[ENTRY] [LARGE] Escape from Cave Island

[Brendan McGnarley]

ESCAPE FROM CAVE ISLAND

 

 

From the Journal of Cap Steven M. Inifig

Alas, dear reader, I am marooned on an island at sea!  How did this happen, you wonder?  I had set sail on a trading exhibition to the islands.  The voyage had been a peaceful one, with calm weather, warm air, and not an Imperial ship or pirate in sight.  Neither faction takes too kindly to humble traders like me in this part of the world.  I was sailing smoothly between islands, when my eye caught what I thought was a mermaid emerging out of the water.  I sailed closer to get a better look and CRASH! My ship was torn asunder by the rocks in the shallow sea.  Whoopsie doopsie!

 

 

I managed to swim onto a nearby island with all of my strength and slumbered on the beach until dawn.  After awakening to squawking parrots, I wandered around the island and searched for resources.  I found a skeleton, that of a human I deduced, and a little cave abode the skeleton(pirate?)  created.  The clever bonehead even outfitted it with a secret back door! But I wept, for I found no food nor drink, save a rum bottle full of sand.

Parched and starving, I kicked a shell in frustration and uncovered a shimmer of treasure in the sand.  Having taken dubious loans from some nefarious characters over the years, and perhaps short of funds to pay these men back,  I decided I must take this bounty with me if I ever leave this island!

 

 

While the water teemed with delicious looking crabs and fish, I realized I hadn’t the faintest idea how to catch or cook these creatures.  Nor could I crack open the nourishing coconuts scattered around the beach!  There remained some scrap wood from my beloved ship, but my dandy hands knew not what to do with it.  Woe is me!

Defeated, I went to my cave dwelling and gazed at the bottle of sand thinking t’will be easier to just lay here and parish.  I closed my eyes, hoping a crocodile would swallow me up in my sleep.

 

 

When my eyes opened, a most beautiful woman stood before me.  Was this an angel in heaven? 

The angel was actually an Islander who fished near these parts.  Taking an interest in me, she showed me how to spear my dinner, build a fire, and extract milk from a coconut.  She also found a secret stash of treasure and weapons near the cave.  That sunset, I fell completely in love with my savior, and we discussed taking the treasure away on our new outrigger she started building!

 

 

 

 

 

As fate would have it, we have just finished the construction of our water craft, and as I write I see the red and white stripes of an Imperial schooner over the horizon.  Reader, I may have been followed!

 

 

Dear reader, I must put down my journal and join my new friend on a daring escape with our treasure.  Farewell and wish us Godspeed! 

 

 

From the journal of Brendan:

Thank you all for reading this Steve adventure!  I appreciate the opportunity to submit this MOC and tale to the contest.  Have a wonderful day! 

 

Edited August 14, 2024 by Brendan McGnarley
Replaced blurry photos with clearer photos with smoother backdrop, added a couple photos for storytelling and additional perspective of set

[Autumn]

Reminds me of Robinson Crusoe for sure. I like the story and their water craft. Some of the smaller features like the half buried chest and the rock pillar sticking out of the water are also nice touches.

One thing is the vines are a little odd being placed horizontally like that, it makes me feel like they are floating underwater in a coral reef, I think it might look better if they were positioned to be hanging down.

[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! I really enjoyed reading your account- the first person made it quite good and memorable, and the way you alternated text and photos really helped the story. The enthusiasm and vigor is palpable!

Me biggest critique here lies more with the photos than the build. While a lot of the closeups look really good, the overall shots are somewhat lacking. Sometimes you can see other things in the background, and sometimes parts of the build are quite out od focus. For example, in the first build, both the islander and one of the imperials are blurred, while the front of their boats are clear. 

Me favorite part of this build (aside from the story) is all the little details that create a story. In particular, I like the roasting fish, buried treasure chest, even more buried treasure and gun, and hidden cave. I also really like the crab stealing a fish in the first image- what a fun detail! 

Fair Winds Matey!

[SevenDeadlyStreamers]

Very cool MOC. I think you depicted Steve nicely and the journal entry story telling is engaging and interesting. Good job building with physical bricks and photographing your build! 
One critique I have for you is white and red striped sail should be for pirates, not imperials. But seriously this is a nice build, it was hard for me to comment on anything. May I ask approximately how many parts were used?

[Mister Phes]

Another castaway Steve - but certainly not marooned alone as this one appears to have experienced a bit of excitement!

Escape from Cave Island has been incorporated into the Entries Index.

[Horation]

An interesting build, and I like the story that goes along with it!

There's a bunch of little details, like the seashells and coins, and I like the hidden features, it really feels like an updated vintage set!

However, I'll criticise a few things on presentation :

The background works well and emphasizes the build, but it makes some of the plates making up the base look a little uneven, especially at the front, make sure they are well connected and even out the cloth underneath before pictures is what I'll recommend.

Also, the rockwork feels a little blocky at times, and I can see a few gaps that could be fixed by moving parts around, like that sloped corner piece at the entrance to the "cave".

Good stuff overall!

[Christophh]

Altough it is not the biggest MOC out of these, i quite like it. I like the building style which is similar to the 21322 Barracuda Bay. The rockwork and hidden path looks good, too! Great work!

[Brendan McGnarley]

I appreciate all of this thoughtful feedback!  I would like to respond to each of you, so please find a response to your comment below:

@Autumn  - thank you your feedback! I was definitely going for a RC vibes and I can see what you mean about the vines, and I hope that they may also come across as wild and somewhat whimsical :)

@Math Wizard- does Polly also enjoy paninis?  Because I found your compliment sandwich warm and delightful!  I agree completely about shots, so I retook some to clean them up, in particular the first shot (arrrrguably the most important one!)  Thank you for noticing the details - those were ship-loads of fun to create!

@SevenDeadlyStreamers- number of bricks is a great question - I believe somewhere between 250 and 400.  You are correct about the sail and hopefully there's a bit of artistic license flexibility from the critics, we'll see!  Thank you for your kind feedback!

@Mister Phes - Excitement is right! Thank you so much for accepting my entry!

@Horation - You couldn't be more right about the backdrop and once I noticed the uneven brick, it was all I could see!  I replaced those photos with new ones.  Thank you so much! And YES exactly I was completely going for reimagining of vintage sets and trying to capture their charm with those details.  Merci beaucoup for noticing!

@Christophh- You are exactly right about Barracuda Bay! Thank you for your kind words! 

 

 

[Math Wizard]

7 hours ago, Brendan McGnarley said:

@Math Wizard- does Polly also enjoy paninis?  Because I found your compliment sandwich warm and delightful!  I agree completely about shots, so I retook some to clean them up, in particular the first shot (arrrrguably the most important one!)  Thank you for noticing the details - those were ship-loads of fun to create!

Of course- anything but the boring old crackers everyone gives them! The shots look far better now- Great work! Thanks for taking my suggestion- usually people with physical builds are less likely to take suggestions and make edits and go through the whole process of re-photographing, so it means a lot!

[Horation]

11 hours ago, Brendan McGnarley said:

 

@SevenDeadlyStreamers- number of bricks is a great question - I believe somewhere between 250 and 400.  You are correct about the sail and hopefully there's a bit of artistic license flexibility from the critics, we'll see!  Thank you for your kind feedback!

Personally, I don't mind the sail colour situation that much, as it adds a little bit of originality to the whole build. It's also perfectly understandable for a physical build, since you do not have infinite amounts of parts available.

[YellowFrog]

I like all of the hidden details. Well done. The only thing I'm unsure of is the palm tree leaves on the back of the boat. What are they meant to be?

[Autumn]

5 hours ago, YellowFrog said:

I like all of the hidden details. Well done. The only thing I'm unsure of is the palm tree leaves on the back of the boat. What are they meant to be?

I think it's meant to be a sail because that's all they had to use on the island.

[Brendan McGnarley]

Thank you @YellowFrog for the nice feedback!  And yes, @Autumn  hit it on the head - they used available resources to make the boat so the sails are palm tree leaves. Workin with what they've got!

[YellowFrog]

Good innovation and a thoughtful inclusion.

@Brendan McGnarley, you might want to hurry to 10 posts before the end of today if you haven't already, if you want to be eligible to vote for winners.

[Brendan McGnarley]

Thank you @YellowFrog!  I am just seeing this now - I have actually been a member for about a year and contributed comments before so I think I am good - but I appreciate you looking out! Cheers!

[Math Wizard]

Ahoy Matey @Brendan McGnarley!

Looks like ye haven’t voted for a critic yet- just a reminder that voting ends soon. If ye vote for a critic ye gain +5 points on each entry you have submitted. That’s an extra five (5) votes that yer missing out on by not voting! Yer also gonna be entered in a raffle for a $25 set, just for voting! So raise the anchor, hoist yer sails, and go vote, before it’s too late! Fair Winds!