[SR - CH 1 - Cat B] Captain Rodsh found land

[Bart]

After successfully selling his rum in Bastion Rodsh decided to check out the rumours about new land.

His crew had a great time in Bastion and where willing to go on such an adventure in the unknown. They might even come across another explorer who would be vulnerable to plundering.

Rodsh found himself landing on the south side of the island.

DSCN5663 by Bart, on Flickr..

The beach was narrow but well suited for landing upon.

They dropped the anchor ashore and told Buddy to stay in the boat and guard it.

On the beach they there was a chest washed half into the sand, by the looks of it it had been in the sea not even that long.

DSCN5664 by Bart, on Flickr

- It has GOLD in it grinned Rolf.

- Might be empty too Rodsh answered, lets have a look.

= Uhm Captain, the Bosun called out. there is a path with a gate here, a gate of bones!

Extra pictures:

DSCN5667 by Bart, on Flickr

DSCN5665 by Bart, on Flickr

(I hope it's okay I incorporated the microchallange a bit, (although the opening will get it's own scene)

Bart

I hope you like it :)

Edited January 6, 2016 by Bart

[TitusV]

I do like IT, you'ce done a Nice job on the water and vegetation, but i think the Beach is a bit too flat...

[Gideon]

Nice vegetation, especially on the side to the right

A couple of suggestions for improvements:

Mind the sides of the base if you intend to photograph it from there, having the ground hollow like in the last pic takes a lot away from the overall impression imho.

It also looks like you get quite hazy pics (especially on the side towards the bright light or where there is most light on the background), is there a lot of dust on your front element of the camera or is it only a problem caused by a lot of bright light coming from an angle outside the actual picture?

[Tezclatipoca]

Nice beach boarding !

You used well the yellow to emphasize the water line. It is a great thing to do for example to show the tide line...

Your beach could have been less flat with a little rocky formation to enhanced it a bit IMO but the vegetation mixed with some ruins elements is a great add.

As Gideon said, try to avoid the hollow ground, it is a thing I did in the biggining and it is not a good idea as it makes the all MOC less appealing, especially for a Challenge build.

It is a good add in your story, and I can't wait to see your natives... Cannibals ?!

[Bart]

Yes I noticed the gap in the bottom too but I had the rock/vegetation already off before I looked at the pictures on my pc (instead of the camera) < lesson 2 first check the pictures then demolish

Too flat huh? I thought I had quit some levelling going on. But maybe my basis of reference is a bit off when it comes to beaches; click (the fast fast majority of my beach time was on Terschelling)

The light was from the left (window) and the top (ceiling light) I didn't use the camera flash.

is the background too white?

There is was dust on some of the blue plates yes.

I'm not sure on why the overall look is hazy/grainy the camera lens is clean.

Cannibals? what? the natives? I'll just feed them apples then!

I also broke two blue plates (clipped the edge off) with the lego removal tool, the where on the baseplate.

Bart

PS I first got an amazing idea for a Bastion Freebuild so the natives are waiting for Rodsh to discover them.

Edited January 6, 2016 by Bart

[Gideon]

I don't think the beach is too flat either, the topology looks very good to me

The problem with haze I'm referring to is that in the first two pictures, the rightmost side of the build (particularly the green bush and also the palm tree in the second) looks like there is a mist in front of them. I think that is caused by that the bright light from the illuminated background causes unwanted reflections inside the optics of the camera. In the last picture where the light comes from the left instead, the green bush is sharp. (The only haze visible in that picture is around the sliver of the window visible in the top left corner, which doesn't hurt the picture. However that part outside the backdrop should have been cropped out of the picture imho.)

Dusty bricks is another question, where I like to use compressed air to get the worst off at least

[Elostirion]

I really like how you did the transition from water to sand to vegetation on quite a small space. The gate of bones is a nice touch as well. The minifig posing is well done, they seem quite alive and in action.

For the future I suggest to work with more of the really small bricks (1x2 flat, 1x1 flat, ...) to make transitions even smoother.

Also I suggest to take a closer look at the choice of colours. At the beach they harmonize really well, however in the jungle they could show some more harmony for my taste (e.g. that lonely orange brick, the single flower with two yellow and one red petal or the sign over the bones stand out too much, either use some more of those or restrict it to one of these elements).

I'm a conformist!! :-)

For dust I always have one of those lying around, helps to get rid of most of the dust quite easily.

Edited January 6, 2016 by Elostirion

[Bart]

I tossed the plates in the sink and rinsed them with water. (or am I shocking people now)

- the blue-yellow-sand order I picked up on Eurobricks it's not my own idea -

I did the flower on purpose :P I didn't like three of the same colour. Now you pointed out the orange brick, yes it's way to noticeable, its in the middle of the middle there. I should've put some more specks of colour in the sides too, or left it out.

On the pictures, I'll take a whole lot more the next build and see if I can take the best, and there by eliminating the ones with 'odd' parts in them.

Bart

[Gideon]

I tossed the plates in the sink and rinsed them with water. (or am I shocking people now)

On the pictures, I'll take a whole lot more the next build and see if I can take the best, and there by eliminating the ones with 'odd' parts in them.

Water and some mild dish soap can work if the dust is too stuck (let it soak for a while), but avoid using a too hard brush as it will scratch the bricks. (I used a toothbrush once on some plates = Bad idea!)

It is easier to get the lighting right using diffuse light coming from above and behind rather than sharp light coming from the front or sides. So play around with the lighting and find the setup which gives you the best pics

[Captain Dee]

This is a classic scene - beach, palm trees, digging up a buried/sunken chest. The edges are a little rough but the terrain and plants are nice. I like the basic waves but think they'd look better coming straight in to the beach (turned 90 degrees) or at an angle, although angling that particular style would be difficult. Nice job overall.