Brick Miner

well, its a good thing... potato sacks make me think of scarecrows... and scarecrows makes me think scary !!! so it works.leather would have worked nicely too. in any case, i did have another question... what do the the two round 1x1 bricks that come out of the out-house represent ??? im not that familiar with out-houses, so i don't know :-D not implying that you are familiar with them... it's just, i've never done research ;-) - BrickMiner

these are cool... i would use theme as paper weights on my desk (perfect size)... and 6 inches for 65 USD is fine... it's not like i want a sculpture in my living room !!! just a little nick-nack for the desk or shelf. (these would be prefect for people who work in a cube ;-) ) i only wish they came in something other than SW :-X - BrickMiner

well, im not saying you have to abandon this... some people use photoshop to draw decals... if i recall SirScottLego does this... -------------------------------------------------- so i could take a stab at your dilemmas: well, first i would keep each element a different layer... for example never add a pupil on the same layer as the eye. that way you can always go back and do a "free transform" to adjust the size and shape of each element independantly.however, first of all, i would scan a minifig head (or whatever it is you are trying to make a decal for), so that you can see the proportions of the decal in relation to the actual item it is going to cover. just keep it as a layer on the bottom, and maybe at 50% opacity. that way you can tell the difference between the elements you are drawing, and the scanned piece. also, try tracing the basic features first. like eyes, and mouth... that will give you a good sense of where to place these things in your custom graphic. the next thing is to design the symmetrical parts first. once you have one good side, just delete the half you don't want, copy-and-past the good side. then do a "flip horizontal". line the two up, and then you have a symmetrical face, which are probably the basics of the face anyway... then you can start adding the "extra" elements on top... like hair, scars, monocles, etc... (keeping everything on separate layers, of course) -------------------------------------------------- well, you can't make a line thickness in photoshop, only in illustrator... because when you draw an ellipse with the selection tool, you are only selecting the pixels within that designated area... you aren't actually drawing anything, just selecting. make since ??? with illustrator, when you perform the same action, you are actually drawing that element.but what you can do is fill the ellipse, then modify your selection by "select-modify-contract". that will reduce your selected pixels. you will then have selected only the pixels in the middle of your ellipse, then just delete those pixels. your result will be a linear ellipsis, that is not filled. however, none of that probably makes sense :-D in any case, i wouldn't recommended actually designing this way, modifying your selected pixels is a good way to loose your crisp edge... sometimes corners loose their edge and become rounded, and other un-friendly things can happen. if you get illustrator, you never have to worry about this. because it's a vector based program... and the crispest way to render digital graphics. period. -------------------------------------------------- for pupils, just make a new layer and draw more ellipses on top... that is all i can think of !!!- Brick Miner

hmmm... well, i wasn't suggesting a cactus monster, just a little more scary ;-) but i get your point about the realism... hmmm... adding scary and realism together is going to be tough !!! in that case, my mind is drawing a blank, and i have no suggestions for you :-( :-D it will be interesting to see what you come up with !!! can't wait X-D ah, Grayner did a similar series... each MOC in his "Johnny Thunder in the Land of the Castles" series revealed a new chapter to the story... he planned his releases so that each one told a linear story.http://eurobricks.hosting.ipsyn.com/eurofo...?showtopic=6030 i do think that, if you are going to tell a story though LEGOs, this is the way to go. its an intersting concept, maybe i should try it sometime... though i doubt it's my style X-D -------------------------------------------------- BTW, where did you get that ripped potato sack graphic from... i like it !!! - Brick Miner

yes, i was wondering about the link provided above... i didn't see any board post count in the thread... only the thread post number. but thanks SW4J !!! - Miner

well, i wouldn't use photoshop to "draw" anything... i know people do it, but i don't see why :-D i would use photoshop for photo editing. and abobe illustrator (the counterpart program, and more appropriate program) for design/drawing. all of my original digital drawings are done in illustrator... that includes all the original elements of the skin designs, and all of my stickers and minifig torsos for my MOCs... and more to the point of your thread, all of these... - BrickMiner

wait, how are you guys even checking this number ??? thanks - Miner

what i like best is the wheat. that is wheat right ??? 8-

there are sets that came in two different box sizes ??? was the difference regional ??? or was one size was cancelled and another initiated to replace ???how would one find out this information about other sets ??? is there a database of this information somewhere ??? i find this topic interesting... please enlighten. -------------------------------------------------- now about the set... i find it interesting that the roof only attaches on one side... this seems very unstable, and unlike later acceptable techiniques that LEGO used. strange ??? now, about that maiden, *cough-KKK-cough* ;-) :-D - BrickMiner

im having this problem too >:-(jiiiiiiipayyyyyyyyyyyy !!! ;-)

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ya, i thought about doing that... not sure why i didn't *wacko* it would be nice to have the feedback in a more perminate resource... the MOCpage site will be around far longer than this thread. and i'll continue updating it with new MOCs as they are finished... it will (hopefully) be nice to compare comments/critisisms between MOCs all in one place. and with the rating system, it will be nice to see which MOCs are recieved better than others... well, that is what i would hope anyway ;-) with the MOC singled out in this thread, i wouldn't get the comparisons to my other MOCs, like i would get on MOCpages. i think ash was referring to the scarecrow head and the pillows on the bed ;-) the orange torso is from a soccer set, and the dark purple is from knights kingdom... but i just buy pieces i need from BL, not aquire them from sets, so i don't know the actually set numbers. :-$ i think it's quite obivous the mistake i made here... i mis-read siesta as fiesta :-D - BrickMiner

fantastic job on the baseplates... they are the best part !!! - BrickMiner

i have had this happen too BSat. for GUNSLIGNERS SALOON i had one extra female fig designed and two other bandit/gamblers. and for HAUNTED PASS i had three alternate designs for the wandering cowboys... i just wish i could have included them all !!!but on the bright side of things... at least we had alternate choices. means we had creative decisions to make... which sometimes means sacraficing things to achieve the best artistic results. if i must say so myself... i think we made good choices ;-) :-D :-D :-D (NOTE: above statment is the pretentious artist in me ;-) ) - BrickMiner

ya, i can remember once, i was looking at sets at TRU, and a father and this two kids (one boy and one girl) were running circles around me. yes, they were looking at sets, but they were also horseing-around, and treating the aisle like a jungle-gym.i can remember thinking... man, i enjoy the same type of entertainment as these two little rug rats ??? there must be something wrong with me.... no wait, what;s wrong with holding on to your youth as long as possible ??? nothing X-D so why was i so embarassed ??? - BrickMiner

:-$ cool. honestly that is why i try to mimick the good ole days... its my homage to the classic styles gone past *wub* -------------------------------------------------- now coming back to double o... yes, the mercantile looks a little "sloppy" from the back. i agree. but the mechanism works and looks so wonderful from the front side.... so i justified the techinique and application. see, LEGO seemed to design with the face of the set as the main perspective. and all other sides were inferior. therefore, i went with the frontal-friendly design, and felt justified doing so. yes, there is... i was really going for an "infested" type of haunted. like everything is haunted, including the buildings themselves. this is why the hotel and mercantile resemble faces... they are part of the haunting... the extra head in the barrel (actually attached to the top 2x2 plate cover) represents that the haunting is all around... and that the Ghost Miner's spirt is everywhere *skull* it is attached to the covering, that way, when the minifigs "open" the barrel to look for supplies, there is a hidden surprise that comes with the lid !!!if the head was just inside the barrel (resting, not attached), it would be more like a severed head... and that is what i was NOT going for... attaching it to the lid represents it "floating" out. like the spirits are released. this goes back to the scary = fun thing that jinzo brought up... having scary face in buildings, and haunted barrels is fun. the windows have clear stickers on them... even though the stickers were kinda hazy so they ended up being not too transparent :-D however, a nice side effect of that was that it made the windows appear misty... or scary.in my last MOC, GUNSLINGERS SALOON Norro had suggested that i use 1x4x5 windows and stickers if i was to truely replicate an official LEGO western building style. it was a point well taken, and i made sure to definietely apply it in GHOST TOWN'S HAUNTED PASS. ya, i just made the sign point the same direction because it looked better graphically speaking. i try to include the words "Brick Miners Gulch" into each MOC, it's my little way of "branding" the image... much like a cowboy "brands" their cattle :-D plus it didn't make sense to have Shiversdale lay between Legoredo and Brick Miners Gulch... as Shiversdale is on the outskirts of reality ;-) a seller on BL parted out exactely one 10176... so i nabbed it up quick. i only have two though, and am waiting for more to be listed. and a super thanks 007, for offering a potential trade. much appriciated. if you do get one, and decided you don't like the new colored shroud,... i will still take it.The Precarious Bridge MOC will definietely need one *skull* -------------------------------------------------- and thanks again for leaving feedback. this goes to everyone i might not have responeded to individually. i have listened to each comment and taken it constructively. much appriciated X-D - BrickMiner

i completely agree with this... i only see potential for 4-5 sets. Ghost Town would have made a good quick sub-theme, that only lasted one year. probably after LEGO had fully exhaused the official Wild West line. it would have made a good exit year for the Wild West... similar to Fright Knights (which ended CC).i know that me and snefore talked about this quite extensively here. basically, we had discussed that, once all the possiblites of a theme are realized, the only place to go is fantasy. the Wild West theme was unique (as Grrr pointed out) that LEGO didn't repeat theme concepts. no two sheriff offices, or two banks, or two forts... i want to keep this idea alive in my MOCs... so (for example) you will never see me do another gold mine... that is what lead me to the Ghost Town sub-theme... i have come up with four really unique ideas that i would like to explore with this theme... 6714: Creepy Creature Camp, 44 pieces 6738: Water Tower (working title), 148 pieces 6749: Precarious Bridge, 232 pieces 6776: Ghost Town

oh, and by the way... if you don't reponsed in this thread, we will assume you have a (0) feedback rating... which tells me your not into the pick-a-brick concept... which tells me your really not into MOCing (unless you are wealthy enough to buy sets stricktly for scavaging new pieces, in that case i just envy you >:-) )... which doesn't speak highly of your commitment to the hobby ;-) :-P - BrickMiner

inheritance ??? are somebody's LEGOs on their will for you ??? good point. i really wanted to make sure Ghost Town was "fun". scary can be too scary, at least from the view point of parent... and because i was looking to keep this in the vein of a kids toy, fun was essential.the cactus monster was my biggest attempt in that department. - BrickMiner

you must have a gazillion pieces... as i have seen elements from almost every theme in your vigs. do you but sets or BL the parts ??? and guillotine would be cool >:-) - BrickMiner

all of my LEGO sets recommend for ages 5-12... it's really giving me a complex *wacko* but seriously, this topic should be moved to the General Discussion Forum... as it's not pirate specific. - BrickMiner

:-D ya... i know. quoting a price isn't somthing to be taken lightly or said abruptly without thought... because, if i named a price and we each had a different vision of the finish product, then we wouldn't be happy with each other. and i definitely don't want that... we would really need an outline ;-) ok, so the sillouettes, ocean, and forest would be easy... the starred sky could be tricky, and the portal w/ town would be very difficult.... would the city in the BG have to look EXACTLY the same... or could the skyline look like it does in the Trains and Town Forum ??? 2D ??? i'll tell you this... if this were a WW or castle sets, or even a town... this would be a lot easier :-P i'll PM you a quote ;-) -------------------------------------------------- 8-

again, im having trouble keeping up :'-( there seem to be about 4-5 different conversations going on in this thread... so my appologies about the late reply... but to answer your second question... it might have been Phes. cause i don't rememer any conversation about creating digital backgrounds for monetary compensation. maybe Phes can clear this up when he returns to the thread ;-) however, that doesn't mean i wouldn't accept the offer. hmmm... a Time Twisters background. so it would look somthing like this... - BrickMiner

the orange one came from here... http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=trgib...&itemID=5980697 and the purple one here... http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=kaylinda&itemID=5037426 both are rather expensive... especially the orange one. i only use blank torsos,.. and would never put a sticker on an already decorate minifig... otherwise i could have used this one much cheaper... http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=Melan...&itemID=1628935 hey a siesta sounds fun !!! - BrickMiner

ok back to you Grrr (thre are so many responses to be written, such little time and space in one thread)... yes, that is why i love the theme so much... it is very clean and complete. simple, yet visual stimulating. i am a big fan of these things in regards to art in general... i will always preach "tell as much as you can with as little as you need"... even in music (i like minimal techno :-D )however, LEGO didn't quite finish out the theme... but because it was so well synced (in all the things you stated above) it makes it really fun to fill the gaps. the rules are lined out (as the building style was consistant), all you need to do is add creativity ;-) that is what im trying to do with my MOCs... ---------------------------------------------------- thanks phes... can i expect more insight from you ???- BrickMiner