Samarth

Haha, thanks for the praise! I’d love to see the brick built merchant emblem on a merchant shop built by you! When will you give us one?! (Ref. My reply in the main Steve contest topic) The most iconic lines from the source material are “as idle as a painted ship…” and “water water everywhere…” and it really struck me as funny that there’s this tile that depicts a sailing ship that has (as far as I know) never turned up in a pirate themed set.

TBH this is the kind of entry I’ve personally been hoping to see but no one has delivered yet lol. Just a nice MOC depicting this mysterious trading faction, and perhaps a large shop from which he (they?) trade. Something akin to the blacksmith set or old fishing store but for a seafaring merchant. Actually the old fishing store would work great as a starting point for a MOC like the kind I’m talking about. hmm, maybe I should do a second entry!

This remains among the “thinnest” ways to accomplish stud reversal (one plate thickness) even with all the new elements TLG now makes. Pretty much every other method requires a 2 plate thickness. That said, the area where the interior walls are 2x3 plates is what needs covering, and won’t be possible with finger hinges. Anti stud tiles or curves truly are the right approach.

I totally would, but my country has no PAB and only 1 big BL store, getting parts is hard and expensive. All my MOCs come with these added constraints. Still, I’ll check if the BL store has anti stud tiles in stock. I only have 1-2 of those and a handful of curved ones.

Thank you for your kind words and constructive criticism. The original cutter Steve came with was black and white; and that sort of colour scheme went well with the source material IMO. For me, the focal point is the interior, and Steve himself. Hence the stern is also simple, no ornate decoration at all. Had I wanted, I could’ve gone crazy as I have an Infinity Gauntlet I’ve been raring to part out but I’ll save it for some other build. The choice to leave the colours at a minimum was very much intentional. I wanted to shoot it on a black background actually, but that ended up dimming the dark brown and black of the interior to an unacceptable degree during tests. So I stuck to white.

Thank you for your kind words. As a self-criticism of sorts, looking at the responses I’ve had to the MOC, you’re not alone. The cost of a unique idea (aside from the merits or demerits of the creation itself) is that it is harder to respond to or appreciate without first being familiar with the work that it is derived from. I would be remiss if I didn’t also give credit to this statue as inspiring the manner in which Steve would be depicted in the MOC. https://images.app.goo.gl/secKAAfzzuq5mhNo9 Cheers

That is some really clever use of forced perspective!

Cute little build. Multiple Steves was an interesting creative decision. I wish we had more backstory on them. Are they alternate universe variants? Brothers? Clones?! The thrown bottle is a great idea!

This is a great little build. Very reminiscent of the classic Crocodile Cage Islander set. I like how you did the bars for the cage. And a brick built sail is a nice choice!

Thank you! Yes, hiding the anti studs on the sides was something that did cross my mind, but as things stand it wasn't going to be easy by any means (I don't have a ton of those new inverted 2x2 tiles, and I'm not sure they come in 2x3 or 1x2 versions). I was satisfied with leaving well enough alone. Don't forget the rear sits on a large slope tile and the walls themselves are angled inward, compounding the problem. I was satisfied in leaving well enough alone. Yes, this is actually already done, but I think some of the tiles which were more uneven got (unintentionally) pressed down a bit more than I intended while setting up the photos in the lightbox! The stand kept tipping over due to the banked angle of the backdrop being used (and this is despite the stand having an old weight brick in there) so I had to attach those 4x4 tiles to stabilize it further at the last minute. That cutaway design looks really nice, thanks for sharing. I wanted to try and add some broken brown in there to act as the cutaway but in the end felt it would distract you from the focal point of the interior, which is Steve himself. Yes, being different from the competition was also one of my intentions, glad that I could at least achieve that! Thematically speaking, the poem/song and Classic Pirates were always meant to be together. I was actually surprised when I hunted in this forum (and the wider net) to see if anyone had done something similar, to discover that no one had attempted it so far. Thank you! Sorry, forgot to respond to this bit, the chair is fairly simple, I took some additional photos for you!

The idea to somehow combine Classic Pirates with the poem by Coleridge/Iron Maiden song has been drifting about in my head for a while now. The finished MOC depicts Steve as the Ancient Mariner, having shot the Albatross that has been hung around his neck by his shipmates. Behind him is a (literal) idle painted ship on a painted ocean, and he is (of course) stuck and surrounded by water that he cannot drink. "Day after day, day after day, We stuck, nor breath nor motion;" "As idle as a painted ship Upon a painted ocean!" "Water, water, every where, And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink!" "Ah! well a-day! what evil looks Had I from old and young! Instead of the cross, the Albatross About my neck was hung." ---------------------------------- The key elements to make it work, at least in my head, were the printed 2x2 tile with a sailing ship on it, and the “albatross” which is actually a seagull. I initially conceived it as an amusing stop motion film set to the song, but alas, I lack the skill and time for this. I then thought an entire series of vignettes (or habitats) depicting moments from the poem/song would be the next best thing to do, but to fit the idea within the theme of the contest, I’d need more Steve minfigs... and they're not cheap. I initially started with the idea of doing at least 3 scenes, but then realised that the visual impact of the approach I finally took (and lack of Steve minifigs) might be better: distill and combine the most iconic elements of the source material into a single build. The finished build retains the red and yellow flags of Steve’s original cutter along with the black and white colour scheme. Lego never made a large flag piece for the merchants, so a brick-built version of the Merchant crest finds its place in the stand instead. The waves and the angled stern, along with the choice to depict the candlelights blowing in one direction were my attempt at adding at least some movement to the scene. I wanted to try and capture the vibe of a display piece type set, like the recent Ninjago Dragon Stone Shrine. As I progressed I thought it might be amusing to add in Eddie the Head, Iron Maiden’s mascot, as an Easter egg in the stand, complete with electric guitar. The headgear is intended to reflect the album art for Powerslave, in which the song was originally released. If you want to hear the poem (from Gandalf himself) go here: And go here for the Iron Maiden version:

Half a dozen, surely not. Probably just over the 200 mark.

So the Pirate Code is more of a guideline? (To paraphrase Pirates of the Caribbean) Honest to god, it’s medium sized. I’d put it at a 16x16 stud footprint and say 20 bricks high? About the size of one of the half size Modulars (pet shop, library) I am pretty sure I’ve crossed the 200 mark though.

I made what I want to, now I need to figure out shooting it. My question is this: what happens if I don’t know the part count? I build freehand and never keep track of part counts. Not sure if people still build this way (I know a lot don’t). My build is kinda on the border, it’s medium sized. Worst case, I’ll count the parts manually. Can’t there be some kind of dimensional restriction?

Great to see a new contest here. Last year I gave up halfway as I had no time but this is my sigfig and I feel obliged to take a stab!

An incredible build. Sand green is a unique and bold choice to go with but the payoff is superb.

This is such a fantastic work of art. Already saw it in Facebook. Hats off to you!

Why not have all four ideas as the basis? Individual MOCs are judged on their individual designs anyway. And it gives builders a wider choice…

Man that is some high praise! Thank you so much! I really wanted to incorporate the hatch from the original but couldn't find a good way to!

This is a cute build!

Thank you! Sorry I missed this. Prescient of you to have said what you said, because now this ship is an official set, and the blog will have to be revised accordingly!

Guys, guys, they're re-doing the old soccer theme with 40634. This set is definitely coming then. Surely pirates is a more popular classic theme than soccer!

Looking good!

Yep, I had to make a number of sacrifices/compromises with the stern since I didn't have any more pre formed large hull pieces (BL is not a thing here; only 1 BL store in the country and orders from abroad take at least a month and are expensive). Ideally, I would've liked at least one more mid section and the bottom section of the bow pieces. But that would've probably made this ship look a bit less interesting. I don't know! Thank you for your kind words!

Thank you @PxChris!!