Captain Genaro

Very nice design. It can be a pain (at least for me) to incorporate many furniture details into minifig scale designs, but you've done an excellent job. I might have to use this technique or a variation of it when building office scenes.

Lots of fun to see the way the story progressed. As for the builds, the house has a very nice, quaint aura about it (though I'm not sure I like the leaves growing off the left side of the roof). The sea rocks are also nicely done, especially the way you incorporated the seaweed and other growth. I recommend adding some more details to the ground (rocks, plants, dirt, etc.) to help add some variation to the ground. Keep up the good work and don't talk to any parrots you don't know.

These stories are quite entertaining, and are well complimented by the pictures. It's great to see the Lego carnage as your ships battle on the high seas. Of course, the quality of your ships has continued to improve as well. The Black Barbarian is very well done, especially the stern details. Very ornate and I like the various angles you were able to achieve with the stern gallery. Hopefully you have better luck with your second attempt at the sails!

Thank you for posting this. I've used Google's street view for other MOCs (mostly buildings), but I've never thought to use it for ships. Seeing as I'm several hundred miles from the ocean, this will be a huge help in creating a more detailed and accurate ship.

A very nice build and an excellent way to start your character's journey. The building is very well built, especially the weathered roof and the door.

Oh Maturin Montoya never fails to amuse me. I'm just glad the dear captain is so patient with him. Overall I like the build. The furniture is simple and the cabin is cramped, just how I would expect a small sloop's cabin to appear. I believe you have mistaken the esteemed Dr. Montoya for another gentleman.

Oh man, that's fantastic! The cloth sails and proper rigging are gorgeous. You paid exceptional attention to detail with the rigging, and that's only further enhanced by the fact that it is functional (which could be really neat if you use it in future stories, you can show it sailing under different conditions!). The rest of the ship is nice as well. The color scheme works well for a Corish vessel, and you did a nice job capturing a schooner's profile.

Welcome aboard! The story was well written, and I'm excited to see how Avery's saga proceeds from here. As for the build, it is nice as well. Clever parts usage around the base, and the arch has a heroic and majestic feeling to it.

Nice job with the walls. I really like what you did with the texturing and the cracks to make the wall appear aged. I like the wooden towers as well.

Great job. The landscaping is spartan, but I think that works really well for an area where workers would constantly be trampling the ground. The slipways are also relatively simple, but they still look excellent and incorporate all the necessary features. What really stands out to me is the hull . You did a fantastic job on it, and I would love to see her with a proper deck, masts, and rigging. One suggestion would be to add some clutter to the scene. I think piles of wood and wood scraps would add to the scene.

It's about time you posted this here. As I've said before, excellent job. The size alone is impressive, but details and parts usage, especially the chains, really sets this MOC apart from the rest. Given the time constraints, I think the dome looks really nice, but it could look much better with a remake. It also looks like Legoland's road construction crews got a little lazy

Still drunk off our previous success, I'm happy to contribute Le Protecteur (3A) to once again protect the Brick Seas from pirates and privateers alike. Come along lads, surely there are some old salts brave enough to sign up for another round!

I think the cannon looks much better, though I did prefer the original design for the hatch, where it had a slope as opposed to being horizontal. Still, I think the improvements to the cannon outweigh this. Great job with the helmsman's cabin (not sure if that's the proper term); the roof is especially nice. The crosstrees look alright, though in the second picture it appears that one beam is shorter than the other. Additionally, I think the 3x3 plates curved are a little too bulky. A 3x2 slope plate might look better. Can't wait to see the rigging tutorial. I'm sure it'll be incredibly useful in my next endeavor.

You may not be satisfied, but I think it's a fantastic entry. I really like the cross-window and the rock work is phenomenal. The top looks very nice as well, and I'm glad to see that someone has finally decided to send an inspector to these shady, out of the way operations. It's about time someone puts an end to this business! Hopefully the finale will be up soon.

That was a funny story. No idea what the report will say, but I can count at least 12 safety violations including no guard rails and open vats of dangerous materials. The build is nice. I like the use of various colors for the walls, especially as it progresses up, and you did a nice job showing the entire manufacturing process. I suggest adding some large windows since it's got to be awfully hard to see in a large, dark building.

Fantastic build as usual. Once again, I love the use of the trans-clear for the smoke (I've really got to get some of those), and the buildings are all very nice. Excellent job with the weathering throughout, and I like the secret basement (though 100 DBs is an awfully steep price). Let's hope this helps bring Namere to justice!

Nicely done. The sheer size of the building is impressive and will surely inspire confidence in any depositor. I like the use of gold throughout the build and the finished interior is well done as well. The texturing on the walls does an excellent job of adding detail while making the building appear to be relatively new. My only complaint is that the glass doors are too modern. Large wooden doors, probably with iron bars as reinforcement, would look better in my opinion.

The crew stood silent on the weather deck. It had been several long weeks at sea, they had long since lost their escort and the convoy was scattered. Their elation at seeing a warship flying Oleon's royal colors soon turned to dread when, after reducing the distance to a hundred yards, the stranger open fired, Oleon's ensign still flying high. A brief but violent series of broadsides tore into the side of the Scimitar, with shots destroying rigging and the hull. Almost immediately, the captain struck his colors, realizing his unarmed and undermanned crew was no match for the stranger. A long beginning by Capt. Genaro, on Flickr A few moments passed, and a boat was launched from the stranger. As the smaller vessel rapidly closed the distance between the two ships, a slight breeze revealed that it too had Oleon's colors. Dread filled the Scimitar as even the landsmen among them learned that no one short of a blood thirsty pirate would attack under false colors. Metallic clinks broke the silence as the boat's helmsman hooked onto the Scimitar. Moments later, a face of pure greed appeared over the rail and muttered something in a foreign tongue. With a grunt, the boarder lifted himself over the rail and proceeded to land in an uncovered barrel of tar, a last gesture of resistance by some the Scimitar. Clearly upset, the boarder thrashed for a few moments before his colleagues joined him and pulled him free. A long beginning by Capt. Genaro, on Flickr After giving some brief orders, the first boarder turned to address the Scimitar's crew. "My name is Captain Namystere," the boarder said in the lingua franca. "And I must inform you that, per my letter of marque, you are all prisoners of Namere." "And where in your bloody letter does it give you the right to attack us under the sacred colors of Oleon?" replied one of the crew. "Surely even backwater swine such as yourself know that's blatant piracy." Namystere walked over to the sailor, tar marking his every move. "And how, may I ask, do you expect anyone to know that it was I that attacked your vessel and not some other pirate?" Not waiting for a reply, Namystere turned to the rest of the boarders and shouted some orders. Expecting they were about to be murdered, most of the Scimitar's crew closed their eyes and prayed for a painless death. The few that kept their eyes open were shocked to see the boarders pull out bottles and brown rags. Stunned, the crew was deaf to Namystere's continued spewing rubbish about how Oleon was "trading with Namere's enemies, which justifies the capture" and watched as the boarders began pouring the liquid on the Scimitar and rubbing every surface. A long beginning by Capt. Genaro, on Flickr "Pine Sol" muttered one of the crew that was close enough to read the label on the bottle. "Clean up dirt, grease, & grime on nearly every surface of your home, ship, or unlawfully captured prize" read the sailor. "Oh, yes, sir" exclaimed the seaman. "No matter the mess, Pine Sol has you covered. Recommended by 9 out of 10 pirates to remove evidence on an illegal prize, Pine Sol can, in a few hours time, restore the wood to its original pre-battle condition, even removing nasty blood and tar stains that other cleaners simply can't get. And by golly if that fresh lemon scent just isn’t the feather in one’s cap.” “Mr. Andrews” roared Captain Namystere, addressing the boarder, “would you kindly remind me who is paying your salary, myself or the good folks at Pine Sol?" After a brief pause, the boarder replied “you, sir” deciding it was best not to mention that referrals earned him discounts on purchases that he failed to pass onto his captain. “In that case, would you be so kind as to stow the idle chat and clean these marks” said Namystere. After a brief "aye, sir," the boarder cleaned the stains and Namystere continued to pace before the captured crew while vainly attempting to justify his unwarranted aggression. A long beginning by Capt. Genaro, on Flickr Reaching the rail, Namystere turned around only to see a most unpleasant sight on the deck. “Mr. Andrews” bellowed Namystere “pray explain why these marks are still on my deck! Clearly you did not obey my last order.” “No, sir” pleaded the seaman “no, sir I did, you see your leg and peg have tar and,” “You dare contradict me!” screamed Namystere. “If I wanted someone who would contradict me, I’d hire my mother-in-law! Now stop whining and start cleaning!” At seeing this exchange, most of the Scimitar's crew lost their sense of dread,since most violent pirates and privateers display at least some morsel of competence. Of course, the dread was only replaced by concern when the quicker members of the crew remembered that they would be prisoners in the Namere ship, and their only chance of ever finding shore relied on the sailing abilities of these very foolish boarders. Oh well, they thought, even if they were doomed to be lost in a storm or die of starvation hundreds of miles from any inhabited port, they could spend their last moments enjoying that fresh lemon scent. A long beginning by Capt. Genaro, on Flickr ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ As always, comments and criticism is welcome. Some more overall shots of the build. A long beginning by Capt. Genaro, on Flickr A long beginning by Capt. Genaro, on Flickr A long beginning by Capt. Genaro, on Flickr

A well deserved promotion to be sure. Congratulations on this accomplishment (I do hope it doesn't interfere with your shipbuilding).

Thank you. It may look nice, but I don't think I'd want to work there . Shhh, you're not supposed to know what my next build is . I spent a lot of time thinking of how to best capture the whole process in a single MOC, and I'm glad it paid off. Thank you. The cauldrons are allowed to cool a little so that the workers can safely handle them. They don't cool so much that the silver solidifies, however. That makes one of us . Of course, I'm sure this isn't the last we've seen of good ol' Mr. Kimber... I wanted the door to look strong and sturdy, glad you like it. The bellows were especially difficult to get right, but I'm fairly happy with the end result. As for the ground, that's exactly what I was going for, so I'm glad it worked out. Smoke would have been good, thank you for the suggestion. As for the troops, let's just say that Mr. Kimber isn't the type of fellow who likes a whole lot of government officials snooping around his enterprise . As for what's next, I like those suggestions, I might have to use some. Thank you. I'm sure the treasurer loves the constant steam of silver flowing into the royal coffers. Very kind, thank you.

A continuation of Blackdeathgr's In the jungle MOC. As always, comments and criticism as well as suggestions on how to improve my building skills are appreciated. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Groaning, Captain Anthony Genaro attempted to raise his arms as he slowly opened his eyes. The last thing he remembered was the battle between his ship, the Pride of Poseidon and some pirate schooner that came upon them in the night. He was helping the crew of Death's Fire, gun number 2, after two of her members were killed by some grapeshot from the pirates. "Wha.. what happened, what's going on?" moaned Genaro, a constant pounding in his head preventing him from thinking straight. The sounds of sporadic gunfire, music, and men shouting didn't help either. "Captain's awake," Genaro heard familiar voices whispering, and then in his left ear "Sir, it's me, Benjamin Leon, sir." "Yes, yes, of course" groaned Genaro in reply. "Well, sir," Leon continued "well, we was fighting fine until the block struck you on your head. After that, with no other officers, the ship kind of fell apart and we was boarded." Capture and Rescue by Capt. Genaro, on Flickr As Leon told the rest of the tale of their capture and imprisonment, Genaro looked around. About half his crew was still alive, chained in groups of three or four men with a drunken pirate guarding each one. The remaining pirates were busy dancing around a bonfire, celebrating their victory with looted liquor and "my hat!" exclaimed Genaro. "Those savages have taken my hat!" "Aye, they looted anything of value, and what they didn't take they destroyed" Leon responded. At this, Genaro sat silent, reflecting on his present predicament. Capture and Rescue by Capt. Genaro, on Flickr "Did you hear that?" said Leon, interrupting Genaro's silence. "Hmn?" Genaro said looking around. He had been so deep in reflection that he didn't hear Leon. "I just asked if you heard that noi..." but a cry of "fire" followed by the roar of muskets drowned out Leon. Taken completely by surprise, the pirates were quickly overcome by their attackers, loosing all but one man in a few moments. Capture and Rescue by Capt. Genaro, on Flickr As one of the marines moved around, bayoneting the fallen pirates to ensure they were dead, the leader came towards Genaro. Genaro was barely able to take in the man's strange appearance, two pistols and a steel breastplate, before Genaro was free and being helped to his feet. "Tom Jones, at your service, sir" the stranger introduced himself. Of course, thought Genaro, "Juggernaut" Jones, one of the most feared explorers in all of Oleon. "Captain Anthony Genaro, deeply in your debt" replied Genaro. "But I was told you were exploring Tyche with D'Offren." "Which I am, sir" said Jones to Genaro, "but I'm afraid we can't talk much more here, we're simply a scouting party and I expect the rest of the pirates to arrive any moment." Capture and Rescue by Capt. Genaro, on Flickr At this, Jones went off to help his men search the pirate camp for anything useful while Genaro picked up his hat and sword from a fallen pirate. "Look here" said one of the men, "Blessings of Zeus with you, man" cried Jones to the sailor. "It's a map of the island! D'Offren will put this find to good use!" Capture and Rescue by Capt. Genaro, on Flickr As the explorers and the liberated seamen prepared to return to D'Offren's camp, one of the marines called out "and what should be done with him" gesturing to the sole surviving pirate. The rest of the crew fell silent while Genaro picked up a pistol. "Piracy against a ship belonging to the Crown of Oleon is punishable by death" said Genaro as he filled the pistol with powder and rammed a bullet down the barrel. "And unless any man can vouch for his innocence, we shall administer swift judgement before we leave." None spoke up, not even the pirate who simply stared at the ground as Genaro raised the pistol. "May Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades have mercy on your soul." said Genaro. Capture and Rescue by Capt. Genaro, on Flickr

I volunteer to build for Oleon.

Very nice build. I don't think I've seen wheels used for a road before, and it looks very nice. The streetlamp is a great addition as is the carriage. The restaurant is a very clean build. The windows are well done, and it certainly has the atmosphere of a clean little establishment. I'd suggest adding a chimney so all the smoke from the grill doesn't overwhelm the patrons, but other than that it's an excellent build. Hopefully the next chef is equally as effective at preventing flames from reaching the ceiling.

With some of the world's most productive silver mines mere miles away, Breshaun is becoming known as one of the premiere silver producing cities throughout New Terra. Every day a seemingly endless flow of carts, wagons, and laborers haul ore from the inland mines until they reach the smelters on the outskirts of Breshaun. The journey is only a few miles, but moving tons of ore wears down all but the heartiest of men in a few days time. Upon arriving at the smelters, the miners are overcome with sickening smells as salt, mercury, and other choice ingredients are added to massive cauldrons filled with recently crushed ore. One full, the cauldrons are lifted into massive furnaces that are hot enough to burn the skin right off a careless worker. The cauldrons are left in the furnace overnight, and are only cool enough to be removed the next morning. From there, the metal is taken into the main building where it is poured into the long molds and left to form bars of silver. Once hardened, the bars are stamped by the chief smelter, placed into massive chests, and left inside the secure building until a buyer comes along. The entire process can take several days, and is just miserable enough to make the miners miss the dark, cramped, airless pits they toil in all day. Overview: Off to the left you can see the press the ore is placed in before being crushed. Breshaun Silver Smelter by Capt. Genaro, on Flickr The furnace: Breshaun Silver Smelter by Capt. Genaro, on Flickr A worker keeps a steady flow of air to fuel the flames: Breshaun Silver Smelter by Capt. Genaro, on Flickr A silversmith negotiates a contract with the chief smelter while the night watchman makes one last pass before heading home: Breshaun Silver Smelter by Capt. Genaro, on Flickr The interior of the main building. It's still early, so the molds are still empty but barrels of expensive mercury and chests of silver bars can be seen. Breshaun Silver Smelter by Capt. Genaro, on Flickr _________________________________________________________________________________________________ I apologize about the poor lighting in the pictures. Comments and criticism (especially building suggestions) are always welcome.

The formula was using February, not March in calculating April's beginning balance. That was an issue a while ago, and I thought we fixed all the accounts (apparently some at the bottom got missed). It should be corrected now.