[ENTRY][SMALL] Steve Origins: Meeting Redbeard

[Oky]

The Infamous Steve had always wanted to be a pirate and join the feared Captain Redbeard's crew. Posing as a merchant for the Imperial Trading Company, he sailed the seven seas to find the notorious pirate captain. One day, a drunken pirate traded him a map for some rum. It was the only thing the pirate had on him and was supposed to lead to Roger Redbeard's hideout. Steve put on his best vest, boots, and plume and followed the map to a small island in the Caribbean. He abandoned his ship, the Cutter, on the shore where the imperials would later find and recover it. Soon enough, he was face to face with Captain Redbeard who was impressed with Steve's tenacity and navigational skills, so he invited Steve into his crew. Steve happily accepted, and so the two shook hands as some seagulls flew by against the sunset sky. This was the best day of Steve's life!

Old version:

Spoiler

[Mister Phes]

16 hours ago, Oky said:

Steve happily accepted, and so the two shook hands as some seagulls flew by against the sunset sky.

What a splendid backstory to transition Steve from the Imperial Trading Post to Skulls Eye Schooner!

Do yer happen to have any close-up shots of your Steve minfigure?

[thewatchman]

This is by far my favorite entry so far. 
 Using modern parts you’ve managed to create something that feels truely “classic” 

 the perspective build is absolutely wonderful!

[Samarth]

That is some really clever use of forced perspective! 

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

On 6/23/2024 at 5:12 PM, Oky said:

The Infamous Steve had always wanted to be a pirate and join the feared Captain Redbeard's crew. Posing as a merchant for the Imperial Trading Company, he sailed the seven seas to find the notorious pirate captain. One day, a drunken pirate traded him a map for some rum. It was the only thing the pirate had on him and was supposed to lead to Roger Redbeard's hideout. Steve put on his best vest, boots, and plume and followed the map to a small island in the Caribbean. He abandoned his ship, the Cutter, on the shore where the imperials would later find and recover it. Soon enough, he was face to face with Captain Redbeard who was impressed with Steve's tenacity and navigational skills, so he invited Steve into his crew. Steve happily accepted, and so the two shook hands as some seagulls flew by against the sunset sky.

That’s a brilliant little mini ship in the background. And I like the sunset sky!

May I ask how many pieces you used?

I would also like to see a couple more photos. 

[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 and writin’ a story to go along with it. The transition from merchant to pirate and the references to existing sets in between make for a great combo. 

This build looks quite good so it was hard to come up with a critique. The only thing I can think of off the top o’ me head is to eliminate some of the studs on the beach, since the water would’ve smoothed it out. I’m not sure what the white plates represent, but perhaps you could remove those, as they seem a bit out of place. Last I checked, there weren't any tropical islands it snows on 

Me favorite part o’ this build is either the sunset sky backdrop or the faithfully replicated cutter. I love the gradient of blues streked with colors, and the white seagulls stand out well against it. The ship makes great use of pieces (especially the window and flashlight) to perfectly represent the ship!

Fair Winds Matey!

[Garmadon]

Ah, nice little micro, that jib sail is particularly sweet, don't know that I'd seen that part before!   The birds are a nice addition as well, although it'd be great if you could figure out some way of connecting the two halves of the larger one - after puzzling my brain over it for a while the best I could come up with to keep your current technique would be a rubberband doubled over a hooked a couple of times over the two clips (if you had time to do that I'm honestly quite curious as to whether it would work perfectly or not at all!    Pretty sure it'll be one of the two, hahaha!)  The shark fin is a fun addition too, and if you're feeling adventurous (and have enough leeway parts-wise to still meet the category requirements!) a few curved yellow plates beneath the ship might look fabulous for the sunset reflecting off the ocean - or then again might not, never venture never win!  

I do quite like the Viking plumes for flags too, I'd only ever seen or used hands for that before at this scale that I recollect (or horns, to be sure) - this is the second time I'm seeing the plumes for this contest though, I'm wondering if I've been blind all this time or its just the new craze! 

[Horation]

A good use of perspective. The build is colourful, and all the parts serve the story (the boat, the handshake, etc...).

@Math Wizard makes a fair point, the white represents the "foam" near the coast, I believe. But it looks weird, remove it and consider throwing a few trans white studs near the coast instead. 

I also don't like the purple bits in the clouds, if this is meant to be a sunset or sunrise, I'd rather see some orange or dark beige to better reflect that colouration. 

And you are a maestro at micro builds from the looks of it ; that is THE best rendition of the trading boat I've seen to date, and the flying birds add a lot of charm.

[Oky]

Thank ye kindly, everyone! Let me address some of the critiques.

On 6/24/2024 at 6:38 AM, Mister Phes said:

Do yer happen to have any close-up shots of your Steve minfigure?

Sure, here you go:

On 6/24/2024 at 9:17 AM, thewatchman said:

Using modern parts you’ve managed to create something that feels truely “classic”

Thanks! I tried to recreate the look of the classic box arts as best as I could.

On 6/26/2024 at 12:44 PM, Garmadon said:

Ah, nice little micro, that jib sail is particularly sweet, don't know that I'd seen that part before!   The birds are a nice addition as well, although it'd be great if you could figure out some way of connecting the two halves of the larger one - after puzzling my brain over it for a while the best I could come up with to keep your current technique would be a rubberband doubled over a hooked a couple of times over the two clips (if you had time to do that I'm honestly quite curious as to whether it would work perfectly or not at all!    Pretty sure it'll be one of the two, hahaha!)  The shark fin is a fun addition too, and if you're feeling adventurous (and have enough leeway parts-wise to still meet the category requirements!) a few curved yellow plates beneath the ship might look fabulous for the sunset reflecting off the ocean - or then again might not, never venture never win!  

I do quite like the Viking plumes for flags too, I'd only ever seen or used hands for that before at this scale that I recollect (or horns, to be sure) - this is the second time I'm seeing the plumes for this contest though, I'm wondering if I've been blind all this time or its just the new craze! 

The jib sail part is brand new as it's from the Friends adventure camp sets that just released! I bought the Archery Range set just to be able to use this part in this entry. (Although it has lots of other useful parts too.)
As for the Dragon Knights helmet wings, yeah, I thought I came up with a new way to build micro flags, but apparently someone else had that idea for this contest.
I went ahead and tried your rubber band suggestion. What do you think?

20 hours ago, Horation said:

 

@Math Wizard makes a fair point, the white represents the "foam" near the coast, I believe. But it looks weird, remove it and consider throwing a few trans white studs near the coast instead. 

I also don't like the purple bits in the clouds, if this is meant to be a sunset or sunrise, I'd rather see some orange or dark beige to better reflect that colouration.

If you look at the old box arts, the clouds do have a sort of purple/pinkish color at the top. I like the look of them, so I will keep it as is if you don't mind.

However, you are both right about the sea foam (which is indeed what it was meant to represent). I liked your idea of using small pieces at the shore instead, so I have done that, although I went a bit more fancy with it. Let me know if you and @Math Wizard like this solution better.

On 6/24/2024 at 3:14 PM, SevenDeadlyStreamers said:

May I ask how many pieces you used?

I would also like to see a couple more photos. 

In this new version I used 180 pieces (not including the figs and accessories), and in addition to the pictures above, here is one more view for you:

[thewatchman]

You absolutely succeeded.

 It made me think instantly of the old backgrounds of sets! It’s why this is my favorite built, instantly recognisable.

[Math Wizard]

@Oky Wow! You did an incredible job meeting all the suggestions and I think your build is far better because of it, especially the sea foam and the bird.

Good Luck and Fair Winds!

[Horation]

The point you make about the clouds is accepted (De gustibus non est disputandum), and I quite like the new and improved foam, it is original to say the least.

[Captain Pirate Man]

Beautiful scene, great story, all around very well done, especially for the small category. Every aspect of this entry is really well impressive. The parts usage for the seagulls... Very creative. Perfect version of Steve's Cutter. I'm impressed all around. 

[Mazin]

Hm... now that's a treasure map with a twist! Usually it's pirate captains who look of them to seek a treasure, or if they already have the map, use them to find the treaure.

But here the map leads to a pirate captain... he's the treasure! :) Damn, they had it all wrong all this time in so many stories! Who couldn have known!

But anyway, awesome creation, sunset is realy original, especialy with those birds being part of it. Wow. And the little ship in the distance, what a way to incorprate it into the picture! The little ship could be its own mini set in my opinion, You make it looks so easy, so maybe an entire Lego Pirate fleet could be reproduced this way. For those that are into minisets it would be a must!

And there's even a shark. If i could suggest something, maybe his fin could swim away from them? Right now he's kind charging into the island, but perhaps it would look better if he would be kinda swimming out of the picture, that is away from the wall and straight at us, viewers :) 

Im not sure about those tiny white elements too, i think that they are too illustrate waves hitting on the beach? I'm not sure if these are necessary. And for some purists they might be problematic. I would suggest taking those pieces away and reinvest those into something else that could enrich the story. Maybe a pirate flat on the palm tree?

Maybe captain's parrot could be rejoined with him, as he never ever left wihout it? 

Maybe the parrot would be even the reason for Steve's visit, as he would be Captain's official bird supplier, delivering a pet he ordered trough Amabricks or SeaBay ;) And this way we would have the origins of more characters in one picture ;) 

Obviously there's not much space for any ad ons ;) 

[bingowaldorf]

I love this! The clouds and colors in the sky look so good. And that tiny palm tree way in the background completes the whole scene, it's perfect!

[YellowFrog]

Great build, the use of colour is marvelous, and the micro-scale Barracuda is great too. The only thing I'm not a fan of is the loose feather elements for the waves. Nonetheless, well done!

[Horation]

That's the cutter that Steve owned in 6277, not the Barracuda.

The feathers could be changed, but I think anything else would look a little strange, any proposals?

Edited August 6, 2024 by Horation
punctuation.

[YellowFrog]

My apologies, a simple slip of the tongue keyboard. Would that be a shark fin in the waters there, or a shark rock? Either way, I'm not sure if it's necessary, and seems to block the view of the cutter.

[Horation]

No problem, as my math professor would say when he made a mistake "it's like when I crush a pedestrian while driving : it was an accident".

As for the shark fin, I feel like it's quite useful, but arguably it could be thinner, maybe using a few tiles or plates inserted sideways into the bricks?

 

[YellowFrog]

On 8/5/2024 at 1:43 AM, Horation said:

few tiles or plates inserted sideways into the bricks

I concur with tiles, but as long as its not plates. We don't want any illegal building techniques!

Edited August 6, 2024 by YellowFrog

[Horation]

@YellowFrog fair point, we might be pirates around these parts, but we are law-abiding pirates!

Otherwise, I think that putting the shark fin closer to the corner could satisfy YellowFrog's request.

Then again it's your build, and I feel like it's not an issue. So it's your choice...

[YellowFrog]

22 hours ago, Horation said:

I feel like it's not an issue

It's not a major issue, and simply comes down to individual preference. But for me, this is what I would do.

Edited August 6, 2024 by YellowFrog

[Horation]

Yeah, plus I'm not even sure how I'd build a shark fin with tiles.

In the end, it's unlikely that such tiny differences will be what decides the vote for 1st place.

[BardDandelion]

Nicely done! Two legends finally meet. :D

Great update of torso for Steve, when you did it it feels obvious but I'm not sure If I could come up with this combo myself.

Background is really nice, I would like to use this style at some point. Using forced perspective for seagulls was a brilliant idea. It adds a depth to this little scene. Great job. ;)

[Autumn]

This is a very well composed scene with nothing too fancy or over the top, and like others have already said the background is the main draw here. The colours you used are perfect and very nostalgic.

I'm not too sure what could be changed or improved upon, it sounds like you've already taken onboard some feedback. I'm usually not too keen on loose pieces like the plumage and horns around the shore. I feel like you could still achieve a similar effect using tiles or slopes.

16 hours ago, Horation said:

Yeah, plus I'm not even sure how I'd build a shark fin with tiles.

In the end, it's unlikely that such tiny differences will be what decides the vote for 1st place.

I think the shark fin is acceptable as it is, but this element in dark bluish gray could still work https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=35787#T=S&C=85&O={"color":85,"iconly":0}