blackpyre

Sweet link! I know I just recently rediscovered my LEGO sea legs and have always been baffled by the rigging set up on ships. This will go a long way in helping. Thanks! Will

Wanted to throw in one more perspective on this topic. I've read in "LEGO: A Love Story" that those builders looking to get jobs with LEGO as master builders have a better chance if they see no problem with modifying LEGO to suit their creative needs rather than working in the given element types. Many purists like myself both enjoy the challenge of building with original pieces with no modifications and for that reason among others we hold those pieces in a higher value. As for LEGO's point of view, they need people who think outside the box and create interesting designs and give practical feedback on what is needed. This includes painting. If they didn't hire people with this mindset, we'd probably still be stuck with plain bricks. I think to feel comfortable with this sort of LEGO you need to go beyond the hobby and collector's levels of LEGO. This is where you start getting into the world of art. Consider LEGO elements not as collectible toys but as a canvas or medium you wish to express yourself in. Just know that you'll always have purists who cringe simply because our values do not allign with yours. The truth is there are plenty of bricks, minifigures, and weird LEGO elements for everyone to play the way they want. Good luck and keep building, Will

There is definitely nothing wrong with painting pieces. Actually, depending on whether or not you do it well it will have its own secondary demand if you plan to resell anything. I'm a purist and have no real interest in painting. However, I am considering for the first time to use a brick ingraver's services. What it comes down to is that modifying your LEGO elements is a personal choice. Modified elements do have resell value but it will be to a smaller group of fans. Ideally, if your planning to paint fine details to get minifigures more accurate to a time period, you'll most likely add value to an element. On the other hand, if the element you are altering is a one of a kind piece that only appears in one set then you may have decreased the value. But in truth this only applies to sellers. Most fans customize their pieces for their personal collections and that value is impossible to measure. As for advice on painting, I'd recommend finding tutorials on painting war miniatures (plastic war miniatures). They should give you interesting tips on getting finer detail work and handy tips you may not think of. For instance, create a painter's box that is well lit and ventalated, preparing different surfaces, tips on drying the paint, and so on. Hope that helps! Will

Hey a motorized pirate ship would be awsome. Especially if you could get it on tracks to move around. The only problem I saw with the idea was the fact that ships are rather top heavy. Perhaps if you connect enough wheel bases below it would be stable. I did find that you can place blue tiles on the plastic straight sections of track without any problems with a train. It would be one way to hide the track without having to paint it. Sorry, I'm a purist, but I have an open mind. Oh and I'm happy someone liked the smokehouse. Our LUG will have a big Western theme which will transition into pirates. Therefore, I needed certain types of buildings that worked well without offending the eyes. One of the things I really like about it is that the roof is built on a 16 x 16 green baseplate. This makes it increadibly easy to handle. It was also a perfect choice to hide stuff in since it calls for solid walls. I'm only sad that I don't have any room to detail the inside. Normally, I'd build a completely new MOC for something like the water wheel. I'd add gears to slow down the rotation more and probably end up with a larger design. But our LUG has a lot of kids come by when we display and we like to have a variety of sets that they may recognize. The Mill was my attempt to give those who come by a little of both. Will

Hey Everyone, Ever since the contest that just ended went up, I've been wanting to motorize The Mill. So I did it, but realized I had no room to put the batter pack and IR reciever without rebuilding everything. That's why I included a second building,The Smokehouse. Now Pirates and POTC characters can dry meat for their long voyages and thave a nice place to hide their LEGO Power Functions technology which does not fit their time period. ;) Here's the link to it on Flickr. Hope you all enjoy.

Sweet! I'm going to keep this one as my personal collection and motorizing the one I have for a LEGO show in November! I really feel weird using something from my personal collection without having some sort of back up. This will work great! Since this is my very first contest I want to make sure I know what to expect. I submited all the information on the contact form under the subject Claim Prizes and gave my mailing address. Will I be recieving an email confirming anything? Wow, I'm still in shock. There was some tough competition out there. Hope to see everyone and maybe some others in the next contest! Will

Man, that was turning out to be a very impressive structure. Judging by the size, I'm guessing it had some sort of run in with gravity. At least, if I were to build something like that I'd put in some serious weight to the contruction. I seem to have a heavy hand in that respect. Well, look at it this way, if you were unhappy with anything near the foundation you could now put that in. Besides it was the Monty Python troop that pointed out many castles fall into a swamp or burn down and fall into a swamp. But the important part is that you rebuild and marry a girl with huge tracks of land. But seriously, it's the biggest set backs and recovering from them that make each of us better builders in the end. Good luck and show those bricks who's boss.

28 - SilvaShado - Peacock: 3 points 33 - treeboy - a fish like thing: 3 points 36 - -R8- - The Goblin Schoolboy: 3 points SilvaSado this makes me want to sing that “bird is the word” song. Treeboy, I have to give you props for even attempting a very different design. -R8 this design for whatever reason is my guilty pleasure. It’s so bizarre yet soothing. I’m not sure I can fully explain it. P.S. I only give points to the MX BABY! Except when, well you know, I don't.

I figure I bet get in on this conversation. I'm Silvashado's husband and I built the MOC. I think the hardest thing about this build is the fact that I was building it in my mind for the longest time. I'm legally blind so using any of the building programs is a bit difficult for me. Fortunately, I have some equipment that can enlarge graph paper so I was able to sketch it out layer by layer. The reason why I used the hinge design was because at the time I was unfamiliar with modular builds. I had playsets like Knight's Stronghold and Camoflauged Outpost which featured the use of brick hinges. As it is, I think I started pushing technics that made me grow as a builder. Oh, the reason why we have so much interior is because Silva would not let me do anything simple. ;) She wants detail and functionality which can be a very tall order at times. I don't mind though. I like the challenge. On a completely different note. One of the reasons why I built this was because I felt there was a complete lack on normal life in the Castle universe. We have done our best to pick up all the Guarded Inn, Armor Shop, Blacksmith (multiple varients), Mideval Market, and Mill village raid types that are out there, but still I feel there is things missing. That's why we started making MOCs like the Bullhead Tavern and Inn, the Jeweler's Shop, the cooperage, the royal stables, a more accurate blacksmith stall, the Village Well, and even the elven tree shrine (for the fantasy village types). Now I think one of my next Castle MOCs should be the Noble's Manor. However, this time I want to base it off an actual archetectural style. Does anyone know a good place to find reference images for this purpose? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. Oh, and one other thing. It's okay if there's only reference images for the interior rooms of a mideval mansion. One idea I had was to make a modular setup with rooms that could just snap togeter any way I would like. That way I could take the mansion piece meal and assemble it anyway that fits for a display. Will

Here is my entry the "Fire Wyvern." Always been a fan of mythic creatures and thought this contest needed one. :D Here is the back view 7270_FireWyvern.lxf

Thanks for your feedback Zilcho. The only reason why I didn't do more with the picture is because I didn't want to give away the punch line. So I put up a picture that helped set the tone for my story instead. Will

Bricks4Fun - My Dinner with Jacqueline - 1 CorneliusMurdock - The interrogation - 1 Deckard - "Mom what happened to my LEGOs?" - 1 JulieBlue - The Last Stand - 1 operrier - Rescue on the Imperial Flagship - 1 Alaina Cillis - "No Match" - 1 RocketSeason - The Compass - 1

I want to claim one bonus point for liking the Facebook Page. VERIFIED Mailing List. VERIFIED Total: 7 Points Thanks, Will I recieved the validation for the Facebook page but I was going to wait to claim my point for signing up on the mailing list until I read there should be only one post. So I'm also claiming one more point for signing up for the mailing list which is scheduled for validation later.

Hey Rocket Season nice entry! I think one of the best things you did here is start the scene at exactly the right point. This is not an easy thing to do. With a piece of flash fiction it is important to get straight to the action and you've done just that. Well done! As for the story, having only a couple of punctuation errors makes me believe that you are indeed a well rounded writer. Therefore, I'll throw out a few questions I had in regards to the content that made me pause slightly. They are not major details and really don't need to be changed. I just wanted to point them out since I know fluidity of thoughts are important. First, you say "The taller man stood over him" which confused me since they are both minifigure scale. Perhaps, it's that bicorne hat that makes him taller. That's actually very funny if that is the case. Minifigures judging the height of another by what is on their head. :) Second, the movies claimed that the compass came from that voodoo witch. As the story stands now, it could be viewed as an alternate origin of the compass. I'd suggest throwing in words like "Got it from a witch" to solidify the movies and the LEGO world together. Remember, the movies never said how long ago the with gave the compass to Jack. Therefore, you have practically years to work with as your story says. Other than that, I completely agree with the others. This is a marvelous entry with little to no need for fixing. Good luck in the contest. Will

You know, I was thinking about this entry. What if instead of explaining that you just have to get past the finish line, Barbosa claims that it's not even pirate? On the whole, it's a wonderul entry that feels very short to read. Great work! Will

Hey JB, Want to throw out a few opinions before the end. Typically, in a literary work you will spell out numbers like "two" instead of writing them in their numeric form. Also, it's true that the Black Pearl rose out of the water, but from my recollection no one was prepared for fighting unlike the Dutchman. And since there currently is no LEGO version of the Dutchman, I'd recommend that the Black Pearl simply flanked the ship. As it is, it's at night so this is very likely since no one would be on the watch with a battle raging on one side of their decks. If you want something that sounds more poetic, you could say that "it seemed" like the Black Pearl rose from the depths. Hope this helps. Will

Fair or not about the extra points, I think it should have more to do with the reason for granting points from an earlier contest. If they want to reward continued participation that is definitely one way to do it. As for voting for yourself, I'm more of the opinion that people who enter the contest should not vote since it presents a conflict of interest. However, I understand it may be hard to find judges otherwise. Actually, what I'm more concerned with is if all the stories will be collected or at least linked to to make them easier to find when it comes time for judging? I know the stories are being spread over multiple pages now and I hope I haven't missed any.

As far as I understand it, this story is reflecting how characters and ships can get all mixed up while LEGO is beign played with. This is where you get the appearance of the Phills of the world. I'd suggest to get a bigger punchline, after the chaos of the battle subsides they all get up and one shouts "I'm Phill this time!" Afterall, there's not that many females to go around in the LEGO pirate world. Hope this helps. Will

Wow, I had read an early version of this story but had no time to comment. This version is remarkably improved. The jokes, actions, and progretion are clean and great to read. As it stands I'd only point out one thing that bothers me. AndI'm not sure I'm right on this point. But when you write: I'm not really sure it can be considered sailing since a rowboat has no sails. Other than that, I really like this entry. Will

592 parts ROFL! That's hillerious! Yes, much better. I appreciate how William now acts upon the purpose you set out for him. Just this simple encounter with the observation of his yellowness is enough to put action to words. I also like the title. It's very fitting. And I'm impressed that you kept the fluidity of the complex words even after making a substancial edit. Woderful work. Will

Hey Artifex, I really like the setting you've got here. It's refreshing and filled with more LEGO references than I'm familiar with. Thanks for the reference section at the end of the story. I think the only thing I noticed was a small mispelling. "Trough" should be "Through." Other than that great job! Will

Hey Seagulls nice entry. I agree with Bricks4Fun, you've got great terminology here. I'd like to point out that your dialogue seems to be connected wrong. Usually you should only put dialogue with that character's actions. Also, only one person should speak in any given paragraph. The quick fix to this is to seperate out the dialogue into its own paragraphs. Then, only leave that character's actions with that dialogue. For example: The steward's actions of cleaning the armor should not be attached to the admiral's query of whether or not he was done. BTW: That's a funny touch with the Admiral not removing his armor. Hope this helps. Will

Well, I'm all for off the wall humor but I should point out a few things. One, your tense is all over the place going from the past to the present. Second, I'm not sure how this qualifies as classic pirates meeting, encountering, or interacteracting in any way with the POTC cast. Third, I'm not sure what this story means but I like the sausage reference complete with price. Good luck with your entry. Will

First off let me say, excellent wordsmithing there TK. You have something so robust that it harkens back to literature that would reflect the time period of the pirate. I am a fan of classic literature and tend to think in terms of this style on many occassions. Since you had a limited word count you had to be brief, well at least brief in terms of the classic style. After reading over it slowly I noticed two things. First Bricks4Fun started pointing it out with the title. However, I believe no part of the title makes any sense. William does not speak a word. Rather this is a historical characterization of William Turner. Therefore, a title that reflects this might be better suited. For example: The Nobility of William Turner The Character of William Turner William Turner, a Man of Honor Second, I hope this does not count against you but there is no plot. You state in the first line that there is "...a man lay to replete..." this suggests theat William Turner plans to make those he comes in contact with better than what they are. This shows purpose but no plot. Then you move to describe his character. There is a lot of emphasis on his character including his morality and beliefs. Beautifully done by the way. Still there is no plot. Then he meets Brickbeard. He is portrayed through the view point of Will's eyes and beliefs. Rather funnny throwing in the line of his beard was not of brick as professed. This is more description but still no plot. Then the narative ends. The final line pointing out the major difference between classic Pirates and POTC. The man was yellow after all. So now I'm left with all this gorgeous dialogue waiting for something to happen and...nothing. Now don't get me wrong. I'm loving the work you've put into this piece. However, it feels like I'm looking at the picture on the LEGO box and not allowed to play or see any of the pieces inside. By far, you've portrayed a voice unlike anything else, you have the most character insight seen so far, and you've managed to give an entry both profound and historically accurate. But what I'd prefer is that part of the story that comes immediately after this part. I hope you don't mind my opinion. I definitely respect your work. It's probably why I would be clammoring for more. Good luck, Will

Thanks guys, I know that the dialogue is what I like the best about the second version but the third version seems more complete. I know my decision will probably come down between those two as my final choice. Will