Raacerx2

A quick update: Been very busy with work (finishing up a 750 horsepower race car), so I haven't had much time. I'm also learning very quickly that it is incredibly difficult to gauge what bricks you need until you start building. I knew this would happen, but it has been quite amazing how many orders I've had to make, and how forgetting one color/style of LEGO can delay the whole thing. I'm STILL waiting on an order from 2 weeks ago, and just made another $250 order last night for primarily slopes and simple bricks. In the beginning, I was enjoying ordering up nick nacks and little small special things, but I knew that those wouldn't really be needed for quite some time. I've finally started ordering only what I need, and not what I want. But in the meantime I did get half of one of the shipwrecks started, and I like the way it is turning out. The only issues I'm running into, in general, is that I need to add in more colors into the scene in order to bring out the earth and rocks. The official LEGO Pick a Brick is cheaper with some plants, but not others. They are also quite limited on colors. They have the typical Large Leaf that runs about 25-35 cents each on Bricklink, and LEGO sells them direct for 25 cents. But, they are only available in bright green. On the other hand, they have the typical round brick with 3 sharp leaves for 20 cents, which is nearly 3 times the average price I pay on Bricklink. Very few things are cheaper on there, and for me I have to pay tax as well as quite expensive shipping, so its generally not worth it to get direct from LEGO.

Very nice. I especially like the lamp; I haven't seen that done before with the bottom round tile. Great details and a good theme.

Thanks guys. I already want to redesign the above hillside/mountain, but I need to work on getting everything on there so I can start applying details. I feel the hillside needs a lot more vertical green to go with the brown. Trent; the bag in the last pic is indeed a PAB; I ordered it a few weeks ago before I found out about Bricklink. I was however surprised to find that a small percentage of stuff is quite a bit cheaper directly from LEGO. Some of the rare parts that haven't made it into my kits lately are still produced. But, the vast majority is far more expensive, and I have to pay tax too. But 1x4 Trans-Light Blue tiles are a lot cheaper on LEGO.com The majority of what I am using for the finished product are brand new. I do have my own LEGO collection from when I was a child, but some of the colors are faded and such (although AMAZING for being 20 years old). At some point my mom sold/gave away the majority of my LEGO so I lost most of my earth tone colors and was left with primary space oriented stuff. I keep them separate but use the old ones for filler or when a single color or small piece is needed. My old collection was great for supplying me with tons of Pirate minifigs and a lot of small connectors and pieces. I wish I could spend the weekend working on this more, but real life has taken precedence. If anyone is curious, I do engineering in the motorsport industry. I'm definitely curious what type of jobs LEGO Lovers have; there definitely seems to be a focus on engineering/science, for obvious reasons.

Thanks guys. Here is some progress. Obviously, as I work on other parts of the scene, this will probably iterate, but I'm happy with what a few nights gave me. The beach is missing from these pictures, it will butt up against the mountain. I need to add more minifigs and animals. I have a sweet croc I am stoked about. I will probably add some more flowers too, and some other pirates battling cannibals. The beach will still have a treasure bury or digging up in progress, with the natives sneaking up on them. This is cannibal territory, and a pirate has wondered away from the beach. Unfortunate for him. The cannibals use treasure to lure their prey. Jungles are dangerous. Cross section; you can see I used some filler Jungle from overhead

<raises glass> congrats

Some progress on the project; muddy jungle hillside. So far, I don't like it much, it is very busy, but I tried something less busy before and it didn't look nearly as detailed as I hoped. We shall see. I am still waiting on my tan colored stuff, so I wasn't able to start the beach yet. There will be a bit of a rise in elevation

Interior is very impressive; I especially enjoyed the use of the Technic unions for the still too.

Fantastic!!!! I really like this one. I will say I'm not a big fan of the MOC birds in general (not yours specifically), but the seagull made with the shoulder tassels looks great! Best one I've ever seen. Forgive me, but I will be stealing that one for my big Pirate scene. Is there an interior to the lighthouse? Happen to have any more closeup shots of other parts of the MOC? Also, what did you make the light enclosure out of? I can't tell.

Hahaha, it is indeed the best part. It definitely keeps the mind spry as well. But with this size of a project, I need some level of organization. I've decided on grouping things in small groups of like parts, different colors or vastly different shapes. For instance, wagon wheels are in with other round bricks, but reddish brown 1x4 bricks are separate from reddish brown 1x3 bricks, since those are so close. Its a weird system, I guess I'll just have to memorize it. So far, its been stellar. I've finally received just about all my orders (of course, have since placed a couple more). I'll need to hold off for awhile as the girlfriend, while enthusiastic about the project, didn't realize how much $$$ I'd be spending hahahaha! If anyone is curious, I have spent a total of $925 so far, including my Queen Anne's Revenge ship. YIKES!@*&^!*&@%!&^@% *********** I'm also now back to wanting swells in the bay. I really like how the water design turned out in my "Ex-Captain Bart's Floating Tavern" MOC, and I think it works great for a gentle bay without too much wind. If there was a lot of wind and swell, there would be nutrient upswell in the water, making it much cloudier (hey college marine bio class wins again!), and I want that clear pristine reef look. I also decided, after advice and research on here, to go BASE PLATE, FILLER PLATE, TOP LEVEL for the water. This will enable me to get that awesome variance of color underneath the translucent tiles. I looked at "Pirate's Remorse" once more for a long time and the touches like the trapped coins really blew my mind. I also really want to do some outlines of sharks under the water too for that EXTRA deep detail. I think the "swell" will be more like a gentle rise in the water for texture, not more then 1 brick high. This would enable an easy way to get some angle on the keel of the ships and I don't think the jagged steps of the tiles will look bad at all. I don't want things to look overly smooth. Getting really excited, as the main thing holding me back from really starting is time. I hope to have some progress pics tonight or tomorrow, I like to work fast. =)

Thanks Gents! I'm having a great time! Look for more! I agree Captain Blackmoor; the little MOC started just as an experiment in water and then grew from that so I hadn't really prepared for the overall size. I wanted it to look rickety, like it is about to fall over, but it didn't come out 100% like I wanted. I think I will beef up 3 of the poles, and then leave one very dilapidated. I had even thought about leaving it one plate short and intentionally making the building "sink" to that side a bit. I kind of like that idea, adding one plate in the opposite corner. =D Thanks Cam; I'm happy with the way it turned out, although I sort of haphazardly put them in. I sort of like the "random" look, but I also like the look of the consistent zigzag (like in "Pirate's Remorse"). However, now that I've started to play with techniques, I'm back to thinking about doing some rolling swells in the bay for my big project!

[pid][/pid]212A An MOC I made to practice a few techniques, mainly the water. I like it. "The Pirates of Scurvy Cove thought it would be an easy in/out job; grab the Ruby of Sintali and off they would go. Captain Bart didn't even have a boat to sail after them, and the bar was a "Leave Your Weapon at the Door" kind of place. They thought that would mean an easy smash and grab and no resistance, but it turns out, they weren't the only ones not following the rules. Now with a murder on their hands, they high tail it out of there to rush back to their hideout. Will Captain Bart sail the seas once more to avenge his fallen patron?" One of the pirates leaps into the boat as another casts off the line The modified dingy was stolen from an Imperial trading post and then modified This is going to take some clean up... (since changed blood to be under body) Bart's Tavern had seen better days, but the rum was cheap and you could always fine a palm leave to hide under. Bart accepted payment in palm fronds as well as gold or tales from the sea. Who knows what lies beneath, but Captain Bart's reputation of anger is enough to take the risk of leaping While it isn't normal for someone to be stabbed with a spear on an average day at Bart's Tavern, a fellow patron looks on quizzically as the robbery unfolds. As long as his rum isn't spilled, or Bart is distracted enough to sneak a little, the patron doesn't mind if someone gets stabbed The patron looks on, Bart yells obscenities (I hope someone notices the pole under the bar counter for folks feet to rest) The unnecessary carnage Critique is always welcome (encouraged!). This is my 3rd MOC in the last couple weeks. I wanted to do more of a roof, but I like the dilapidated look and the pieces of wood floating in the water, etc. Also, the entire thing can be turned upside down. Only the oar will fall out of the chest.

Doing a little suspended mini inn/tavern and trying out water techniques. This is directly over the base plate, next going to compare with some colors underneath. I have to admit, I like the 1x1x2/3 slopes a lot; they make it seem like the water is lapping up against the pylons and stuff. I'll post the whole thing when it is done but curious what people think about the water. Sorry about the picture quality, messing with some camera stuff.

Looking great! My ships dwarf in comparison!

Thanks Cam. Its a super cheap 50mm EF lens (I have a cheap Canon Rebel T1i). They are $100 and plastic. But its got an incredible 1.8 aperture so yeah the depth of field with up close stuff is stellar. I'm surprised the pics actually came out cause they were taken late at night with really warm CFL light and the lens has no electronic stabilization. I'm just new into photography too. I need to start photoshopping them and evening them out.

Thanks!! I think I am going to make all 3 ships fit, even if it means adding 16 studs to one edge. I am also taking your advice Bart to do baseplate, one plate level, and then ocean. Frank Brick Wright linked my favorite shipwreck and that is literally the one that made me want to do translucent. I love the coins and the different colors underneath. I want to go a step further and add in some light blue too, and will be doing the 1x1x2/3 slopes as well to get it some depth. However, I think I will experiment this weekend with rolling swells. This is a bay so to speak, so I don't need them big, but it would be nice to have some depth to it. Perhaps I will just focus on wakes for the ship and waves crashing lightly on the shores. Now that I have most of my first orders here, its easy to see i need a ton more large bricks for filler, as well as some larger plates for levels. Also going to need a huge amount more plants. I knew I was no where near there, but its a wake up call for sure. I posted a quick MOC in the MOC forum. Made a little tree as I was organizing. First time trying to make one. Top needs work, but I like the bottom. The first thing I am actually going to work on is the steep mountain full of vegetation and the treasure bury in progress. Looks like it will take a bit more space then I planned, of course. But I still will make 3 ships fit, even if the largest one is only a 12 gun. At least one, if not two of the ships need to be angled in the water, which basically is why I want to do some texture/level in the bay. I feel it is contradictory to have the ships keeling hard and the water flat. QUESTION: - How do you guys organize your pieces? Individually? By type? By color? I overlooked this part. By color definitely doesn't seem wise as it's incredibly hard to find individual pieces. But, I also don't want 50 different containers. Right now, I've got 15 6 quart showbox containers and will be dividing a few of them apart. Seems efficient enough, but I'm wondering how much time I'll waste. At the same time, part of what I enjoy about LEGO is finding the pieces.

[pid][/pid]212C While I'm building my big 18 baseplate pirate scene, I'm practicing and getting the creative juices going as I go. Here is a little quick creation. I'm trying to learn how to build trees, so this was my very first attempt. Didn't finish the top of the branches. Little island outpost with a tropical tree and a lookout. One sailor is passed out and the other two spy a ship that they hope is more supplies, as its been weeks. Luckily, the tree provides water. Going to add some fresh water and some other stuff this weekend, as my baseplates haven't arrived to start the big project.

About half of the first wave of purchases has showed up. Amazed at how organized some of the bricklink sellers are. Liquid Gold!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the comments so far! Everything helps. I'm aware there isn't going to be any definitive advice to give for something this large and this early, but even just what you guys said helps. Captain Becker; when I say cutting in half, I wasn't talking about the shipwrecks. That would be travesty!!!!!! The link you provided is one I found on Sunday night; love it, and that is literally what gave me inspiration for the style i am doing, with the bow sticking out a bit more vertical. However, that is why I was also asking about the water. As you can see from the link you provided, the depth of bricks enables it to really come out; however, I can't stand the voids that are created so I'm hoping I can figure out a SNOT solution over the tiles, maybe an outline. For whatever reason, 1x4 Trans Light Blue tiles are pretty cheap in comparison to 1x2, so I am picking up as many of those as I can. Ideally, I want to have the base plates, one filler level, and then the surface. This would enable me to add further color to the tiles by changing the plates underneath with darker or lighter colors. I haven't seen that done yet and want to try, but it literally adds almost $500 and I don't think I can swing that just for additional layer. But, I certainly won't be literally cutting anything half for the shipwrecks. What I meant was doing a normal ship standing on the water on the absolute edge of the scene. I had pictured it on the north edge running parallel with the length of the whole scene. From inside the Lego scene, it would be a full ship, but from the outside spectator viewpoint, you'd see the inner workings of the ship. A Cross Section. The only LEGO that would actually need to get cut in half, would be the hull. I wouldn't build it right down the middle, but rather offset so that the masts would be fully intact. I wouldn't even need to cut; I could just MOC half the hull as well. But having half the ship exposed to the outside seems a bit "gimicky", that is my concern. And unfortunately, while money isn't necessarily a problem, it certainly isn't never ending. I'll need to buy things in waves to spread the hurt. First round of purchases are starting to show up today. Got a tiny order of plants and slopes and some base plates but the big orders should all be here this week, except for some out of the country. Bricklink for the win.

I'm pretty much brand new to MOC. I just made my first tiny one this last week (well, first since I was 12 years old, 28 now). But I'm hooked once again, like full on "line and sinker". So in the typical fashion of the rest of my life, I don't want to piddle around and experiment and go small; I go all the way! To the wall or nothing at all. I like to go big and be different if I can, so, I just finished my first round of many purchases and things are showing up already; - 18x 32x32 blue base plates (no one would cut me a deal here =( .. ) - 1000x trans dark blue 1x2 tile for the ocean (after much review the last few days, I want to do Trans Light/Dark Blue) This one hurt really really bad, since the cheapest I could find it was $0.15/each after some bartering. - 50x trans light blue 1x2 tile for the ocean (these are retarded expensive, I wish I could have got more; $0.23/each) - 50x trans light blue 1x4 tile for the ocean and waterfall/stream (cheap, but hard to find any in America it seems?) - 100x trans dark/light blue 1x1 slope for the ocean and waterfall/stream (cheap!) - ~6000x of brown, dark grey, dark bluish grey, and green 1x1, 1x2, bricks, plates, and tiles (haven't ordered anything for the beach) - epic amount of plants and tree parts - 15x ship hull pieces for 2 new ships and 2 shipwrecks, plethora of masts - ~300x posts, spears, etc - ~2000x random other things I feel I will need My original plan had much more open water in the hopes of creating some vivid actual multi-level "swells". When I realized the cost of the trans blue pieces, that idea had to be scratched. As it sits right now, I will need about ~5000x of the 1x2 trans dark blue and ~1500x of the light blue, hence why this is a 12+ month project (I can't even find that many right now, let alone the cost). I needed enough of the trans blue to at least border the shores and ships and can fill in as the finances and availability allow. I've read a lot of writeups and stuff, but for me most of the challenge and fun is jumping in 100% blind and swimming my way out. I don't mind an excess of LEGO one bit either; I will be passing these on and building other stuff in the future. But...I'd really like to hear other people's advice on taking on a project this large. I'm already deep in pocket and wanted something to start with. I know I'll have a better idea of what I really need as the project progresses; I see a lot of people buying stuff they end up not needing as they progress. I'm ok with this but would like to streamline the process as much as I can so I don't go broke! I've done the math and I know the approx numbers of bricks I need, but I still feel there is a method to the madness that may help me be more efficient. Plans: - Planning on a treasure burying in progress with a steep sharp mountain in the upper right hand corner (Northeast). Hoping for 30+ stud high here, very sharp transition from the shore, lots of vegetation, native in the trees, etc. About 1.5 of the 32x32 base plates. - shipwreck close to the beach but in the water; this is something I am excited about and think it will be a great challenge. Only the blow sticking up out of the water. - 3 total ships on the water; a very large colonial multi gun ship (worried about space), my Queen Anne's Revenge (rebuilding that into something new after everything else is finished), and then a small pirate schooner. - Entire left edge will be a rocky cliffs with a fort on top. I was thinking of doing it as abandoned or run down, overgrown, but still inhabited. Sort of a Apocolypse Now / Heart of Darkness theme, of course in Pirate times though! About 6x 32x32 base plates - epic shipwreck on the rocks; the Thoy shipwreck on the rocks really impressed/inspired me and I want to do something just like that, but perhaps in more pieces and a bit less recognizable. - Massive vegetation on the left/Western edge. I'll be doing a couple levels with large plates to save on bricks, but I would like to eventually fill it in and add some secret passageways or caves, making the project viewable from all angles. QUESTIONS: - How deep should I make the water? The "deeper" it is so to speak, the more flexibility I have with objects such as sharks and the ship "emerging" from the water. But it adds a significant cost considering there are over 18,000 studs on the base level. My current plan was to only have nothing under the water but the base plate to save cost, but thinking I should had one level of plates. - Will this scenario be too crowded? Hard to tell before I scan them, but from my drafts, it looks like it will be a tad crowded with the 3 ships and the mid water shipwreck. The beach in the upper corner won't take up more then 1.5x of the 32x32 base plate. The rocky shore on the opposite edge takes up 6x 32x32 base plates, 7x with the shipwreck. The other shipwreck is one 32x32. 9.5 of the 32x32 still leaves 8.5 32x32 for the water and the ships, which seems like it is cutting it close. I could move the shipwreck to share a base plate with the Northeast island. - With the above in mind, would it be weird to do a cross section of a ship at the edge of the water? Like have only half a ship present in the "scene"? Or maybe on the edge, cut cross wise? My work has a machine shop so I can cut the hulls in half if need be. Worried that will spoil the overall feel or kill that entire angle of view, and one edge will already be cut off from view. However, it would give a detailed view inside the ship and might be cool (I've seen some done this way and I'm mixed). - Am I going over the top with the trans blue pieces of the ocean, rather then doing SNOT with solid colors? I really like the realism of the trans blue and when done right, it seems cool, but...I'm open to advice. - Anything else? I'll post up pictures of the design this week. Base plates are a week or two out but everything else showing up this week. If you made it this far, I really appreciate your patience to read my rambling and excitement.

Fantastic! This is just like I want to do my port on my big project. Incredible stuff. Especially enjoy the street/alleyway

Never seen a door on the bow like that. The floor of the deck looks awesome with the different shades of brown tile. I like the color scheme a lot!

this is pretty much what inspired me yesterday to get into MOC

Thanks for the encouraging words! The secret hatch has a rope (extra from the Queen Anne's Revenge) to pull it back up, and there is a jewel chest behind the door; forgot to get a photo. Pretty bummed my mom gave away the majority of them when I was in my teens (used to have quite the epic collection of pirates and castles), but I am slowly rebuilding the collection. It's pretty funny; I see a lot of people in their mid to late twenties getting back into it. No more "pew pew pew" or "bang bang", but my brain desperately needs a creative outlet beyond my work place. I just found some of the individual brick sites and my credit card felt it last night. Picked up a few thousand pieces of various things I need, as well as some Pick a Brick stuff before I realized you could buy it much cheaper. =( Learning. Going to build a nice table in our game room and begin to put together a massive 3.5'x6' table. I'd like to do a huge MOC pirate setup over the next year. Got tons of space and need something to do with it, so the weekly LEGO budget has been created.

Certainly! Let me see if I can do it via my hosting!

Posted a pirate thing as well, but I'm new to these forums and after a 16 year hiatus, back to LEGO's with my girlfriends support (she gets deals on LEGO's woot!). I glanced at some old castle setups online and then found this forum after making a shipwreck. This is a castle a made a bit ago after breaking them out. I think it is pretty close to an original, not sure what the name is. Forgive the dirtiness of the LEGO, I need to clean them up. 20 years old!!!!! The plants are new, ordered some off Pick A Brick. Criticism is more then welcome. I have not been creative except @ work. Nice to do so at home. Need to buy more LEGO!