[ENTRY][LARGE] The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

[Samarth]

The idea to somehow combine Classic Pirates with the poem by Coleridge/Iron Maiden song has been drifting about in my head for a while now. The finished MOC depicts Steve as the Ancient Mariner, having shot the Albatross that has been hung around his neck by his shipmates. Behind him is a (literal) idle painted ship on a painted ocean, and he is (of course) stuck and surrounded by water that he cannot drink.

 

 

"Day after day, day after day,

We stuck, nor breath nor motion;"

 

"As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean!"

"Water, water, every where,

And all the boards did shrink;

Water, water, every where,

Nor any drop to drink!"

 

"Ah! well a-day! what evil looks

Had I from old and young!

Instead of the cross, the Albatross

About my neck was hung."

 

----------------------------------

 

 

The key elements to make it work, at least in my head, were the printed 2x2 tile with a sailing ship on it, and the “albatross” which is actually a seagull. I initially conceived it as an amusing stop motion film set to the song, but alas, I lack the skill and time for this. I then thought an entire series of vignettes (or habitats) depicting moments from the poem/song would be the next best thing to do, but to fit the idea within the theme of the contest, I’d need more Steve minfigs... and they're not cheap. I initially started with the idea of doing at least 3 scenes, but then realised that the visual impact of the approach I finally took (and lack of Steve minifigs) might be better: distill and combine the most iconic elements of the source material into a single build. 

 

The finished build retains the red and yellow flags of Steve’s original cutter along with the black and white colour scheme. Lego never made a large flag piece for the merchants, so a brick-built version of the Merchant crest finds its place in the stand instead. 

 

 

The waves and the angled stern, along with the choice to depict the candlelights blowing in one direction were my attempt at adding at least some movement to the scene. I wanted to try and capture the vibe of a display piece type set, like the recent Ninjago Dragon Stone Shrine. 

 

As I progressed I thought it might be amusing to add in Eddie the Head, Iron Maiden’s mascot, as an Easter egg in the stand, complete with electric guitar. The headgear is intended to reflect the album art for Powerslave, in which the song was originally released. 

 

 

If you want to hear the poem (from Gandalf himself) go here: 

 

And go here for the Iron Maiden version: 

 

 

[Math Wizard]

Ahoy Matey!

They call me Captain Crit in these parts and I heard that polly wants a sandwich (They’re fed up with crackers apparently) - a criticism sandwich that is! (For you landlubbers, that’s 3 seas [Cs]- Compliment, Constructive Criticism, and another Compliment).

Ye did a great job buildin’ this depiction of the poem/song. It is a super creative idea and you were so faithful to all the different parts, from the painted ship to the albatross. I can really feel the story come to life through yer build!

This build looks quite good so it was hard to come up with a critique. It might make it a wee bit better if ye could somehow hide the anti studs on the inside of the ship walls, at least on the white part. It makes them look a wee bit unfinished as is, though it might be a bit of a pain to try and fix. 

Me favorite part o’ this build is the ship’s angle and the water poring out from beneath. This was super well done- the water has a realistic flow and the ship looks as if it s sinking. I also love how you cross-sectioned the boat, even showing the details of what was down below. 

Fair Winds Matey!

[Garmadon]

Ah!  Old Steve is getting literary!   Great job incorporating Steve's ensignia into the base, and I'm quite liking the shaping of the cabin section in the stern and the shaping the net gives to the water below!  I'm quite curious as to the chair's armrests as well - they look quite clever but I can't quite make out what parts they are    If I had some advice, well, for one if you were to place the tiles on the floor more loosely/press them down intentionally unevenly it would go great with the shrinking and creaking boards in the poem (although looking closely it seems like you may already be doing that?  I'm not quite sure, but the right side looks like you may have done something of the kind, haha ), and then I also find (although it may be mostly personal taste ) that cutaways usually look better and more satisfying with some nice angles thrown in there - here's an example so you can see what I mean.

In general I'm quite enjoying seeing you come up with something different than the rest of the competition so far though, and I will say I do love me some nice dark brown!  May the winds (whatever the poem says ) be always in your sails!

[thewatchman]

Great entry!

 I love the stern castle and hull shaping using the rounded slopes!

very inspired!

[Samarth]

8 hours ago, Math Wizard said:

Ye did a great job buildin’ this depiction of the poem/song. It is a super creative idea and you were so faithful to all the different parts, from the painted ship to the albatross. I can really feel the story come to life through yer build!

This build looks quite good so it was hard to come up with a critique. It might make it a wee bit better if ye could somehow hide the anti studs on the inside of the ship walls, at least on the white part. It makes them look a wee bit unfinished as is, though it might be a bit of a pain to try and fix.

Thank you! Yes, hiding the anti studs on the sides was something that did cross my mind, but as things stand it wasn't going to be easy by any means (I don't have a ton of those new inverted 2x2 tiles, and I'm not sure they come in 2x3 or 1x2 versions). I was satisfied with leaving well enough alone. Don't forget the rear sits on a large slope tile and the walls themselves are angled inward, compounding the problem. I was satisfied in leaving well enough alone.

2 hours ago, Garmadon said:

If I had some advice, well, for one if you were to place the tiles on the floor more loosely/press them down intentionally unevenly it would go great with the shrinking and creaking boards in the poem (although looking closely it seems like you may already be doing that?  I'm not quite sure, but the right side looks like you may have done something of the kind, haha )

Yes, this is actually already done, but I think some of the tiles which were more uneven got (unintentionally) pressed down a bit more than I intended while setting up the photos in the lightbox! The stand kept tipping over due to the banked angle of the backdrop being used (and this is despite the stand having an old weight brick in there) so I had to attach those 4x4 tiles to stabilize it further at the last minute. 

 

2 hours ago, Garmadon said:

and then I also find (although it may be mostly personal taste ) that cutaways usually look better and more satisfying with some nice angles thrown in there - here's an example so you can see what I mean.

In general I'm quite enjoying seeing you come up with something different than the rest of the competition so far though, and I will say I do love me some nice dark brown!  May the winds (whatever the poem says ) be always in your sails!

That cutaway design looks really nice, thanks for sharing. I wanted to try and add some broken brown in there to act as the cutaway but in the end felt it would distract you from the focal point of the interior, which is Steve himself. 

Yes, being different from the competition was also one of my intentions, glad that I could at least achieve that! Thematically speaking, the poem/song and Classic Pirates were always meant to be together. I was actually surprised when I hunted in this forum (and the wider net) to see if anyone had done something similar, to discover that no one had attempted it so far. Thank you!

2 hours ago, Garmadon said:

  I'm quite curious as to the chair's armrests as well - they look quite clever but I can't quite make out what parts they are   

Sorry, forgot to respond to this bit, the chair is fairly simple, I took some additional photos for you!

 

 

Edited June 23, 2024 by Samarth
spelling

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

I must say, I was quite confused at first, however the more I read and looked at it, the more I fell in love with it! Well done matey!

[Samarth]

13 hours ago, SevenDeadlyStreamers said:

I must say, I was quite confused at first, however the more I read and looked at it, the more I fell in love with it! Well done matey!

Thank you for your kind words. As a self-criticism of sorts, looking at the responses I’ve had to the MOC, you’re not alone. The cost of a unique idea (aside from the merits or demerits of the creation itself) is that it is harder to respond to or appreciate without first being familiar with the work that it is derived from. 
 

I would be remiss if I didn’t also give credit to this statue as inspiring the manner in which Steve would be depicted in the MOC.

https://images.app.goo.gl/secKAAfzzuq5mhNo9
 

Cheers 

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

On 6/25/2024 at 8:31 AM, Samarth said:

Thank you for your kind words. As a self-criticism of sorts, looking at the responses I’ve had to the MOC, you’re not alone. The cost of a unique idea (aside from the merits or demerits of the creation itself) is that it is harder to respond to or appreciate without first being familiar with the work that it is derived from. 
 

I would be remiss if I didn’t also give credit to this statue as inspiring the manner in which Steve would be depicted in the MOC.

https://images.app.goo.gl/secKAAfzzuq5mhNo9
 

Cheers 

That statue helps explain the inspiration. Thanks for sharing the link!

[Horation]

Great story, good build, awesome technique.

The poem and background are excellent, and this is an awesome display piece, but I would have liked to see a bit less white on the ship ; it looks like a white build on a white paper. Maybe a few stripes here and there could spice things up?

But that statue-like display absolutely makes it a top contender, it adds originality AND creates a further sense of isolation for our poor Steve.

[Samarth]

43 minutes ago, Horation said:

Great story, good build, awesome technique.

The poem and background are excellent, and this is an awesome display piece, but I would have liked to see a bit less white on the ship ; it looks like a white build on a white paper. Maybe a few stripes here and there could spice things up?

But that statue-like display absolutely makes it a top contender, it adds originality AND creates a further sense of isolation for our poor Steve.

Thank you for your kind words and constructive criticism.
 

The original cutter Steve came with was black and white; and that sort of colour scheme went well with the source material IMO. For me, the focal point is the interior, and Steve himself. Hence the stern is also simple, no ornate decoration at all. Had I wanted, I could’ve gone crazy as I have an Infinity Gauntlet I’ve been raring to part out but I’ll save it for some other build. The choice to leave the colours at a minimum was very much intentional. I wanted to shoot it on a black background actually, but that ended up dimming the dark brown and black of the interior to an unacceptable degree during tests. So I stuck to white.

[Horation]

Understandable, as it does accentuate the loneliness effect, albeit I do hope you'll consider using reverse tiles on the inside (the ones with studs on one side instead of antistuds). That way you get a SNOT-er interior which better fits your intentions. If you look at the first few picture, you can see the problems this causes near the cannon holes, as it looks a little strange to have white antistuds showing and is the one flaw of using plates instead of bricks for boat hulls.

Edited June 30, 2024 by Horation
parenthese(s)

[Samarth]

9 minutes ago, Horation said:

Understandable, as it does accentuate the loneliness effect, albeit I do hope you'll consider using reverse tiles on the inside (the ones with studs on one side instead of antistuds). That way you get a SNOT-er interior which better fits your intentions. If you look at the first few picture, you can see the problems this causes near the cannon holes, as it looks a little strange to have white antistuds showing and is the one flaw of using plates instead of bricks for boat hulls.

I totally would, but my country has no PAB and only 1 big BL store, getting parts is hard and expensive. All my MOCs come with these added constraints. Still, I’ll check if the BL store has anti stud tiles in stock. I only have 1-2 of those and a handful of curved ones.

[Horation]

3 minutes ago, Samarth said:

I totally would, but my country has no PAB and only 1 big BL store, getting parts is hard and expensive. 

Totally reasonable, if you can't get any, I'd merely recommend trying to take a picture from an angle which minimises the antistuds we do see, or, if you are ok with cheating, using some putty or bluetack, you could "glue" (temporarily) some regular tiles and that would fool most of us (though it would require cleaning up after, and I don't know how easy it is to find it in your region).

[Math Wizard]

I thought of this project today when working on a build of my own. I used hinge pieces 4275b and 4276b in opposite directions to reverse stud direction in only one plate of thickness. Perhaps if you have any this would work to reverse stud direction and tile the interior walls. I had a photo but I can't seem to figure out how to attach it 

 

[Horation]

4 minutes ago, Math Wizard said:

I thought of this project today when working on a build of my own. I used hinge pieces 4275b and 4276b in opposite directions to reverse stud direction in only one plate of thickness. Perhaps if you have any this would work to reverse stud direction and tile the interior walls. I had a photo but I can't seem to figure out how to attach it 

 

Eurobricks unfortunately doesn't host picture, but this thread might be of use to you. Good idea with the hinges! (if I am visualising it right)

 

[Samarth]

3 hours ago, Math Wizard said:

I thought of this project today when working on a build of my own. I used hinge pieces 4275b and 4276b in opposite directions to reverse stud direction in only one plate of thickness. Perhaps if you have any this would work to reverse stud direction and tile the interior walls. I had a photo but I can't seem to figure out how to attach it 

 

This remains among the “thinnest” ways to accomplish stud reversal (one plate thickness) even with all the new elements TLG now makes. Pretty much every other method requires a 2 plate thickness. 
 

That said, the area where the interior walls are 2x3 plates is what needs covering, and won’t be possible with finger hinges. Anti stud tiles or curves truly are the right approach. 

Edited July 1, 2024 by Samarth

[Captain Pirate Man]

I am a rock music fan as well, I play guitar myself. So I really appreciate what you did here. I am awarding EXTRA points for your brick built merchants emblem (as if I have points to give, lol). Nice attention to details (with the use of the sail boat printed tile). What exactly about that tile, inspired this build? Was it something you have been thinking about for a while?

[Samarth]

2 hours ago, Captain Pirate Man said:

I am a rock music fan as well, I play guitar myself. So I really appreciate what you did here. I am awarding EXTRA points for your brick built merchants emblem (as if I have points to give, lol). Nice attention to details (with the use of the sail boat printed tile). What exactly about that tile, inspired this build? Was it something you have been thinking about for a while?

Haha, thanks for the praise! I’d love to see the brick built merchant emblem on a merchant shop built by you! When will you give us one?! (Ref. My reply in the main Steve contest topic)

The most iconic lines from the source material are “as idle as a painted ship…” and “water water everywhere…” and it really struck me as funny that there’s this tile that depicts a sailing ship that has (as far as I know) never turned up in a pirate themed set. 

[Captain Pirate Man]

5 minutes ago, Samarth said:

Haha, thanks for the praise! I’d love to see the brick built merchant emblem on a merchant shop built by you! When will you give us one?! (Ref. My reply in the main Steve contest topic)

The most iconic lines from the source material are “as idle as a painted ship…” and “water water everywhere…” and it really struck me as funny that there’s this tile that depicts a sailing ship that has (as far as I know) never turned up in a pirate themed set. 

Thanks 👍 👍  I saw your comment in the other thread, and thank you for the kind words. 

[Captain Pirate Man]

I would enjoy seeing a non-shipwrecked version of this vessel. Do you have any ideas on how that would look?

[Samarth]

7 hours ago, Captain Pirate Man said:

I would enjoy seeing a non-shipwrecked version of this vessel. Do you have any ideas on how that would look?

Probably something small, like a brig or a ketch. Honestly though now thanks to you, I want to tear this down and try out a merchant shop!

[Mazin]

Finally the proof that Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh used electric guitars. Thanx You! 

;)

Damn, this is crazy!! I don't even know what to look at praise more here - ship... or what's left of it, the way it's stern points into heaven, or the way it's destroyed front is leaning into hell... the waterfall, the base, or the character... different Steve, old Steve, but most intruiging Steve... or the story and what You based it on. Amazing amazing build. Everything grabs me by the skull. 

But why would You tantalize poor Steve such a way. I know i know, cause he killed a seagull. But why would he do that? He wouldn't do that. Not Steve. Damn Seagull must have done something bad to him, to his business. 

Damn, there's just so much stuff happening on one picture. The fact that a friendly looking old grandpa has to wear a heavy chain with a dead bitd is already a knockout... but the whole rest... especially that there's so much stuff behind him, all those letters that he won't ever send or read. 

Even those barrel crane kinda make it look like if that whole water was being pured out of his own vessel. 

[Captain Pirate Man]

1 hour ago, Samarth said:

Probably something small, like a brig or a ketch. Honestly though now thanks to you, I want to tear this down and try out a merchant shop!

Sounds like a fine vessel for Steve!!

[Samarth]

On 7/2/2024 at 10:16 PM, Mazin said:

Finally the proof that Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh used electric guitars. Thanx You! 

;)

Damn, this is crazy!! I don't even know what to look at praise more here - ship... or what's left of it, the way it's stern points into heaven, or the way it's destroyed front is leaning into hell... the waterfall, the base, or the character... different Steve, old Steve, but most intruiging Steve... or the story and what You based it on. Amazing amazing build. Everything grabs me by the skull. 

But why would You tantalize poor Steve such a way. I know i know, cause he killed a seagull. But why would he do that? He wouldn't do that. Not Steve. Damn Seagull must have done something bad to him, to his business. 

Damn, there's just so much stuff happening on one picture. The fact that a friendly looking old grandpa has to wear a heavy chain with a dead bitd is already a knockout... but the whole rest... especially that there's so much stuff behind him, all those letters that he won't ever send or read. 

Even those barrel crane kinda make it look like if that whole water was being pured out of his own vessel. 

Thank you for the review! I hope you’ve signed up as creative critic or it won’t count!
 

Your heaven/hell interpretation is rather apt, given that the larger message of the poem was to not mess with God’s creatures and nature!

[Mazin]

10 hours ago, Samarth said:

Thank you for the review! I hope you’ve signed up as creative critic or it won’t count!
 

Your heaven/hell interpretation is rather apt, given that the larger message of the poem was to not mess with God’s creatures and nature!

i did, thanx :) 

Still, i'll defend poor Steve, i know that he's sometimes called "infamous", but i don't believe he would dare messing with God and nature... surely he was framed... or to put it correctly, chained into this situation ;)