ZCerberus

I think it is hard on smaller ships (I mean TLC type) to create any sort of realistic rigging, so I applaud the attempt! There were several ships out there with some nice rigging, I usually just stick with the Lego single rope across the top, so I think I would be of little help. In terms of all the terminology etc., this is a LEGO Pirate fansite, not just a Pirate fansite. As such, we will always have people here (including myself) who love Lego Pirates, but know NOTHING about actual Pirates. I think I would say that as long as we all know what someone is talking about, we should just move on. It was clear initially Phes was uncertain as to what was being talked about, but after he figured it out, all was well. No one needs to be wrong... even if it was a good North American Zinger ;) So maybe I should actually say something about the moc! Not bad at all. It looks like you have a pair of BSBs in there, but used some of the sails on the smaller ship you also have designed. Have you considered making your own sails? (you might have said so and I missed it) or do you like the Red and White ones? For the sails I added to my various ships, I used burlap and stiffened them enough with a mixture of Elmer's (white) glue and watter. They ended up looking okay.

Yeah, I can see your problem with limited pieces in terms of color scheme. But even with limited pieces, I think you did an excellent job with the rock structuring on the harbor. The mast seems to be a general point of concern for all, and I agree, I think it needs to be strengthened in some way. It appears to me, however, that maybe the mast/barrels actually don't connect to the structure above it! a round plate (heck any plate 2x2 or bigger) might do the trick on top of the barrels and connected the structure above it. I have also used inverted slopes instead of Lego hulls in the middle of a ship because I didn't have enough pieces. It is not necessarily bad if you can use it as a design element, though I can hear you on the general lack of pieces! As has been mentioned, Bricklink is an excellent source for getting new pieces... if you have some cash and Paypal that is! Since it appears you do have some dark gray (as used on the some on the rocks) I might also suggest replacing the 1x12 (2x12?) across the bottom between the two Lego hulls with Dark Grey, it would connect the front and back of ship nicely.

Yeah who knows with websites... whatever the time line is though, the moc looks good! I guess the tourist with the video camera takes me out of pirate mode more than the fact that it is a light house. Whatever the case, good job Filz, very well done. I like the windows and size the light house, and I know that sometimes, you just have to use yellow... err... gold for a creation. I think it is perfect here.

Ohhh... the Islander King! 73% 99% better than other peeps... weird... I think I probably only did well on the first set of questions, and the set on the imperials. Oh well! It looks like Phes wrote the test, so I must ask... what was the imperial Armada's flagship name? I thought it was the "Armada Flagship!" I think I choose Santa Cruz or something since I didn't see something as simple as "Armada Flagship"

Pirates without a doubt. I liked certain castle themes, but it always seemed like the good ones got cut off way to early. Wolf Pack and Dragon Masters anyone? I LOVED the Imperial Guards (Red soldiers) so much, I have built 5 ships just for them! I don't have a single stand alone Castle set built anymore, and I have even become more interested in Vikings than in castle. Pirates win... well I made them tied at least!

You will notice some glaring holes... No Black Seas Barracuda? No Imperial Trading Post? sorry, no... I am Pathetic! 2526 Barnacle Bay (2) 6234 Renegade's Raft 6235 Buried Treasure 6237 Pirates' Plunder 6244 Armada Sentry (2) 6246 Crocodile Cage 6247 Bounty Boat (6!) 6248 Volcano Island 6249 Pirates Ambush (2) 6250 Cross Bone Clipper 6251 Pirate Mini Figures (4) 6252 Sea Mates 6254 Rocky Reef 6256 Islander Catamaran 6257 Castaway's Raft 6258 Smuggler's Shanty (3) 6259 Broadside's Brig 6260 Shipwreck Island (2) 6261 Raft Raiders 6262 King Kahuka's Throne 6263 Imperial Outpost (4) 6264 Forbidden Cove (2) 6266 Cannon Cove (2) 6267 Lagoon Lock-Up 6268 Renegade Runner 6270 Forbidden Island 6271 Imperial Flagship (3) 6274 Caribbean Clipper 6276 Eldorado Fortress 6279 Skull Island 6286 Skulls Eye Schooner 6289 Red Beard Runner 6291 Armada Flagship Ship (3) 6296 Shipwrecked Island (2)

not sure about the idea! Well the two halves DO actually connect. The two buildings in the back of the harbor are intended to be "Gate Houses" and as such, the raise and lower a pair of dock section that connect the halves... I have the gates added to the pictures right now, but they aren't closed... maybe I will show you a shot of the harbor with the gates down... they aren't terribly impressive, but then you would get the idea. Check out the harbor with the lowered gates. http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/ZCerberu...gns/harbor5.jpg

Yes. Target completion is November 19th (my birthday if anyone cares!)

Okay. So I think I am done with all major work on the harbor itself, and will make only minor fixes and detial additions until I have the real thing built. Tell me what you think! The deep links will go to larger images of the same angle. http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/ZCerberu...gns/harbor1.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/ZCerberu...gns/harbor3.jpg Suggestions? Later I will add all the submodels to a new brickshelf folder so you can see all the little parts that are involved to get a sense of how the thing goes together. I also plan to add some more of the finished guy with some different angles.

Yes. Most of the RIGHT half is built, but needs a little more configuring- but some things do need a changing on that half. Pieces wise, I am in pretty good shape. I need a few more skinny blue base plates (8x16 and 8x24 or 32). The ONE thing I am WAY short on is 1x4 yellow arches. I need to find a bricklink provider with 20 (?) or so in the US. Ahh yes. The Arbiter is her name, and the pics of her have not been mentioned really. She ain't bad for a small flagship. Here is the one ImperialScouts is talking about. All right, so I was trying to get the harbor a little closer to ready. I now have a preliminary design for a watch/light tower on the left half of the harbor. Phes told me to put the pics on directly, but I don't want to do that TOO often. Here is one of the Tower itself... And one of the left half.

Current Progress. I didn't know it would allow me to insert images right in the post. I am such a newbee. I also added the little Eurobricks link in my folder... which now is being moderated again. Then, of course, the first one I upload is too big! I'll try again...

I believe the acronym you are looking for is BURP (Big Ugly Rock Piece). Or maybe LURP... guess what that one stands for... Anyway, in the CAD designs I have definitely been considering doing that, but in the real Lego version that will come from the CAD designs, I might not have enough BURPs and LURPs to effectuate the design without spending lots of $$ on BrickLink. I might do something with the CAD though!

Update on the Left Half of the Harbor. Need to finish the dock on this side, and decide what, if any structure to add over there to balance out the moc. A large light house like structure perhaps? Did such things even exist? What form did they use? Anyone have any ideas? Anyway, an update

In the actual Lego creation, yes, there are barrels, crates, chests and all that in the store house. In the CAD version... not so much right now, but there are actually things stored in the store house. Though the images are blurry, you can tell in the brickshelf images that there are barrels and what not on the top level (as well as a little shootout) on the second floor. There are also barrels and chest in the lower level, and outside the storehouse there are two hand carts for carrying things into the store house.

Some more progress, added the Store House, and made a few other improvements. I revamped the Brickshelf folders, so if some of the links are broken, that is why. Okay on to the updates... There we be!

No idea. Some people make other or additional parts, and I download both the official and unofficial parts, but there are a few pieces, besides the plants, that I would like to be able to use that are not in MLCAD. Some pieces that I do not have, or know about... Row boats 6x7x2 Door frames Red Imperial Guard Large Flags

In regards to the First question, no... they aren't two different versions... my idea is that this fort would be at the opening of a cove or some such thing and ships would be able to pass between the two halves of the port. Though you can't tell from the CAD (because I haven't added them yet) there are two gates/dock sections on the actual model that raise and lower to join the two halves of the harbor. One half has the armory and fortress (and though not yet added in the CAD a store house) and the other half has the stockade (and perhaps a tower of sorts not yet added) to the second question... err comment about missing plates, well if you look at the second image you will notice that actually, when the stockade is added to the full harbor there are technically too many plates in that area because the other submodel has some of the ones that are also on the stockade. Eventually the other submodel will have the missing plate you refer to, plus removal of the plates that appear in both images, but I haven't gotten to it yet! Right now I am working on the store house, and finishing the stockade.

Deleted

Ahh, yes, I would like to use those other plants, and have many of that first type... but MLCAD doesn't! That is right, those plants do not exist on MLCAD, but they would on my final real MOC!

Some up dates. A little more on the stockade... And some Vegetation/rocks on the fortress section as per suggestions. My first attempt, so maybe I will get better. I plan to add more where appropriate, but this was just an idea...

Yeah! I think you posted on my thread that you were inspired by my (somewhat larger) fortress. I like the small fortress, and the design idea. It is also much more conducive to vegetation than mine currently is. I think that with what your idea is, you don't need to do much else to it, but if you did feel so inspired, maybe a tower with a large chunk taken out of one side so you can still see inside would work well. Anyhow, one thing I could say about roofs in general though, is that if you are thinking about going with a roof, you could either make it flat on top, and turn it into more of a tower like structure, or you could put on a more conventional sloped roof... if you go for the later, I have found that one really easy, and convenient way to add a roof is to do it with magnets. Not only can you then remove the roof easily, but the you don't have to figure out how to attach it on both sides without pushing the whole thing inside you creation after you have one half of the roof on either... http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BenHauge...storehouse4.jpg As you can see in the upper left corner, there is one of the magnets used to hold on the roof... or here... http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BenHauge...storehouse5.jpg you can see a pair of the magnets on each side. they are free to rotate side to side, but they instantly rotate to the correct place when the roof magnets get near by.

doh! Well it hardly matters now, as the folder is now moderated (plus I did now change the links). Yeah, it is kind of like a heading in that respect. Think of it like when you are building a LEGO model using the instructions (heaven forbid!) and they have those little yellow boxes with a sub set of instuctions for something, like a wing on a tie fighter or whatever. Those are "sub models". When you put a sub-model into a larger model (or another submodel) the sub model comes in as being one SINGLE peice that can be rotated or moved without having to move every peice in it individually. That is why something at an angle, like the roof on my Fortress, is better as a submodel, otherwise I would need to rotate each peice the same number of degrees and then line them up. Not very easy. It is also handy if you have removeable sections and layers (which I do) so you could, if you wanted, post pictures of both the first level, and the second level by simply deleting a single submodel in the picture.

Okay, an initial CAD rendering of the first level of the stockade. Some parts on the lower level are not yet complete, and will be added to eventually. Here are a few links to it. The last one is of the old version of the stockade that is being redesigned.

Yes... so when you look at my CAD (which is MLCAD) renderings on brickshelf you will notice that I have individual models for the gate houses, guard houses, cranes (err... hoists?) and fortress. Actually the submodels are also made of submodels. The cannons, and Imperial minifigs are submodels, as is the top section of the fortress, and the roof on the fortress etc. Right now I am working on the stockade which will also consist of several submodels. The nice thing about the submodels is changing the submodel will automatically update the submodel on other models it is attached to... so If I changed the hat on my Imperial guard figure submodel, it would change all the hats on all the guards in my fortress that are the same submodel. Very handy for fixing a gate house and seeing it reflected in the final "complete" model without having to try to figure out which piece I am trying to move in the clutter finished model in the program. MLCAD can give you lists of pieces both in the model and in the submodels. For those of you who are curious... the Current CAD rendering of my harbor (with the unfinished stockade) is only 2166. Keep in mind that there are some pieces that are not in MLCAD that I have on the harbor etc, and I have not put all the features (such as the storehouse) on the MLCAD rendering so in real life it is/will be more... but that gives you an idea of where it is at right now!

Thanks for the feedback. I like it. But since you missed it earlier, it is actually still in progress. You may have noticed there are not direct pictures of the stockade because it is the only part I haven't gotten to. I didn't really mention the ships in the post too much, but there are several of them. I haven't played Evil Steve's, though I think I made a trade with 'the' Steve a few years ago... some Blue Imperials for some other stuff. And to Phes, I do plan on adding some palms to the CADs eventually too, but they will probably be "submodels" so they are easy to remove. Soon I will add the first part of the new CAD design for the stockade. We'll see how it goes.