evancelt

Thanks for all the hard work putting this together, @Ayrlego and GMs! Seems like a monumental task! One thing I noticed in the spreadsheet is that @Count Vroskri, @evancelt, and @Puvel are missing a formula in Column M (Build Submittals: FIPS/PIPS) to copy Column K (Build Submittals: Free Builds) value over to that second column. Is this an artifact of inserting new rows? Most other Citizen rows have a simple formula in Column M copying the value of Column K over. I realize FIPS/PIPS are not really in use at the moment, but would be good to accumulate them in case they come into use in the future! -------- UPDATE: Looks like someone fixed this in the spreadsheet. Thanks! This missing formula might be present in earlier spreadsheets as well, but likely not worth going back to fix!

I got started on a new pirate/imperial MOC yesterday evening and thought I’d make a little tutorial as I went about how to make a SNOT (Studs Not On Top) base. This is how far I got in about 90 minutes, will post again when I make more progress. First off, credits to @Ayrlego for showing me how to make this sort of base originally with his Watermill WIP thread. ------------------- STEPS: 1. Make the shape of the base with plates. You want to end up with a 2-layer thick shape made of plates. I think it looks most natural if you only ever shift the edge border by 1 stud at a time ------------------- 2. Once you have a 2-layer plate, add a layer of bricks on top, but leave a 1 stud empty space around the edge. That’s where SNOT bricks are going to go ------------------- 3. Place SNOT bricks around the outside. On the corners, use SNOT bricks with 2 studs on adjacent sides. If you need to buy SNOT bricks in bulk, yellow ones are pretty cheap on BrickLink. When done, you’ll have a base that is 5 plates tall (2 plates + 1 brick). That 5-plate height is important, because 5 plate height is exactly the height of a 2x plate on its side ------------------- 4. Attach 1x and 2x plates to the SNOT sides. You’ll need to build up the sides with more plates to make the border transitions smoother. ------------------- 5. Place plates on top of the base, covering the SNOT bricks. This will start the visible part of your building base and also make the SNOT bricks secure. ------------------- That’s as far as I got in one 90-min sitting! I love that this SNOT base is super sturdy, which comes in handy when I'm moving it back and forth from my building area to a kid-proof storage area. I also love that imagination is the only limit when it comes to shape! Hopefully this little tutorial helps others get started with it.

Agreed - cool fort! Great job guys. I was just discussing the single-stud-thick walls with some sappers and artillerymen and they pointed out these joints as good targets Overlap overshmap

Fun to see all of the minifigs/builds you guys have posted! Seems to be some serious love for the 1500s/1600s! Personally I'm a fan of 1700s era. I grew up in Pennsylvania in the USA and it was steeped in Colonial history. There was a Revolutionary War battlefield down the street from me and they would do reenactments a few times a year - fun to see all of the uniforms, etc. It's stuck with me, and I like reading/watching shows about the era (Hornblower/Sharpe/Outlander/etc). Now I live in Colorado, USA and the oldest non-Native American history around is mid-1800s. Not as fun! If LEGO ends up bringing Imperials back in 2021, I'm interested to see what era they return with. I'm hoping for Colonial!

Thanks @Count Vroskri! I've seen this sort of SNOT base around before, so I can't claim any sort of ownership of it. Thanks! Yeah with like 75 - 100 people total on the island, these guys should be chipping in to build some stuff! I don't always do a good job with it, but I'm trying to string some sort of a rough narrative together with all of my builds. I happened to find those round 2x2 dome pieces in this mixed tupperware last month and tried to think what I could do with them... melons! Thanks! I've been featuring the 26th Foot in recent builds and wanted to give the Hussars some love

The multi-part masts look great! Wonderful shape. I agree with @Bodi that maybe at this scale the single plate thickness drop/sag in the middle might be unrealistic, but it does look cool!

A small wool factory built by @Mesabi

Wonderful mini-carts! Great job making them look like full-fledged carts. The stacked lumber also looks good

What's your favorite Imperial era? 1500s - 1800s?

Haha if you look closely in the Produce Farm build, you can see these exact melons being grown! Benedict Thorpe had so many extras, he donated a few to the Hussars.

Agreed! I tried to do something similar in that Horse Farm build in Elisabethville, but didn't have enough reddish brown / dark brown cheese slopes to pull it off. @Capt Wolf's is the real deal!

Idea for build is based on a cavalry drill at West Point featured in the 1985 TV series 'North and South':

Lovely! I especially like the carriage house - it's super fun to see all of the cart/carriage designs

Thanks for sharing! Didn't know you had a blog, fun to look back at your build logs

Cavalry Drills in Wullham

Captain Brickleton and Lieutenant Tennyson enjoy some fresh melon that Trooper Rolston has halved during his solo sabre drill. Captain Brickleton instructs the hussars to drill regularly to stay in tip-top fighting shape, never knowing just when they will be called upon to ship out in the fight against Oleon. OOC: I wanted to try out a new kind of SNOT base. It isn't as sturdy as the one I usually use, but is nice for change of pace.

Great scene! I like the little details like the ground landscaping, smoke from the chimney, door pull, etc. Nice contrast between the two buildings

I like the tricorne/hair piece as well! I try to use it quite often in my MOCs. Here are some recent MOCs with the hat: I've thought about doing something with the Interchangeable Hat Wig method where I cut some hair off a girl hair piece and glue it to a tricorne. Haven't found the right girl hair to do it with yet....

Cool idea to have the two columns meet in passing!

I have seen a number of MODs to imperial fort sets recently on social media and they often use the newer LEGO masonry profile bricks to add some color to the plain white walls. Over the past few years I have learned a number of fun wall texture techniques from @Ayrlego and others and I wanted to share more about how to use them! Often combining one or more of these techniques can make the walls look more natural. When using 1x white bricks, I think using small 1x2 and 1x3 bricks looks more natural than larger 1x4, 1x6, or 1x8. Using masonry profile, log profile, or line profile bricks can add surface roughness to the wall. By using 1x2 non-white plates (tans here), you can add some random color shapes to the wall. This is my favorite wall texture technique. Jumper plates positioned halfway into the wall can be used to stick partway out and add some depth. 1x2 rail plates can add larger extrusions. Jumper plates can also be used to inset windows slightly back into the wall. 1x1 round plates and round bricks can break up the monotony of a wall. I especially like 1x1 plates because they add small details. SNOT bricks can be added to the wall and 1x1 and 1x2 tiles can be attached on the outside of the wall. Headlight bricks can be turned on the their side to include a LEGO stud-sized circle protrusion from the wall. In the recent Naval Intelligence Office in Port Woodhouse MOC I made, I combined the techniques described above to try to add some natural textures to the wall. Colored 1x2 plates attached to the top/bottom of masonry bricks help make them blend in more naturally. If you add a whole bunch of tile protrusions from the walls, it can give it a rougher style texture. This cottage is from a recent Produce Farm MOC build. Hopefully some of these techniques can help add new details to your imperial fort walls in your next build!

Nice work @Brickwolf! Looks like a Wullham build in color, landscape, and theme, with plenty of grassy hills! When the survey was conducted of Panarium, they found that the shallows in Wullham Bay don't extend that far out from shore. This deep-water bay should allow ships to get pretty close in and make it easier for Seawolf Shipping!

That's what 5 years at the Elizabethville School for Thatchery will get you! Good idea re: rain as the support. I tried that briefly and decided that even though the round trans bricks kind of look like a tornado or something I liked the style of having the rain coming down from the low part of the cloud. Kind of like a modern alarm clock weather icon.

The hull looks well-armored! I don't know much about sailing ships - can you tell me more about the orientation of the sails? How do the sails parallel to the hull help the ship move forward?

Name: Wullham Ownership: Corrington Location: New Haven Sea island #4: Panarium Mayor: Jonathan Brickleton (@evancelt) Who can own property in Wullham: Anyone Who can freebuild in Wullham: Anyone

Setup is looking great! Agree with @Mister Phes that a solid background or sky backdrop would add to the display - the curtain pattern is distracting!