The Sarge

I got Jerac's X-wing instructions, now I'm fiddling with it to make a Red Three screen-accurate model. Well worth the money for the Instructions. There's some clever parts usage although not having bought sets in a while I'm spending a bit on Bricklink now! So many new parts I didn't even know had been released.

Very nice, I really like the rocket launcher! The folding legs make it feel like they could carry it from battle to battle.

Terrible As An Army With Banners My Cat 1 A entry.

White Banner Lotii The White Banner employs a very traditional force structure, suited to the lightly armed mercenaries often found in its ranks. Here, two men armed with guandaos and a swordsman with shoudao guard a laborer pushing a wheelbarrow loaded with Chao Dai, a kind of preserved ration pack. A clerk from the Imperial court keeps careful track of the inventory of supplies on hand, ensuring the Lotii armies will be sufficiently fed. Blue Banner Lotii The Blue Banner however has embraced gunpowder more thoroughly. While some pikemen with guandaos are kept on hand to provide close protection, there is a high proportion of musketeers armed with everything from very old chong to modern muskets captured from various Madrician forces. They even have begun to adopt a kind of uniform, with a sash and a small leather pack on suspenders for the musketeers. Lotii Figbarf Challenge All in one photo. Please excuse the crowding, had to improvise the backdrop and this was all the space I had to work with.

Oh, firearms are kind of my bag! So if we take the late Napoleonic period as the end of our time frame, that still allows for quite a few innovations in firearms. Rifled muskets as a primary service arm didn't occur until later, but there were quite a few rifles that were in use. The most famous of these, thanks to the Sharpe series, is the Baker Rifle. This was the main arm of the rifle regiments of the British Army, which were typically employed as skirmishers. Other common muzzle-loaded rifles were the German Jäger and the American Pennsylvania and Kentucky long rifles, used in both military roles and as hunting arms. But you aren't restricted to muzzle-loaders! A variety of innovative breechloaders were attempted in this period. They were mostly too expensive or simply too unfamiliar and new to gain traction in the military beyond special units, but they did exist. These I'll divide into two categories, simple breechloaders and complex (repeating) breechloaders. Simple breechloaders include the Queen Anne system, mostly used on pistols but also some carbines, the Crespi carbine, in Austrian service in the 1770s, the Hall Rifle (this video is a later percussion model, but the first models were flintlocks), and the British Ferguson rifle, used during the American revolution. On a larger scale swivel guns using removable, interchangeable breeches had been around since the 1300s. Complex, or repeating, breechloaders of the era include the Kalthoff repeater, a slide action rifle used in small quantities by the Danish Foot Guards, the Lorenzoni system, a finely crafted lever action produced by various makers for around 150 years, the Collier revolver, the Puckle gun, which was a small artillery piece, and others. As far as percussion caps go, the relevant chemistry discoveries and first designs show up around 1800-1820, at the end of our time frame. While you won't see them on military weapons, it wouldn't be unheard of to have a chemist or inventor messing with them, or have one or two firearms in the hands of a wealthy individual using them.

On a small scale, at the end of this thread there is a breakdown for my boats. They can be scaled up a decent amount before they start to look odd.

Thanks everyone!

OL | ChIII Cat C | Silver for Iron Just in time!

On an isolated beach near New Oleanda, a greedy merchant has arranged a trade - arms for silver. The new natives, these Tyree'De, have shown a clear interest in modern arms and the tools to make them, and a willingness to pay well with precious metals, particularly silver. One of their gaudily painted war canoes has raced across the ocean to make the rendezvous. Ahoy! I see you have the silver. I've your cargo here. A trusted sailor begins to load the cargo - a swivel gun, a barrel of gunpowder, a bit and brace set, bullet molds, an iron pot to melt the lead in. The giant crossbow and fierce warpaint on the bow makes him a bit nervous though!

Thanks guys! @KeymonusThank you, you can certainly add it to the Fort Arltrees storyline.

Altonia (NPC nation) is a mix of Dutch and Swiss inspiration. I'm going to be using some of their mercenaries in my Cat E entry in fact.

Thanks everyone! @BodiYes, we may need to liberate the deposits from both sides...

Oleon | Ch III B | Sweet, Sweet Rotten Eggs

For two days Jacques had followed the rotten trail. Hacking through brush, dodging Lotii and Carno patrols alike, he had pushed on in search of the thing that made this island so valuable. Finally, he came upon a hot spring, smelling of rotten eggs, crackling and burbling a noisy yellow. The plants nearest the spring were dead or dying, and noxious fumes rose above it, but coated on the rocks was trace amounts of what it brought up from deep below. Sulphur! A rare element back home, but vital for the production of gunpowder. And the island was supposed to hold large amounts. Here was the confirmation he needed! Jacques slipped away to report back to the fort....

WIP Tyree'de war canoe for the challenge. I tried to take the hull shape and war paint of Pacific Northwest Indian War canoes, cut the bow down to clear a swivel gun, then added a sail and an outrigger (other side) to blend in a little Polynesian influence and make it more believable as an ocean-going craft. Suggestions?

Thanks everyone! @Maxim II'll keep that in mind for the next one! I agree it would look better. @KeymonusThank you! Ceramic grenades are a little old fashioned for this era, but they do appear in the historical record as late as the early 1600s. And they're a lot easier than iron ones to make! @KhorneThe sign is from a set but I don't know which one. One of the modular City buildings I think, I got it off Bricklink.

Thanks guys! It looks like polycotton broadcloth will be close, judging by the capes4minifigs site. Acrylic coated stuff only seems to be available in patterns.

Hi, I was hoping someone knew what fabric would be closest to the stiff cape fabric Lego uses. I haven't done any custom cloth before but I want to make about 60 bayonet frogs for my Bluecoats. Thanks!

Thanks everyone! @Bodi More or less, at this point in time all grenades used ceramic, glass or cast-iron casings and were divided mainly into explosive or incendiary depending on what the filler was. The distinction between the different explosive grenades (fragmentation/defensive and concussion/offensive) didn't really come about until the early 1900s.

@Captain Dee Victorie is wearing the robes from Dumbledore and Marie-Noëlle is wearing Rowena's robes. If you don't have the dark blue set PM me, I have a spare set you can use. The servants torsos are this part with swapped hands.

Very nice! For the glory of Oleon, viva la Roi!

Old Man Allemann opened up a pottery shop in Astrapi. Right now, it's an open air affair, but he hopes to expand it and eventually install a bottle kiln. Here an apprentice loads mugs into the kiln for firing. After firing, the mugs are painted and then packed in crates padded with straw. Allemann uses his potter's wheel to form grenade bodies for an Oleon government contract. The finished bodies are lined up on a plank of scrap wood until they can be fired in the oven. Another apprentice packs finished, painted grenade bodies with straw off a bale. Behind him is the pile of clay that provides the raw material. This will be a medium artisan property in Astrapi.

Very nice! I like the building on top of the gate a lot. The soldiers feel more European medieval than Eastern Asia to me though. Maybe it's the helmets?

Front and center is my main character's father, the honorable Chef d'escadron (rt) Pascal Sebire, awarded Le Médaillon des Deux Épées 1st class in the Juniper War while serving in the Regiment de Cheval du Roi. He will be carrying his heavy cavalry sabre in case his wife or daughter's honor is threatened by any ner-do-well Corries. With him are his wife, Marie-Noëlle Sebire née Dumaresq, and their eligible daughter, the young Victorie Sebire. Attending them will be a maid-servant and a coachman-attendant in the house uniform.

@BregirThank you! I spent quite a bit of time fighting out how to rig the side drum at the right angle, that scabbard piece was the key. The muskets are BrickArms flintlocks I painted a long time ago. The barrels are too bright to really be realistic so at some point I'll strip and repaint them.