Diamondback

Just got 8099--while it could have been more faithful to its subject, not bad for a "more affordable size" ISD. (still want want WANT the UCS! I collect various Star Destroyer merch) Would still buy it, would buy reissues as Errant Venture (in all-red) or other ISD variants or individual ships, and SOOOOO want an SSD to scale with this set despite that it'd be almost 10' long.

Nice! Just needs the huge vent units on the rear. (Remember the scene in Part 1 where Doc approaches the ice-encrusted DMC12 and recoils at the gas-discharge?)

If you're a purist muscle-car aficionado offended by all the "2Fast2Foolish" eyesores cluttering the roads in the USA or have a "ricer" you wanna sting, RiceCop.com has a bunch of fun tickets...

One of my favorite dirty-tricks: Pop-its (those little things ya throw and they make a small bang when they hit something hard) attached to the legs on a toilet-seat, then gently lowered so the seat rests on them rather than setting 'em off. Soon as somebody sits down... *Palpatine cackle*

David, it's called "Lazy". We all have moments of it, so why not LEGO too? (Although I have to admit if I were designing minifig-printing artwork and had several different torsos with similar clothing, I'd just design each article of it as a different layer for the master graphic and just stack 'em up as necessary...)

Better still, even in colors LEGO never made 'em in...

LDD only lists parts LEGO currently has available, so you're out of luck on the old bow/stern pieces--unless you go over to the LDraw system (say, MLCAD) or SR3D Builder. ---------------- Now playing: James Horner - Darkside Of The Moon via FoxyTunes

Internet petitions are usually filed under "Round" most places, but... Signed. Untried tactics are guaranteed not to work, right?

None. I would instead take back a complete catalog of every set released from '89-now, and set up a LEGO Trust Fund to bag all the really big sets I missed as a kid. (Through the entire Classic Pirates run, the biggest thing I ever got was the Renegade Runner, about the only really big-box sets I got were Space like the Galactic Mediator and that big Blacktron II base, and even then only one per year at Christmas.)

BG, I actually have a 39-gun "Maximum Gunship" concept in MLCAD which adds a complete stem-to-stern second gun deck including three stern-chasers. The extreme ends need some work, and I'm burned out on it, so if anybody wants it I'd be glad to email 'em the .LDR file, which includes a stock IFS and my own "HMS Sawfish" (which I actually am in the process of converting, as parts come in) for reference. Basically, the MG knocks every hole possible in the hull for gunports, taking Sawfish's pair of bow-chasers, adding two more in the lower-deck on each side (new total 12 on the lower deck), a ten-gun Forward Gun Deck, a 12-gun Aft Gun Deck and the triple-pack of stern-chasers. And then the existing IFS upper decks just drop on top, aside from eliminating the arced "fairings" behind the forecastle. (Those aren't modeled, you'll have to build your own if you snag the file; due to limited parts rendered--the new bow/stern base and "wall" aren't available in LDraw yet--I haven't done anything on the lower deck past the galley and brig bulkheads.)

The only thing that's influenced my train work is my old family business the New York Central System, its archrival the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the lines they either interchanged or had joint-operation arrangements with, like how the NYC 20th Century Limited and ATSF Super Chief swapped cars to create a transcontinental sleeper-service. Everything else, aside from the "Freak Show" (the big, heavy and powerful) is just practice to hone my skills for progressive refinements of NYC/PRR projects. If anybody mentions that abomination against all that is right and proper in American railroading called "Penn Central", though, I'm gonna go postal...

10210 Imperial Flagship. Between the initial quarterdeck and bow assembly, the reconstruction around the new bow-chasers and the daily preventative-maintenance on the masts... and then there was prying that !@#$#@$! 1x4 Tile out of the bottom to reverse the galley and ship's brig! (Holy @!#!@#!, that was a pain in the derriere!)

Ms. Sandy and Gentlemen, this is why I even included a comment referring to the mermaid at all. A "token acknowledgment", if you will... So, if you're outside North America (TYVM for nothing, LEGO N.A.! :flipoff: ) or one of the fortunate few on this side of the Big Pond to bag an Advent Calendar, add the mermaid to the "Noncombatant" part of the ledger, I guess. @Kintoe: that big knife could be put to work on either side... the display arrangement on my IF starts with the assumption that NC's have been ordered to take to a boat in prep to be cast off before combat, but they took to the wrong boats: Older Lady grabbed the portside boat (which is from the BB set, with musket and light) and is drawing a bead on something, Younger Lady headed forward to the cannonboat and has it ready to fire a shot off, and the cook's in front ready to protect her. (Let's face it, the male mind at the end of the day boils down to two core functions: "Feed" and "Breed", and about the only chance us short dudes ever have of scoring with a pretty girl is if we do something heroic protecting her, and even that--assuming the situation presents itself--isn't 100% odds of working, just the only way we get a chance at anything past "sod off, sawed-off!"...:( so, I placed him based on what I might do in similar circumstances--although I woulda nicked a brace of pistols and a cutlass on the way, but I didn't have enough for that. Actually, If I had been the cook I woulda quietly been building a Blackbeard-style six-pack o' sidearms or more and kept 'em handy for repelling boarders, but that's just me.LOL)

Actually, BHB, the hardest part was getting everything to stay put as I reassembled the bow around them. Concealed weaponry? Not quite as I've done 'em here, but an inventive sort could probably evolve the MOD further and make it work. Personally, I like the effect where you see this ship approaching and it's like two huge black eyes of Death staring at you... but that's just me.

Thanks, Doc--they overlap on the side clips, connected to the hull by a single stud each and to each other by a 1.5L Bar w/Clip like the one pinning the anchor and chain together. Guess I'm gonna have to order a bunch of those and muskets for 'em to hold to give BB and IF an antipersonnel battery... of course, additional deck guns mean rethinking the boat-racks too. ---------------- Now playing: John Williams - Desert Chase via FoxyTunes

Also, I don't have an AC (I'm relying on the Peeron inventory and Mariann Asanuma et al's reviews) and for some reason it's seemed like every time I touch something it falls apart, so I wasn't up for yanking the figurehead for a shoot. Imps--Musket Squad 2 Another round of "spot the non-Official LEGO soldier"... To each their own, I'm just saying that my own bias is to tack more toward the history while many others lean more toward lore, mythology and fantasy. No dissing intended--I get enough of that from other gun-guys for some of my weird projects over there, so I try not to dish it either!

BG, those ships were extreme-rare exceptions to the rule. QAR ultimately turned out so big and impractical that Blackbeard abandoned her and most of the crew (including IIRC "Gentleman Pirate" Stede Bonnet) to their fate with the authorities, while he made off with the loot and his MVP's in a much smaller ship. ---------------- Now playing: Basil Poledouris - Nuclear Scam via FoxyTunes

Sandy, I used the image Peeron had, and believe I noted somewhere that it looked like they had the wrong face. As for the mermaid... well, one's a figurehead and you wouldn't very well use anything live as such, and the other... well, fantasy creatures are one of the big reasons I never did Castle and jumped out of Space before it went into "Alien" territory. Besides, since there's only one version, I figure you've seen one you've seen both. Point after: can anyone spot the soldier that doesn't look quite "right" in each of my squads? ---------------- Now playing: John Barry - Hercules Takes Off via FoxyTunes

Some pics: Pirates! He's hiding behind a map, but there's a Goatboy in the mix Imperial Senior Officers and Noncombatants: The ladies, their other faces: Imps, Marksman Squad and Artifact: The Artifact looks like a simple gold pyramid, but it appears to be quite possibly older than the Earth itself... exactly what it is or does are unknown, other than that it's something we REALLY don't want Brickbeard to lay his hook on. (h/t to Larry Correia for the idea of pre-terrestrial artifacts in his novel Monster Hunter International) Imps, Boarding Party Apparently, they have a new guy who doesn't yet know what "Party" means in a nautical context... Imps, Musket Squad 1: Musket Squad 2 group portrait will follow sometime this weekend. Photo album at http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l119/Dia...02K9%20Pirates/

Some pics: IF Center Crossbeam Equipment Rack: If it looks familiar, it should--8396 Soldier's Arsenal, lightly-modded to lock in top and bottom IF Bow Chasers and Relocated Galley: The removed hull-bricks were used to build a gangway back to the new stern lifeboat--these cannons' carriages are assumed to be now an integral part of the hull-structure, as they're a fixed battery Bounty's Boat: BB Relocated Flag: If you were a pirate, would YOU wanna advertise it until you were right on top of your prey? I think not... besides, the late-1500s on saw a gradual move to stern-mounted flagstaffs. More pics later, as I have a chance to upload 'em off my cellphone. If you have something you'd like a better view of, ask and I'll see what I can do. Phot gallery at http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l119/Dia...02K9%20Pirates/ .

Actually, both RR and IF are very plausible, near-scale models of what they represent--a typical large man-o'-war was about the same size as IF at 1 stud=1', and your average pirate "ship" was typically a little 1-mast sloop, small, fast and maneuverable. Now we need smaller warships to go between 'em and merchies... BB approximating a medium to large merchie in size. ---------------- Now playing: John Williams - The Battle Of Endor I via FoxyTunes

Rust/brown"Boxcar Red" or yellow boxcars work too. Tanks in black would be great for unit-trains of corn-syrup (around my area, we regulary see cuts of a dozen or more such cars on a single siding). Seriously, if you're in the US or Canada pick up an issue of Trains or Railfan & Railroad and thumb through it and you'll get plenty of ideas for new cars.

Status updates (all IF): 2 Soldier's Arsenal gear-racks modded and installed around midpoint crossbeam. (Now just need to find 8 more, and same with the ammo-boxes...) Brig and Galley positions reversed, and new bow-chaser cannons installed with "mini gun decks" to facilitate access. (Loading 'em would be a neat trick though.) Boat davits prototyped on starboard-forward and port-aft quarters, and aft of sterncastle. Cellphone-pics tomorrow, if the office cooperates... (or I hit the point where I'm ready to tell 'em "take that foot outta my butt before I pry it out myself , take it off and feed it to you".) DPW, I think that huge housing is designed to imply the presence of steering-gear not actually modeled. Be glad they provided a wheel... I've seen diagrams of 80' Spanish treasure-galleons where the helmsman had to reef on a tiller arm with everything he had to try and steer the ship. Trivial note, a medium- to low-large-size galleon was actually smaller in top-view area than a WWII PT boat. It's like an even more pronounced version of how we with our F-22s and other metal-and-plastic monsters look at the stick-and-string WWI aircraft and say "People went to war in THAT?!"... which also means this big beast, if undergunned, is pretty close to the right space-footprint to be a scale 1600s-1700s man-o'-war.

I'll try to get pics, including my "Body Swap victims", in a few days. I should note that these are nicknames, not "character names" aside from Brickbeard--"Goatboy" is an "internal handle" I use to refer to any younger guy with a goatee in my thoughts until I learn his name (older being "Oldgoat"). Actually, as long as you break 'em up right, you can get away with a few lookalikes--adding it all up, I have three squads of five and one of four (each with an officer included) manning the rail on IF ready to open fire on BBB, although this meant nobody left behind to guard the harbor. (Even have all three boats loaded aboard, using Cannon Battle gun-carriage chassis on the hatches as "launching rails".) Incidentally, I've swapped hair between the ladies from BBB and IF, since that's a better match to their eyebrows. Also, look close enough at the gal from IF and you see crow's-feet wrinkles around her eyes, which further reinforces the "different generations" or "mother/daughter" theories. LEGO's first "MILF" minifig?LOL OP edited with Peeron pics, although I think they have the wrong female face in IF.

EXCUSE ME. As a trained professional who works with deadly weapons on a daily basis, I must dispute this part. If you're cofronted by a sword-wielding maniac, you have been presented with a clear reason to fear for your life and a threat to same, and in civilized places we recognize that under those conditions self-defense means using deadly force. Indy's outward composure means nothing--I've seen video of pros in action who've told me afterward that you couldn't see it, but they felt like they were shaking like leaves. Respectfully submitted.