybe in your settlement, maybe on the high seas? Give it a try, I would love to see other perspectives at this topic!

Some WIP pics of a class 2 currently under construction: Obviously missing: steering wheel, sails, the necessary parts on mast and prow to hold the sails. But apart from that (and details like cargo etc.) I consider it mostly done. There will be no "realistic rigging", because I do not aim for realism. Other suggestions are welcome.