MetroiD

We both agree on our vote here, which definitely goes to "End of the Road" by Cagri. There's something very cute and appealing about that simple structure/scene and the entire idea behind it. If we could vote for second and third favourites, they'd be Kris Kelvin's "just a train station" and Nexus7's Gantry Signal Box. Honorable mention to ISC for his Zacthan Station too... Superb entries by all the entrants... Keep up the good work guys! Wish I could have found the time to join you...

Love your MOCs Scrat - and this one is no exception. Very nice design, and a really useful vehicle! That's how a proper Octan tanker should look - unlike the one that's about to be released.

Indeed, that is quite challenging and not all that "simple". But it's not impossible either! Regarding what VMLN8R said - I myself have had that kind of "psychedelic" idea in my head for some time now. You could combine PF and 9V in order to create an elevated railway track which goes overhead (like , for example) and is somehow connected (String? PF-controlled pulley?) to an airplane, thus allowing it to hover over the city, all the while going around the track "up there".Some crazy train route, eh?

Eine frohe Botschaft indeed!!! Thank you, KD! It's absolutely wonderful to have been proven wrong about the price on this! ;] In that case I may be just be able to snatch the Cafe Corner as well before it's off the shelves ;)

When I first saw your pic, I was like "Huh? What DO we like anyway? Outstanding roofs?" It took me some time to actually get it, I admit. Drinking, guns and women, huh? Oh, and showing off... I guess I'd agree with that - or at least a part of it. Not a fan of guns and booze (in excess quantities), but they seem to be pretty popular... I agree that the tavern could use some more interior details. I find its plain outer wall looks pretty nice when combined with THAT roof, but something pleasing for the eye (apart from the waitress ;) ) in the pub would really make it look awesome. Very nice MOC, good luck mate!

It's an exclusive set, remember? If the farm can cost that much, I don't see why this set should cost less, to be perfectly honest. I was was naturally hoping they'd be selling it for 39.99 GBP in the UK and ~50 EUR in Europe, but I can't see it happening. There just wouldn't be anything "exclusive" about a set that "cheap".

I agree with Thee Pirate. No nit-picking here, this is hands down the best PTV2 entry for me so far and I'd say also a really strong contender for the Small section. There isn't a single thing about it that's not to like - well thought out, hilarious idea, perfect accomplishment. Bull's eye - and a GREAT job, JKool! As to the pictures - I found them quite good to begin with and seeing as I'm no photography expert either, I can't really give sound advice. Perhaps tampering with the source of light a tad bit would be a good idea? In any case, 10/10 from me!

Not really all that much of an evil soul then, eh? Richard looks like a great guy but... is he actually good at this hobby of his? Somehow I feel that if he'd pour an entire barrel over that one poor flower, it would wither and die in no time... But then again, what do I know about Caribbean flora! A simple yet suprisingly fun entry :) I love it, I really do! Perhaps the only thing that comes to mind now in terms of criticism would be that if I hadn't read your description, I wouldn't have known what he was actually doing with that barrel in his hand. But that's not really criticism, since you couldn't have him flowering them with a modern spray-thing anyway! Cheesy as it might sound, I was wondering how this little vignette would look if it also included a treasure chest buried underneath his flowers? In the sense of "real treasure" vs. "hobby treasure"? However, seeing as he might have to grab a shovel and ruin those lovely flowers, I guess it's better that you omitted that treasure part. Cheers for this great entry SGK! :)

Well, I must say that I actually find that this one really is the calm after the storm. The synopsis in short: Redcoats came, saw, lived among spiders. Then came big bad pirates with skulls. And swords. Killed all the redcoats. The end. Now it be calm. Very much so! Christo, the idea of stretching the boundaries is something I personally adore (I guess it shows by the way I utilised the mandatory road plate in my Classic Town Contest entry ) and I aplaud you for that! I'd even encourage you to take it further. Not the stretching thing, just the MOC itself. The way I see it, there IS no actual violence going on in this MOC, it's just a bunch of dead skeletons surrounded by arthropodes... So if you want to keep it calm, you can - but try to include something going on. Hell, even if it were just a chest which a lucky spider opens up and finds 10000 pieces of eight - so be it, it would STILL provide that extra edge this one needs. Otherwise, including living minfigs in this one would really make it look very violent - because even the thought of having someone walk through such apocalyptic surroundings is pretty unnerving. I would not recommend it and I don't think that would qualify for the contest. So, all in all, I do like how you've interpreted the "calm after the storm". And what a storm that must have been... It's a nice idea and obviously it hasn't got you disqualified. I'd just have liked to see some tiny detail that rounds it all off. As to the construction style itself - I love the positioning of skeletons. Great stuff. The amount of animals around I find a tad bit too gaudy and would recommend you lose some of those bats or owls... And I'd have to agree with Adam about the colouring. But the general idea and the presentation with those skeletons is really top-notch Best of luck in the competition! P.S.: For some unknown reason, I seem to be obesessed with treasure chests tonight... I wonder if that reference BB pic posted by Bonaparte has anything to do with it...

I must agree with Rick here. The picture you guys have been showing and commenting on most definitely does not look like an official stand-alone set. More likely, it's part of a bigger set, and with the design, I'd put my money on that being a Creator set.

Ah, the quintessence of set modding: add value & avoid depleting the gold reserves. It has definitely worked well here, great job Rick!!! I have to get me this ship soon, seeing as it won't be available next year... When I do, I'll be sure to check out (& copy ) your mod!

Agreed, but only if we lay extra stress on "a little". Stairs most definitely can't hurt, if you ask me Nice design, K-D, must have been a fun build... The cafe itself and the small garden outside are wonderful, how about trying to spice up the second floor a bit? For example, tiny balconies (think Market Street!) are typical features of French houses, why not add one or two? And how about window shutters? I know you might have to rearrange those windows, but I feel some shutters would really look good on this MOC.

Brings a tear to my eye, this one. Actually to both of us Otters here... so moving. It's not the wonderful MOC or your clever techniques, Sly Mate... It's just the feeling that this one oozes Speaking for both of us, I can honestly say this is the single most moving piece of LEGO art we have seen to date.

I love it Zuloo! As for the transcripts, I personally would take the audio file over a huge text file any day... Now, I must admit, this is the first "Behind the Helm" I've ever listened to, and I was thinking that perhaps you might want to decide on a limit of the interviews - should they last 5 or 10 minutes? You be the judge, after all it is you guys who know just how much info you want to put out there. Perhaps a bit of audio editing could also help there!

You can boo them all you want, but you have to admit that Brawn GP have done one hell of a job. When they took over, Honda were not really winning races, so the effort they'd put in to give the team that extra edge was admirable. Admittedly, they were MUCH better during the first half of the season, but if you forget about the non-stop tyre troubles that they've been having for the better part of the 2nd half of the season, their cars have been engineered brilliantly. Never had engine failures or any problems with the chassis, which just goes to show that this one is a quality team. Obviously, I do like them already, from their first season in F1. Yes, Jenson may not be as good as Alonso or Hamilton when it comes to sheer driving skills, but he still showed that he was a fighter and jumped at the opportunity to put his name out there. I was far from happy upon hearing Barrichelo's rants about not receiving a fair treatment from his own team (it just sounded like BS, which it turned out to be, naturally), but by the looks of it, having such competition within the team can actually help quite a bit. I'd still put my money on Jenson grabbing the title this season, though. Thoroughly deserved too. Good job by Lewis yesterday! It was great seeing him finally control a race like he did and it does give me good hopes for the next season. Let's see who'll partner him now - perhaps he might for once actually get a really competitive teammate (although I seriously doubt it).

I'm sure it will, you're off to a good start, it would be a shame to just let it go. When it's 100% done, I just have one more piece of advice for you: choose the angle / composition for your very first one or two shots wisely. I know it may not be easy, but bear in mind that the first 1 to 3 pictures of your MOC are what 80% of the people will look at, so if you don't make those attractive enough, chances are they wouldn't bother to check out the rest, even if you've got great details. You can alter brightness, contrast, light exposure, etc. by using the simplest of photo editing softwares, but you can't change what the picture actually shows For example, with your MOC at this stage, I would have made sure my overview pic focuses on the dock and the action at the front and not necessarily include the horse or the white layers helping to create a bit of elevation. So a full frontal pic which is still clear enough for people to recognise the fort in the background would probably be my choice. Good luck with that ;]

Phew! That's good news for me... because I was actually considering building an MI-inspired MOC for this contest! Oh well, even if someone does actually pip me to it, what matters is that we all have fun, right As to your Lucre Island - if you're keen on only working on the fort, I'd suggest trying to camouflage it a bit so that it blends in with the local terrain. Generally, a "regular" island would be expected to have a "regular" fort - an imposing structure that you can spot from miles away. However, I'd always thought that a pirates' island should actually be as inconspicous as possible - to the extent that intruders would only know they're standing in front of a fort once their ship starts sinking! :pir-skull: So if I were you, I'd keep that minimalistic design you have achieved so far and try to "hide" the fort into the rocks and trees - where possible of course - so that the pirates would have a real surprise for any unexpected guests ;) Hope this helps!

Hey Ryan, congratulations on posting the first entry for this contest! Upon seeing the name, I couldn't help but remember Monkey Island, since I'm a die-hard LucasArts fan... I don't know whether you've actually played the game/s (there's 4 of them), but I find it quite weird that noone has mentioned it so far - especially seeing as that's where the name "Lucre Island" originally comes from. Anyway, since I believe that you must have somehow at least heard of Guybrush Threepwood's adventures on the original Lucre Island, I though you might as well consider going that extra mile and adding a tiny little bit of Monkey Island details to this fun li'l diorama of yours. Of course, I won't divulge into any details, nor will I beg you to add Murray the Talking Skull (or is that him I see up on the "Keep Out" sign?), but that's just a notion I thought you might find helpful - and I don't mean rebuilding the actual in-game Lucre Island (since that would be a really tough job), you could as well just use a few well-placed references. Enough about LucasArts' Monkey Island, let's get back to your MOC then. My favourite part of it? The little scene with the pirate who's having trouble handing his booze and the one mocking him about it. This has the potential to really become the focal point of this MOC, even though it does not feature a pub nearby. Try and work on that "puking all over the plant" thing. It IS most definitely a good idea, but I would suggest for example trying 1x1 round trans-clear plates instead of the 1 big trans-clear brick. How about making that drunk pirate even MORE unfortunate by having him puke over someone down in the water or (even worse) at the docks? I know, I know, it sounds a bit sick, but hey - YOU started the whole puking thing, remember? In any case, this is definitely a very fun entry, and to me that has to be one of the most important aspects of this year's contest. Cheers matey!

I'm in mateys!

Lovely camper there Yanzl! I was thinking of modifying / MOCcing the official Camper set when I get it and this is a great example of how to do that! Love the door mechanism. Wish I could utilise that in the camper I'm building (or rather, waiting for parts to arrive ;) ), but it's a tiny little VW Type 2 in 4-wide, so that thing just can't fit...

LEGO is intended for kids. Us AFOLs have already got the Modular sets, exclusives and a bunch of other lovely sets that are wonderful for kids AND grown-ups (the trains of the last few years come to mind). I'm convinced that the current line-up of sets is more than adequate for anyone to buy the sets they need for their own town and, personally, I can't help feeling curious as to why the City line-up tends to create such a commotion among City fans every year. If you don't like the new fire station, you just don't buy it and instead spend your money on a Creator set with which you can build exactly what you have in mind...

Regarding those taxis, yes, by the looks of it, they've obviously got a taxi set ready or in the final stages. I'm not sure if I really like it though To me, the only exciting thing out of those 3 pics is the monorail - and the sheer fact that its presence there shows that TLG have not actually forgotten ALL about the monorail and their fans' requests to re-release something along the lines of 6399 Airport Shuttle. I would enjoy a modern tram too, but I'd definitely rather spend my money on a monorail. Which is, naturally, what I voted for in the first place back when the poll was active

I thought noone had actually taken notice of my/our absence... So you DO care!!! :wub:

They won't be needing it anyway

Sorry mate. I seem to be a bit inadequate these days...