MetroiD

Whoa, is that it... I was expecting a ghost or something... Guess I overlooked the fact that it's a small-sized entry. I must admit, I was really hoping that this would have some more story/action attached to it. That's not to say it's not a good entry though - the way you've created this one puts you on the razor's edge and keeps you there, not knowing what will happen next, which is worthy of Hitchcock himself... Oh and by the way, I really like the way you've created that door latch... but the room looks kinda empty to me. Perhaps you could add some furniture? A wardrobe would probably look good there...

So many favourites and only one point to award... I have to admit, voting in this category was even tougher than the other two. Great job to every single entrant - I do hope we will still see such marvellous trains posted here on EB even after the Contest is over!

Just use the "Insert Image" icon when posting or apply the [,img]www.your-image-here.jpg[,/img] tags (without the commas, naturally) As to your MOC- well!!! Who is the late night visitor!!! Can't wait to see... Only then would I able to provide any feedback, I guess... Creeeepyyy!!! :pir-skull:

I visit Classic-Town.net on a daily basis. In fact, it's one of the 7-8 sites which I've added to the LEGO folder on my Mozilla Firefox Toolbar and definitely the one I visit most often (the other LEGO blogs I follow are Brothers Brick, BrickTownTalk and Classic-Pirates). I rated the site "Above Average" in all fairness, even though I obviously love it, with some points deducted for failing to include a number of wonderful Town MOCs in favour of other creations which have not been that ground-breaking. But I'll expand on this later. What I really enjoy about Classic-Town is the fact that the blog is not cluttered with tons of information. In comparison, I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the amount of material that Brothers Brick presents to its readers - but then again, I guess that's only natural, since the latter is a blog which tries to cover absolutely every single aspect of LEGO, along with MOCs from all different themes (and mechas... and robots... did I mention mechas? ). Classic-Town, in contrast, focuses on one of my favourite LEGO themes - City / Town - and thus offers just about enough information for me to feel like it's worth being my primary source of Town-related information. I'm not necessarily a huge fan of the "Classic Town" style per se, especially not after the introduction of the Modular Houses standard, but I still enjoy almost all of the MOCs that are brought to Classic-town.net viewers' attention. That has a lot to do with the C-T bloggers' selection of MOCs to feature. I really enjoy all the work that you've been putting into this, Brickster, and the thing I love most of all is the fact that you don't only feature MOCs seen here on Eurobricks, but instead constantly roam Brickshelf and flickr to find wonderful creations. Obviously, I enjoy all Town-related MOCs, but it's architectural creations that top my list - those MOCs that go one step higher up the ladder than, for example, the Cafe Corner and Green Grocer sets. However, just like Ricecracker, I'm starting to feel a bit concerned about the amount of input by other bloggers on the site. I was thrilled when Dave (of ToTLUG) joined your crew since I regard him as not only a brilliant MOCcer, but also a great guy with an eye to fine detail - which shows in the articles he's been writing. I must admit though that I was looking forward to some more activity... I guess with Hinckley being professionally full-time engaged with LEGO now and WhiteFang taking a break, things are not running as smoothly as one could have wished, but on the bright side - I don't consider this to be such a huge problem. Especially bearing in mind that you're all sacrificing your spare time in order to bring this site to us. I have to say that I would however like to see more articles published by contributors other than the Brickster - not because I don't enjoy yours mate, you know I do - but because I'd like to have someone else's take on things also featured and I believe that would take a bit of the load off of TheBrickster's shoulders. Talking about the crew, I must also mention that I thoroughly enjoy the range of themes included in Classic-Town, but I would most definitely be happy to see more articles like this one for example - which is not Classic Town in any way, but is still a wonderful MOC I would have otherwise missed. Another perfect example of a MOC I would have loved to see featured on Classic-Town.net, even though it actually belongs to a different theme, is for example Kingdom in a Box, which was an entry for a Classic-Castle contest, but is still one of the most innovative and creative MOCs I've seen recently. As you can probably tell, I feel that crossing the borders every once in a while is actually a good thing and the site must not remain limited to "City and Town only", let alone "Classic Town" only. Obviously, my favourite part of the site are the MOCs that are featured there. And so it comes as no surprise that I would love to see even more of them - regardless whether those are MOCs posted here on Eurobricks or wonderful creations found elsewhere on the 'net. Furthermore, I feel that would up the ante a bit, which would also be a lovely thing. The features I least care about are reviews - probably since I hardly ever pay attention to those. I'm just not the kind of guy who likes to read actual reviews, especially not reviews of LEGO sets - even though I have been writing reviews professionally and have also tried my hand at writing reviews myself for the local Academy. Adding some interviews with specific builders would perhaps add a nice community feel to the Classic-Town site, especially if the spectrum of the blog does get expanded further on beyond the horizons of Eurobricks. A good example of how that could be achieved in a most interesting way are the 'Behind the Helm' series currently produced for Classic-Pirates by Captain Zuloo... Aaand I guess that just about sums it all up. Please excuse my rant, I sometimes tend to do these things, you know... I do hope however that I have been helpful in some way.

I believe this is what they call a landslide victory Congratulations Kris! A thoroughly deserved first place with your last-minute entry (and did that take us by surprise!) Congratulations to Nexus7 and Cagri as well for their marvellous creations - I believe we also have to mention our Fellow ISC here who made a wonderful and very inspiring entry! Most of all however, I think we have to applaud RailBricks & the usual Train Tech suspects who have made this whole thing possible... TheBrickster comes to mind as probably one of the primary culprits

Ah! A stream!!! I absolutely it! Nice mushrooms too ;) I have to ask though - what do those pink and orange 1x1 round plates represent? The update is very nice and adds much more that's actually "happening" to the soldiers, way to go! I'm not too sure about the soldier's hat being used as a stove , but it's a fun little touch nevertheless. My only real suggestion would be to do some more work on that stream - adding trans-clear plates and slopes should help make it look more realistic, and a few splashes here and there won't go amiss either.

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=33335 Right next to the Member Guidelines. You're welcome. I didn't quite get the point of your video... regardless whether French did this do that or British did that do this. I don't mean to be rude, but those were actually two photos, which does not really correspond to my idea of a video (for reference, a second of a video film is supposed to contain twenty-something of those ).

You need to look no further than our very own Classic-Pirates.com forum to find some wonderful (and recent) examples of waves built out of LEGO, such as this medium big wave included in michaelozzie's dramatic MOC or Erdbeeris' top-notch solution to the problem of realism in water... The trans-clear cheese technique is obviously quite innovative and if I were you, i'd try to implement something along those lines, using trans-clear slopes to recreate the effects of waves and ripples. Trying 1/2 brick offsets (especially with your SNOT base) and different shades of blue could also help achieve a realistic look. Even though your base is SNOT - unlike the ones I've provided links to - I think that you can still draw some inspiration from them and add your own twist to the idea... that should provide for extra votes in the Contest!

Bonaparte, you have done an absolutely marvellous job there... Thank you for bringing Pirate fans together and finding an accurate way of voicing our concerns and wishes - even though I personally did not manage to take part in the survey Let's hope TLG will take at least some of those suggestions in mind when designing the next Pirates line. As proven by the new Exclusive ship, all is not lost and I for one am pretty convinced that this survey, presented in such a professional manner, will prove very useful to the entire Pirate community.

An awesome train and I'm not the first OR the last one to say this, the whole MOC is brilliant. The way you recreate Indy adventures is also mind-blowing... Btw, Blondie-Wan, I'm most definitely looking forward to seeing your take on these wonderful stories :) Brian (hope you don't mind me calling you by your first name) - since I've been following your other train MOCs before you entered this one, I must say I pretty much expected this one. What I did not expect however was the amount of users trying to somehow write it off by claiming it is too big / custom / late / cool to be considered as an official entry in this contest... Wow

Just what I was about to say. Even though the Toy Store for example is a "Classic Town" kind of set, it is still an Exclusive and as such should and can not be compared with the rest of the City line. Oh well, at least K-D did forget to include the Fire Brigade - if he had, the Emerald Night would have had some serious competition though. I suggest this thread be divided into two separate polls: Favourite city set of 2009 and Favourite exclusive set of 2009. If we consider this one to be the "City" poll, my vote goes to 7641. I don't own it yet, and I don't view it as anything too great, especially compared to the Exclusives we've seen in recent years. What it is however is a refreshing change from the City line-ups we've sort of gotten used to and a nice throwback to the more vivacious designs of the late 80s. P.S.: The whole Construction line is not precisely my kettle of fish, and I just don't think the Farm sets were elaborate / creative / catchy enough to live up to the expectations.

Thank you SOOO much for this Svelte :]]] After checking out some of the more summer-spirited MOCs that the Pirates Contest entrants have come up with, this one is a wonderful step back to reality - and into what's in store for us in a few weeks You've come up with a marvellous combination which has resulted in a "best of both worlds" kind of scene... I absolutely adore it! I think we'll try to build something Christmas-y for this year as well, especially after we receive our Toy Store (a HUGE thank you goes out to fellow EB member emilec for helping out with that!)... Thanks for officialy initiating this year's Christmas spirit for us, to both of you :) Oh and btw, can't wait for your review... What's in store, a multi-story Mega Toy Shop?

Good observation, Tom, I'll second that. While most MOCcers like to concentrate on details seen in the foreground, i.e. inside the structure, when building such models that are "split open", Lorentzen here has built a wonderful all-round creation which makes it even easier on the eyes. Lorentzen, I wonder if you will be able to find the space to include a grandpa chair and/or a fireplace / any other additions... That would be quite a challenge, given the limitations of the small-sized entry. Would be absolutely brilliant if you could pull it off though!

My thoughts precisely. If there's anyone to build a huge awesome roundhouse, it has to be you

Seashells for bar stools! Absolutely brilliant!!! Lorentzen, hush about that MI connection there! Hope I'll be able to give you something to smile about if I get enough free time to built my entry for this contest Back to this entry though - I love the idea of "chilling by the sea" there, badboy! Simple, yet perfectly appropriate & neat! My only request would be to somehow cover up the holes on the bottom of the bricks there... They kind of ruin the sea feeling for me :/ I also think that adding a few waves & ripples to the water level would greatly improve the looks of the seashore there :) Best of luck in the contest! And thanks for that summer vibe you've brought to us - feels nice, especially with the last days of the summer already behind us this year...

What a wonderful read, thanks for that Capn Zooooloooo I'm most interested to hear how your dealing with the soot, seeing as I'm planning on taking such a ride myself one of these days... Actually, not it's not really going to be anytime soon, most probably not until springtime next year, but still... I'm hoping to take my significant Otter :D and go visit the last remaining narrow-gauge line (760mm) that runs high up in the mountains here in Bulgaria. Should be a thrilling ride, especially with the old (built in 1949) Polish steamer still running along those lines. Only trouble is, they run a diesel train most of the time there and they only use the steamer on special occasions, so finding out when the next one of those is taking place should be the hard part... But I digress. Once again, thanks for those pics, this one really is marvellously restored loc.

Tony, your initial presumption about not having anything to say was pretty much spot on. Your locs seem to be too good to be commented on for users who like to point out what they think are the shortcomings of certain MOCs and how they could be improved. Seeing as you put so much time and effort in yours, it is only fair that you achieve a result that borders on perfection... every time. Besides, bear in mind that "Train Tech" is relatively new here on EB and this part of the forum still needs some time before it starts running in full swing - as you can tell, most "Town" & "City" fans _love_ to comment on threads such as new sets or suggestions for such and spend most of their time there... Give it time my friend. And you can most definitely rest assured that those of us who REALLY enjoy trains around here have spent quite some time over at your MOCpages account, checking out the details of those steamers. In fact, ever since you posted this particular image, I've been looking out for any leaks of future roundhouse projects that you might start... I really think these babies deserve a place to call home, don't they?

Nice final touches! You've perfected the cobblestone path which was quite crucial to this MOC. I must admit however that I still miss a true "catch" in this storyline here. As I've said before, I couldn't quite get the idea just from looking at the pics themselves - and even after reading the story and finding out what this MOC is all about, I still think it needs more salt and pepper. Don't get me wrong, it is a great little scene, but I believe that it does need an interesting story being added to and developed in it. As it is now, both characters' backstories have absolutely nothing in common and the cart stop is just... "there". It does not provide a pivotal point in the young soldier's journey towards (officially) capturing the heart of the daughter, nor is it something of huge significance to the old hermit either... So to me, getting that right and creating a matching storyline is precisely what could turn this lovely scene into a winning entry.

Glad you liked the idea, Commander :) Here are a few MOCs where the builders have showcased some nice ways of making mushrooms: Chris' Road Less Travelled and Beowulf's Last Battle. Hope that helps! The plates used for fungi growing from the dead stump could for example be replaced by leaves/ foliage pieces, put on top of minifig hands - that way you could portray their thinness compared to regular plants... As to the similar faces - that could be used as a major advantage, but I guess Star Trek-esque technologies (AND storyline ) would be required for that.

Brilliant! I wouldn't even consider trying to apply any criticism to this entry - that would be useless, since it's obvious how you've gone to great lengths in order to achieve a perfect level of detail here. I would have absolutely loved to see a fireplace of sorts (since I, like most people, commonly associate those with storytelling to grandchildren), but there's not one single thing about this MOC that I don't like. Great job, one of my instant favourites in this category! Edit: Links added

An absolutely brilliant idea, this one is! I feel it only needs minor improvements in order to become a serious contender in this category :] For example, you could work on the structure / building in the background a bit - adding some lanterns might provide another source of mischief for the pirates I also agree that tiles would look great on those floors and drastically improve the overall look of this MOC. Even if you don't include those suggestions in an updated version though, I feel this one has a huge potential because of the lovely realisation of your idea - and yes, the punchbowl + rum thing was instantly recognizable ;) Good luck in the contest!

Cheers for posting such a refreshing entry :) I must agree with the other EB members, the flowers could use some work in order to look even more varied. Aside from the techniques already mentioned, I would suggest using inverted cones as flower petals, those do look very nicely (you may check out the flower shop from my signature for a reference). There's plenty of ways to use the standard "greenery" bricks and I think that the more of those you utilise, the more weird & wonderful this walk in the garden will look! I would also recommend trying to get more foliage on the big tree - compared to its massive trunk, the leaves do look a bit disproportionate. I must admit, I failed to determine what the thing growing out of the stump (?) across the path from the big tree is... Perhaps adding some more to it would make it look more obvious? As for mushrooms - a pretty good way to do those is by using a round 1x1 plate with a red worker's helmet on top - it looks almost as good as the real thing, perhaps you should give it a shot Last but not least, I was wondering why you've used those white bricks there... If they're supposed to represent a different kind of rock, I believe a great way to implement that would be by following Lorentzen's advice. After you're satisfied, you might even consider adding a little stream running down the rock - personally, I would _love_ to see that implemented in this scenery - water (even if it's represented by LEGO plastic) adds so much more to a MOC... Good luck in the contest mate!

Yet another great improvement from you - great job, you seem to be progressing in leaps and bounds here :) I'm happy to see you included some actual candles on top of the chandelier - and that magnifying lens looks brilliant! The walls are also looking very nice now - not overly colourful or too plain, just perfect. The only thing which I believe could still be improved is the top of the vig - you could perhaps try and build an actual roof? Or include a second story (storie AND story? ) In any case, I must admit that to me those two big plates just don't look good enough there and kinda ruin the whole great impression of the vig. If you have the bricks for that, you could include a second (smaller) scene on the 2. floor or you could just come up with some kind of catchy roof structure...

Poor poor souls. As far as I can remember, there's no problem if the same contestant enters MOCs into two different categories... Well done for finding the time for that! I can't even get started on 1 entry ;( Your idea is really cool - I guess it would have been even WORSE for those redcoats if a pirate was actually running the entire operation As to the MOC itself - try sealing all those bricks and plates together, that way the rock will have a more "solid" feel, rather than looking... erm... shaky, so to speak. I recognised the mining cart design from the Dwarves' Mine and as cool as that is, I'm 100% certain you can come up with something even better and more original - viewers should definitely reward that (especially bearing in mind the Train Tech Contest that's drawing to an end). You could also add some crystals or gold within the mine, a throwback to the classical "hidden treasure" concept, worked into those surroundings... perhaps a soldier could attempt to hide a gold piece he'd found and smuggle it outside the cave unnoticed? Oh, and you might also want to try turning that bumper around since the way it is now, it would only stop an imaginary incoming cart from entering the cave, not the other way round Good luck in this category - this one has the makings of a strong contender!

Aaand we have a winner, ladies and gentlemen... Derfel, that is a brilliant MOC and it is absolutely inspiring for all Pirates enthusiasts. I believe your dioramas contain some of the most detailed landscaping, well-thought structures & great ideas I've seen. Cheers mate... I can't really try to tell you how you should have improved since what you have done there is a really high-quality MOC and the only way you could have improved it is by adding something into the scene - in this case, that would probably be cluttering the view and I love this one just how it is. Oh, and my favourite thing about this entry? The idea itself! I mean, I would have expected an unbeliavably high-quality entry from a builder as skilled as you are, but the idea to go with that is equally brilliant. Kudos for that!