Brick Miner

your probably refering to this set... EXPEDITION BALLOON #5956 although, it doesn't compare to this great MOC !!! again, great job piglet !!! however, i have a question, why did you use two different styles of mast rigging. you have a single piece for the sides of the front mast, and on the rear you have a combination of four ropes up the mast... i do think it would look better if it was consistant. is it is becuase of structural reasons, as opposed to visual ??? - BrickMiner

the backgrounds are a combination of both, scanning images from boxes, and recreating completely from scratch. the bg mountain, bg cactus, foreground cactus, and all of the box logos are scanned and modified from box art. where as, the sky and ground are all created in photoshop. the dust bowls on the ground are done by using a filter in photoshop called "motion blur."phes, definitely feel free to ask more questions if you have them. i love topics/converstaions about this, and im more than willing to share my information !!! -------------------------------------------------- yes !!! my only problem i wish i could have solved was the open/airy look... you nailed it brickster !!!i tried closing off the saloon's first floor by adding windows/shudders. didn't like it. i needed the fence consistency to justify the use of it as railing on the balcony, and up top (to the left and right) of the saloon sign. without this consistency, the fences that appeared on the balcony and on the sign looked out of place. as for closing off the sides of the first floor... it can't be done. the table/chair/magnet system causes the minifig to fly out the side of the saloon. if the sides were closed the minfig wouldn't have anywhere to go... thus, minimalizing the feature. and closing off the top floor, but not the bottom, would cause the building to look top heavy. all-in-all i tired a dozen different combinations of things... the best result is what you see !!! well, im my crazy "do-what-every-it-takes-to-mimick-an-offical-LEGO-release" world anyway. one interesting thing to note about this MOC... it required "play testing" due to the table/chair/magnet system. this is one thing that can only be appreciated if the set is in front of you. thus, some things (like the hinged ceiling) is only fully appreciated/understood when the set is in hand. i had the basics of this MOC built before the batman line had been announced. i was so happy when i saw this piece in the batman/joker set !!! i loved adding that little detail. it fit remarkably well in my set, and only added 1 piece to my piece count !!!also, brickster, im glad you brought up the minifigs... i can see now (in the images provided above) that its hard to get a complete understanding of each of them (and why they were chosen for this set). about 50% of designing this set went into the minfig choices, so its an important factor in realizing this set. when i get some more time i'll definitely add more images in another reply... please check back !!!

oh, my mistake, i just assumed.. so what do you use ??? have you tried photoshop, and choose not to use it. i mean, is their another raster program you like better for adding backgrounds to your MOCs ??? im very curious !!!

you know, i've been posting on EB for two/three months now, and i never made a formal introduction. -------------------------------------------------- ABOUT ME: im 26, and live in saint louis missouri, USA, home to the "western expansion memorial" aka... the saint louis gateway arch !!! my home rests about 1/2 a mile from the second largest river in the world, the mississippi river !!! i am a full-time comic book artist, and graphic illustrator/designer... its a great job. one of my best friends (and comic convention buddy) draws the current BIONICLE comic for DC/LEGO (stuart sayger). -------------------------------------------------- ABOUT ME AND LEGOS: i remember getting classic space set #6809, xt-5 and droid back in 1987. it was my first LEGO set. i've had three distinct waves of collection LEGOS. my first wave from 1988-1990 (when i was a kid) i collected space and town, but when pirates were released in 89' they became my instant fav !!! my next wave was when i was a teen 1994-1998. the pirates expanded with the islanders, and they immediately caught my attention !!! to this day, the islanders are one of my fav themes (sub-themes). my final wave of collecting LEGOs is the present one... i started buying vintage LEGO sets sometime last year... see, i kept having dreams of going to TRU and finding great deals on old LEGO sets. the only cure for these dreams were to satisfy them. and i did that by getting back into my favorite themes from my child and teen years. you will probably see my efforts here on EB contribute mostly to WILD WEST topics !!! as it is my favorite theme, and has been even since 1996 !!! (i do live in the historic city of westward expansion, its only fitting, right) next fav theme is adventurers (egypt primarily) followed by pirates (islanders primarily). anyway, i just posted my first MOC, and felt this was an appropriate time to introduce myself to the rest of EB (those who don't browse the history themed forums). GUNSLIGNERS SALOON wild west set # 6758, my first published MOC !!! http://eurobricks.hosting.ipsyn.com/eurofo...?showtopic=5127 thanks for the great discussions, and i look forward to everyone i have !!! - BrickMiner oh, and i despise starwars !!! i felt i had to let it out of the bag, since it seems most of the founders of EB are starwars fanatics !!!

while that piano looks spectacular, it is made of far too many pieces. LEGO would never had done anything like that in the wild west series.to be honest, i wanted to add more details to this. but my piece count was already getting really high for a set this size... for example, the BANDITS SECRET HIDEOUT 6761 is 238 pieces, and it seems a lot bigger than GUNSLIGNERS SALOON 6758 (273 pieces), therefore demanding a higher retail price. basically, the piece count is really high for a set that can only fetch 20-35 USD retail. i just couldn't add any more stuff. i agree, 60 USD is what one would pay for NEW pieces off of bricklink today, not the retail price that LEGO would have suggested back in 1996/1997.i thought some of you might be interested in the stickers that i used. here is some production photos i took... since LEGO never gave us any female westerns, i have been forced to make stickers if my MOCs call for a lady. you can see three in the sticker sheet i made, though only one appears in GUNSLIGNERS SALOON. maybe i'll share the other females in my next MOC !!! also, all the colors i use in my stickers are actually colors of LEGO bricks. i took a scan of all the different color bricks i had, and made a chart. that way, if the sticker was to be put on a brick of the same color, it would match exactly !!! i took a lot of time on this MOCs !!!

hey phes, we should have a battle, of who is the best photoshopper !!! http://eurobricks.hosting.ipsyn.com/eurofo...?showtopic=5127 i'll withhold final opinions for when the final photos are up, a good photo can make all the difference !!! however, i would suggest moving the pirate boat so that its not covering up half of the building !!! id like to see it all !!! - brickminer

all right, here it is! the long anticipated BrickMiner first MOC release !!! GUNSLINGERS SALOON wild west set # 6758. Pieces: 273 (including "broken" minifigs) Minifigs: 5 Height: 22 bricks Value: $ 60.00 USD (calculation based on average BrickLink prices for NEW bricks) -------------------------------------------------- INSPIRATION: when the wild west theme was canceled in 1997, I felt LEGO hadn't fully exhausted the possibilities of the gold mining town, LEGOREDO. the saloon concept was touched upon briefly in the official wild west set 6769, FORT LEGOREDO. in the headquarters can be found a card table, with a trap door leading to a jail (for the bandits) or to freedom (for the calvery or cowboy). See brickster's review here for details on the trapdoor feature here: http://eurobricks.hosting.ipsyn.com/eurofo...t=ST&f=9&t=2904 ------------------------------------------------- in the GUNSLINGERS SALOON i expanded on the "trapdoor" idea of the FORT LEGOREDO headquarters. my goal was to keep the "action toy" feel that many of the official LEGO wild west releases had. in the saloon, a game of cards can determine the fate of a gambler. if one is caught "cheating" in the saloon, he can be "shot" out of the venue by the other card player !!! ------------------------------------------------- HOW IT WORKS: in the main interior of the saloon there is a card table and two chairs (very similar to FORT LEGOREDO). on one side of the table is a 100-dollar bill, and on the other side is a dynamite stick. the table is built on a turntable, and if the dynamite is turned to either chair (and the dollar bill away from) the "cheater" will go flying into the air. it works for each chair on either side of the card table. the table/chair mechanism is propelled by a magnet system. under the table is one magnet, and under each chair is another magnet. the magnets are built so that they repel one another. when the table is turned so that the magnet faces another magnet, it forces the corresponding chair to fly up. this causes the "cheater" to fly into the air, as if "shot" by the other card player. also, the ceiling of the saloon is built on hinges, so that it can be raised for placing minifigs in the chairs and for turning the table to "shoot" the "cheaters". ------------------------------------------------- OTHER FEATURES: gambling is only one pass time cowboys partake in at the saloon. live entertainment provided by the infamous saloon girls was a common theme in the wild west. GUNSLINGERS SALOON is no exception. this venue is complete with resident entertainer and balcony style stage for performing. another attraction is the beverages, located outside the saloon. i wanted to keep within the socially acceptable limits of the western theme as LEGO saw it. i felt, having a full-on bar inside the saloon was something LEGO would have seen as too "naughty" for a toy designed for 8-12 year olds. thus, I just opted for a water tap outside the bar. However, similar to official LEGO castle release 6060, the barrels could be assumed to have more than just water in them !!! also, under the barrel is a secret compartment for gold coins !!! This feature is very similar to the building style of official LEGO released wild west sets. similar compartments can be found in FORT LEGOREDO 6769 and BANDITS SECRET HIDEOUT 6761. ------------------------------------------------- THEORIES BEHIND MY MOCing: theories and concepts behind my wild west MOCing can be found here: http://eurobricks.hosting.ipsyn.com/eurofo...?showtopic=4557 let me know what you think !!!

as far as i can tell (im no admin) you can post MOCs in this forum as long as it has to do with castle, adventurers, wild west, or vikings. as i browes the other thread topics i see plenty of MOCs here.

you will probably never see me do confederate soldiers. i think the wild west that LEGO was depicting was during 1865-1890, or post-civil war.also, the theme is called "wild west" or "western" not "civil war." even if the theme was extremely sucessful i don't think they would have included confederate soldiers (which was a battle of the EASTERN states).

i don't think anyone has missed her thus far.

now, i think this MOC is much better than Mark Stafford's Avontuur. it lacks in daring fantasy, where this airship delivers. the use of the pirate hull is just so imaginitive and FUN !!!

ya, your right... i got excited by all the western talk !!! obviously town, space, and castle has the most minifigs... however, i have had the most sucess MOCing western minifigs. i admit to no MOCing of town, space... i would imagine the possiblities are pretty extensive (even if you never use any painted piece twice). regardless of that, my point was, LEGO gave us a lot of options for expansion in the western theme with minifig MOCing. where as other themes are not as easily expandable.

i missed this thread, as it was in its height just before i started involving myself in EB... however, im glad to see so much talk existed regarding the western line. i do think that the western line is the most extensive one for minifig MOCing. mainly because of the adventurers, but also a couple pirate and castle torsos, and a ton of heads from all genres, especially town.i tried MOCing pirates and adventures and have had little sucess compared to the western theme. i have created like 15-20 unique western figs. unique meaning i haven't re-used any painted piece once, and that includes the pieces LEGO offically used in creating their figs. that said, i think the western line has the potential for the most minifigs of any theme !!! - brickminer

wow, this is really great... i love the hodge-podge look of the ship... which really makes a whole lot of sense... i mean, for dr. lightning to construct such a marvel would require him to gather odds-and-ends to build such a creation. It has a great amount of fantasy and wonder about it

im not familiar with this... the LEGO western theme was always minifig scale ???

ya, they are based on south pacific islanders (tiki style), not central american islanders.

ya, im having a hard time forming an opinion of the ship, because i can't get past the sails.- BM

i always felt that the change from the imperial blue coats to the red coats was purely based on the change that the pirates made from a color theme of red to black. my theory is that is was completely a merchandising move, and had nothing to do with french, english, naval, or army statistics. it just doesn't make since that LEGO would write such story/specs into the theme. its just too inconsistent with the rest of there decisions. in 1989, when the pirate theme was released, the pirates color was red, and the imperials color was blue. yes, the pirates flag was black and white (jolly roger), but the sails on the BSB where red, and all rowboats with sails had red/white striped pattern, and all imperial boats had blue/white striped pattern. well, somewhere along the line LEGO decided to change the color of the pirates from red to black. i think it mainly had to do with the desire to release another BIG pirate ship... when LEGO went to design what is now the SES, every attempt to make another big ship with the same red/white stripped pattern (that was consistent with pirates) looked too much like the BSB. also, LEGO was obviously looking to improve on the big pirate ship concept, and black could have been a move that made it look better, by being more pirate-esque or evil. so, when LEGO decided to change the pirate color to black, that left a combination of black (pirates) vs. blue (imperials). those two colors are a very week choice from a merchandising point of view. black is far to powerful, and consequently, the imperial sets would seam meek on the shelves next to a SES. the logical change would be to make the imperials red. red is one of the two most eye-catching colors (next to yellow, which LEGO also employed, most system boxes at the time were solid yellow on all the sides of the box). so while the pirates moved from red to black, from a merchandising perspective, LEGO needed to keep the color present somewhere, and thus moved red to the imperials. that left them with a black/red combination, a great improvement from a red/blue combination. LEGO began to change over in 1992, when the red imperial color was introduced. then in 1993, the change was complete when the remaining red colored pirate sails sets were discontinued, and the SES was released. there is only one set which objects this theory... and that is the imperial trading post 6277, which when released in 1992, featured a red colored pirate sail. this is the only set where both the pirates and the imperials colors are red. strange ??? in a nutshell, i believe that the red coats exist, simply because of the release of the SES. that is what makes this all so fun, to ability make up your own stories !!! im so glad LEGO never released too much story. part of LEGO is the imagination. im pretty sure the company kept this in mind when designing an releasing information. how does this explination fit the imperial flagship 6271 ???- brickminer

wow, good call !!! i would have guessed fake !!!oh and, guns have been apart of LEGO for a long time ??? pirates and western. are the weapons in batman that big of a jump ??? i would say no, but the torchured skeleton is !!!

ah !!! thanks so much, i can see again. well that was easy !!! well, now that i can actually think (now that im past the seeing thing) about what has been done here (spliting pirates off) im gonna relect... doesn't make any sense ??? why were western, adventurers, and vikings chosen to stay with the castle and not go with the pirates ??? what is the logic here. if i was going to group any of these themes together i would put castle, pirates and vikings together. then i would put adventurers and western together in another forum. ninja would locially follow with the castle theme around. i mean how do the adventurers or cowboys have more to do with castle than with pirates ??? - brickminer

looks like wild west was added to the sub title !!! however, i can't stand this new batman themed forum. my eyes hurt from reading white on black. how long is this gonna last ??? i might not post on EB anymore until its changed.

this is probably my favorite ship MOC i have seen of yours... you say it's cartoonish, but i think it looks a lot like what LEGO produced. that is probably why i like it so !!! i love the sails and mast, now if only we (MOCers) could find a way to print on them. then this ship would look spectacular next to a BSB !!! personally, the sides (white walls) are a little bland for my eyes, and could use some decoration. again, im looking at this from a visual sense, im not too sure how realistic that would be. and i would love to see the latticed windows instead of the house style window panes. also, it would match your fense above. id like to see the photos of the quarters for each figure... i really loved that the BSB had sleeping quarters for the crew !!! again, the sails and mast are spectacular, great job... this is the first ship MOC that has inspired me to get my pirates back out !!! by the way, how tall is this compared to the BSB or SES ??? id love to see a photo with this in comparison. oh, and i love the figure holding a snake on the ship's front... nice and original !!! - brickminer

my goal is to keep consistent with the western theme, as LEGO saw it... so in a way i can answer yes !!! no two minifigs will be the same. and yes, each will have its own visual identity. (exception is the calvary, see below.) i have noticed some interesting rules LEGO abided during the classic SYSTEM rein. i will always apply those rules to my MOC building... for example, when LEGO released a head/torso combination within a theme, they never split that combo. so you will never see a brickminer MOC minifig with an already established western head or torso, unless its another persona of the same character. that is to say, i will never use the sheriff head for a MOC mini-fig, unless its another version of the sheriff in different clothes. likewise, i will never use flatfoot thompsons torso in an MOC, unless its another version of flatfoot himself... in which case i would also use the flatfoot head (LEGO only released one, so its my only choice for a head, if i am to abide by the above rules). this results in my only option for exchange is his headgear, neckgear, or legs... AND GUESS WHAT... LEGO was known to do that !!! (NOTE: it all makes since in my head) an example of this is the calvary... the head/torso combination always stayed the same, but the headgear, neckgear, or legs could change. so by following all the rules above, i can create western mini-fig MOCs that are consistent with LEGOs vision of the wild west !!! IMPORTANT: this also will give each western minifig an identity all his/her own. and ultimately that is my goal !!! i hope all that makes since !!! by the way, for others interested in this style of MOC building, but interested in themes other than western... double check my theories here... LEGO also applied these rules to the other SYSTEM themes... for example, within pirates, the only exception is the imperial guards/soldiers. where the soldier and the captain share the same body, but have different heads. army building minifigs seem to be the only exception. however, im not sure about castle... i haven't research cause im just not that interested !!! - BM

you can also search by theme... so just go to catalog and search the books section for pirates... it shows only 4 ladybird books and 1 comic (are there others ???) (a dozen ???)